Barry Walters gets Mighty Real about LBGTQ Music History
In this interview I speak with veteran music journalist Barry Walters about his book Mighty Real: A History of LGBTQ Music, 1969–2000, the relationship between popular music and LGBTQ identity, and Bowie’s prominent place in that history. Barry explains why his book begins with Stonewall in 1969 and ends around 2000, when the internet fundamentally changed how LGBTQ young people could find information, identify others like themselves and form communities. Before that, he argues, records could provide listeners with information, identification and a sense that they were not alone.
Barry draws on his own experience growing up in Rochester, where discovering Bowie helped introduce him to ideas about sexuality and difference that were largely absent from his surroundings. He recalls encountering Bowie in print as a child, becoming fascinated by his image and buying “Space Oddity” without first hearing it on the radio. For Barry, records such as Bowie’s opened a world in which he felt he could belong.
We discuss why Bowie occupies two chapters of Mighty Real and why Barry considers him one of the most influential figures in LGBTQ music and culture. He distinguishes sexuality from a broader idea of queerness that includes cultural identification, gender presentation and resistance to conventional definitions of what is normal or acceptable. We examine Bowie’s provocative early statements about his sexuality, the impact of his “Starman” performance on Top of the Pops, and the influence those moments had on later musicians. Barry also discusses Bowie’s subsequent description of declaring himself gay as a mistake and his later reconsideration of that statement.
Our conversation places Bowie within a larger musical lineage. Barry discusses Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground as important predecessors whose music engaged with gay and transgender lives before Stonewall and whose work profoundly influenced Bowie. Looking forward, he identifies Bowie’s influence on subsequent artists including Boy George, Duran Duran, Soft Cell, Eurythmics and Madonna, and explains how a later generation used television appearances to create some of the same moments of recognition that Bowie had provided for them.
We also discuss Bowie’s friendship and musical relationship with Iggy Pop, including their appearance together on Dinah Shore’s television program and Bowie’s decision to tour as Iggy’s supporting musician rather than promote his own Low. Barry connects their relationship to the fictionalized treatment in Velvet Goldmine.
Other subjects include Bowie’s 1979 Saturday Night Live appearance alongside Klaus Nomi and Joey Arias, his continuing use of gender presentation and queer cultural associations, and Barry’s decision to incorporate his own experiences into Mighty Real rather than write as a detached observer. Barry explains how his experiences as both a fan and journalist became part of the history he wanted to tell.