June 24, 2025 • 34 mins
From opera houses to niche legends, LGBTQ+ culture has always gone hand-in-hand with popular media and the arts. Icons like Tina Turner, Keith Haring, and Lady Gaga aren’t just outlets for mindless entertainment; they’re beacons of self-expression and defiant confidence that shine across borders AND generations.
This week, the Old Gays pay tribute to the icons and artists who shaped them, reflect on early memories of queer representation, and share heartfelt musings about their own creative ventures, including making their viral videos (naked or not).
What do The Old Gays really think about social media and the internet? Which legendary diva got her start in a gay bathhouse? And how well can our four fellas decode Gen-Z lingo? Let’s just say: this week, The Old Gays “left no crumbs” on the mic.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Ruby have Genjesus status? What is touch gas to craft?
It's a seventy screen And Mike Henry.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
From just Beyond the Lights of Los Angeles and Steamy
Palm Springs, California, It's Mick Robert Bill just say and this.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Is silver Lining with the Old Games.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
Welcome back, folks to silver Linings with the Old Gays.
Today we're going to be talking all about the arts,
the icons, and media in its many forms.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
We'll chat about our favorite forms of artistic and creative expression,
the media before social media. We might even test our
knowledge of the New West lingo what the hell is
it to geek?
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Queerness and the arts have always gone hand in hand.
Many of the most iconic musicians, filmmakers, painters, and more
have been a part of the LGBTQ plus community. Who
are some of our fave artists, musicians, actors.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
One of my favorite musicians and always has been, is
Freddie Mercury. I mean, the energy that Freddie had on
the stage and enthusiasm for his things was absolutely overwhelming.
And he was such a talented guy too. I mean
(01:51):
he wrote a lot of his own material. In fact,
Bohemian Rhapsody is known as one of the best songs
in the world.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
I have Billy Strayhorn, an amazing young man who wrote
quite a bit for Duke Ellington, and Duke Ellington constantly
was protecting him. He knew that he was gay, but
he loved his work and I do too. Just an
amazing young artist at the time.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
Donna Summer is someone who had a tremendous impact on
my gay life because of the disto era of the
seventies and I was out on that dance floor two
or three nights a week, just moving there and also
(02:47):
not on the stage but in the bedroom. Verry White
helped the gay community tremendously.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Y'all listen to him while y'all had said, yo, go yes.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
In terms of the arts, one person comes to mind
to me now, and that's Robert Maplethorpe.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
I mean the contributions that he gave not just to
art in terms of photography, but also to his work
developing awareness of HIV and AIDS. He was very integral
to that movement and I'm sorry to have seen him past. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
He really tried to and succeeded, I think in capturing
the eroticism, the passion of Gay's sexual relationships through his
photographic series of flowers, and he felt that the structural
(03:50):
form of flowers such as orchids, particularly expressed those feelings.
Speaker 5 (03:59):
And those photographs.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Are what really made his career. And because he started
producing art that was more acceptable to the public, that
is what established him in the elite.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
Circles of arts.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
And he also, to me, was an absolute genius in
the art of black and white photography. That was his namesake.
I mean, he was absolutely incredible. He made black and
white photography sensual.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
I can think of another artist, and that would be
Keith Hering, who also died of AIDS And oh gosh,
his work is all over the world. It's in every
museum that you can find, it's on people's walls. I mean,
what a prolific talent he had over just a very
short amount of time.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
And the and the forms I think conveyed a certain
kind of celebration of life. And to me, he always
expressed his figures as action figures. I could always see
him almost kind of moving.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Does anybody remember Bette Midler headlining at the Continental Baths
in New York City. I don't know how many people
remember that. I do Bette Middler's first professional job was
on Broadway in nineteen sixty seven sixty eight something around there.
She was cast as Zetel in Fiddler on the Roof.
(05:38):
And after she left that production, I guess she had
no work to do, so she took up a gig
doing stand up and some songs, kind of a review
at the Continental Baths and she was spoul mouthed. She
told Bell Bart stories. She was just wicked, but she
(05:59):
had so much fun on stage and captured the heart
of the gay community. And now she does children's programming
for Disney, and I think that's an incredible way to
end one career.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
We've been talking about famous people, what about ourselves, our
forms of self expression? I know for me that it
has been art. Art has just always been with me
(06:38):
my entire life. I have attempted when I have the
time to make art. When I was in my early
years grade school years, I took drawing lessons from a
woman who lived in the neighborhood, and then in later
(07:01):
years I took oil painting and pastels from a sister
and a Catholic academy in Jonesboro, Arkansas. And I also
have fortunately been able to express artistically through work that
(07:24):
I've done over the years, including my twenty years of
planning experience in Saint Louis and San Francisco, where I
had an opportunity to help shape cities. And from that
point till today, I have put my work energies into
(07:46):
being a sculptor and making art, and that has been
very giving to me. What about you, Bill, Well, my
self expression is making things pretty. I was born and
raised into the restaurant family, and I was always told
(08:08):
how to make the plates look right and make them
look good. And then when I was in high school,
I got a job in a men's store and it
was my object to make everyone that came in look
absolutely classic looking. And after that, for twenty years, I
(08:29):
went into the interior design business, where I helped people's
homes be a.
