QMH November 2008 Script

 

Sunny McHale Skyedancer - Lesbian Nation (1991)
Adrienne Torf - Lullaby (1990)

I'm JD Doyle and this is Queer Voices on KPFT, and this segment is called Queer Music Heritage. So, how could I resist a song called "Lesbian Nation"? It's by a singer/activist out of the Portland, Oregon, area who called herself Sunny McHale Skyedancer, and that was the title track from, as far as I know, her only release, a cassette tape from 1991.

And I thought that was the perfect way to start what is going to be a very unusual show. Wait til you hear the title, "Lesbians On Cassette." And the criteria was, an artist's recording could only have been released on cassette tape, not on vinyl or CD, or reissued on CD. So this puts us mostly in the 1980s and 90s, with releases almost exclusively by independent artists. These are the ones who generally sold their tapes at live performances, in coffee houses, or the few women's bookstores, because that was really the only means they had of getting their music out there. They had no label backing, so tapes were also cheaper to produce, and some were even homemade, or made as demos.

I've culled through the approximately 400 women's music tapes in my collection, and did lots of research, trying to determine if the recording also came out in another format. Like for example, I've a great tape from 1988 by The Fabulous Dyketones, but they've now reissued it on CD, so that one's out. And this is not a perfect science, my research materials and the internet only go so far, but I think I was fairly accurate in keeping what you'll hear to my guidelines. Also, like on most of my shows, you'll notice that I'm attracted to songs where the lyrics are blatantly gay or lesbian. One way I explain this is that I think I was about 30 before I ever heard a song that really spoke to me as a gay person, a song where the pronouns were correct for me and the subject matter actually addressed my gay life. So, in my own way, I'm getting this music out there, music that back then, never had a chance of being played on the radio.

By the way the music you've been hearing under this introduction, of course comes from a cassette, from 1990 by Adrienne Torf. She's played on the recordings of Holly Near, Meg Christian, Margie Adam, and Ferron, and is acclaimed for her own solo work. The song I picked was "Lullaby" from her tape "Find A Way." Let's hear just a few more seconds of it, without my talking over it.

Next up is a song by a New York area artist named Melinda, and her only release was from 1994 and was named "Dyke Dramas." It's an excellent recording, and from it you'll hear "Lez-Be Friends."

Melinda - Lez-Be Friends (1994)
Jane Howard - Something About Her (1989)

I followed Melinda with kind of a country song, by Jane Howard. "Something About Her" was from her 1989 release "Passage."

[note: Melinda now has a job that forced her to ask me to remove her last name from my site, so it will not show up on search engines]

I'm going next to a song that was so popular that not only did it appear on this artist's cassette but she also released a cassette single of it, which was very unusual for an independent artist to do. Her name is Leah Zicari and her debut release in 1990 was called "Wouldn't It Be Fun," and it contained lots of very lesbian songs, one of which became for a while a sort of gay anthem, being used at gay & lesbian pride events all over. The song was called "Glory Glory" and during an interview with Leah in 2001 I asked her to tell me about it. I'll share part of her comments with you.

Leah Zicari comments (2001)

"Glory Glory" was written, I think it was ah 1989, 1990, and the place of inspiration, and this is where I get much of my inspiration, was in the shower, and I was in the shower, and it was just like a lightning bolt that struck me. I don't know why I had "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" going through my head in the first place, but I did, and I just started, just started singing the words from a radical, queer point of view. And I just started singing, "Glory, glory, I'm a lesbian, glory, glory, I'm a gay man," and from there, I knew I had something, at that moment, so I rushed out of the shower. I'm not even sure I finished my shower, and got to the paper and the pen and began writing. This is too an important historical point of that information, especially for the younger listeners. It was the late 80s, or just getting into the 90s. We had just gone through eight years of Ronald Reagan, and were into the Bush administration, so we're well into twelve years of Republican ah leadership in the White House. We had also just come from… we were at the peak, I think, of the AIDS crisis. We were still learning things about that. There was still a lot of backlash. There was still a lot of discrimination. You know, in the decade of the 90s, we really got to see an improvement in how gay people are perceived, and how gay people are treated, and how we are presented. And certainly nothing's perfect, but there was a big difference in the 90s and the 80s.
And so when I wrote that song, that was the point of view that I was coming from, that the gay community was coming from. We were still fighting for basic decency and basic issues of rights. You know, there were no "out" television shows and television stars and television characters, or any of that. That kind of stuff was just beginning. So that's the perspective that that song comes from.

