Tag: george michael

Queering Culture on Feb 25

1952

The first musical choreography score was copyrighted. It was Cole Porter’s “Kiss Me Kate”.

1983

Playwright Tennessee Williams died of an accidental choking, but the police report suggested his use of drugs and alcohol contributed to the death. Williams was 71. (The Glass Menagerie, The Rose Tattoo, The Night of the Iguana, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Streetcar Named Desire)

1995

Madonna started a seven week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Take A Bow’, the track which was co-written with Babyface became a No.16 hit in the UK.

2000

“Britney Spears CD Bubble Gum”, was announced and released in March of 2000.

The five original Spice Girls were facing a bill of up to £1 million ($1.7 million) after losing a legal battle against the sponsors of their 1988 world tour. The Aprilia Scoter Company had claimed the girls knew of Geri’s impending departure (marketing as faux lesbians)

2006

George Michael was found slumped over in a car in Hyde Park, London. A concerned person spotted the singer and called police who after being checked by paramedics was arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs and then released on bail. Michael made a public statement about the incident and said “I was in possession of class C drugs which is an offense and I have no complaints about the police who were professional throughout.” He also said that the event was “my own stupid fault, as usual.

2010

Marie Osmond’s teenage son Michael Blosil was found dead on the ground below an apartment balcony in Los Angeles after committing suicide. Resulting in a public feud with Donny over the Mormon Church vs Queer Sexuality.

queer music for feb 16

1957
Tab Hunter’s “Young Love” begins a six-week run at #1 in America.

February 16, 1974
Barbra Streisand had her second #1 song as “The Way We Were” reached the top spot.

Olivia Newton-John’s first big hit “Let Me Be There” was number 6

on the LP chart
Former #1 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John at #5

February 16, 1975
Cher started her own weekly hour of a music and comedy show premiered on CBS with guest stars Elton John and Bette Midler. The series lasted for two seasons.. The singer had co-presented The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour with her former husband. Cher’s new show featured a female guest each week.

1978

The film ABBA: The Movie has its UK premiere at Leicester Square’s Warner Theatre.

1980
Barry Manilow was on top of the Adult Contemporary chart with “When I Wanted You”. It was his 17th AC hit, and an incredible 16 of those had gone Top 10 with 10 #1’s in just six years of his career.

Queen was up to #2 although many stations already had “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” #1.

1985
“Careless Whisper” by Wham! began a three week stay at the top of the Billboard chart. An 18-year-old George Michael had written the melody four years earlier while riding on a bus.

Wham! hit #1 with “Careless Whisper”.

1990

Singer k.d. lang was pictured on the cover of the first issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine.

1991
Whitney Houston had her 8th #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 13 releases with “All the Man That I Need”

Queen, which was always bigger in their native England, scored their seventh #1 album in the U.K. with Innuendo.

2001

Sex researcher/author William Masters, of the research and writing team of Masters and (Virginia) Johnson, died of Parkinson’s disease at the age of 85. (Human Sexual Response, Human Sexual Inadequacy)

2006

Elton John accepted undisclosed libel damages from the Britain’s Sunday Times after the newspaper erroneously repeated an entirely false rumor that he acted in a rude, self-important and arrogant manner at a charity ball.

2015
Leslie Gore, who placed eleven songs on the Billboard Top 40 between 1963 and 1967, including “It’s My Party”, “Judy’s Turn To Cry”, She’s A Fool” and “You Don’t Own Me”, died of cancer at the age of 68.

\ American singer, songwriter, actress and activist, Lesley Gore, died of lung cancer aged 68. She is best known for the 1963 US No.1 & UK No.9 single ‘It’s My Party’ which was produced by Quincy Jones. Gore composed songs for the soundtrack of the 1980 film Fame, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for ‘Out Here on My Own’, written with her brother Michael.

Musical Queers Feb 13

February 13, 1971

Elton John’s Tumbleweed Connection Lp rose to number 5.

while the self-titled Elton John LP had fallen to number ten

February 13, 1973
David Bowie collapsed on stage during a concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

February 13, 1974
David Bowie turned down an offer from the Gay Liberation group to compose ‘the world’s first Gay National Anthem.’

February 13, 1977
US singer songwriter Janis Ian received 461 Valentine’s day cards after indicating in the lyrics of her song ‘At Seventeen’, she had never received any

1984

Donna Summer’s remake of the Drifters’ 1960 hit “There Goes My Baby” peaked at #21 pop and #20 R&B.

