Robert Rauschenberg: I'm An Artist, Honey

There's a thing about Robert Rauschenberg: "the leader of American art's great ménage à trois."

Unfortunately it's by their gormless art critic Jonathan Jones.

PS This Guardian piece on the media's closeting of Robert is very good, I think.

Richard Smith: Seduced And Abandoned

Great to see Bloomsbury Academic Collections reprinting Seduced And Abandoned: Essays On Gay Men And Popular Music - surely one of the most thrilling books about homosexual culture of modern times.

Richard Smith's meant to be a complete cunt though.

Drinking Limits: An Expert Speaks

The Sun.

Chemsex: Vice And Versa

Vice asked for an article cause of all my barely coherent rants about chemsex and their own Chemsex Week.

Here it is. 

In conclusion: It's strange that even though the media can now grasp that groups of gay men taking drugs vertically (ie in a club) are doing it cause it's fun, they still can't seem to see that groups of gay men taking drugs horizontally (ie at a chillout) might also be having the time of their lives.

Fagburn is also monumentally bored with professional cry babies endlessly pushing their gay mis lit narratives.

PS Here's what really happens at a 'chemsex party', HuffPost Gay Voices.

A discussion that sounds like they're telling listeners about the bizarre mating rituals of a newly discovered tribe in the Amazon basin.

LOL!

Trade: So Farewell Then...

“Imagine ‘Dante’s Inferno”. * That’s what it was, you’d go down the stairs and there were people dancing on every single surface. It was the most hedonistic place to be – there were people dancing on tables, dancing on the bar, they were everywhere. The place was rammed to the rafters. A lot of people that originally went to Trade were very intimidated when they walked down those stairs for the first time at Turnmills,” Malice says. They soon changed their minds, at the heart of Trade was a community of like-minded souls, passionate and in love with the place. Newly-converted Trade fans (tagged ‘Trade babies’) really got the sense of that after a few visits.Stewart Who's Turmills and Trade Wave Goodbye to the

The backdrop to the 90’s was also a time of uncertainty, underneath a seemingly hedonistic lifestyle the frightening prospect of HIV/AIDS lurked. Treatments for managing HIV/AIDS were still in the experimental stages, and you just didn’t know what the outcome might be if you got the virus. The community lived under a shadow, and places like Trade allowed people to escape for a few hours and celebrate life...

Laurence Malice recalls the good old days of Trade with Princess Julia on Attitude online.

Trade - The Final is held at Egg, London today.

25 years on what's billed as

A Fond Farewell To Trade in Vice. and Stewart Who?'s Turnmills And Trade Wave Goodbye To The Rave.

For further reading see Cliff Joannou's A Fond Farewell To Trade in Vice. and Stewart Who?'s Turnmills And Trade Wave Goodbye To The Rave.

Oh, and last and most certainly most, here's Richard Smith's classic essay from 1994, Us Boys Together Clinging'.

I guess you had to be there, really etc.

Makes a nice change to see some articles about gay men and drugs that talk about pleasure, rather than the pearl-clutching narcophobic nonsense the media normally push.

Goodbye and thank you.
x

* Not sure Dante's Inferno - where sodomites were condemned to burn in Hell's fires for eternity - is an appropriate comparison, but we'll let this pass.

Trade: Last Dance

Considering the recent club closures, and the increasingly identikit options that are left, that an ordinary night out in London might entail club-hopping around Soho, scooting across the central line to an east London warehouse rave and then ending up at a club in a disused toilet until lunchtime the next day feels like something from an alternate universe. Or just plain made up.

But that’s exactly what used to happen when Trade began in November, 1990. It was London’s first legal carry-on party, which raged at the now-defunct Turnmills in Clerkenwell from 3am every Sunday, and kickstarted an intrepid after-hours clubbing scene that would last two decades. Masterminded by Laurence Malice, it was billed as a gay club but it attracted a diverse crowd and, thanks to its DJs like Tony De Vit, became famous for pushing the breakneck hard house sound (“he took techno and basically camped it up a bit,” says Malice).

At the time, most clubs ended at 2 or 3am and after-hours parties were illicit, even dangerous. The Aids epidemic had also erupted and Malice wanted to create a safe environment for gay men – with a pumping soundtrack. “It was a ridiculously homophobic time,” says Malice. “No one knew what Aids was about so you would have guys leaving clubs at 3am and they wanted to meet, get off with people, whatever, and they were being attacked.” It’s why Trade’s assorted audience was so important. “I wanted straight people to show that gay people are not a problem – that we can mix.”

