Fey Four: Beatles outed as gay icons

[instant karla]

from http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2291863.html


The Sunday Times July 30, 2006

Fey Four: Beatles outed as gay icons
Robert Booth

THE Beatles have been outed. The Fab Four’s first album, Please Please Me, has been named as one of the top 50 gay albums of all time.
John, Paul, George and Ringo’s 1963 LP, featuring Twist and Shout and I Saw Her Standing There, is ranked alongside records by Abba, Elton John and Boy George in a gay pop pantheon published by Attitude, a gay lifestyle magazine.

“That summer it was the gay album,” said Simon Napier-Bell, the former manager of Wham! who nominated the record. “Every party, every club, everywhere you went, Please Please Me blasted out. George and Paul singing into one microphone, their cheeks touching, was the gayest thing we’d ever seen.”

The Beatles rarely wrote about homosexuality, although You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away is thought to have been about Brian Epstein, their gay manager.

But the magazine claims the Beatles’ first album, ranked 30th in the list, represented “a turning point — the beginning of the modern gay era”, because it embodied a sense of sexual freedom and tolerance.

The top 50 includes Barbra Streisand, Take That and the Pet Shop Boys, but only one album dates back further: a 1961 recording at the Carnegie Hall in New York by Judy Garland, a gay icon whose role in The Wizard of Oz gave rise to the term “a friend of Dorothy” to mean a gay man.

The list is topped by the eponymous debut by Scissor Sisters, the New York band. Their success coincides with a boom in gay music.

“It has become fashionable to listen to gay music whether you are gay or not,” said Peter Tatchell, the gay rights campaigner. “Gay culture is seen as the cutting edge of all kinds of invention, not just in music, but also fashion, art and design.”

For Boy George, who nominated David Bowie’s 1970 record The Man Who Sold the World, the days of gay musicians portraying themselves as straight are over.

“Now lots of straight boys in rock bands paint their eyes and exude camp,” he told Attitude. “I say ‘God bless ’em!’”

[Ringo77]

I'm sorry, but none of the music by the Beatles is gay. I think that article is the gayest thing I've ever read!!

Disclaimer: Before anyone starts to blast me, I'm not anti-gay. I just happen to strongly disagree with this article and it's author.

[Georgie Girl]

I don't get it. :thinker:

What's so gay about "Please Please Me?"
I suggest tho that the Fabs wrote some
songs that everyone can identify with.

[beatles fan]

Well the way I see it is, the fact that girls in the audience were screaming out loving the beatles when Paul sang songs such as "I saw her standing there" from please please me it might show that it can't be gay for some reason!! Inless all the girls screaming in the audience were secretly men in disguise!! :thinker: :laugh5:

[digdad]

Well, Ringo was singing about Boys... :clown1:

[digdad]

Seriously though, it may have been a sort of gay soundtrack at the time, but it was everybody's soundtrack.

[sourmilkpinky]

George and Paul singing into one microphone, their cheeks touching, was the gayest thing we’d ever seen.”

that isnt necessarily gay....that is just HOT :)

[chiliace]

This reminds me of various countries claims to have all invented the automobile, the airplane, and other great things, despite alternate histories in other countries. Kind of a little hiccup from '64 or whenever 'till now, though. Must be a time warp.

[beatles fan]

that isnt necessarily gay....that is just HOT :)

Exactly you see! Girls like the way they acted on stage like that in their early years so it can hardly be called gay!

[chiliace]

Exactly you see! Girls like the way they acted on stage like that in their early years so it can hardly be called gay!

Dead on.

[digdad]

As far as the cheeks touching thing, didn't other bands at the time do this also? As far as I understand it, this particular Beatles singing style was necessitated by the stage micropones of the time. You had to be in front of them for the sound to pick up. This was unlike studio mikes which picked up the sound in sort of a figure-8 pattern to both sides of the mike.

[.Psychedelic.Stars.]

Hahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahaha!
This is the most ludicrous thing I've read.

:rolling3:

[beatles fan]

Hahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahaha!
This is the most ludicrous thing I've read.

:rolling3:

Exactly!! :teeth1:

[instant karla]

this article is NOT questioning the lads' sexual orientation, nor is the author of the article. read it again. one album by the lads made it in the rankings---along with other performers' albums---of a gay lifestyle magazine.