Leah Zicari - Glory Glory (1990)
Leah Zicari - Self-Respecting Lezzie (1990)

After "Glory Glory" was another song by Leah Zicari, sort of a cover version. She took the very popular song by gay icons Romanovsky & Phillips, "What Kind of Self-Respecting Faggot Am I?" and lesbianized it, into "Self-Respecting Lezzie."

I mentioned that "Glory Glory" was one of those rare lesbian cassette singles. Well, I have another one, which received nationwide airplay for its anti-censorship message. It was all about one of the leading anti-gay figures in this country's history, and many people were delighted last July when he finally died. Here's Laura Wetzler and her song "Jesse Helms Has Made a Radical Out of Me."

Laura Wetzler - Jesse Helms Has Made a Radical Out of Me (1990)
DJ Adler - Talking Gay Bar Blues (1982)

That was DJ Adler, from her 1982 cassette "Here & Now," and it had both political and cultural commentary, all about those "Talking Gay Bar Blues." DJ is still making music and I know from her site that only 500 copies of her tape were made, so I'm pleased to have one of them. The small quantity of tapes produced was very typical, and makes it very hard for collectors, especially since most dealers, like on eBay, just don't want to bother with tapes, so on this show, you're hearing some rare material.

Like on this next cassette. Jamie Anderson tells me she produced only 200 copies of it. Over the years of playing her wonderful music on my shows she's become a friend, a nice fringe benefit of what I do. I know she's cringing a little that I'm playing a track from her 1986 debut tape "Heart Resort," as this was so early in her career that she looks back, just like I do for my early shows, and thinks, gee, I sure didn't know what I was doing. But I think the song "Lezzie Boogie" has a lot of charm, and she's told me it was a real crowd-pleaser back in the late 80s. Jamie Anderson and "Lezzie Boogie."

Jamie Anderson - Lezzie Boogie (1986)
Venus Envy - Beaver Cleaver Fever (1990)

Ah, "Beaver Cleaver Fever." That was from 1990 by the very talented group Venus Envy, and their 6-song cassette was called "Unarmed and Dangerous." This is the group that in 1995 gave us the classic album "I'll Be a Homo For Christmas." Two of their members, Lisa Koch and Laura Love have gone on to long music careers.

And this is a good time to invite you to check out my website. If you visit it while you're listening you can see the playlist and follow along, while looking at photos of the artists and recordings. I've always considered our music history as a visual as well as an audio experience. And you'll find a much longer version of this show on my site. Again, that's at www.queermusicheritage.com, Also, for more very queer programming, please listen to After Hours with Jimmy Carper, every Saturday night/Sunday morning from 1 to 4 am, on KPFT, it's Queer Radio, with attitude.

We're going to Madison, Wisconsin, in 1994 for this next act, and a band called the Cowgirl Sweethearts, and their cassette tape called "The Cowgirl Collection." The opening song on the recording even had a music video, a very humorous one, called "You've All Got Me All Wrong."