This inclusivity is one of the most significant aspects of Trade’s legacy, inspired in part by acid house’s togetherness rather than the attitudinal, fashion-focused clubs of the 80s. “It was a crazy group of characters from different walks of life: rent boys, trannies, working girls, muscle marys, industry people,” says regular Trade DJ Smokin Jo of the club’s clientele. “It was such a mixed bag and that added to the fun. It wasn’t a serious night full of musos, it was everyone there with their hands in the air going crazy.” An article first printed in 1994 in Gay Times, now republished on digital dance music anthology DJ History, perhaps sums up Trade’s significance best: “Here there’s a real sense of belonging, of community,” says its writer Richard Smith. “Coming here did me at least as much good as coming out.” ...

Kate Hutchinson, The Guardian.

That article by Richard Smith really is brilliant!

Trade The Final - billed as the last ever Trade - is at Egg London, Sunday October 25th.

Trade: Often Copied, Never Equalled - an exhibition on 25 years of Trade - is at Islington Museum from Friday.

David Hudson writes about the end of Trade here.

Guardian online ran a guide to gay London last week, not sure why.

Morrissey: Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before

I think the sex scene in Morrissey’s much-mocked first novel, List of the Lost, sounds quite fun: “A rollercoaster coil of sexually violent rotation with Eliza’s breasts barrel-rolled across Ezra’s howling mouth and the pained frenzy of his bulbous salutation.” I mean, that sounds better than the rollercoasters I’ve tried at EuroDisney. But the moral of Morrissey’s otherwise terrible foray into literature is: repression can be a wonderful thing.

I don’t mean repression for everyone. For humans, it’s not good, as a rule. But for artists, yes. As a teenager, like so many of my generation, I yearned with Morrissey, not for him. It was only in adulthood that I realised why: he was a gay man born in 1959, facing a triple whammy of Irish, Catholic, and Northern repression. No wonder he hated the gay scene, himself and everyone else, with a twisting, superior self-loathing that royally screwed him up for evermore.

But for everyone else, it was great. In the closet he became a songwriter of genius. Now, I look back and see he was hiding in plain sight — his best songs hissing with anger at forcing his self away. Yet it was coded enough that I never noticed at the time; I didn’t need to. Putting on record after record in my bedroom, his peculiar, dated, suffering became universal. It was a longing made sarcastic.

Repression, paradoxically, restricted Morrissey enough to be creative. Now he has the licence of his latter years to write this novel, he just isn’t editing himself enough. What if Morrissey had been born in Brighton today and found contentment and a lovely boyfriend aged 17? All of his best stuff would never have been written.
Helen Rumbelow, The Times.

Well yes, of course.

Though this point has been made before and - dare I say - far more eloquently in the essays, Ambisexality and Morrissey: The God That Failed in Richard Smith's quite brilliant Seduced And Abandoned: Gay Men And Popular Music.

PS As with the stinking reviews of the Stonewall movie, I can't be arsed compiling all the bad reviews of List Of The Lost.

Thought For The Day: Richard O'Brien

“I’ve never been ambitious. I never wanted to be a star, make a lot of money or be famous. If you’re on your deathbed and you’ve gained the world, you’ve got everything, and there’s nobody there, nobody gives a fuck whether you’ve lived or died. Is that success?” 

Richard O'Brien -  née Richard Smith ! - The Telegraph. 

Much on his trans-ishness, here.

I'm pretty sure the other Richard Smith was the first journalist he told that he was mad for 'chicks with dicks'.

Mika: Good Guys

Mika makes almost quite good record shock!

And it's about TEH GAYZ!!!

If those gibberish lyrics can be said to be 'about' anything.

PS Some barely coherent blah about the song and sexuality from the formerly closeted singer.

Tom Hardy: It's Twins!

TOM HARDY has saved producers of his new film a fortune, by playing both RONNIE and REGGIE KRAY.

The costume department of flick Legend have gone all out on the clobber he wears as the East End twins.

The actor was snapped in character on location in Essex for the first time since taking on the roles...

The Sun.

Kray fans will know that's Tom as Ron, cause of the specs.

Here's a bit more about this exciting movie project.

[Edit: More blah and long lens pics in Wednesday's Mail Online].

Philip Ridley's The Krays is one of Fagburn's favourite films, incidentally. 

Hope this, too, shows our Ronnie to be the screaming gaylord of the London underworld that he was.

Maybe they'll take full advantage of Tom's dual roles and give us a bit of twincest?