Speaker 5 (08:36):
Glorious place to be.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
So I have tried all my life to make whatever
profession I was in to make them beautiful.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
I have lived my life with music. It's all I've
ever wanted to do. Since I first sang and made
my sister pissed off at me on Easter Sunday in
church the thing that she sang, and I just kept
going until my voice changed, and that scared me. So
I didn't even hum for three years because I had
(09:06):
to get used to the lower voice. But music has
carried me. I've never wanted to be a fireman or
anything else. I just wanted to sing. Didn't want to
be popular or famous. I just wanted to sing. But
money hips.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Currently my form of self expression, I suppose is training
and working out. I've made a recommitment to that over
this year, I would say also a form of self
expression for me. Of course, at the videos that we do,
I always put a little bit of myself into it,
and also I tried to apply what the sense of
(09:50):
aesthetic and also skills as an actor that I can
bring to And that's why I'm looking forward to beginning
to reposting new video on a new account that I'm
developing a new profile, so I'm keeping myself busy and
(10:11):
I'm very pleased.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
I also have to say that my feeling is.
Speaker 5 (10:18):
That when you do have a form.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Of self expression of some artistic element of who you are,
that it really helps in living because I feel like
my doing art provides me with an internal energy that
keeps me alive and keeps me fighting and so that's
(10:49):
why I'll keep doing it until my last breath.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Yeah, the beauty of art. Any artists will tell you
that you get more back than what you really put in.
If you give your all, you get so much more back.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yes, you receive so much when you're giving it. In
my singing, I am so truly blessed to feed off
of people's energy. You can find that one or two
people out there that you can connect with.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Speaking of that, how has social media changed the way
we interact with the arts and creative media?
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Well, my feeling is that whatever your self expression is,
that social media brings into greater focus the relationship between
you as an artist than one who consumes your art.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Yeah, it's immediate now, I mean you have to pre
release media to get attention before the fact of some debuting.
And that's the pressure I think on the arts now.
You have to really deliver because we're competing with things
that are authentic, and I think young people who follow
(12:12):
social media are very much attuned to what is authentic
and what is artifice, and I think that is where
the rebellion.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
Is and we have to be conscious about what we
say in that we need to be relevant to younger people.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Can somebody describe what life before social media was life?
Speaker 5 (12:37):
I can.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
It was peaceful and it was a lot easier to
deal with.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Yes, I loved not having a phone. I still love
not having a phone. Sometimes it's harder not to live
without it now. But we don't communicate like we used to.
Everything is with your thumbs.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Yeah, the art of communication, the art of talking to
one another, the art of writing letters to one another,
that has gone away. And that was a very good
way to have an interpersonal relationship with other people.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Before you had to physically go to a place wherever
the action was. You didn't have to sit watching your
phone and connecting through a dating app or chatrooms. And
I also realized that there is less reliant on print media.
And this is what I mean by saying things are
(13:37):
more immediate now. Is that because it is instantaneous and
because no thought is given prior to what you say,
you know, this is where miscommunication takes place. And I
think that art is being lost. But in defensive social media,
first of all, it's not going to go away. And
(14:01):
there's a whole generation of young people who this is
how they receive their information and it's encumbered to us.
If we want to be heard and for them to
pay attention, we have to go where the action is.
And that's the different I guess what I'm saying is
(14:22):
that the methods of communication have changed, but communication itself
has not.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
It is a nice revelation when we do go out
in public for appearances and such, like, hey, there's a
world about here.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Just saying, will you reflect on a moment or period
in your life where media before the Internet had a
definite effect on an important choice you made?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Ted Mack's original Amateur Hour As a kid, I lived
for that show every Sunday and my goal was to
get on it. And just as I was getting ready
to audition, the show ended. But it didn't stop me.
It gave me something to start with and to then
(15:25):
start going on and I will never forget it. Ted
Mac and Ed Sullivan shows were the only shows where
I saw my color people that looked like me. It
was a rare thing, and I remember my family we
would get together around our little square TV and just
watch there's colored people We're on here, And it was
(15:47):
a major thing because we didn't see ourselves all the
time on TV. But that started me going with my music.
It really did seriously good it.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
Were there any other TV music oriented shows that have fac.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Soul Train definitely did. Baby, Yes, I wasn't supposed to
be looking at it. It's a good church boy, But Baby,
did I see so Train? Yes, all all the shows
just just Amos and Andy. I loved them. I loved
(16:29):
that show, the TV version. I didn't get the radio one,
but but the TV version I lived for that to
see Aubrey Della, which was my sister's name, and Amos
and Andy and what Sapphire and y'all don't know him?
Speaker 5 (16:45):
Do you?
Speaker 6 (16:48):
Not?
Speaker 5 (16:49):
All of them?
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Ye?
Speaker 2 (16:51):
When there's few far in between your memorized. Yes, But
those were those were exciting days around our little square,
tiny TV.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
Well, mine was when I was in the sixth grade
and the La County School System had buses that came
and picked us up and took us to the Shriners
Auditorium in Los Angeles, And that was the first time
that I had ever seen an opera and it was
(17:25):
so exhilarating to me. The costumes were gorgeous, the voices
were wonderful, having a full symphony orchestra there playing it
started my love for opera, and it has carried me
on through my entire life.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Do you remember what opera that was?
Speaker 4 (17:48):
Cocy Fantuti?
Speaker 1 (17:50):
And do you remember any of the singers?