Cowgirl Sweethearts - You've All Got Me All Wrong (1994)

A couple of live tracks coming up. Paula Walowitz is an honored writer and activist in Chicago, and she's also been an occassional musician. Her song "Surprise" appeared on the landmark album "Gay & Straight Together" in 1981, one of the first various artists openly gay albums released on a major label, in this case Folkways. But I'm taking a version of her song "Surprise" from a later release, from 1990, and here's the history behind it. Mountain Moving Coffeehouse was by 1990 the oldest continuously operating woman-only space in the world. That year the church from which the collective had been renting space, then under new management, suddenly decided they didn't want lesbians in their building anymore, so they had to move, and they found a much better space. But they had a farewell concert at the old location, on School Street, and appropriately called the show "Last Night on School Street." Joining Paula Walowitz again, as she did for the original recording, was my friend, Toni Armstrong Jr, one of our culture's most accomplished activists, writers and historians, and founder of my favorite women's music magazine, Hot Wire.

Here they are, reprising the gem, "Surprise," and it will be followed by another rare live recording.

Paula Walowitz - Surprise (1990)
Casse Culver - I'm Late Again (1974)

That was Casse Culver, from a tape called "Casse Culver, Live in Concert," and it says on the tape, recorded at the Women's Building, Los Angeles, August 23, 1974. This was very early for her. Her historic album "3 Gypsies" was not released for another two years. They both contained her very popular song "I'm Late Again."

And here's another live track I can't resist, and I'm bending the rules just a little on including it, because it's another example of when a live version preceded the release of a song on vinyl. On one of Holly Near's early albums, 1978's "Imagine My Surprise," was the song "Lady at the Piano," backed up by Meg Christian. I've got a version from two years earlier, from 1976, recorded at the National Women's Music Festival, their third event, and I think the song's playful introduction is very interesting. Oh, tapes from the early festivals were sold, for fundraising for future events, so no, they were not really commercial tapes, but at least in a limited way, they were available, up through the end of the 1970s. Just try to find copies. Anyway, Holly Near and Meg Christian sang together at the festival. This was around the time that they were having an affair. Hey, it's all in her book. Here's Holly and Meg and "Lady at the Piano."

Holly Near & Meg Christian - Lady at the Piano (1976)

I'm down to the last song, and I want to thank you all for listening, and taking this journey into the world of "Lesbians on Cassette." Long time listeners know that when I'm compiling these shows I have no willpower, and just can't resist really trying to do the subject justice. That generally results in a much longer version of the show on my website, and that's the case this time as well. You can hear more parts to this story, by many more artists, and a few songs that had, let's say, language issues what would not allow me to play them on broadcast radio. I've put together over 3 ½ hours for the internet version. So you can find that at www.queermusicheritage.com. And, as always if you have questions or comments about any of the music I've featured, please write me. This is JD Doyle for Queer Voices on KPFT in Houston.

Closing the show is a group I've featured before, called Destiny. It's members were Mary Jo Paranzino, Mary Apt and Diana Bitting. In 1992 they released a tape called "We Are Destiny." They were, at the time of their cassette release, out of Philadelphia, and they later moved to Provincetown, where they formed a group called The Three Marys, with Jon Arterton of The Flirtations. A song I love by Destiny is one I did not have a chance to use when I featured them before, and I think it's wonderful. It features the powerful voice of Mary Jo Paranzino and it celebrates a part of lesbian culture in a way I know of in no other song. It's called "Softball on Belmont Plateau." Here's Destiny.

Destiny - Softball on Belmont Plateau (1992)

Rhythm Method - I Met Her On A Sunday (1994)

This is JD Doyle, and you're back with Part 2 of "Lesbians on Cassette," my special Queer Music Heritage show on releases by lesbian artists that were not on vinyl or CD. And I just love the group that did the opening song. That was Rhythm Method. They are out of Colorado, and I really wish they would have released more albums than the two they did in the mid-90s. Their 1994 tape was just called "Rhythm Method" and featured great a cappella work. Of course the song you just heard was the Shirelles' classic "I Met Him On A Sunday," after they they did their humorous lesbian re-write of the lyrics on it.

