Retro '80s: Playgirls and Lover Boys, Part I

[scienceguy]

FADE IN: " Before Boy George or RuPaul, there was Sylvester! Sylvester was not only a cross-dressing artist, but a VERY talented one. This is one of his biggest club hits in the 80s. It's also probably my favorite track of his. This is also one of my favorite dance hits of all-time. Great, great tune! RIP Sylvester." (quoting from YouTube's muzikman) (Sylvester, "Do You Wanna Funk", 1982 club mix)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bTXg9HptxI

Before we begin, I couldn't resist another turn at the wheel with Triumph who, this time, is on the scene at the New York Tony Awards. The gay roast is hilarious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yWUFeDk1gg

This text is written in red and should be considered a stop sign, one much like that found in another post entitled "These Magic Moments", this forum. As before, the components of the post are integrated to paint a picture that is pansexual and, I think, entertaining. The Boys take center stage at important moments. However, the contents of this post may either soothe or irritate the sensibilities. They can be familiar, shockingly foreign, or even dangerous. You may laugh; you may cry. The contents will delight some and, perhaps, offend others. Languages change. You will be jerked around in a roller coaster of '80s nostalgia, and, once again, the entire piece is too lengthy for one sitting. Appropriate warnings are provided by me and by YouTube. So, this will be part 1 of 2, and we begin with Berlin.

To set the mood and tone of this post, which celebrates the 1980s in song and film with a particular focus on sexual ambiguity, we turn to Berlin's 1982 "Sex (I'm A...)" from the album Pleasure Victim in the New Wave genre (co-written by group members John Crawford, Terri Nunn and David Diamond and sung as a duet by Crawford and Nunn):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpYNwFGaMik

Or live in concert in 1983 (Oh, baby, watch out!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxLA30zipKA

As I dust off some of these gems, it would be insensitive, to downright cruel, to ignore the impact of AIDS on the decade. This had an undeniable effect on gay cinema, tip-toeing its way through the decade in a way not seen in the seventies. And at the close of this post in Part II, we will give greater recognition of these events.

I bookend my time in LA/Hollywood/WeHo between two musical events: Soft Cell's release of the original "Tainted Love" and Peter Allen's summertime performance at the Greek in 1989. Soft Cell covered this song and brought it to LA shortly after the single was released in July, 1981. And I'm gonna stop right here and pay tribute to these two performers of my lifetime. Marc Almond and the synth pop duo here in a 2002 concert in Milan with a live, extended version. Watch how Marc works the crowd. Peter Allen then performs "I Go To Rio" in this rousing one-man-show.

"Once I ran to you
now I'll run from you

This tainted love you've given -
I give you all a boy could give you.
Take my tears and that's not nearly all - oh
tainted love - tainted love"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiTW0sGJgZU

and I just could not resist this vintage 1981 charmer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCTBuOheUpE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB3ObD7zUT0

Old thoughts and feelings disappear in the endless river of time, now re-emerging. There, upstream, see David running against the current...split personality. LA kinda guy. Activist here and there. APLA hotline. Stark fear in the voice on the other end. I can't do this. I run. I run as the denialist. Find someone...eyes meet...make it go away tonight. Familiar faces at The Spike...helps me, but no one else. Gold Coast. Pretty faces in the night....walk toward the moon....my place, your place...it will go away. Saw...still see Steven Castner's face...saw oxygen tank...it didn't go away, never going away. And thus we begin our ride through the '80s in song and film. [Do you see Mr. Split Personality, boys and girls? It's your poster 34 years ago, living at Bronson and Franklin in Hollywood. The stereo, rabbit ears and all, was tuned to KROQ, and the old cassette recorder was poised to stealth tape hits between commercials.]