Speaker 4 (17:52):
No, I wasn't familiar with the singers at all, but
they all sang very well, Bob. For me, the media
would be print media. And very early in my life,
I was living in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and I had an
(18:14):
uncle who lived in LA And when he came back
to Arkansas on trips to visit the family, knowing that
I was artistically inclined, he would always bring me magazines,
and the magazines were Palm Springs Life and Architectural Digests.
(18:38):
And I would sit and I would thumb through those magazines.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
I probably ten.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
Or so times until I just thoroughly absorbed the images
that I was looking at. And I was just really
so fastened by these home designs that I was seeing.
And it was only recently, and thinking about that that now,
(19:14):
living here in Palm Springs in a mid century modern house,
I feel like I've come full circles.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
For me, it was Saturday afternoon at the movies. I
was not more than ten years old, and I forget
who I went with but we saw Tarzan and the
Valley of Gold. Now, the actor playing Tarzan was a
man named Mike Henry. Mike Henry played linebacker for the
(19:49):
Steelers and then onto the Rams, and then when he
was cut from the Rams, he became Tarzan. And can
you imagine, I was not more than ten years old.
It's a seventy milimeter screen and Mike Henry comes out
in a loin cloth. He was six to the broadest shoulders,
(20:11):
huge chest, and he blew me away. He just blew
me away. And I looked at him, and I my
eyes were just big, and all I remember is in
the movie theater that people were whistling, and really my
(20:31):
eyes were open, and I just looked at him, and
I said to myself, I want to be like him,
and I really do. Credit Mike Henry, if you are
still alive, you are my inspiration.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
And Nick did a very good job of becoming him.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Yeah, but Mike has like six inches on me, so
you know, and I'm talking height.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
We'll be right back after a quick break. Welcome back
to Silver Linings with the Old Gays.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Since the days of Dorothy Many, a pop diva has
been embraced by the LGBT community, particularly by gay and
by men and transpend people just say, who's your paid diva?
Speaker 2 (21:36):
My favorite diva is Patty LaBelle. She taught me how
to sing and to be free and not worry about
what I'm looking like all the time, Just to get
out there sing, do your thing.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
I love it.
Speaker 5 (21:49):
And Aretha Franklin Lord of Mercy, oh.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Ri e spect right up to the end, Bam, and Diana.
Speaker 4 (21:59):
Ross Let's not forget Whitney Hughes. Oh for goodness, I
mean talk about a voice. She went way too early, Bill.
My favorite diva is Tina Turner because I just hear
(22:20):
her voice and hear her start singing, and all I
want to do is get up and dance. And I
can just picture her shuffling across the floor and just
giving the greatest performance of all she really. Whenever I
hear her, I just want to get up and cha
cha And you can do that, baby, Yes, he can.
(22:44):
I suck at Bill's nomination there.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
I'm going to go with Madonna. Madonna has she is
the biggest pop diva that I can think of. She's
had a career that has spanned how many that and
she still is relevant and she commands an incredible audience,
and it's because her material is really good and she
(23:08):
is a incredible performer, and I just marvel watching her
on stage. I was also thinking about Lady Gaga. Oh yeah,
for real.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
I'm really not that much on pop music and that
I'm more classical and that. But when I heard Lady
Gaga and saw her video of poker Face, that just
that just sent me over the top.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
I'm a big fan of Ariana Grande. I didn't think
much of her at the start, but then I started
listening to her lyrics and her vocalization, and then her
performance in Wicked was a revelation. But she has not
achieved diva status yet. You know, by the time they're forty,
they're a diva. Yeah, that's my rule.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
And these were not necessarily people who were gay, but
were very respectful of and catered to the gay public.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
I think as artists, whether you are gay or not,
you can appreciate the struggle that another human being is
coming through. And I think music what makes the connection
is that we can make a connection. How many on
TikTok and on Instagram that you see how many guys
are lifts syncing to define gravity. If you listen to
(24:43):
the lyrics, it's absolutely understandable as to why a gay
person such as myself completely identifies because I have lived
that life and the lyrics express that. But when it's
combined with artistry, with sound, okay, it creates a whole
(25:04):
different dimension. And it adds to it, doesn't it. Yeah,
And it.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Lets us get away, Yeah, to go in. It's like, oh, good,
forget the world now, let's go hit in this world.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Oh yes, that's absolutely you know for ninety minutes, you
forget your problems. Well, what do you think we're about? Haha?
You know, tune into our videos, you know, we're there
to entertain, Yes, to make you forget a little bit
about what's going on in your life and to make
a smile, to bring joy into.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Life and to live, just live. And it ain't easy nowadays,
but we're gonna keep trying.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
We keep trying. So Bill, Yeah, do you have a
favorite video that we have done that has stayed with
you all this time? Yes?
Speaker 4 (25:56):
The first major one we did, which was Good Day, Yes,
and that one just I think it's because we had
to work so hard, we had to do it in
one take, and that one just stands out to me
as as just one of the best videos we did.
Speaker 5 (26:20):
Yeah, it had.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
Kind of a storyline to it. Yeah, like a mini opera.
I agree. That's one of the most memorable for me.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
And it almost killed me. I had just I'd never
done anything like that. You know, it was like it
wasn't I'm like, what that dickens are we doing? How
am I going to get this?
Speaker 1 (26:41):
It was like that.
