18/02/2021
This week's Thursday Scene post reflects on the LGBT club scene of the 90s, from Revenge of the 90s DJ Thom:
After the flamboyance of the 80s new romantic, hi-NRG and acid house movements, LGBT nightclubs and club nights had a wealth of styles to draw on. One of the most prominent was the synth-heavy, melodic European dance tracks coming across from countries such as Italy, Belgium and Germany. The 'euro' sound dominated the clubs throughout the decade, first through 80s synth legends such as the Pet Shop Boys, SAW and Erasure, then with the catchy pop sounds of Motiv8, JX and Alex Party among many others. The sound became more trance-heavy as the Millennium approached, with the likes of Sash!, ATB and Robert Miles being huge club and chart hits.
Deeper underground though, a darker sound was emerging. Starting in 1990, London's Turnmills nightclub launched their long-running club night Trade, which popularised a harder, darker style of house music that became known as 'Nu-NRG' or 'hardbag'. DJs such as Tony De Vit, Tall Paul and Mark Moore (previously of S'Express) embraced the sound and many events would carry on through till sunrise early in the morning!
This 'twisted' sound was also hugely popular in the fe**sh clubs, where acts such as Baby Doc and Stewart Who? tended to appear. The scene was documented in the 1997 film Preaching to the Perverted, bringing the B**M scene to the masses along with an excellent soundtrack.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, this mischievous era for dance music appealed to the likes of Boy George and his late 80s More Protein crew. George was a big-name DJ during the decade, as well as his MP label releasing some classic LGBT hits. These included le***an anthem 'Liberation' by Lippy Lou and the crazy 'Everything Starts With An E' by E-Zee Posse.
By the end of the decade, the hardbag sound had begun to meld into the mainstream hard house scene, and trance had turned pop. The only true LGBT music was that of hi-NRG, the 80s staple for the gay dancefloor. Klone Records released literally hundreds of records during the 90s and noughties, fulfilling every LGBT DJ's needs with bouncy, upbeat covers of big chart hits. Their cover of 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' even reached the Top 40! Their long-lasting CD series Mad About the Boy stared in 1997 and their unashamedly camp sound continued through to the 2010s.
Keep an eye out for tomorrow's LGBT Hits of the 90s playlist on the North Somerset LGBT+ Forum page!
