Help!! What's The Quintessential Gay "Theme Song"??

[arwalden]

YMCA?
So Many Men, So Little Time?
It's Raining Men?
I Will Survive?
Macho Man?
Key West, San Francisco, Fire Island, Hollywood?
Love To Love You? I Feel Love?

Or something a little more standard... a classic like Judy Garland's "The Trolley Song", perhaps?

Suggestions, anyone?

-- Allen

[Rick Myers]

1. Something by

Donna Summer???

Evening there, Ducks!!! :hi:

[radwriter0555]

30. WE ARE FAMILY!

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY! that has to be the ANTHEM!

In 1994 West Hollywood FIRST appeared in the parade as the actual hosts of its Gay Pride Parade, and we BLASTED that tune as the Opening Number of the parage.

All the other numbers mentioned were on our playlist as we cruised down Santa Monica Boulevard!

[goddess40]

59. The Bird Cage is one of my favorite movies

If you are suggesting We Are Family you must have seen it, if not you must rent it.
Even my slightly homophobe hubby likes it.

[Mandate My Ass]

2. I will survive

I always thought was the *official* gay them song. They even said so on Will and Grace.

I would campaign for "I Feel Love," though.

[GOPisEvil]

3. I heard a comedian say once...

If you want to know if a man is gay do the following: Walk up to him and say, "Clang, clang, clang...". If he replies, "...goes the trolley..." He is GAY!

Of course, because of that comedian, I know all about the song, and might be mistaken for gay. :shrug:

[piece sine]

9. ooops!

The song goes: "clang, clang, clang WENT the trolley" but most younger gays have never heard it; barely heard of Judy Garland; probably only know her daughter Liza Minnelli as a puffy old lady with the strangest damn husband.

Gay theme song: Village People's "YMCA!"

[GOPisEvil]

12. LOL!!!! See??? I *AM* straight!!!

I got the words wrong! LOL!!!!

[iluvchicago86]

13. I used to sing "Meet Me in St. Louis"

As a little kid, and dance and twirl about the house. The songs in that movie are positively infectious!

[carolinayellowdog]

22. Your pussy looks so sweet n/t

[iluvchicago86]

28. Gee thanks..

*blushes* I thought you would never notice!

[arwalden]

32. Hateful Head Helen? Sweet Pussy Pauline?

Definitely club classics... but I'm not sure if I'd consider them theme songs. (But worthy of including on a mix-CD of gay faves.) :-)

-- Allen

[ThorsteinVeblen]

4. Here you go.

http://politicalhumor.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.campchaos.com/othershows/video/03h.html

[mourningdove92]

6. We Are The Champions

by Queen.

[Roon]

5. We Are Family n/t

.

[arwalden]

7. Lovely! Lovely! How Could I Have Neglected To Mention That One? Especially

since I've actually seen Sister Sledge in concert. (Yes... they were once so popular they did club appearances.)

-- Allen

[arwalden]

8. Grace Jone's "I Need A Man"....

... perhaps a man like you?


They are all coming back to me now.

-- Allen

[Rick Myers]

10. Grace Jones

"Pull Up to The Bumper"???

Yowza!!!

[arwalden]

15. I've Also Seen Grace Jones In Club Concerts Too...

Twice at the Spectrum Disco in Gainesville, Florida.

So long ago... but I remember it like it was just last week.

-- Allen

[Rick Myers]

27. A friend of mine worked as Grace's assistant

TALK ABOUT STORIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sly and Robbie, they made Grace GREAT!!!

on edit: Great, now I've got to dig for the CDs!!!!

[patcox2]

43. Ever see the Roach Motel?

I remember when she was at the spectrum, I didn't go, probably went for wings at Nellies.

[HEyHEY]

11. Me and Bobby Mcgee

When James Taylor sings it.

[piece sine]

18. can I change my vote?

I wanna second "Pull Up To the Bumper, Ba-bay"! How could I forget that happening song?! Is Grace Jones still around?! We need her wit and style and fierceness these days.

[cherryperry]

14. Well, this is just me, so take it with the proverbial

grain of salt, ok?

Because of how much I LOVE 'Longtime Companion', I always think of "The Tide Is High" by Blondie.