Speaker 4 (26:42):
But you were the star of that one too, I mean,
you carry a thing. But another very memorable one for
me was when we did Wednesday. That was because of
principally because of our costuming and how we were so
somber and serious. We had to maintain that throughout the
(27:07):
entire production.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
And you know, the sequel is being released, I.
Speaker 4 (27:12):
Know, I just saw that and what just amazed me
is that jumped over to one hundred million views.
Speaker 5 (27:20):
I know, I mean that.
Speaker 4 (27:23):
Was just and here we were just as somber as
we could be.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Well, of course we were somber because by the way,
how many.
Speaker 5 (27:33):
Takes people don't know they hot.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
And it was hot that day and there we and
the makeup, it just oh, its gross.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
And you know what another one is when I found
out that Bill can't sing doing Oh Wacked.
Speaker 5 (27:52):
It was awesome. I am I go.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
When I'm down, I will go and just look at
us and it's just hilarious. I love us. I says,
this was real Because we didn't have time to rehearse
a lot. That was awesome.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
I didn't even know what we were.
Speaker 5 (28:09):
So I just.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
I did.
Speaker 4 (28:14):
Another very memorable one for me is when we did
the showers scene from Little Nasac Little Nasacts, where we
were uh, all naked in the studio with how people
(28:36):
around production people. Well, we were supposed to have these
little modesty panels, yes, but they only really worked if
you shaved everywhere, and so it got so frustrated we
just all got them and threw them and just said,
(28:56):
I don't care.
Speaker 5 (28:57):
About the fifteen people watching us get this.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (29:02):
Yeah, and that was that was that studio was cold.
Speaker 6 (29:09):
Yeah, it was the memories when you look back at
I know, I think we'd probably done somewhere in the
neighborhood of a thousand videos since we started doing this,
if not more.
Speaker 5 (29:27):
Really, Yeah, it's been a fun trip.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
Before we wrap, are you guys up for a little challenge.
Let's see who can guess what these gen z terms are. Okay,
what do you think this word means?
Speaker 5 (29:45):
Riz?
Speaker 4 (29:47):
Well a rhymes was something else. I don't know if
that has anything to do with it or not.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
They changed the jake.
Speaker 4 (29:57):
The association that come the mind for me is ritzy, ritzy,
ritzy rich kind of splashy rich, charismatic?
Speaker 5 (30:15):
Is that what riz is? Oh?
Speaker 3 (30:18):
He looked it up bad? That's okay, I did too,
I didn't. Okay, what about delulu delusion? I wonder why
kids can't spell now days?
Speaker 5 (30:32):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Uh?
Speaker 5 (30:33):
Left no crumbs?
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Now? Come on?
Speaker 4 (30:36):
Well, to me, that's when you've made love to someone
and you've done everything and there's nothing left to do.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
I would say that's accepted.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
So left no crumbs means it was perfection. You ate
the whole thing. It is nothing left?
Speaker 5 (30:54):
Sounds right? What is touch gas? Touch grass?
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Oh? What touch grass means? What do you think of me?
Speaker 5 (31:06):
You need to get more grounded clothes.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
I have absolutely no idea. Just say you've been spending
too much time indoors. You really need to touch grass.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Just get outside, get outshire, that's beautiful, close to nature.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
Well, just get outside and it just says, okay, it's
to touch a cactus.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Okay, as I don't have any grasses, all rocks and
it's pretty sand.
Speaker 5 (31:42):
Yeah okay, and the favorite one, chew Ye.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
Isn't that a character from Star Wars? Now, that's chewy
Oh it's close.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
So cheegye chew Gee. I had no idea what it means.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
It sounds bad to me. It just sounds bad to me.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
That's it's no her look is cheogy? Is that a
good look or bad look? Am I smiling or not?
Speaker 1 (32:15):
Actually it means uncool? Oh?
Speaker 5 (32:18):
Okay, so I was you were right? Okay. How do
they learn these words?
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Because they're on social media and chat rooms that's where
they live.
Speaker 4 (32:29):
I guess anybody can just create a word and it
becomes popular sometimes. That's social media. And also it's amazing
to me how words change and bounce back and forth
between positive and negative and positive and negative.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Yeah. Well, actually that's how language began.
Speaker 5 (32:54):
Yeah, skibitty toilet.
Speaker 4 (33:01):
All right, boys, we're reaching the end of today's episode.
Speaker 5 (33:05):
You know the drill.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
Since this show is called silver linings, Thinking back on
our conversation, what is the silver lining you've gained from
loving and learning from the media Before social.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Media less can be more sometimes.
Speaker 4 (33:22):
Better understanding the world you live in.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
What is the silver lining that I take with it? Well,
it gave me the motivation and the inspiration and the
tools by which I can continue to create.
Speaker 4 (33:42):
And for me, it fostered my love of opera, which
I've had from my entire life.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
That's all for today on Silver Linings with the Old Gays.
Silver Linings is a production of Iheart's Ruby Studio and
The Outspoken Network. We're your hosts Bill Lyon, Jesse Martin,
Nick Peterson.
Speaker 5 (34:06):
And Robert Reeves.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Our executive producer is Sierra Kaiser. The episode was written
by Ryan Amador with post production by Eric Zeiler. Our
theme music was composed by Max Herschanow, with audio direction
and design by Matt Stillo. And if you're having fun
with us, please subscribe to follow along and don't forget
(34:29):
to rate and review the show wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 5 (34:33):
Thanks for listening. CN two weeks in.