PS Why Britain loves a gay gangster, Guardian Film. This is rubbish.

And let's not forget Tom's other forthcoming fillum role...

Why, the resemblance is uncanny...

PS And here's the first official picture...

Not sure what Chris Morris is doing behind him. 

Andrew Sullivan: On Brendan Eich

The guy who had the gall to express his First Amendment rights and favor Prop 8 in California by donating $1,000 has just been scalped by some gay activists. After an OKCupid decision to boycott Mozilla, the recently appointed Brendan Eich just resigned under pressure:

In a post at Mozilla’s official blog, executive chairwoman Mitchell Baker confirmed the news with an unequivocal apology on the company’s behalf. “Mozilla prides itself on being held to a different standard and, this past week, we didn’t live up to it,” Baker wrote. “We didn’t act like you’d expect Mozilla to act. We didn’t move fast enough to engage with people once the controversy started. We’re sorry. We must do better.”

The action comes days after dating site OKCupid became the most vocal opponent of Eich’s hiring. Mozilla offered repeated statements about LGBT inclusivity within the company over the past two weeks, but those never came with a specific response from Eich about his thousands of dollars of donations in support of Proposition 8, a California ballot measure that sought to ban gay marriage in the state.

Will he now be forced to walk through the streets in shame? Why not the stocks? The whole episode disgusts me – as it should disgust anyone interested in a tolerant and diverse society. If this is the gay rights movement today – hounding our opponents with a fanaticism more like the religious right than anyone else – then count me out. If we are about intimidating the free speech of others, we are no better than the anti-gay bullies who came before us.

The Dish.

Not often I agree with Sullivan, but what boring bullies and cry babies some gay people have become.

Just say no to silly faggot witch hunts!

Update: Unsurprisingly leading gaybore Patrick Strudwick begs to differ. Hilariously the record-breakingly hysterical and ideologically muddled Mr Smugtwit accuses Sullivan of being 'hysterical and ideologically muddled'.

Update2; James Ball on Guardian Cif says 'his downfall is a victory for freedom of expression'. Sorry?

Update: Meanwhile all the Queerty gays are MAD AS HELL!

Kate Bush: From The Archives

[SCENE] Kate Bush's home - an island on the Thames in Berkshire. There is a knock on the front door.

Kate Bush: Leave me the fuck alone! I'm an eccentric and reclusive female recording artist!

Dave: Erm, Kate? Sorry, it's me - Dave from EMI. Can I come in?

Kate: [Sighs] Oh, I suppose so. [She lets him in]

Dave: Good to see you! How have you been?

Kate: Oh, the same as always - kooky but endearing. Actually, I've been feeling a bit rubber-bandy again recently. Shall we go into the kitchen?

Dave: Okay...Hey, you're looking good. Nice leotard.

Kate: Sorry, I was doing my Pilates. Can you give me a minute while I slip into something a bit more windswept and pre-Raphaelite?

Dave: Don't worry. I just thought we needed to have a little chat about your new album. It's a teensy bit overdue, love. We did try to call.

Kate: Sorry. I was in the bath...

Dave: Since 1993?

Kate: Tish-ta. Actually, I finished it this morning. Honest!

Dave: Wow! Unbelievable. What's it called?

Kate: No idea. Ummm...Areial?

Dave: Mmmm - intriguing, esoteric, and with a literary reference - like it. Don't suppose you're have time to think about artwork?

Kate: [She takes a piece of paper from the fridge door] Ta-da! What do you think of this, then?

Dave: Erm, sorry, Kate, but this looks like a six-year-old did it.

Kate: My son's seven, actually.

Dave: Okay. So, who have you been working with?

Kate: It's mainly little old me, as per. Brian Eno was going to help out, but he's been busy, 'cos there's been a war on, apparently. Luckily, my brother Paddy was free, so he's played mandolin on most of the tracks. Rolf Harris has laid down some wicked didgeridoo solos, and I've built a few tracks out of things I've sampled. The Hoover, the washing machine, the theme from Countdown, the heartbreaking smash of glass in the bottle bank...

Dave: Sort of a "sounds of everyday" thing, right? Cool.

Kate: More "Sounds of every single sodding day for the last 12 years".

Dave: What have you been writing about?

Kate: I think it's probably easiest if I convey the meaning of my new album through the medium of dance.

Dave: Is it okay if you do it through the medium of words?

Kate: Dreams, dogs, hills, England, the gays, shoes, that sort of thing. But a lot of it's just stuff I half-remembered from books I read for O-Level.

