In the late 1920's and early 1930's in the nightclubs in the country's major cities, openly gay performers experienced a surge in popularity, so much so that the phenomenon became known as The Pansy Craze. This show will not only give an overview of the forces of history that enabled, and later, destroyed The Pansy Craze, but also I'll share with you the rare music of the performers involved. Part 1 will cover the history and the major artists, and Part 2 will provide more by the main players and also music related to that time in our culture. While there is no profanity in the music, some of the selections could be considered âsuggestive,â you should screen them first and decide for yourself.
Produced by JD Doyle
Part 1 - 59:43 Cole Porter - Anything Goes (1935) Savoy & Brennan - You Must Come Over (1923) Savoy & Brennan - You Don't Know the Half of It (1923) Douglas Byng - The Sunday School Has Done a Lot For Me (1928) Douglas Byng & Lance Lister - Cabaret Boys (1928) Bailey's Lucky Seven, with Cliff Edwards - Nobody Lied (1922) Cliff Edwards - Come Up and See Me Sometime (1933) Jean Malin - I'd Rather Be Spanish Than Mannish (1931) Jean Malin - That's What's The Matter With Me (1931) Jean Malin - Frankie & Johnny (1933) "Call Her Savage" clip - Working As Chambermaids (1932) Ray Bourbon - My First Piece (1936) Ray Bourbon - Gigolo (1936) Dwight Fiske - Mrs Pettibone (1933) Cole Porter - The Physician (1935) Bruz Fletcher - My Doctor (1935) Bruz Fletcher - She's My Most Intimate Friend (1937) Bruz Fletcher - Drunk With Love (1937)
Part 2 - 60:01 Fred Rich & His Orchestra - He's So Unusual (1929) Ray Bourbon - Chiropractor's Wife (1936) Ray Bourbon - First Swimming Lesson (1936) Dwight Fiske - Mrs Trapp (1946) Dwight Fiske - Salome (1955) Noel Coward - Mad About the Boy (1932) Noel Coward - Green Carnation (1933) Edward Earle & the Satisfactions - Green Carnation (1967) Beatrice Lillie - There Are Fairies At The Bottom Of My Garden (1934) Durium Dance Band - Let's All Be Fairies (1933) Tessie O'Shea - No One Loves a Fairy When She's Forty (1935) Douglas Byng - And Modern American Ways (1933) Bruz Fletcher - The Prairie (1937) Bruz Fletcher - Oh for a Week in the Country (1937) Nan Blakstone - The Elevator Song (1946) Nan Blakstone - Little Richard's Getting Bigger (1944) Spivy - I Brought Culture to Buffalo in the 90's (1939) Ray Bourbon - Bourbon to the Cleaners (1945) Ray Bourbon - Strong, Solid and Sensational (1945) Ray Bourbon - Take a Lei (1941)
Notes: entire script available on website, at http://www.queermusicheritage.com/may2010.html
For every QMH show I have uploaded several pages to my website, http://www.queermusicheritage.com. The information includes the playlist, script, and photos of the artists and recordings, as I have always considered our music history as a visual as well as an audio experience. In addition the website also includes in depth information on such areas as gay musicals, Songs about Gay Marriage, Songs about AIDS, a Drag Music Discography, an Olivia Records Discography, Womenâs Music Magazines, a number of features on Transgendered artist and countless interviews over the years with the pioneers, then and now, of our music culture. Itâs a huge site, with over 1200 pages, and growing. Since January 2000 QMH has been dedicated to sharing and preserving music of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community
The show airs monthly on KPFT-FM in Houston as a part of the program Queer Voices, but almost every month has additional hours featured on the website. If you air this edition I would appreciate a quick email, at qmheritage@aol.com, so that I can get a feel on where my many hours of hard, labor of love work are reaching.
The Pansy Craze, Parts 1 & 2
(Part 1 contains most of the "history" and can be aired on its own)