[chiliace]

Hahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahaha!
This is the most ludicrous thing I've read.

:rolling3:

Journalism in its' worst form. Misleading headline used to hook otherwise unintrested readers, I say. I think I shall complain.

[.Psychedelic.Stars.]

this article is NOT questioning the lads' sexual orientation, nor is the author of the article. read it again. one album by the lads made it in the rankings---along with other performers' albums---of a gay lifestyle magazine.

I know it's not, but lines such as... "George and Paul singing into one microphone, their cheeks touching, was the gayest thing we’d ever seen.”

Are just laughable.

[Serena]

so that explains those sgt pepper outfits...:laugh5:

[beatles fan]

so that explains those sgt pepper outfits...:laugh5:

Maybe nice leather!! :whip: :spank: :laugh5: :laugh5:

[LovinLennon909]

How is music gay or straight? Isn't it appealing to most folks, (regardless of sexual orientation) or unappealing to most folks (regardless of sexual orientation)?

[Georgie Girl]

As far as the cheeks touching thing, didn't other bands at the time do this also? As far as I understand it, this particular Beatles singing style was necessitated by the stage micropones of the time. You had to be in front of them for the sound to pick up. This was unlike studio mikes which picked up the sound in sort of a figure-8 pattern to both sides of the mike.I think it has to do with how much the musicians like touching cheeks. :devious:

[VersusBatman]

Give Fab Four new meaning doesn't it?

[AmericanBeatle]

So, if touching cheeks while singing is gay to this writer. . .then, I wonder, what he thinks of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and their (in)famous tube socks?!

[digdad]

I was just listening to Please Please Me and I heard it:

Oh, we danced through the night/
And we held each other tight/
And before too long/
I fell in love with Herb

[sadie]

Sorry for being a kill joy but the article is not about whether the music is gay or not, never mentioned that, it just said its popular with the Gay community along with the like of Abba and I don't think Abba is gay music, i think the point of the article has been missed.

I wonder if people made posts laughing and joking about the christian community for example it would be ok.

Anyway my little whinge over :teeth1:

[twovirgins]

OOLOLOLOLOL this has to be the dumbest article Ive ever seen !

I always wondered why Ringo sang "boys " :laugh5:

[instant karla]

...the article is not about whether the music is gay or not, never mentioned that, it just said its popular with the Gay community along with the like of Abba and I don't think Abba is gay music, i think the point of the article has been missed...

your message comes across far clearer than mine did, sadie.

[sadie]

OOLOLOLOLOL this has to be the dumbest article Ive ever seen !

I always wondered why Ringo sang "boys " :laugh5:

But the article is not claiming the songs have gay references!!! I don't even think its something to laugh at, surely the more people that like them the better, their music is not exclusive to straight people.

[twovirgins]

But the article is not claiming the songs have gay references!!!
i know just having fun
i have nothing against anybodys love life
even if they were gay Iid still love them
Heck I had posters of them on my wall growing up mabie Im the gay one!! :laugh5:

[sadie]

and why would it be funny if you were gay?

[twovirgins]

actually what I was saying is this artilcle is dumb because who cares who likes their music
thats lke saying "Black people " or "chinese " like the beatles big deal !!
I liked what LL 909 said there is no gender or color in music

Im not making fun of gay people and IM not laughing at them
I honestly dont care who is gay or not
I dont want to know about peoples sex lifes not anybodys keep that in your own room .

[sadie]

Sorry erik, i thought you were joking about the song Boys, must have read it wrong. :teeth1:

[beatlebangs1964]

I was just listening to Please Please Me and I heard it:

Oh, we danced through the night/
And we held each other tight/
And before too long/
I fell in love with Herb

Funny...I always thought these were the lyrics to "I Saw Her Standing There."

And LL, I agree -- there is no gender, race or other dividing line in music. Like Stevie Wonder said, "music is a language that we all understand." CSNY said, "...smiling is something everybody everywhere does in the same language" from "Wooden Ships." Well put.

And I agree with what others have said -- sexual orientation has nothing to do with music or musical preferences. I don't care about people's sexual orientation - that is their business and as Erik said, that belongs "in their bedrooms," meaning keep it private. It is a part of one's life, but not the sum total of one's life and/or identity.

Still, I think whoever wrote the article was 5 cans short of a 6-pack and that 6th can is mostly empty.