1988
In Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the 15th Winter Olympics opened.

kd lang performed

1989

“I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)”, the first single from Whitney Houston’s second studio album “Whitney” becomes Houston’s first single to be certified platinum with shipment of over one million units

1999

Elton John appeared as himself in a special episode of the animated series The Simpsons shown on US TV.

2005
Readers of UK newspaper The Sun voted George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’ as the greatest British pop single of the past 25 years

7th was Queen, ‘We Are The Champions’

Musical Queers for Feb 11

queer music for feb 11

February 11, 1966
Cher recorded “Bang Bang,” written and produced by Sonny Bono. It was her biggest solo hit of the 1960s.

February 11, 1977
David Bowie released ‘Sound and Vision’ as a single, which was taken from his latest album Low. ‘Sound and Vision’ was used by the BBC in the UK on trailers at the time, providing considerable exposure, much needed as Bowie opted to do nothing to promote the single himself, and helped the song to No.3 on the UK charts.

1985
fourth annual Brit Awards
British Single was Frankie Goes To Hollywood ‘Relax’
Best British Group went to Wham!

1986

Boy George, lead singer of Culture Club, guest-stars on an episode of The A-Team. George played a singer mistakenly booked into a Country dance hall.

1987

The Smiths were at No.1 in the UK indie charts with ‘Shoplifters Of The World Unite.’ The title alludes to the communist slogan “Workers of the world, unite!”, and the 1966 David and Jonathan hit ‘Lovers of the World Unite’. The photograph on the sleeve is of a young Elvis Presley. (who’s mother’s maiden name was Smith)

2002

Elton John performs at the National Basketball Association All-Star Game in Philadelphia.

2011

Barbra Streisand was named MusiCares Person of the Year by the Grammy organization.

2014

Queen made UK chart history, becoming the first act to sell six-million copies of an album with their Greatest Hits compilation.

2016
72-year-old Barry Manilow was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital after suffering what was described as “complications from emergency oral surgery” that he had undergone earlier in the week. His One Last Time tour had to be put on hold and concerts in Kentucky and Tennessee were canceled. To the surprise of many, just three days later Barry was well enough to attend Clive Davis’ pre-Grammys party in L.A. where he performed “Mandy” as well as “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart” from his latest album, “My Dream Duets”.

Queer Music February 2

queer music
February 2, 1957
Closeted Actor Tab Hunter topped the Cashbox Best Sellers chart with his version of “Young Love”. A month later, the record would rise to #1 on the Billboard chart where it would stay for six weeks.

1989
George Michael accepts an apology and an undisclosed cash settlement from The Sun newspaper to settle a libel suit after the publication printed an article that claimed that Michael was drunk and abusive at a party hosted by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

1991

Whitney Houston achieved her 12th Top 10 in her last 13 releases with “All the Man That I Need”.
199
7

Boy George was roughed up by two bouncers after he tried to jump the queue outside The Ministry Of Sound in London where George had been a guest DJ.

2003

Falsely marketed as a lesbian Russian girl duo: Tatu, started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘All The Things She Said’. The song had been a hit on the Russian charts three years earlier. Tatu were the first Russian act to score a UK No 1.

also marketed as faux lesbians
2008

The Spice Girls cut short their reunion world tour.

queer music for nov 14

November 14, 1975
Queen played the first of two nights at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool, England, the first nights on their 78-date A Night At The Opera World Tour.

1983
Culture Club released the single “Karma Chameleon”.

1987
George Michael went to No.1 on the UK album chart with his debut solo album ‘Faith’. The album won several awards including the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1989. To date, the album has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Between 1987 and 1988, Faith produced six Top 5 Billboard Hot 100 hits, four of which (‘Faith’, ‘Father Figure’, ‘One More Try’, and ‘Monkey’) reached No.1, making him the only British male singer to have four No.1 singles from one LP on the Billboard Hot 100.

Although they had been divorced for twelve years, Sonny and Cher appear together on The Late Show, where they are coaxed by David Letterman into singing “I Got You Babe”. The crowd gave the pair a standing ovation for what would prove to be their final performance together, as Sonny would die in a skiing accident in 1998.

1990

The Who‘s Pete Townshend confesses his bisexuality to Newsweek magazine. Says Pete, “I know how it feels to be a woman because I am a woman. And I won’t be classified as just a man”.

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