[carolinayellowdog]

16. Somewhere Over the Rainbow

the ultimate Judy

[Runesong]

17. The Threes Company Theme?

heh, sorry :p

[rusty charly]

20. your all wrong

it's "i am what i am" from jerry herman's musical of "la cage aux folles"

[rusty charly]

24. lyrics

I am what I am
I am my own special creation
So come take a look
Give me the hook
Or the ovation
It's my world
That I want to have a little pride
My world
And it's not a place I have to hide in
Life's not worth a dam
Till I can say
I am what I am

I am what I am
I don't want praise I don't want pity
I bang my own drum
Some think it's noise I think it's pretty
And so what if I love each sparkle and each bangle
Why not see things from a different angle
Your life is a shame
Till you can shout out I am what I am


I am what I am
And what I am needs no excuses
I deal my own deck
Sometimes the aces sometimes the deuces
It's one life and there's no return and no deposit
One life so it's time to open up your closet
Life's not worth a dam till you can shout out
I am what I am

I am what I am
And what I am needs no excuses
I deal my own deck sometimes the aces sometimes the deuces
It's one life and there's no return and no deposit
One life so it's time to open up your closet
Life's not worth a dam till you can shout out
I am what I am

[arwalden]

26. I Liked The Original Version As Well As The Disco Version...

... and the lyrics are so right... "One life so it's time to open up your closet Life's not worth a dam till you can shout out I am what I am"

-- Allen

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

31. Shit that's what I get for not reading the whoe thread first

[arwalden]

34. LOL!!! I Do That All The Time

... it just means you're getting old (like me) and impatient (like me).

-- Allen

[Barney Gumble]

19. Barroom Blitz

"You ready Steve?"
"Uh-huh."
"Andy?"
"Yeah."
"Mick?"
"Okay."
"All right fellas, LET'S GO!"

[PartyPooper]

21. Well, if you're an older 'friend of Dorothy's'

"Over The Rainbow"

"The Man That Got Away"

"San Francisco"

...These are just a few of my favourites!

:D

[arwalden]

23. I Love The Man That Got Away....

The soundtrack version is my favorite. When James Mason is standing in the shadows listening to her sing and falling in love with Judy.

It's one of those songs that gives me chills and makes me want to watch the movie over and over again.

-- Allen

[CBHagman]

69. Even for straight people...

...oh, that scene is wonderful. Amazing.

[arwalden]

25. What's Going For "Older" These Days?

At this rate I feel LUCKY to simply be alive... so who cares if 43 is considered "older". --- I'm now officially the age of the "old men" at the bar I used to go to when I was in college.

Now it's ME who dances a generation behind the times (if at all).

-- Allen

[PartyPooper]

42. That's a good question.

I think most people have distinct musical and other popular culture preferences related to their own generation.

Nowadays, a lot of younger folks have tastes dissimilar to mine. So, naturally, I guess some people like me are considered "older". ;-)

[mitchtv]

61. in SF they used to play San Francisco

by Jeanette Mc Donald (from the flic) and then the would swing all the chandeliers in the house as it played... fun

[ronnykmarshall]

65. The organ player

Ok get your minds OUT of the gutter!

I mean a REAL organ with keys and stuff!!

Anyway at The Castro theater they still have some one playing the organ before the film starts. He always ends with "San Francisco". I'll never forget the first time I went there and heard it. I really felt like I was now a San Franciscan because I knew all the lyrics!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

29. I am what I am - Gloria Gaynor

But since Rusty Charlie beat me to it I'll be back with second runner up

COMING OUT OF HIDING by Pamela Stanley

dammit can't find the lyrics online!

[THUNDER HANDS]

33. the theme from "Oklahoma"

C'mon, is there any other?

[TheBigGuy]

35. Patsy Cline....Crazy & Walking After Midnight...

....those where pretty popular at one of the bars I came out at.

[arwalden]

36. Get Happy / Happy Days Are Here Again (Garland & Streisand)

You mentioned Patsy...
Which reminded me of Tim (my old drag queen friend who used to do Patsy)...
Which reminded me of my other friend Steve (who did a great Barbra)...
Which reminded me that the two of them did a GREAT duet of Judy and Barbra singing the "Get Happy / Happy Days Are Here Again" from the old Judy Garland TV show.

-- Allen

[Democrats unite]

37. I would have to vote for THE GAY PRIDE MARCH...

From A Tribute to a Memory of you.

[Lostnote03]

38. Lola???

....n/t

[NightTrain]

39. Come On Feel The Boyze?

:evilgrin:

[mitchum]

40. theme from "Bonanza"...

