Queer The Music: Jake Shears On The Songs That Changed Lives
Jake Shears celebrates the anthems that have dominated dancefloors and shaped queer lives. Throughout the history of popular music, queer artists have made huge contributions - often at great expense and risk to themselves personally and professionally. This podcast shines a spotlight on those who trailblazed paths towards self expression. Join Scissor Sisters’ frontman Jake Shears and his guests as he unearths these important stories song by song. Executive Producer: Alice Williams, Producer: Debbie Kilbride, Research: Mark Wood and Luke Wheatley
Episodes
December 19, 2024 • 48 mins
In this festive edition of Queer the Music Jake sits down with the iconic Holly Johnson, the front man of Frankie Goes To Hollywood, to discuss the 1984 UK number one single and enduring Christmas song, ‘The Power of Love’.
The Power of Love came out during a time of social and political turmoil in the UK. Between Thatcherism, the miner strike and an encroaching AIDS epidemic the world was becoming a scary place for the LGBTQ+ comm...
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December 2, 2024 • 59 mins
It's the Season Finale of Queer The Music and we have a big one for you! It's none other than Neil Tennant to talk about Pet Shop Boys' 1987 smash hit 'It's A Sin'.
Neil joined Jake on his sofa to talk about making the song, the meaning behind the lyrics & his brilliant music career. We cover a lot of ground in this episode and learn so much about many of Pet Shop Boys songs, their collaborations and creative process.
Thank you t...
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November 25, 2024 • 48 mins
Have you heard the news?? Scissors Sisters are reforming and going on tour next May so for this special edition of Queer The Music, recorded in front of an audience at The Phoenix Arts club in London, we celebrate one of the songs that started it all, a song that is instantly recognizable from the first chord and one that the LGBTQ+ community have taken to their hearts, it's 2004's 'Take Your Mama'
Longtime friend and associate of...
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November 18, 2024 • 53 mins
This episode celebrates the song 'Midnight Radio', by Stephen Trask, the epic finale song from the ground-breaking film and stage musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Jake is joined at his home in New Orleans by the creator, director and star of this cult classic, John Cameron Mitchell, to talk about where the ideas for the musical came from, it's reception, the making of the film and its enduring significance.
Learn more about your ...
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November 11, 2024 • 47 mins
Queer The Music not only shines a light on songs by queer artists but also those that have been adopted by the LGBTQ+ community and in this episode we’re celebrating an absolute banger and one that has well and truly been claimed by the queer community - it’s the unbelievably uplifting call to arms ‘Free Yourself’ by Jessie Ware.
Tune in to hear Jake and Jessie chat about how the song came about, her influences, creative process, ...
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November 4, 2024 • 39 mins
In this episode of Queer The Music we’re shining a light on an incredible artist as we celebrate ‘Explode’ by the rapper and ‘Queen of Bounce’ Big Freedia.
Big Freedia, “The Queen Diva,” not only brought bounce music to the mainstream but has become a cultural icon, an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and an ambassador for New Orleans.
Big Freedia joined Jake at his house in New Orleans to talk about how the song was conceived, he...
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October 29, 2024 • 52 mins
This week on Queer The Music we welcome the great singer songwriter John Grant to talk about his epic song Glacier.
Glacier is the standout track from John's 2013 album 'Pale Green Ghosts' and is about the pain of growing up gay in a hostile environment, which for John was his conservative Methodist upbringing. It’s an emotional tour de force with hauntingly beautiful orchestration and powerful lyrics. We hear about how this song ...
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October 21, 2024 • 44 mins
This week on Queer The Music we celebrate the phenomenal artist Little Richard and his groundbreaking song 'Tutti Frutti'. We can’t underplay the impact that this one song had on popular music at the time, Little Richard is an artist that sent shockwaves through popular music in the 1950s and his influence is still apparent to this day.
To find out more about this extraordinary artist Jake is joined by Charles Glenn, bass player w...
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October 14, 2024 • 45 mins
We're back with Season 2 of 'Queer The Music' and what better way to kick off this series with the brilliant Beth Ditto to talk about the anthem that is Gossip’s ‘Standing In The Way of Control’.