Speaker 4 (34:36):
The nineteen eighties, the virus spread rapidly throughout the gay community.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
I actually knew about five people who had died from it,
which was more than enough for me.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
When I told my partner that was the end of
our marriage.
Ruby have Genjesus status? What is touch gas to craft?
It's a seventy screen And Mike Henry.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
From just Beyond the Lights of Los Angeles and Steamy
Palm Springs, California, It's Mick Robert Bill just say and this.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Is silver Lining with the Old Games.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
Welcome back, folks to silver Linings with the Old Gays.
Today we're going to be talking all about the arts,
the icons, and media in its many forms.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
We'll chat about our favorite forms of artistic and creative expression,
the media before social media. We might even test our
knowledge of the New West lingo what the hell is
it to geek?
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Queerness and the arts have always gone hand in hand.
Many of the most iconic musicians, filmmakers, painters, and more
have been a part of the LGBTQ plus community. Who
are some of our fave artists, musicians, actors.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
One of my favorite musicians and always has been, is
Freddie Mercury. I mean, the energy that Freddie had on
the stage and enthusiasm for his things was absolutely overwhelming.
And he was such a talented guy too. I mean
(01:51):
he wrote a lot of his own material. In fact,
Bohemian Rhapsody is known as one of the best songs
in the world.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
I have Billy Strayhorn, an amazing young man who wrote
quite a bit for Duke Ellington, and Duke Ellington constantly
was protecting him. He knew that he was gay, but
he loved his work and I do too. Just an
amazing young artist at the time.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
Donna Summer is someone who had a tremendous impact on
my gay life because of the disto era of the
seventies and I was out on that dance floor two
or three nights a week, just moving there and also
(02:47):
not on the stage but in the bedroom. Verry White
helped the gay community tremendously.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Y'all listen to him while y'all had said, yo, go yes.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
In terms of the arts, one person comes to mind
to me now, and that's Robert Maplethorpe.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
I mean the contributions that he gave not just to
art in terms of photography, but also to his work
developing awareness of HIV and AIDS. He was very integral
to that movement and I'm sorry to have seen him past. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
He really tried to and succeeded, I think in capturing
the eroticism, the passion of Gay's sexual relationships through his
photographic series of flowers, and he felt that the structural
(03:50):
form of flowers such as orchids, particularly expressed those feelings.
Speaker 5 (03:59):
And those photographs.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Are what really made his career. And because he started
producing art that was more acceptable to the public, that
is what established him in the elite.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
Circles of arts.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
And he also, to me, was an absolute genius in
the art of black and white photography. That was his namesake.
I mean, he was absolutely incredible. He made black and
white photography sensual.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
I can think of another artist, and that would be
Keith Hering, who also died of AIDS And oh gosh,
his work is all over the world. It's in every
museum that you can find, it's on people's walls. I mean,
what a prolific talent he had over just a very
short amount of time.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
And the and the forms I think conveyed a certain
kind of celebration of life. And to me, he always
expressed his figures as action figures. I could always see
him almost kind of moving.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Does anybody remember Bette Midler headlining at the Continental Baths
in New York City. I don't know how many people
remember that. I do Bette Middler's first professional job was
on Broadway in nineteen sixty seven sixty eight something around there.
She was cast as Zetel in Fiddler on the Roof.
(05:38):
And after she left that production, I guess she had
no work to do, so she took up a gig
doing stand up and some songs, kind of a review
at the Continental Baths and she was spoul mouthed. She
told Bell Bart stories. She was just wicked, but she
(05:59):
had so much fun on stage and captured the heart
of the gay community. And now she does children's programming
for Disney, and I think that's an incredible way to
end one career.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
We've been talking about famous people, what about ourselves, our
forms of self expression? I know for me that it
has been art. Art has just always been with me
(06:38):
my entire life. I have attempted when I have the
time to make art. When I was in my early
years grade school years, I took drawing lessons from a
woman who lived in the neighborhood, and then in later
(07:01):
years I took oil painting and pastels from a sister
and a Catholic academy in Jonesboro, Arkansas. And I also
have fortunately been able to express artistically through work that
(07:24):
I've done over the years, including my twenty years of
planning experience in Saint Louis and San Francisco, where I
had an opportunity to help shape cities. And from that
point till today, I have put my work energies into
(07:46):
being a sculptor and making art, and that has been
very giving to me. What about you, Bill, Well, my
self expression is making things pretty. I was born and
raised into the restaurant family, and I was always told
(08:08):
how to make the plates look right and make them
look good. And then when I was in high school,
I got a job in a men's store and it
was my object to make everyone that came in look
absolutely classic looking. And after that, for twenty years, I
(08:29):
went into the interior design business, where I helped people's
homes be a.