"Hoss"? "Little Joe"? "Candy"????

[Paragon]

41. "The Ambiguously Gay Duo...The Ambiguously Gay Duo..."

[blm]

44. SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW

and anything by Deanna Durbin. ;))))

[jonnyblitz]

45. I am gay and I think all the songs mentioned are cheesy...

except I don't know the Judy Garland song but I am sure it would make me vomit too...I must not be a "quintessential" homo, I went to Ozzfest last weekend...

[roughsatori]

68. Isn't ozzfest another kind of cliché?

I had the same thought as you. But then thought I should think of what song I would name--but was too lazy to think about it. I did have good Friends that had a punk band called "Size Queen," and then thought of the "Pansy Division" but couldn't remember any song titles.

I never thought I would say this, but Judy Garland lived more punk then any of the clichéd, pierced, and go-teed bands bands being played on MTV2.

(Don't get me started on the current "punk/pop" bands. They make the Village People seem positively revolutionary in comparison.)

The most subversive pop music is not overtly political statements. But songs like "Dancing in the Streets." The words become double entendres for revolution; anthems laden with meaning due to their era more then the words or beat--looking back at that kind of subversive pop culture event is difficult to understand if you have not lived, fought, got high, and sung the lyrics to a song while it was a hit.

[jonnyblitz]

46. also , stereotypical might be a better word than quintessential

in regards to the songs mentioned.

[mitchtv]

47. lighten up honey

Name your favorites. I am an old timer so I remember" Meeting in smokey places" by the corsairs, Our day will come" ruby and the Romantics. For the girls... Sing in the Sunhine- Gale Garnett and of course "if I were your Woman" Galdys Knight and the Pips" these are PRE STONEWALL in the days when the Mafia kept the gay bars open and they all had a black curtain to hide the dancing. Every time there was a D.A. up for re elect there were Raids.

[PartyPooper]

50. Yes, mitchtv, those were the days!

I remember them well! I keep hearing "band of gold"...I can't really remember the exact song title...but, that was the music I heard in my first gay bar. Great dancing music. And, you mentioned so many more! Thank you. :-)

"Now that you're gone all that I have is this band of gold..."

BTW, do you remember "Anything Goes" which was played at the beginning of "Boys In The Band"? I still love that song!

[arwalden]

57. That Would Be Frieda Payne .... I Have That One On A 45 RPM

I think I've also got a remake of it (I think) that's done by that disco Diva himself "Sylvester".

-- Allen

[CO Liberal]

58. "Anything Goes"

That was a Cole Porter song performed by Harper's Bizarre, the same group that did "The 59th St. Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy)". It was their follow-up song.....

I always like it for the harmonies. Haven't heard it in years.......

[mitchtv]

60. those were the days my friend

we thought they'd never end..
we'd sing and dance forever and a day
we'd live the life we choose,
we'd fight and never lose
oh we were young and sure to have our way

[cosmicdot]

67. Killing me Softly with his song

Thirty years ago, in Mr. Henry's (Capitol Hill) upstairs room, you could hear a young Roberta Flack kill you softly with her song (she was a D.C. public school music teacher).

Sttttopppp, girlfriend

erasure's "hideaway" -- more of an anthem than theme song

Hideaway
Released on The Circus album.
------------------------------

One day the boy decided
To let them know the way he felt inside
He could not stand to hide it
His mother she broke down and cried

Oh my father
Why don't you talk to me now?
Oh my mother
Do you still cry yourself to sleep?
Are you still proud of your little boy?

Don't be afraid (be afraid)
You don't have to hideaway

The boy he was rejected
By the people that he cared for
It's not what they expected
But he could not keep it secret anymore

Far from home now
Waiting by the telephone
There's a new world
You can't make it on your own
Are you still proud of your little boy?

Don't be afraid (be afraid)
You don't have to hideaway
No

Don't be afraid
Love will mend your broken wings
Time will slip away
Learn to be brave

Oh my father
Why don't you talk to me now?
Oh my mother
Do you still cry yourself to sleep?
Are you still proud of your little boy?

