Please visit my sites Queer Music Heritage and OutRadio

Monday, December 31, 2012

OutRadio Best of 2012 Show




It's my Best of the Year Show, and yes, a Very subjective list.

Part 1 is for Albums and Part 2 for singles or songs from an EP.






Part 1

Mika - Celebrate
Kiya Heartwood - Change (Is Gonna Come)
Levi Kreis - Gonna Be Alright
Rick Berlin - Kitchy
Matt Alber - The River
Andy Units - Sea of Stars
Matt Gold - Oh, Joe
Maia Sharp - Me After You
Veronica Klaus - The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game
Kevin Wong - Books & Drinks
Sir Ari Gold - If I Steal Your Boyfriend
Ezra Axelrod - American Motel
Jay Brannan - Beautifully
Michael V. Doane - Follow Me, Follow You
Krystle Warren - Forever Is a Long Time
Gossip - Move in the Right Direction



Part 2

Gavin Creel - Noise
AG - I Saw Her Standing There
LP - Into the Wild
Jen Foster - You Stayed
Cheyenne Jackson - Drive
Richard Hefner - Girls & Boys
Josiah Carr - Alone with You
Chris Riffle - And I Love Him
Jana Fisher - 30k
Pushovers - Boy or Girl
Kat Devlin - Dear Emmi
Sugarbeach - Led Me To You
Jason Gould - Amazing
Jonas Oakland - Who's That Boy
Darren Ockert - The Rain from London
Matt Fishel - Behind Closed Doors


You can stream or download the show anytime, at


Thanks for listening, JD Doyle




All segments of both shows are archived.
That’s 13 years of very gay music.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

DykeAppella: Lesbian Picnic +3 Video




As I produce a show called Queer Music Heritage, you might expect that I love to honor the work of artists & musicians who did great work, but just did not, in my opinion, get the credit or exposure they deserved. The group DykeAppella fits that description, and they did it with only one album released. Out of Madison, Wisconsin, and recorded in 1997 the album "At the Gates of Heaven" I think is simply wonderful. I love harmony and also very out-of-the closet music, so this CD was for me a given. I plucked four songs from it and put them into a video slide-show medley:



Lesbian Picnic  (original written by Bratton/Kennedy, updated lyrics by Kathy Younger)

Teenaged Lesbian  (written by Kate Canon, 1981; also recorded by Judy Fjell in 1993)

Hollywood Haircut  (written & recorded by Judy Reagan, 1983)

Sit on My Face  (source unknown; but a definite crowd-pleaser; a hidden track on the CD)



DykeAppella was: Tara Ayres, Normajean Bunton,
Nancy Gerber, Emily Jones and Tess Meuer. Their farewell concert was in June 2001.






I am especially pleased that they included on the CD Judy Reagan's song "Hollywood Haircut," as it honors the work done by lesbians in the 40's-60's, paving the way.

You can own your own copy of the CD by visiting Amazon.

You can hear more audio samples at this page of my site:


And in general, see my website, at http://www.QueerMusicHeritage.com

for more information about the history of GLBT music.




Teddy Boys - He Only Goes Out With Boys


I have no reason to think this Canadian band is gay, but it's in my collection for one reason only: the 1980 LP includes the infectious track "He Only Goes Out With Boys." And while they certainly do not look the part on what is, I think, their only release, their name is a nod to the Teddy Boys subculture of 1950's & 1960's UK. Those 60's Teddy Boys were all about dressing up and slicking their hair back, per the photo below.




Per the liner notes the LP's music was from a stage musical, 
but google doesn't seem to know much about them.


Thursday, December 27, 2012

TWO: The Homosexual Viewpoint in Canada


I recently acquired six issues of TWO, and so naturally want to share them, along with my comments. TWO was published from 1964 to 1966 by Rick Kerr, and the office address given was that of the Melody Room (457 Church Street, Toronto), one of two gay clubs he owned (the other being the Music Room). The magazine name was obviously inspired by the American homophile publication "TWO (Truth Will Out)," a supplement to the magazine One, which began in 1953.



The magazine's content was eclectic, with articles, drag photo revue coverage, stories, and lots of teen model physique photography. Of the six issues in my collection, totaling 164 pages, physique photography made up half (82 pages). And the obvious reason was that Kerr also owned two studios, Rik Art and Can Art. He sold photos and books of the photography, advertised of course in the magazine. In TWO there were no nudes, and the "naughty parts" were blacked out with pouch-shaped black marker, a little distracting. You can read all six of the copies in my collection on my website.





There were a few features regarding drag awards or
 festivities on Halloween, and some "serious" articles:


But by far most of the pages were of the late-teen physique photography genre.




