Yep. I came here for this comment. "I Was Born This Way" came out (pun intended) on Motown. Crazy to hear how progressive Berry and team were back in the day.
You are reaching. Of course some male singers were pretty. That doesn’t mean anything about their sexuality.
And of course you’re ignoring the Temptations, the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Sam and Dave, James Brown, Sam Cooke (very handsome) and lots of other male singers.
Not reaching - just pointing out the less talked about history, which is the point of this Substack. Tony Washington of the Dynamic Superiors was an out, gay man. Melvin Lindsey was a gay man. We talk plenty already about the Temptations the Four Tops, etc.
Posts like this are exactly why I'm glad to have you back in my inbox. Such important history here and written so engagingly yet accessibly. Very late contender for my favorite Substack post of August????
This is such a great piece of history I didn't know, especially the Dynamic Superiors story, a Motown act with an openly gay lead singer performing in makeup in 1975 is not something I'd ever heard about. The 'Ain't Nobody Straight in L.A.' detail is wild too, that kind of casual acceptance in a mainstream R&B song from that era feels almost unbelievable. I write about songs with gay roots and history sometimes myself, and this is exactly the kind of buried context I love digging into. Really well done.
I can't think of any aspect of American creative art in any genre that wasn't written by queer influences. Take Little Richard there was a healthy subculture of clubs where Little Richard could play and where he was known and other artists as well. Just and look at all of the gay musicians in jazz Billy Strayhorn right from the very beginning right at the top. Jazz players were as open-minded about queer musicians as they were about white musicians ... Could the f***** play that's all that's all it ever was. Please keep telling the stories.
It’s really amazing to me that in the year 2026, about to be 2027 there still exists Other Humans that still have a problem with People that are simply “Different!”
Talk about closed minded, Backwards Conservatives.
I’m not Gay, but in the ‘70’s & the beginning of the ‘80’s, I used to work as a DJ playing for all kinds of events & Parties for all different types of people.
And, I can honestly say that the most Fun Parties I ever played for were Gay & LesbianPeople.
They were for the most part, accepting, Innovative, Talented, And enjoyable people that always knew how to have Fun, even though so many were so mean and cruel to them.
Kudos to all those that I briefly met, and had fun, DJ-ing for!
Great article!
Such a well-researched and interesting piece!
And let's not forget Carl Bean in 1977. Well written and researched Jami, as usual. Thanks for sharing
Yep. I came here for this comment. "I Was Born This Way" came out (pun intended) on Motown. Crazy to hear how progressive Berry and team were back in the day.
Also note that the original 1975 version of “I Was Born This Way” by Valentino was picked up by Motown for distribution.
Yep, good point!
You are reaching. Of course some male singers were pretty. That doesn’t mean anything about their sexuality.
And of course you’re ignoring the Temptations, the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Sam and Dave, James Brown, Sam Cooke (very handsome) and lots of other male singers.
Not reaching - just pointing out the less talked about history, which is the point of this Substack. Tony Washington of the Dynamic Superiors was an out, gay man. Melvin Lindsey was a gay man. We talk plenty already about the Temptations the Four Tops, etc.
Posts like this are exactly why I'm glad to have you back in my inbox. Such important history here and written so engagingly yet accessibly. Very late contender for my favorite Substack post of August????
This is fantastic Jami, thanks for sharing this important musical history
Just here to say that it's awesome to see you back! This was fantastic.
This is such a great piece of history I didn't know, especially the Dynamic Superiors story, a Motown act with an openly gay lead singer performing in makeup in 1975 is not something I'd ever heard about. The 'Ain't Nobody Straight in L.A.' detail is wild too, that kind of casual acceptance in a mainstream R&B song from that era feels almost unbelievable. I write about songs with gay roots and history sometimes myself, and this is exactly the kind of buried context I love digging into. Really well done.
As a metro Detroit native whose mother and father loved Motown, these are new stories to me! Thank you for sharing them.
I can't think of any aspect of American creative art in any genre that wasn't written by queer influences. Take Little Richard there was a healthy subculture of clubs where Little Richard could play and where he was known and other artists as well. Just and look at all of the gay musicians in jazz Billy Strayhorn right from the very beginning right at the top. Jazz players were as open-minded about queer musicians as they were about white musicians ... Could the f***** play that's all that's all it ever was. Please keep telling the stories.
It’s really amazing to me that in the year 2026, about to be 2027 there still exists Other Humans that still have a problem with People that are simply “Different!”
Talk about closed minded, Backwards Conservatives.
I’m not Gay, but in the ‘70’s & the beginning of the ‘80’s, I used to work as a DJ playing for all kinds of events & Parties for all different types of people.
And, I can honestly say that the most Fun Parties I ever played for were Gay & LesbianPeople.
They were for the most part, accepting, Innovative, Talented, And enjoyable people that always knew how to have Fun, even though so many were so mean and cruel to them.
Kudos to all those that I briefly met, and had fun, DJ-ing for!
@jackieralston more fodder for Motown Mondays!
Brilliant. Thanks for writing this. Well-researched and fascinating.
I also came in here to mention Carl Bean. Great piece as always, Jami! That Miracles track is one I played quite a bit a while back.