Here's another song from that album, their take on Ma Rainey's "Prove It On Me Blues."

Rhythm Method - Prove It On Me Blues (1994)
Therapy Sisters - 6:09 Woodrow (1989)

No, that wasn't Rhythm Method on that second song. It was by The Therapy Sisters, from their 1989 release, "Multiple Personalities." They are Maurine McLean and Lisa Rogers and are out of Austin, and have been making wonderful music for over 20 years. That song was perhaps not typical of most of their work, as they've also many terrific songs with humorous and political edges to them.

These next two songs do have humor to them, and are by Monica Grant from her 1989 tape "Harbor Girl." You'll like these.

Monica Grant - Best Girl (1994)
Monica Grant - Coming Out Story (1994)

Monica Grant, and helping her out on that album was Teresa Chandler. Chandler, the year before, in 1993, had released, with comedian Karen Ripley, their own very out lesbian album. Are you ready for the title? It was called "I Survived a Femme." Here are two of my favorites from it.

Teresa Chandler & Karen Ripley - D-Y-K-E (1993)
Teresa Chandler & Karen Ripley - Squeezin' Yours (1993)

Teresa Chandler and Karen Ripley, from "I Survived a Femme," singing "D-Y-K-E" and "Squeezin' Yours." On Part 1 of this show you heard a song by Melinda, and I wanted to play this next one also on that part, but you can only put so much into a 58-minute show. I have no time constraints here, so the other song I wanted to share with you is called "Remember Stonewall."

Melinda - Remember Stonewall (1994)

Melinda, from her cassette "Dyke Dramas." And backing her up on guitar and vocals was an artist named Zonna. She had a number of releases of her own, and I love her voice. Sadly she died in 2003, and I was fortunate that I got to know her a little in the years just preceding her death. You can find a tribute to her on my website. Here's the title track from her 1998 release "Loving Her."

Zonna - Loving Her (1998)
Swingshift - Too Cool To Be True (early 80s)

Following Zonna was a band called Swingshift, and they put out a four-song demo in the early 80s. Among the members were women that were also part of other historic women's groups. Bonnie Lockheart was in the Berkeley Women's Music Collective, and Susan Colson was in a band called Baba Yaga. The song you heard, "Too Cool To Be True," also appeared, in a different version, on the Baba Yaga album in 1978.

Time for some local Houston women's music. Around 1990 there was a group of about 45 women called Heartsong. I'm told they were for the vast majority lesbian, though they were not publicly open about this. It was just kind of understood, and the reluctance to be openly lesbian was just kind of a sign of those times. They released a tape in 1990 called "Heart Stories - A Voice for Unity," and I think it's interesting that, according to the label, it was recorded at their third annual solo concert, at the Episcopal High School Underwood Theater. I'll let you hear them introduce their version of the Cris Williamson song "Sister."

Heartsong - Sister (1990)
Lifeline - Shooting Star (1983)

Very nice. I followed one Cris Williamson cover song with another. Of course the song was "Shooting Star." It was done this time by a rock band out of Maryland called Lifeline, led by Jeanne Mackey, whose been in a number of bands over the years. Lifeline lasted from 1982 through 1991, and I've got their 1983 cassette called "We Have Seen the Future."

This next artist is an author of lesbian erotica and mysteries, but back in 1991 she released a tape with the irresistible title of "Sex for Breakfast." Her name is Anne Seale, and I can't resist playing for you three tracks from it. They're all short, with humor and social commentary, starting with "Your Women's Bookstore."

Anne Seale - Your Women's Bookstore (1991)
Anne Seale - Women, Womyn, Wimmin (1991)
Anne Seale - Lesbian Cemetery (1991)

You also heard by Anne Seale "Women, Womyn, Wimmin" with three different spellings of the word, and "Lesbian Cemetery."

