[cross-posted at my Deadbeat Bohemians Music Blog]
The Scissor Sisters couldn't have picked a better time to sashay onto the scene. It was 2004, and the country was experiencing fits of crazy homophobia thanks to the gay marriage debate and Republicans like Ken Mehlman (who was gay, unbeknownst to himself at the time, uh-huh) and Karl Rove, who ushered their main candidate, George W. Bush, into the White House for another four years in part by putting gay marriage on the ballot in 11 states and allowing those citizens to vote their dumb prejudices and then pull the lever for Dubya for good measure.
The Sisters' first album, released that same magical year, had the following to say in response to this madness: "Yeah, well, we're still gay, so fuck all y'all." They were a sexy, glitzy, skin-tight, gay-as-hell pop band who didn't give a shit about making middle America accept their lifestyle and who couldn't care less about the institution of marriage. They were too busy shaking that ass.
The standout song on the album was "Take Your Mama," a shuffling, swaggering gem of a song in the mold of 70s Elton John, a hymn to hedonism with its own family values message at its core. It's a fantasy about the best coming out party a young boy prone to wearing overalls and nothing else could ever wish to have.
[continue reading here]