Speaker 5 (08:36):
Glorious place to be.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
So I have tried all my life to make whatever
profession I was in to make them beautiful.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
I have lived my life with music. It's all I've
ever wanted to do. Since I first sang and made
my sister pissed off at me on Easter Sunday in
church the thing that she sang, and I just kept
going until my voice changed, and that scared me. So
I didn't even hum for three years because I had
(09:06):
to get used to the lower voice. But music has
carried me. I've never wanted to be a fireman or
anything else. I just wanted to sing. Didn't want to
be popular or famous. I just wanted to sing. But
money hips.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Currently my form of self expression, I suppose is training
and working out. I've made a recommitment to that over
this year, I would say also a form of self
expression for me. Of course, at the videos that we do,
I always put a little bit of myself into it,
and also I tried to apply what the sense of
(09:50):
aesthetic and also skills as an actor that I can
bring to And that's why I'm looking forward to beginning
to reposting new video on a new account that I'm
developing a new profile, so I'm keeping myself busy and
(10:11):
I'm very pleased.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
I also have to say that my feeling is.
Speaker 5 (10:18):
That when you do have a form.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Of self expression of some artistic element of who you are,
that it really helps in living because I feel like
my doing art provides me with an internal energy that
keeps me alive and keeps me fighting and so that's
(10:49):
why I'll keep doing it until my last breath.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Yeah, the beauty of art. Any artists will tell you
that you get more back than what you really put in.
If you give your all, you get so much more back.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yes, you receive so much when you're giving it. In
my singing, I am so truly blessed to feed off
of people's energy. You can find that one or two
people out there that you can connect with.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Speaking of that, how has social media changed the way
we interact with the arts and creative media?
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Well, my feeling is that whatever your self expression is,
that social media brings into greater focus the relationship between
you as an artist than one who consumes your art.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Yeah, it's immediate now, I mean you have to pre
release media to get attention before the fact of some debuting.
And that's the pressure I think on the arts now.
You have to really deliver because we're competing with things
that are authentic, and I think young people who follow
(12:12):
social media are very much attuned to what is authentic
and what is artifice, and I think that is where
the rebellion.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
Is and we have to be conscious about what we
say in that we need to be relevant to younger people.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Can somebody describe what life before social media was life?
Speaker 5 (12:37):
I can.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
It was peaceful and it was a lot easier to
deal with.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Yes, I loved not having a phone. I still love
not having a phone. Sometimes it's harder not to live
without it now. But we don't communicate like we used to.
Everything is with your thumbs.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Yeah, the art of communication, the art of talking to
one another, the art of writing letters to one another,
that has gone away. And that was a very good
way to have an interpersonal relationship with other people.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Before you had to physically go to a place wherever
the action was. You didn't have to sit watching your
phone and connecting through a dating app or chatrooms. And
I also realized that there is less reliant on print media.
And this is what I mean by saying things are
(13:37):
more immediate now. Is that because it is instantaneous and
because no thought is given prior to what you say,
you know, this is where miscommunication takes place. And I
think that art is being lost. But in defensive social media,
first of all, it's not going to go away. And
(14:01):
there's a whole generation of young people who this is
how they receive their information and it's encumbered to us.
If we want to be heard and for them to
pay attention, we have to go where the action is.
And that's the different I guess what I'm saying is
(14:22):
that the methods of communication have changed, but communication itself
has not.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
It is a nice revelation when we do go out
in public for appearances and such, like, hey, there's a
world about here.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Just saying, will you reflect on a moment or period
in your life where media before the Internet had a
definite effect on an important choice you made?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Ted Mack's original Amateur Hour As a kid, I lived
for that show every Sunday and my goal was to
get on it. And just as I was getting ready
to audition, the show ended. But it didn't stop me.
It gave me something to start with and to then
(15:25):
start going on and I will never forget it. Ted
Mac and Ed Sullivan shows were the only shows where
I saw my color people that looked like me. It
was a rare thing, and I remember my family we
would get together around our little square TV and just
watch there's colored people We're on here, And it was
(15:47):
a major thing because we didn't see ourselves all the
time on TV. But that started me going with my music.
It really did seriously good it.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
Were there any other TV music oriented shows that have fac.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Soul Train definitely did. Baby, Yes, I wasn't supposed to
be looking at it. It's a good church boy, But Baby,
did I see so Train? Yes, all all the shows
just just Amos and Andy. I loved them. I loved
(16:29):
that show, the TV version. I didn't get the radio one,
but but the TV version I lived for that to
see Aubrey Della, which was my sister's name, and Amos
and Andy and what Sapphire and y'all don't know him?
Speaker 5 (16:45):
Do you?
Speaker 6 (16:48):
Not?
Speaker 5 (16:49):
All of them?
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Ye?
Speaker 2 (16:51):
When there's few far in between your memorized. Yes, But
those were those were exciting days around our little square,
tiny TV.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
Well, mine was when I was in the sixth grade
and the La County School System had buses that came
and picked us up and took us to the Shriners
Auditorium in Los Angeles, And that was the first time
that I had ever seen an opera and it was
(17:25):
so exhilarating to me. The costumes were gorgeous, the voices
were wonderful, having a full symphony orchestra there playing it
started my love for opera, and it has carried me
on through my entire life.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Do you remember what opera that was?
Speaker 4 (17:48):
Cocy Fantuti?
Speaker 1 (17:50):
And do you remember any of the singers?
Speaker 4 (17:52):
No, I wasn't familiar with the singers at all, but
they all sang very well, Bob. For me, the media
would be print media. And very early in my life,
I was living in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and I had an
(18:14):
uncle who lived in LA And when he came back
to Arkansas on trips to visit the family, knowing that
I was artistically inclined, he would always bring me magazines,
and the magazines were Palm Springs Life and Architectural Digests.