Are you ready for some Sunday-go-to-meetin' music? Then step up to hear Gwen Avery. She's a wonderful, and way underappreciated artist. She's been singing for over 30 years and sadly has only one CD to show for it, the excellent "Sugar Mama," from 2000, which won her an Outmusic Award for New Recording. She did have one other, very limited recording, produced by June Millington around 1999, called "Gwen Avery, Live at IMA." IMA is the Institute of Musical Arts, and Millington and her partner Ann Hackler founded it in 1986, with a mission to support women in music. The Gwen Avery cassette got very limited release, a pity since it includes a smokin' 17 minute live version of Avery's most known song, "Sugar Mama." Well, I can't fit a 17 minute song on this show, but I think you'll enjoy hearing her take on the gospel standard "I'm Gonna Live the Life I Sing About."

Gwen Avery - I'm Gonna Live the Life I Sing About (1999)

Gwen Avery, from "Live at IMA."

This next song, by Laura Berkson, called "Marie," tells the true story of two girls from Salinas, California who fought their school's policy and won the court-ordered right to attend their school's senior prom together, as a couple. "Waltz her around the floor, Marie. You're dancing for all that you believe. Although your intentions have raised a few questions, the answers can set us all free. So waltz her around the floor, Marie."

Laura Berkson - Marie (1989)

"Marie," from Laura Berkson's 1989 recording.

In Houston around 1995 there was an obscure band called the Black Dresses, made up of 6 members of which Dianne Ray and Kathy Johnson were the lesbian contingent. Dianne was also in an earlier Texas group called the Mydolls, which achieved some degree of success, lasting from 1978 through 1986. I've got the 1995 5-song cassette by the Black Dresses, called "Black Dresses," and here's their song, "Stan's Christmas."

Black Dresses - Stan's Christmas (1995)
Catie Curtis - Change Your Mind (1989)

And following Black Dresses was a favorite of mine, Catie Curtis, and the song "Change Your Mind." That was from her 1989 cassette, "Dandelion," and it's the only one of Catie's ten albums not to make it to CD, though the wonderful title track, "Dandelion," has resurfaced, on Catie's "Acoustic Valentine" album.

This is JD Doyle and you're listening to Queer Music He
ritage, and the middle part of this three part show. I'm ending this part with a song that has an anthemic feel to it, and I think that was intentional. In 1989 Lorrie Wesoly released her second cassette, called "Tidal Waves." It only included three songs, but of course with its title this one caught my eye immediately. Lorrie Wesoly and "I Am Gay."

Lorrie Wesoly - I Am Gay (1989)

Welcome to Queer Music Heritage, and this is JD Doyle. We're starting off Part 3 of "Lesbians on Cassette" in Australia, in 1990, with an act alternately known as Tongue 'N Cheek or Willie and Fleur.

Tongue 'N Cheek - To Be a Woman (1991)

That was the Australian duo known as Tongue 'N Cheek, singing a song written by that nation's lesbian folksinging icon, Judy Small. And I've got two more acts from that part of the world. First, also from Australia is Elizabeth Ellen. In 1992 she released a cassette called "Sung In My Lover's Bedroom." I love that on the side of the tape case is the caption "nine original songs about lesbian life and love." I picked her song "Goddess of Swing."

Elizabeth Ellen - Goddess of Swing (1992)
Topp Twins - Untouchable Girls (1987)

I followed Elizabeth Ellen with New Zealand's very popular act, for over twenty years now, The Topp Twins. Their song "Untouchable Girls" showed up for the first time in 1987, on their tape "No War In My Heart." And I want to thank Sue Barrett, an Australia writer and women's music expert for providing me with copies of the Tongue 'N Cheek and Elizabeth Ellen recordings, and in general for her expertise and support over the years.

Purly Gates - Two In Twenty (1992)

Out of New Hampshire, that was Purly Gates, with Purly spelled p-u-r-l-y and her tape just called "Purly." You heard the very short song "Two In Twenty." On now to Dee Kulacz and her song "I Will Stand By My Tribe." You'll notice that the message is distinctly spiritual, and that's because she was part of a network of gay and lesbian Christian artists, who around 1999 were putting out releases under the umbrella of Joyful Pride Records.