[Lucy]

The article is hardly saying that the Beatles as individuals were as camp as a row of pink tents or anything. Maybe the comment about the cheeks touching is a bit strange because obviously that wasn't an attempt by the boys to be sexually attractive and show gay men that they were accepting of them but to actually sing and perform properly...but then that is like many things - different people can interpret things differently.

Although I wouldn't personally consider that Please Please Me is a "gay album", I think it is a real compliment and just reiterates that it was a great album for the generation. The article says that it is the suggestion of sexual freedom promoted by songs like ISHST and PPM that made it the album of the moment. Surely that can only be a good thing.

[digdad]

Joking aside, what I was getting at with a previous post about the cheeks touching being a necessity of the acoustical properties of the stage mikes was: why did the gay community pick up on this with the Beatles and not with previous artists? Backup vocal were key elements to the music of the 50s and early 60s, and singing at close quarters into the same mike was commonplace. Just think of Buddy Holly and Crickets, Elvis and his backup singers, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.

The key may be that these other bands included a single front man and backup singers. The Beatles were essentially three front men. The cheek touching was brought to the front, not hidden in the background. I can see where this might be viewed as a revelation at the time.

Just throwing ideas out there.

[Rellevart]

Not quite sure why people think this article is "dumb", "ludicrous" or that the author is 1 can short of a six pack. It seems like a perfectly reasonable article to me. So "Please Please Me" was a popular album with the gay community. It was a popular album with the straight community too. Whoopie.

[Mccartney-rocks]

I was just listening to Please Please Me and I heard it:

Oh, we danced through the night/
And we held each other tight/
And before too long/
I fell in love with Herb
last time i herd that song i remmber hereing herb but its sapost to be her but u know watever nvm !!!!!!

[SF4-EVER]

Joking aside, what I was getting at with a previous post about the cheeks touching being a necessity of the acoustical properties of the stage mikes was: why did the gay community pick up on this with the Beatles and not with previous artists? Backup vocal were key elements to the music of the 50s and early 60s, and singing at close quarters into the same mike was commonplace. Just think of Buddy Holly and Crickets, Elvis and his backup singers, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.

The key may be that these other bands included a single front man and backup singers. The Beatles were essentially three front men. The cheek touching was brought to the front, not hidden in the background. I can see where this might be viewed as a revelation at the time.

Just throwing ideas out there.

I think that with Paul being left-handed and George right-handed, they were able to play closer to each other than two right-handed guitarists would be able to do.

I agree with Rell; the Beatles were popular with everyone.

[beatles fan]

Well it's good to see in the positive sense that the Beatles were so good that they could attract every type of person in this world to there music!! thats how fab they were! like someone who might have only been into folk music before the beatles would suddenly injoy the sounds of them shows that they were so good that many different "communities" were able to enjoy them, which is something incredible in my opinion!

[sadie]

Could it be they just like the music, does there have to be a reason? Thats what i think is silly, Abba, Madonna, Kyle and all sorts are popular in the gay community.

[digdad]

I think that with Paul being left-handed and George right-handed, they were able to play closer to each other than two right-handed guitarists would be able to do.
Good point.
You now have me wondering, though, how did George and John do it on the Paul songs? I'm going to have to check some the recent video posts to see. :cyberguy:

[lennonluvr9]

I never really thought of Please Please Me as sounding gay. Plus, i dont remember seeing George & Paul's cheeks actually touching. But whatever floats their boat i guess....

[Lucy]

No I don't think it sounds gay either (not that gay music sounds a particular way but I'm thinking Scissor Sisters type stuff here for the sake of the discussion) but the song itself about sex and that is the point I think the article is trying to make - that it was about the music and the interpretation of the songs that made it a well received album in the gay community.

[beatles fan]

Good point.
You now have me wondering, though, how did George and John do it on the Paul songs? I'm going to have to check some the recent video posts to see. :cyberguy:

I think George would put his guitar just in front of the mike and John wouldkeep his slightly behind it!

heres 'i'm down', you see how they do it! :teeth1:
I'm down (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o43e2UXthQk&search=i%27m%20down%20beatles)

and as for Paul and George on stage next to the mike here is footage of them touchinging noses again!
Nose poking! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ59Sd-q-i8&search=paul%20george%20nose%20)

[Cardboard.canvas]

I don't see what's so gay about it. And in any case, why does 'gay' have such a negative connotation on it anyways? But looking at this article, the journalist does seem fairly unprofessional choosing such a petty way of working on this topic and focusing on far too subjective points to prove anything. Keep in mind that this is coming from a kid, and even I can see that objectivity is the ideal characteristic of an article..unless that article is for a magazine focusing on specific ideas and opinions..but this is the Times, not a teeny boppy thing.