(18:38):
And I would sit and I would thumb through those magazines.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
I probably ten.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
Or so times until I just thoroughly absorbed the images
that I was looking at. And I was just really
so fastened by these home designs that I was seeing.
And it was only recently, and thinking about that that now,
(19:14):
living here in Palm Springs in a mid century modern house,
I feel like I've come full circles.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
For me, it was Saturday afternoon at the movies. I
was not more than ten years old, and I forget
who I went with but we saw Tarzan and the
Valley of Gold. Now, the actor playing Tarzan was a
man named Mike Henry. Mike Henry played linebacker for the
(19:49):
Steelers and then onto the Rams, and then when he
was cut from the Rams, he became Tarzan. And can
you imagine, I was not more than ten years old.
It's a seventy milimeter screen and Mike Henry comes out
in a loin cloth. He was six to the broadest shoulders,
(20:11):
huge chest, and he blew me away. He just blew
me away. And I looked at him, and I my
eyes were just big, and all I remember is in
the movie theater that people were whistling, and really my
(20:31):
eyes were open, and I just looked at him, and
I said to myself, I want to be like him,
and I really do. Credit Mike Henry, if you are
still alive, you are my inspiration.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
And Nick did a very good job of becoming him.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Yeah, but Mike has like six inches on me, so
you know, and I'm talking height.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
We'll be right back after a quick break. Welcome back
to Silver Linings with the Old Gays.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Since the days of Dorothy Many, a pop diva has
been embraced by the LGBT community, particularly by gay and
by men and transpend people just say, who's your paid diva?
Speaker 2 (21:36):
My favorite diva is Patty LaBelle. She taught me how
to sing and to be free and not worry about
what I'm looking like all the time, Just to get
out there sing, do your thing.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
I love it.
Speaker 5 (21:49):
And Aretha Franklin Lord of Mercy, oh.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Ri e spect right up to the end, Bam, and Diana.
Speaker 4 (21:59):
Ross Let's not forget Whitney Hughes. Oh for goodness, I
mean talk about a voice. She went way too early, Bill.
My favorite diva is Tina Turner because I just hear
(22:20):
her voice and hear her start singing, and all I
want to do is get up and dance. And I
can just picture her shuffling across the floor and just
giving the greatest performance of all she really. Whenever I
hear her, I just want to get up and cha
cha And you can do that, baby, Yes, he can.
(22:44):
I suck at Bill's nomination there.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
I'm going to go with Madonna. Madonna has she is
the biggest pop diva that I can think of. She's
had a career that has spanned how many that and
she still is relevant and she commands an incredible audience,
and it's because her material is really good and she
(23:08):
is a incredible performer, and I just marvel watching her
on stage. I was also thinking about Lady Gaga. Oh yeah,
for real.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
I'm really not that much on pop music and that
I'm more classical and that. But when I heard Lady
Gaga and saw her video of poker Face, that just
that just sent me over the top.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
I'm a big fan of Ariana Grande. I didn't think
much of her at the start, but then I started
listening to her lyrics and her vocalization, and then her
performance in Wicked was a revelation. But she has not
achieved diva status yet. You know, by the time they're forty,
they're a diva. Yeah, that's my rule.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
And these were not necessarily people who were gay, but
were very respectful of and catered to the gay public.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
I think as artists, whether you are gay or not,
you can appreciate the struggle that another human being is
coming through. And I think music what makes the connection
is that we can make a connection. How many on
TikTok and on Instagram that you see how many guys
are lifts syncing to define gravity. If you listen to
(24:43):
the lyrics, it's absolutely understandable as to why a gay
person such as myself completely identifies because I have lived
that life and the lyrics express that. But when it's
combined with artistry, with sound, okay, it creates a whole
(25:04):
different dimension. And it adds to it, doesn't it. Yeah,
And it.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Lets us get away, Yeah, to go in. It's like, oh, good,
forget the world now, let's go hit in this world.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Oh yes, that's absolutely you know for ninety minutes, you
forget your problems. Well, what do you think we're about? Haha?
You know, tune into our videos, you know, we're there
to entertain, Yes, to make you forget a little bit
about what's going on in your life and to make
a smile, to bring joy into.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Life and to live, just live. And it ain't easy nowadays,
but we're gonna keep trying.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
We keep trying. So Bill, Yeah, do you have a
favorite video that we have done that has stayed with
you all this time? Yes?
Speaker 4 (25:56):
The first major one we did, which was Good Day, Yes,
and that one just I think it's because we had
to work so hard, we had to do it in
one take, and that one just stands out to me
as as just one of the best videos we did.
Speaker 5 (26:20):
Yeah, it had.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
Kind of a storyline to it. Yeah, like a mini opera.
I agree. That's one of the most memorable for me.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
And it almost killed me. I had just I'd never
done anything like that. You know, it was like it
wasn't I'm like, what that dickens are we doing? How
am I going to get this?
Speaker 1 (26:41):
It was like that.
Speaker 4 (26:42):
But you were the star of that one too, I mean,
you carry a thing. But another very memorable one for
me was when we did Wednesday. That was because of
principally because of our costuming and how we were so
somber and serious. We had to maintain that throughout the
(27:07):
entire production.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
And you know, the sequel is being released, I.
Speaker 4 (27:12):
Know, I just saw that and what just amazed me
is that jumped over to one hundred million views.
