On limited Baby Pink vinyl. Originally released on CD in 2012, Chapter's landmark compilation of 70s gay musical
pioneers gets a vinyl release for the first time ever - and on pink vinyl to boot!
Strong Love explores the first wave of openly gay songwriting, emerging
after New York's Stonewall Riots kickstarted the modern gay rights
movement in 1969. It took just a few years for the defiant chanting and
interlocked arms of early 70s pride marches to reverberate onto record,
and Strong Love begins with the earliest known example, 1972's A Gay Song
by London hippie collective Everyone Involved.
Across 15 tracks, the compilation takes in disarmingly personal folk,
uplifting soul, outsider country and dark synth-rock. But tellingly, none
of it's songs could be considered well-known. New York's Steven
Grossman released the first major label album by an openly gay artist in
1974, and Tom Robinson hit the UK Top 20 with the fiery Glad To Be Gay
in 1978, but these are the exceptions. The coy ambivalence of Lou Reed
and David Bowie was about as sexually adventurous as the 1970s music
industry got, and most Strong Love artists released their own self-funded
recordings in very limited numbers.
Unlike their lesbian counterparts, who joined forces to create long-lasting
record labels, strong distribution networks and considerable sales figures,
gay male musicians in the 1970s existed largely in solitary bubbles. Which
doesn't mean they didn't carve out niches of their own. Chris Robison
played with the New York Dolls and Elephant's Memory, while LA glam
seducer Smokey saw members of the Stooges and Quiet Riot pass
through his backing band. Steven Grossman was covered by Twiggy and
Scrumbly & Martin are infamous for their work with San Francisco drag
hippies the Cockettes.
Strong Love illustrate the vision, talent and raw courage that drove 1970s
songwriters to sacrifice popular careers for the sake of honesty and selfexpression. Compiled by Chapter Music's Guy Blackman, with an
evocative introduction from drummer Richard Dworkin (who played
with Blackberri and Buena Vista), the album is a powerful tribute to
pioneering artists whose music has been neglected for too long.
"Highly recommended" - Pitchfork
"A collection of protest songs worthy of the 'classic' moniker" - Beat Magazine