VARIOUS ARTISTS - CURATED COMPILATIONS

• 2012: Strong Love: Songs of Gay Liberation 1972-1981

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STRONG LOVE: SONGS OF GAY LIBERATION 1972-1981

1) Everyone Involved - A Gay Song; 2) Charlie Murphy - Gay Spirit; 3) Blackberri - It's Okay; 4) Smokey - Strong Love; 5) Robert Campbell - Dreamboy; 6) Mike Cohen - Evil & Lusty; 7) Lavender Country - Cryin' These Cocksucking Tears; 8) Chris Robison - Big Strong Man in My Life; 9) Steven Grossmann - Out; 10) Tom Robinson - Good to Be Gay; 11) Buena Vista - Hot Magazine; 12) International Gay Society - Stand Up for Your Rights; 13) Scrumby & Martin - Hots for a Hustler; 14) Paul Wagner - The One; 14) Conan - Tell Ol' Anita

Songs of love, empowerement and defiance - hidden hits with a big rainbow heart.

I'm going a little personal here to start with - sorry - but I think personal is an appropriate place to begin simply because a compilation of old songs of queer defiance like this hits a little a different when you are flying the rainbow flag yourself. Now, that's sentiment I wouldn't have related so strongly with if I had been writing this review earlier in my life - for many years I didn't consider my sexuality to ever be a point worth raising. I'm writing this during Pride month and that used to be a concept I felt almost alien towards: I've always accepted being gay and never felt I wanted to be anything different, but I also felt no relation to the wider LGBT+ community and if anything I found myself rather estranged by it, being so out of sync with what was considered the general "gay culture", and as a result who I am attracted to became a completely blasé topic for me in the wider sense of things. But people change, positions in your life change, your relationships change, and governments change and so do the people in power who no longer care about making life comfortable for everyone. I still don't perhaps fully relate to everything that Pride is all about but these days I do carry a little rainbow emblem on my shoulder bag and the importance of that representation has grown more meaningful on a personal level. And with that softly cultivated personal connection in mind, hearing music that was written and performed by people who were genuinely gambling around with their wellbeing by being so open about who they loved now strikes a somewhat deeper personal importance (and it certainly brings your own issues into perspective). This compilation came somewhat out of nowhere for me (I can't even remember how I stumbled across it in Bandcamp) but it took me by surprise during a period of self-analysis when it became something strangely comforting - proud - to listen to.

Strong Love gives the spotlight to a group of voices who felt empowered in the aftermath of the Stonewall riots to be who they are and sing it out and loud; the songs here are specifically and intentionally from the perspective of gay men, without downplaying the importance of any other groups (which the liner notes acknowledge too). Much of the material here was distributed through limited circulation at most, some from acts who never amounted to more than some random songs. Only a few artists featured only ever made it to a major label, with their efforts receiving little promotion partly thanks to their open sexuality and their albums now have a status of little below cult records that have yet to be rediscovered by modern audiences. The succinct but tight fifteen-song selection runs a whole gamut of styles, from celebratory and by default rebellious anthems openly celebrating queerness and demanding equal justice, to pop songs of a various degrees of horniness and a handful of forlorn acoustic laments with writers bearing their souls on the injustices they're living through. Some are joyous, others heartbreaking; some are political and others are more personal, though by default given the subject and the times the personal is also political.

From a more "objective" perspective - judging the music and presentation alone - it's a ragtag selection of competent and often fun songs that bear no shame should they be stood next to any more esteemed peers of theirs from this decade. Robert Campbell's "Dreamboy" is vintage 70s dreaminess that bears the hallmarks of classic studio-focused crossroads where art and pop meet, "Stand Up for Your Rights" (International Gay Society) and "It's Okay" (Blackberri) have that post-flower power funk groove going on with sufficient charisma to have become highlights on any more genre-specific selection, "Big Strong Man in My Life" (Chris Robison) is only a rough demo but would've had the clear potential to be a huge bubblegum smash with some lyrical tweaks, or a non-male singer given the times. The collection throws a few curveballs along the way too, even extending to country (Lavender Country's hilariously sassy "Cryin' These Cocksucking Tears") and cabaret (Scrumby & Martin's "Hots for a Hustler", a drag queen stage show in sound alone) - it paints a vivid picture of a vibrant community of varied musicians who can't be pigeonholed and who refuse to compromise on their individuality. The tones and production values flicker wildly back and forth across the fifteen songs which is kind of fun (and kudos for the compilers for making it work as well as it does), and on surface level it's a chaotic representation of a handful grassroots 70s musicians who never made it big but who could have. That alone makes Strong Love a decently good and interesting listen.<

But for a "scene" compilation such as this, the context and concept are vitally important - especially for a collection of this type of theme - and it's the shared spirit throughout that makes Strong Love not just cohesive but also meaningful. Throughout the entire album the connecting thread between the songs is a combination of boldness, bravery and earnestness - everything comes from the heart and the musicians are living the truth they preach in the fullest. Lyrics like "gay is natural / gay is good / gay people should / all come together and fight for our rights" are so blunt that they're from a modern perspective cheesy or even cringy, but put it in the context of a random collective of political youths (Everyone Involved) singing out a statement that few others would with zero desire to hide the message for the masses, and it flips into a genuinely inspiring passage of words. Even the more straightforward love songs sound practically subversive because of a few little choice pronouns here and there, with an impact that countless more contemporary attention-baiting songs wish they had a fraction of. All the songs have such a wide big heart that it strikes a very personal chord, and it makes these generally good obscure 70s pop songs into a whole more resonant bunch. The intimate confessionals obviously benefit from the meaning the most: the genuine heartbreak running through every line of Steven Grossmann listing every in-closet person's nightmares in "Out", the warmth that radiates across Paul Wagner's devoted love song "The One" and the quiet but confident defiance in Conan's "Tell Ol' Anita" and Mike Cohen's "Evil & Lusty" are the most emotional songs of the entire compilation simply because of their unique combination of performance, wider context and intimacy.

(I have to raise "Tell Ol' Anita" here out specifically for being particularly striking. Aimed at Anita Bryant, a former pageant model who became one of the big faces of the anti-gay rights movement, the final gentle kiss-off which also closes the record is a such a stunning combination of sweetness and rebellion. "Tell ol' Anita / There's nothing sweeter / Than the sound of my lover's name" never fails to give me the chills)

Strong Love is really rather powerful at places, but in an affirming and empowering way. While occasionally melancholy, it's ultimately a joyous album that revels in the self-determined freedom of its songs, and while many of the songs are rough around the edges to some degree there's a beautiful warmth glowing throughout. The relatively small size of the compilation - fifteen songs, fifty minutes - keeps things neatly consistent too and while there's always going to be the odd weaker song in any compilation the pace never gets too disturbed. And in case you're wondering - for me personally it's the somewhat musically heavy-handed titular "Strong Love" itself and the admittedly funky "Hot Magazine" that just don't quite measure up to the rest though it's not too far away either. This compilation seems to have generally flown over many people's radars and it's a shame - not only because it would make some kind of poetic justice to have these messages of love to play out more openly now that they can, but because there's plenty of genuinely great songs here that are treasures waiting to be found whether you're an enthusiast of the decade or not. And if you do find yourself falling in a category that makes this all the more personal to you, then consider this a history lesson; one lead by infectious melodies and a freewheeling spirit of togetherness no matter what.

Physically: Digipak with a nice big booklet going through the background of each song and artist, as well as general commentary from both the curators and one of the artists involved.