The homophobia, misogyny and racism that had permeated the industry with the so-called Death of Disco in 1979 spilled over into further marginalizing dispossessed populations as well, as conservatives politicized the AIDS pandemic to illustrate how these populations 'freedom' and hedonistic 'lifestyles' were the cause of the problem. Unfortunately, the dawn of the 1980's also meant the rise of AIDS, which hit these marginalized populations hardest. Photograph: LJ Van Houten/Rex Features Photograph: L.J Van Houten/Rex Features As the 1970's drew to a close, marginalized populations were finally making inroads into the mainstream, gaining newfound rights previously denied to them since the founding of this country.įrankie Goes To Hollywood: (l-r) Brian Nash, Mark O’Toole, Holly Johnson, Paul Rutherford and Peter Gill. It should have been the time to celebrate. Illustration by Mark America, courtesy of Megatone Records.
Sylvester on the cover of All I Need, 1982.
WARNING: There are no ballads in this program. As we celebrate Pride month worldwide, a look back to when Gay men were dying in record numbers due to AIDS and when a record number of Gay men came out of the closet in the music industry to provide the soundtrack to battle the darkness surrounding them with a new form of dance music called hi-NRG that evolved from Disco.