Gay Novelty "Record," 1962


This is the gift that didn't start giving...from 1962, this was a "greeting card" packaged as a LP jacket. The gay appeal of course were the front and back photos of two men apparently kissing at a train station.


The close-up of the back cover reveals "suggested titles," many of which actually DID make it to male-to-male recordings in the 1960's, on "Love Is A Drag," in 1962; Zebedy Colt's 1969 LP, and the Camp Records mid-60's "Mad About the Boy."




Above is the 12" cardboard record-shaped insert, and below,
an ad for the item in the April 1964 issue of One Magazine.

I've never seen the other "cards" mentioned; not sure if they were gay.


Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Winter Moon


Okay, you didn't ask me, but I think not nearly enough folks know about the 1995 compilation CD "Winter Moon," which has the subtitle "A Celebration of Gay and Lesbian Singers and Songwriters...And Friends." It's not a Christmas album, though a few songs touch on that. But, my oh my, the collection of artists is superb, as you can see on the track listing. As this CD is available so cheaply (for example, at Amazon) it would be a shame for more people to not add it to their collections. Here are three samplings.




Monday, December 24, 2012

Matt Ryanz - It's Never Enough


What's not to love about a man-on-man video? Okay, this one's not porn, although it does feature adult film star Derek Atlas. It's a sexy telling of perhaps a pending breakup, done by New Yorker Matt Ryanz, who I've played a lot on my shows this year.







Matt even wrote a song for my QMH Xmas Show last year, which of course I played again on This Year's Show...it's that good...:)







Worst Gay Xmas 45 of the 80's?



Houston's Culturcide has been described as an "industrial noise band" and that certainly fits. I have no idea if they were/are gay, but the song "Santa Claus Was My Lover" definitely is. It's also very "local," and makes mention of the 80's hustler bar "Midnight Sun," and Westheimer Street, which runs through the gay ghetto. It's a rare 45; I find several copies for sale in the $40 range, and it no doubt got very limited distribution. This is especially because that song not only uses the backing music for Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," but, well, it was recorded OVER that recording.

Upon googling I was kind of surprised to find the band is still around and even has a Wiki bio. The flip side, which is labeled the A-side, (though the other side is "Side 1") has no gay references but is awful in its own right. It's "White Christmas," done suicide style. Hear them both...(I did warn you...:)





Sunday, December 16, 2012

Brothers Butch - Kay, Why?


This was a pretty risqué recording, especially for 1967, and a very gay one. It's by the
Brothers Butch, and well, that's about all I know about this one, except that it has two quite stereotypically queenie Brits bickering, with Lots of ever-so-obvious double entendres about lubricant.






They were ever so clever...notice the writer credits, and that on the actual 45 they became "The Butch Brothers," instead of the other way around. The flip side is also quite gay, hear for yourself. Oh, did you note it was released on "Thrust Records"..:)



The track can be found on the German CD "Queer Noises: From the Closet to the Charts, 1961 - 1978," which I very highly recommend. It's packed full of obscure goodies.



Saturday, December 8, 2012

Hanukkah Music by LGBT Artists



This may be the first time anyone's done this, but as part of my QMH Holiday Show
 I devoted entire segment (70 minutes) to Hanukkah music by LGBT Artists. 





Part 4 of my QMH Holiday Show

Indigo Girls - Happy Joyous Hanukkah  (2010)
El Vez - The Dreydel Song (2002)
Jill Sobule - Jesus Was a Dreidel Spinner (2000)
Betty - Dreidle Jingle Fiasco (2004)
Captain Smartypants - Dreidel (2007)
Seattle Men's Chorus - My Grandfather Would Say (1997)
Seattle Men's Chorus - Music of Hanukkah (1997)
Debbie Friedman - The Dreidel Song / The Latke Song (2003)
Judith Kate Friedman - Chanukah Tonight (2002)
Schmekel - I'll Be Your Maccabee (2011)
Phranc - Hanukkah Snowman (2006)
Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles - Chanukkah in Santa Monica (2011)
Sandra Bernhard - Miracle of Lights (2006)
Women's Chorus of Dallas - Hanukkah Shalom (2003)
North Coast Men's Chorus - Three Hanukkah Songs (2003)
The Klezmatics - Honeyky Hanuka (2006)
Metropolitan Klezmer - Traveling Dreydls (2006)
Chicago Gay Men's Chorus - Hot Hanukkah (2001)
Heartland Men's Chorus - Boogie Woogie Hanukkah (2003)
Therapy Sisters - Abraham's Lament (1998)
Gay Men's Chorus of Houston - Not in Our Town (2006) 



The above album by the late Debbie Friedman is the only one
I found by an LGBT artist devoted entirely to the season.