[MonaMe577]

My honest opinion about this article--so what? The Beatles appeal to all kinds of people: men and women, gays and straights, young and old, black, white, red, and any other color you can think of. I agree with the earlier posters in that I'm not sure what makes Please Please Me so much more "gay" than any of their other albums. But the fact that some of the Beatles' fans are homosexuals, IMHO, isn't particularly newsworthy.

[chiliace]

Journalism in its' worst form. Misleading headline used to hook otherwise unintrested readers, I say. I think I shall complain.
Really people; look at the headline and the first sentence.

Fey Four: Beatles outed as gay
Icons.

THE Beatles have been outed.

Please note what the eye takes in at first glance when looking at this headline.
Believe it or not, the split second it takes to shift the attention to the second line, your brain is telling you: "Hey, this writer is telling me that the Beatles were gay." (no judgements here, on THIS writer's part)
Now read the first sentence. What does that infer?
It's a cheap, cheesy hook.

[Ringo77]

Well... the word "outed" shouldn't have been used in the first place. Maybe something like "recognized" or "complimented".

"Beatles recognized as gay icons"

[fifthofnovember]

If you ask me that's a load of crap. There's nothing *remotely* gay about the Please Please Me album, it's in fact one of my favourite albums. It's got a great rock and roll feel to it, and it showcases the developing songwriting team of Lennon/McCartney, and showcases some excellent harmonies.

[Ringo77]

If you ask me that's a load of crap. There's nothing *remotely* gay about the Please Please Me album, it's in fact one of my favourite albums. It's got a great rock and roll feel to it, and it showcases the developing songwriting team of Lennon/McCartney, and showcases some excellent harmonies.

I completely agree with everything said here.

[BadLittleKid]

I don't know is this more hilarious than sad. When they did 'Boys' it was just another joke but of course gaypeople can listen to Beatles if they want to. We can't really have too much gay music.

i'm not gay, i just like Please Please Me.

[Everywhere Man]

I don't think the album is all that gay, anyways a guy who does something considered feminine is in my eyes the epitome of manliness. Maybe Eppy's friends thought that because of his orientation it would be a gay album, and word spread?

[BadLittleKid]

Hmmh...
Eppy indeed had much influence on the Beatles; he created their imago and perhaps he secretly wished that the boys might record some gay music. They were too young to observe all that.

All right, all right, this is getting now out of hands...

[pattiboyd's slave]

"gay music?"

[BadLittleKid]

"gay music?"
Well, once something becomes gay then it usually remains as such. Now this ruined my Please Please me pleasure. I'd advice everybody not to listen to it for several months or you may face the same as I did.

No, I didn't turn into gay, that was it not.

[wildewoman]

I don't get it. :thinker:

What's so gay about "Please Please Me?"
I suggest tho that the Fabs wrote some
songs that everyone can identify with.

Well, "Please Please Me" *could* be referring to oral pleasure...if that's the road you wish to go down (hee hee) but it's clearly addressed to a girl....

Gay is as gay does, I guess.

"The job of the critic is to see a work of Art as it really is not."
--Oscar Wilde, "The Critic as Artist"

[BadLittleKid]

John build "Please Please Me" around the word 'please'. The song is merely what came out of it. I'm not sure did the word 'please' have similar connotations in 1963 as it supposedly has today.

[GirlWithKaleidoscopeEyes]

One of the things that was so great about the Beatles' music was that everybody could identify with at least some of it. Just because gay people can identify with a song doesn't make it a 'gay' song. The only song that could ever really be considered gay is one that is specifically about a gay relationship.

[Lucy]

Well, "Please Please Me" *could* be referring to oral pleasure...

Yeah I have read that explanation of it a number of times.

[mccartneymaniac]

does it matter really we spend so much time on what divides us how abiut just celebrate the music how ever likes it is cool no more titles just accept

[beatlebangs1964]

Well put, Maniac. I think the claim of the Beatles being gay is just a crocka crocka steaming bull, just a crocka crocka steaming bull.