Dave: Sounds like classic Kate Bush! Wait 'till I tell the guys at EMI about this! When do you think you can deliver?

Kate: I don't want to sound like a neurotic perfectionist, but could I have just a little bit longer, Dave?

Dave: Sure. When were you thinking of?

Kate: How about Friday, December 14th, 2012?

Richard Smith, Gay Times, November 2005.

This dudes's quite funny, whatever happened to him?

Pink News: A New Low

So it's come to this...

Sorry, but the stupidity level on this story had threatened to engulf my neck.

Fagburn is particularly fond of this bit - mainly as it contains a two-word quote from The Fall...

The gay public realm has been hijacked by new puritans – bullies, censors, bores.

Bedwetting pearl-clutching fools, desperate to take offence at anything and everything.

I thank you.

x

Update: Quoted in the Daily Express!!!

Brighton Argus: Letter To The Editor

Well said, sir!

Grayson Perry: And Some Old Queen Or Other

Reith Lecture 2 now on BBC iPlayer!

Dear Radio 4 Feedback, Lord Reith must be turning in his grave etc etc...

Photo © Rhian Clugstone of The Beano fame, used by kind permission.

Morrissey: Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before...

I should probably stop going on about her very highness now...

Legal disclaimer: Mention of anyone in this here gay magazine does not mean they are actually a big screaming pansy.

Fagburn: So It's Come To This...

Stonewall's nominee for publication of the year!
Please ignore anything bad I've said about the Stonewall awards in the past and let Fagburn enjoy his moment in the sun. x

Ironically there's bum-all for your favourite gay Nazi Stalinist apologist blogger to whine about today.
But hello new viewers! *waves*

PPS Me Me MEEEE in the Mirror!

More of the fantastic me from GScene!
Other gay media have prety much ignored the awards.
It's a conspiracy!!!

The Guardian: Worst Letter EVER!!!

Perhaps, when thinking about how best to proceed about homophobia in Russia, we should listen to gay people in Russia (Report, 8 August). The Russian LGBT Network has said: "We believe that calls for spectators to boycott Sochi, for the Olympians to retreat from competition, and for governments, companies and national Olympic committees to withdraw from the event, risk transforming the powerful potential of the Games into a less powerful gesture that would prevent the rest of the world from joining LGBT people, their families and allies in Russia in solidarity and taking a firm stance against the disgraceful human rights record in this country. Do not boycott the Olympics – boycott homophobia."
Russia's leading gay rights campaigner, Nikolay Alexeyev, also does not support a ban or boycott. 
Perhaps these people have a better idea about what to do than patronising neocolonialist posturing from the likes of Stephen Fry?

Richard Smith

Brighton, East Sussex

Who is this Richard Smith guy?
He sounds like an arsehole.
He's been to Moscow for like a day and yet he thinks he can pronounce forth on this.
How dare he accuse national treasure Stephen Fry of "patronising neocolonialist posturing".
Wanker.

• The laughably apolitical and banal Gay Star News is - but of course - going to town on the Sochi Olympics. Here they report on someone who's painted their nails rainbow "in protest". You really couldn't make it up.

Update: Russian gay TV journalist, Anton Krasovsky, also speaks out against a boycott.

David Cameron: The Last Word/s

Felt so angry about all this mass hysteria and the misreporting - and about the torrent of pious victimist Twitter crap last night - I wrote this.

PS It increasingly looks like the "apparent fantasist" is a fantasist.
Who knew?
Apart from anyone with a brain.

In conclusion: Things aren't necessarily true just cause you want them to be, and sometimes people lie (even about things that may, in essence, be true)...

Update: To clarify, Tom Watson has said his allegations are about another top Tory secret paedophile ring...

Shameless Plug: Poofs & Pop

POOFTERS, POP AND PANDEMICS

The first in a series of talks organised by the Lesbian & Gay Newsmedia Archive. 

Wednesday 28th November at the Bishopsgate Institute, London EC2.

Richard Smith: The Queen Is Dead: How Pop came out in the 80s (Then went back in again)
Richard is a freelance writer and author of Seduced and Abandoned: Essays on gay men and popular music.

Dr Lucy Robinson: Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me: Aids related charity singles in Thatcher's Britain
Lucy is Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Sussex and author of Gay Men and the Left in Post-War Britain: How the personal got political.

Entry is free, but numbers are limited, so please book and secure your place: Stefan.Dickers@bishopsgate.org.uk  (0207 7392 9200). More details here.

Soft drinks and hard liquor will be available!