Speaker 5 (27:20):
I know, I mean that.
Speaker 4 (27:23):
Was just and here we were just as somber as
we could be.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Well, of course we were somber because by the way,
how many.
Speaker 5 (27:33):
Takes people don't know they hot.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
And it was hot that day and there we and
the makeup, it just oh, its gross.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
And you know what another one is when I found
out that Bill can't sing doing Oh Wacked.
Speaker 5 (27:52):
It was awesome. I am I go.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
When I'm down, I will go and just look at
us and it's just hilarious. I love us. I says,
this was real Because we didn't have time to rehearse
a lot. That was awesome.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
I didn't even know what we were.
Speaker 5 (28:09):
So I just.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
I did.
Speaker 4 (28:14):
Another very memorable one for me is when we did
the showers scene from Little Nasac Little Nasacts, where we
were uh, all naked in the studio with how people
(28:36):
around production people. Well, we were supposed to have these
little modesty panels, yes, but they only really worked if
you shaved everywhere, and so it got so frustrated we
just all got them and threw them and just said,
(28:56):
I don't care.
Speaker 5 (28:57):
About the fifteen people watching us get this.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (29:02):
Yeah, and that was that was that studio was cold.
Speaker 6 (29:09):
Yeah, it was the memories when you look back at
I know, I think we'd probably done somewhere in the
neighborhood of a thousand videos since we started doing this,
if not more.
Speaker 5 (29:27):
Really, Yeah, it's been a fun trip.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
Before we wrap, are you guys up for a little challenge.
Let's see who can guess what these gen z terms are. Okay,
what do you think this word means?
Speaker 5 (29:45):
Riz?
Speaker 4 (29:47):
Well a rhymes was something else. I don't know if
that has anything to do with it or not.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
They changed the jake.
Speaker 4 (29:57):
The association that come the mind for me is ritzy, ritzy,
ritzy rich kind of splashy rich, charismatic?
Speaker 5 (30:15):
Is that what riz is? Oh?
Speaker 3 (30:18):
He looked it up bad? That's okay, I did too,
I didn't. Okay, what about delulu delusion? I wonder why
kids can't spell now days?
Speaker 5 (30:32):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Uh?
Speaker 5 (30:33):
Left no crumbs?
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Now? Come on?
Speaker 4 (30:36):
Well, to me, that's when you've made love to someone
and you've done everything and there's nothing left to do.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
I would say that's accepted.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
So left no crumbs means it was perfection. You ate
the whole thing. It is nothing left?
Speaker 5 (30:54):
Sounds right? What is touch gas? Touch grass?
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Oh? What touch grass means? What do you think of me?
Speaker 5 (31:06):
You need to get more grounded clothes.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
I have absolutely no idea. Just say you've been spending
too much time indoors. You really need to touch grass.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Just get outside, get outshire, that's beautiful, close to nature.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
Well, just get outside and it just says, okay, it's
to touch a cactus.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Okay, as I don't have any grasses, all rocks and
it's pretty sand.
Speaker 5 (31:42):
Yeah okay, and the favorite one, chew Ye.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
Isn't that a character from Star Wars? Now, that's chewy
Oh it's close.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
So cheegye chew Gee. I had no idea what it means.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
It sounds bad to me. It just sounds bad to me.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
That's it's no her look is cheogy? Is that a
good look or bad look? Am I smiling or not?
Speaker 1 (32:15):
Actually it means uncool? Oh?
Speaker 5 (32:18):
Okay, so I was you were right? Okay. How do
they learn these words?
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Because they're on social media and chat rooms that's where
they live.
Speaker 4 (32:29):
I guess anybody can just create a word and it
becomes popular sometimes. That's social media. And also it's amazing
to me how words change and bounce back and forth
between positive and negative and positive and negative.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Yeah. Well, actually that's how language began.
Speaker 5 (32:54):
Yeah, skibitty toilet.
Speaker 4 (33:01):
All right, boys, we're reaching the end of today's episode.
Speaker 5 (33:05):
You know the drill.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
Since this show is called silver linings, Thinking back on
our conversation, what is the silver lining you've gained from
loving and learning from the media Before social.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Media less can be more sometimes.
Speaker 4 (33:22):
Better understanding the world you live in.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
What is the silver lining that I take with it? Well,
it gave me the motivation and the inspiration and the
tools by which I can continue to create.
Speaker 4 (33:42):
And for me, it fostered my love of opera, which
I've had from my entire life.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
That's all for today on Silver Linings with the Old Gays.
Silver Linings is a production of Iheart's Ruby Studio and
The Outspoken Network. We're your hosts Bill Lyon, Jesse Martin,
Nick Peterson.
Speaker 5 (34:06):
And Robert Reeves.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Our executive producer is Sierra Kaiser. The episode was written
by Ryan Amador with post production by Eric Zeiler. Our
theme music was composed by Max Herschanow, with audio direction
and design by Matt Stillo. And if you're having fun
with us, please subscribe to follow along and don't forget
(34:29):
to rate and review the show wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 5 (34:33):
Thanks for listening. CN two weeks in.
Speaker 4 (34:36):
The nineteen eighties, the virus spread rapidly throughout the gay community.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
I actually knew about five people who had died from it,
which was more than enough for me.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
When I told my partner that was the end of
our marriage.
Popular Podcasts
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.