The powerful and absolute banger of a track is known for being a response to George W Bush’s 2004 Federal Marriage Amendment which attempted to outlaw same sex marriage in the US. In this episode Beth goes into detail about where the ide...
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April 8, 2024 • 51 mins
We have a bonus episode for you! Join us as we are celebrating the brilliant ‘Fast Slow Disco’ the up-tempo reworking of ‘Slow Disco’ by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Annie Clark, who goes by the stage name St Vincent.
Annie began her music career as a member of the Polyphonic Spree, and has since released 7 critically acclaimed albums, picked up 3 Grammy awards, collaborated with the likes of Taylor Swift and David ...
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March 4, 2024 • 43 mins
For our last episode of this current series we celebrate the brilliant 'Going To A Town' by singer, songwriter Rufus Wainwright. The song, which was the first single from Rufus’s 2007 album 'Release the Stars', has garnered huge critical acclaim and has been covered by artists from George Michael to Lily Allen however its critique of the United States and the war in Iraq provoked strong negative reactions in audiences and when he p...
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February 26, 2024 • 45 mins
The hit '1950' is the focus of this week's episode - Jake speaks to American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mikaela Straus, better known by her stage name King Princess, about the making of the song, queer representation, her influences and how her gender identity impacts her music.
1950 was King Princess' platinum certified debut single, it has had over 21 million views on YouTube and has been streamed over 550 milli...
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February 19, 2024 • 37 mins
This episode celebrates a hit from 2015 that went straight to the top of the UK Charts and was named song of the year by Time magazine. It’s the compulsively danceable ‘King’ by electro-pop then-trio Years and Years. Jake is joined by Musician and Actor Olly Alexander, the then frontman of Years & Years. Olly is a huge champion of LGBTQ+ issues, proudly celebrating his queerness by writing inclusive songs, displaying queer love in ...
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February 12, 2024 • 36 mins
Cult feminist musician and artist, Peaches exploded onto the music scene in 2000 with her punky, electroclash album The Teaches of Peaches and it’s standout hit 'Fuck the Pain Away'. She’s been pushing the boundaries ever since, making genderqueer work that is sex and body positive and has led the way for successive generations of artists to diddle their skittles (hi Beyonce).
In this episode Jake speaks to Peaches about the making...
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February 5, 2024 • 31 mins
Andy Bell was out and proud from the get go, fronting synth pop duo Erasure who sold over 20 million albums and had an incredible 17 Top 10 singles. This episode celebrates the most enduring of all their records, the 1988 hit ‘A Little Respect’. Considered by many as the ultimate Pride Anthem, to this day it still gets dance floors heaving and crowds singing their hearts out. Jake and Andy discuss the making of the song, the gay sc...
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January 29, 2024 • 52 mins
This episode celebrates trailblazing diva Sylvester James and his iconic disco anthem ‘You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)’. Black, gay and gender fluid (before that was even a term), Sylvester’s uncompromising attitude paved the way for generations of queer artists.
Longtime collaborator and close friend Jeanie Tracy shares intimate memories of working with Sylvester and biographer Josh Gamson paints a picture of San Francisco in the 1...
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January 29, 2024 • 38 mins
Since leaving her Indie band ‘Slow Club’ and going solo Rebecca Lucy Taylor (aka Self Esteem) has been releasing patriarchy-smashing anthems and shining a spotlight on the under-represented experiences of queer women. In this episode Jake talks to his West End Cabaret co-star Self Esteem about her brilliant single “I Do This All The Time” which is about how complicated it is to just be a human.
You can watch the full episode on M...
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January 22, 2024 • 1 min
Jake Shears celebrates the anthems that have dominated dancefloors and shaped queer lives. Throughout the history of popular music, queer artists have made huge contributions - often at great expense and risk to themselves personally and professionally. This podcast shines a spotlight on those who trailblazed paths towards self expression. Join Scissor Sisters’ frontman Jake Shears and his guests as he unearths these important stor...
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