"Risky Business", 1983, Tom Cruise breakout film directed by Paul Brickman. Glencoe, Illinois is on the north shore of Lake Michigan; it was and is a privileged village in the New Trier High School District. But Joel undergoes a sea change from Mr. Righteous to Mr. Notorious, as we see him and Lana (Rebecca De Mornay) in a CTA EL car (YouTube logon required):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDlTGhe3YoE

Billy Idol, "Flesh for Fantasy", 1983, on the Rebel Yell album produced by Keith Forsey. Live in Chicago, 2009 ("I need it now, baby!" "...you see and feel a sex attack...."). It's hard rock/new wave and should be considered a "niche" tone setter here. It speaks entirely for itself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OegaW3e01EE

"Class" (1983) directed by Lewis John Carlino stars Jacqueline Bisset (Ellen), Rob Lowe (Skip), and Andrew McCarthy (Jonathan). I've seen this movie several times, and Andrew McCarthy, one of my favorite actors, manages to pull off a portrayal of teenage sexual ambivalence, while conflict inevitably brews as he unwittingly allows himself to be seduced by an older woman, his roommate's mother, as it turns out. Female conquests and the antics of teenage boys we're all too familiar with, but here, the polarities of social class, sexual confusion, and envy are thrown in for good measure. Self-centered Skip (good part for Lowe) is pitted against naïve, preppy wannabe lover Jonathan throughout, and the movie is replete in subtexts contrasting the dark and moody and the near-comic. See young McCarthy in "St. Elmo's Fire," "Mannequin", "Catholic Boys", and "Only You" (Godfrey), but my all-time favorite is gay Jimmy Fields in "Mulholland Falls", getting in Nick Nolte's face: "Do I make you nervous, Lieutenant?" Here is the famous elevator scene in "Class" (up, up, down, up, down) (YouTube logon required):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFrS6uCoMsw

Here is the king of ambiguity:

"Too many shadows, whispering voices
faces on posters, too many choices
If? When? Why? What?
How much have you got?
Have you got it? Do you get it?
If so, how often?
Which do you choose
a hard or soft option?
(How much do you need?)"

Of the Boys' 1984 "West End Girls" (Please, Stephen Hague, Bobby Orlando), Wayne Studer writes, '"Which do you choose, a hard or soft option?" – People have been speculating for years about the meaning of these words. One of the most common theories involves a contrast between men ("hard") and women ("soft") as possible sexual partners. According to this theory, then, it alludes to homosexuality vs. heterosexuality. Other interpretations hinge upon the fact that, at the time the Boys wrote this song, the West End—particularly its Soho district—had long been known (at least until it began to undergo revitalization in the 1980s) for its many sex shops and sex shows. This makes even stronger sense when you consider another line only shortly before: "Faces on posters, too many choices." So might the "hard or soft option" allude to a choice between hardcore and soft core pornography?"

And so here live in 2009 at the 02 Arena, London:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHswashpdBc

On the other hand, when self-identity is torn to shreds, this is what can happen ("Coming Out", 1989. Set in East Berlin, we see Dirk Kummer as Matthias in this tense hospital scene.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-Hsn_SyB1I

Or, Arthur Hiller's 1982 "Making Love" starring Michael Ontkean, Kate Jackson, and Harry Hamlin. According to the plot summary, "A successful young L.A. doctor and his equally successful television-producer wife find their happily-ever-after life torn asunder when he suddenly confronts his long-repressed attraction for other men."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaowR67NICg

In my post "Sun...Sex...Sin" Part II.4, you'll find the backstory of the film "Call Me By Your Name." It is not a film made in the 1980s, but it is a film that takes place in Italy in the 1980s and features two young men whose experiences that summer stand in stark contrast to those of the protagonists in the preceding clips. Thus, in the following fan clip, you will see what it looks like when a personal secret gives way to a shared secret and desire is realized, true feelings liberated, as a new identity emerges from the unconditional embrace of another. There is designing purpose in Luca Guadagnino's direction, no mistakes, and no unintended consequences, but the strong sexual tone and content make it unsuitable for some readers. Moreover, YouTube will ask for a login to view. With these forewarnings firmly in mind, here is "No Ordinary Love":


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-jimrjZgFY

MINI FADE OUT: PART I

"I Want A Lover" (Tennant/Lowe, 1986, Please). Wayne Studer writes as follows: "This is among the earliest PSB songs, written in 1983. To be blunt, "I Want a Lover" is pretty much a song about horniness, although it has an undercurrent of loneliness as well. The narrator isn't looking for love (at least not tonight), but rather for sex, and seeks someone else with precisely the same interests. Just thinking about it is an aphrodisiac: "This anticipation is a stimulation." Very hedonistic stuff—either that or, again, a commentary on hedonistic attitudes and behavior. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.