Don't be afraid (be afraid)
You don't have to hideaway
No

Don't be afraid
Love will mend your broken wings
Time will slip away
Learn to be brave


```````````````````

[cosmicdot]

72. Hideaway - 30 sec clip

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/clipserve/B000002LB6001002/1/104-8691753-2505531

[boilerbabe]

54. You are not stereotypical by any means

And those songs afore-mentioned were all good in their time, but cheesy, yes indeedy. I remember coughing up fake snowflakes for ever after the "Weather Girls" or "2 Tons of Fun" did "It's raining men..." around 20 or so years ago at the West Coast Production Company in San Diego..

[Insider]

48. smalltown boy

well, it SHOULD be

edit:


Mother will never understand
Why you had to leave

And the answer you seek
Will never be found at home.


can you dig it? awesome stuff

edit:


The love that you need
Will never be found at home

You’d never cry to them
Just to your soul

Cry, boy, cry


sniff.

[inthecorneroverhere]

49. I'm comin' out -

"I'm comin' out"

I'm coming up -
Got a Lot to Say -

I'm co-omin'

.. with all my ability..
Got to let it show...

~~~~

That's all I remember. I'm terrible with lyrics, but the song has a great saxophone riff.

[Devlzown]

51. Haddaway's "Baby Don't Hurt Me"

That or "Go West"

[boilerbabe]

55. I love that song!

But you must be young, since that would never remind me of the early days of being a "Fag Hag" so to speak!!!!
XXXOOO

[LincolnMcGrath]

52. Gay Bar

Electric Six

[binaryline]

53. anything by team dresch or bikini kill

don't forget the 18-25 queer grrrl set when we talk about our theme song ;-).

[tarkus]

56. Tool's Stinkfist

Finger deeper than the borderline,
This may hurt a little but its something you'll get used to

Later on...
Elbow...
Shoulder...
etc.

Great song. I think the lyrics are officially about something other than fisting, ut a lot of the lines make me wonder...

[bicentennial_baby]

64. Interpretations of Stinkfist

from an interview with Maynard, from TOOL:

"AQ: What inspired 'Stinkfist?'

MJK: A guy named Stinkfist. He's a very good friend of Danny's. It's a tribute to him, because he very much embraced life whole-heartedly, a go-getter. that's how he got the name Stinkfist, because hewas the kind of guy who got his hands dirty. he wasn't afraid. He just kind of grabbed life by the throat. The imagery of the song is kind of like stepping through a portal like in the movie Stargate, where James Spader is standing in front of the portal, a little afraid of what was going to happen. He's excited as he puts his hand through the portal, he steps through and it's a whole differrent reality. It's a whole different perspective or way of seeing things. Every sense just lit up and he was completely overwhelmed by feeling this way.

AQ: People have a very graphic interpretation of 'Stinkfist.' I don't
know what your intention was, but it's ovbbiously stirred up a lot of
controversy. Is the general interpretation what you had in mind or are people off base?

MJK: I think that there's many meanings that we really strive for within the music. There's layers of interpretation. If people want to think it's about fist-fucking, that's fine. That's where they're at. But if they really look at it and really look at us and who we are, they'll understand that we go a little deeper than some write-off song about fist-fucking. Now they'll dig a little deeper, trying to find out what's really going."

http://toolshed.down.net/articles/text/aquarian.xxx.96.html

[dback]

62. Anything off the "Club Verboten" box set

Though, in all fairness, that set peters out in the late 70's and thus misses the explosion of gay music in the 80's (Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, Madonna, the Smiths, Roddy Bottom, Rob Halford, George Michael, etc. etc.). It also misses such glam ambiguous stars such as Mick Jagger and David Bowie. But it's still a great overview of the 20th Century.

I'm very partial to the Pet Shop Boys' remake of "Go West." Old school, I like Streisand's anthemic "Don't Rain On My Parade."

[ronnykmarshall]

66. Go West - Pet Shop Boys

KICKS ASS! I'm sorry but I can't fucking stand the Village People. The Pet Shop Boys' remake of "Go West" is awsome. Cool video too.

[ronnykmarshall]

63. Mix of several decades

To add to your way gay list:


Small Town Boy - Bronski Beat
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) - the late and great Sylvester
Believe - Cher


and of course the all time classic back when we were still called 'homosexuals'

Somewhere Over The Rainbow - Judy (no last name required)

[geniph]

70. Frankie Goes to Hollywood

RELAX - I've never yet been in a gay bar where it didn't get played at least once.

YMCA gets played at skating rinks and baseball games these days.

[ronnykmarshall]

71. I'm Too Sexy

Right Said Fred


I'm too sexy for my shirt ..... yeah baby!