Early on it was reported that this lyric was written from a female perspective—Neil's willingness to approach subjects from the viewpoint of the opposite sex being a distinguishing hallmark even at this early stage in their career. But I personally don't detect anything in the text that necessarily suggests a "feminine" persona. In fact, Neil would later describe it as "us doing gay disco—the words are completely about going to a club and picking up someone." He also noted that it was his and Chris's attempt to write a "sleazy" song. http://www.geowayne.com/newDesign/please/lover.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orn1kTSEDXY

STAY tuned. In "Retro '80s: Playgirls and Lover Boys" Part II, expect to be entertained by Neil, Madonna, Olivia Newton-John, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and a host of flicks featuring Hugh Grant, Mickey Rourke, and Steve Buscemi.

[Flaffer]

I like the dog with cigar

[ArtHist]

So, is this like the point in the evening where we all throw our keys into a bowl and see who hooks up with who?

Cause I'm totally in! ; )

[tottenhammattspurs]

It’s that point where you click on the new topic and immediately realise it’s scienceguy

[retrofuturist]

Not that anyone would watch it, but wouldn't this make more sense as a YouTube channel or Podcast or something?

[y3potential]

He’s clearly on a wind up here or has severe mental health issues. I can’t believe he doesn’t read the replies to his ridiculous, deranged posts..

[Marie loves PSB]

He’s clearly on a wind up here or has severe mental health issues. I can’t believe he doesn’t read the replies to his ridiculous, deranged posts..

I so think "Science Guy" is Neil Tennant posting this to err.... wind us all up!

[daveid]

It's all a gigantic jigsaw puzzle and will finally make sense on the day of armageddon when the last nugget of horseshit is in place and then we can all embrace death gladly.

Now for an only slightly less confusing experience I'm going to watch Westworld season 2 again.

[Spittingcat]

Look, slagging off posters who write something that you don’t appreciate needs to stop. Don’t like it, don’t read it… stop throwing around comments about mental health, it makes you like like a total dick.

This post? Still some tangents I don’t get at all, still plenty to cause confusion (on purpose?), but it’s clearer than some of the others. Putting the boys and their work into a wider social and artistic context can result in some interesting points, and there a few here for me.

[herts101]

The bullying tone used to respond to these posts, and even more so to those of Nickname, does no one any credit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ZiggyPSB]

At least nickname engages in discussion on a regular basis in his topics and other people’s. The fact this guy has done no such thing for the many months he’s been writing these essays is so unbelievably baffling it’s no wonder people are so frustrated.

[daveid]

The bullying tone used to respond to these posts, and even more so to those of Nickname, does no one any credit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's not the job of this forum to administer sympathy and counselling although we will on our own terms if we wish. If this chap is unwell then I genuinely sympathise OUTSIDE the walls of this forum. On the other hand he may be having the time of his life and good luck I say. It's a mean world here in cyberspace. If people need help, want love etc then real people in the real world can provide it.

In the meantime this guy doesn't engage with anyone here, he doesn't respond to comments nor input anything comprehensible. It's like a guest at a dinner party who says nothing but once every half hour vomits in the punch.

[herts101]

Yeah, the lack of engagement certainly is very odd.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Patrick Bateman]

scienceguy’s haughtiness is endearing. I also like the picture of him holding Please that is referenced in every post - it’s very meta. He’s like a gay Herzog, connected to the queer illuminati of the last four decades through time and space.

[daveid]

scienceguy’s haughtiness is endearing. I also like the picture of him holding Please that is referenced in every post - it’s very meta. He’s like a gay Herzog, connected to the queer illuminati of the last four decades through time and space.

You've obviously followed him in more detail than me.

Who's Herzog? Decent sort of chap?