Dee Kulacz - I Will Stand By My Tribe (1999)

I had the pleasure of interviewing Gretchen Phillips in 2005, and she has been in a number of amazing acts over the years, including the very popular Two Nice Girls. In 1990 she in a band called Girls In The Nose, and they had two releases, never on vinyl or CD, which is a shame. Gretchen's told me she eventually wants all the old material re-released, but until then you'll have to track down their tapes. The 1990 tape was just called "Girls In The Nose" and included the song "Honorary Heterosexual Lesbian."

Girls In The Nose - Honorary Heterosexual Lesbian (1990)
Ellen Rosner - Perfect Malcontent (1997)

In 1999 Chicago artist Ellen Rosner released an excellent CD called "Perfect Malcontent." But you heard the song "Perfect Malcontent" as it sounded in a demo from two years earlier, done more acoustically.

Time for some real history. I featured Madeline Davis on my November 2000 show and I encourage you to vist that page of my site, but to give a quick thumbnail, Madeline was one of the leading activists of our movement. She is credited with writing and recording the first Gay Liberation song. The song is called "Stonewall Nation." It was written after she participated in her first gay march in Albany NY in June of 1970. And she got to sing it at her second gay pride march, and for years she sang it at many pride venues. She related to me that during those early years it was often heard at the Oscar Wilde Bookstore in Greenwich Village during June. She wasn't just singing during those years. She was one of the early members of the Mattachine Society of the Niagara Frontier, joining just a few months after it's start in Buffalo in 1970. She was president of that chapter in 1972 and was very active in various capacities until if finally folded in the late 80s.

One of her biggest accomplishments was in 1972 when she was elected as the first openly lesbian delegate to a major national political convention. It was of course the Democratic convention that nominated McGovern, and Jim Foster from San Francisco was first gay male delegate, elected that same year. Also in 1972 she co-formulated and taught the first course on and entitled Lesbianism, at a major US university, State University of New York, in Buffalo. She's an award-winning author and there's so much more, but you've waited long enough to hear the first gay liberation song, "Stonewall Nation", by Madeline Davis.

Madeline Davis - Stonewall Nation (1983)

Madeline Davis actually recorded "Stonewall Nation" twice, with slightly different lyrics. The first time for her 1971 45 rpm record, but the version you heard was from her 1983 cassette tape "The Daughter of All Women."

I've got to set up this next segment, and it has part of an interview with a California artist named Karrie Wallace. I did not obtain the interview. It was requested by my Audiofile co-producer Chris Wilson and her partner Pam Marshall. I took over for Pam on Audiofile around 2001. But this was recorded in 1997, so that Karrie Wallace's recording could be featured on that show. They thought the way Wallace recorded the album was interesting, and so do I, as how many artists could battle the obstacles she did? This part of the interview has never been aired, so I'm pleased to share it. She's talking about her debut release, "Resolution 2 the Third."

Karrie Wallace interview (1997)
Karrie Wallace - Actually Nice 2 C U (1997)

Karrie Wallace and the song "Actually Nice 2 C U," from "Resolution 2 the Third."

With this next artist you'll know right away why I couldn't play her on the broadcast version of this show. You'll know by the first time she says "shit." She may not have a great voice, but I bet her live show is tons of fun, packed full of irreverant songs and monologues. This material comes from her 1991 tape, which was called "I'm Dangerous!"

Carol Steinel - Dangerous / God Is Love (1991)

Carol Steinel, with "Dangerous" and "God Is Love."

Next up, a different kind of cassette recording. In 1983 there was a group of women in Minneapolis recording and distributing on tape sort of their own radio show. It was called "Lesbian Frequency," and it mostly consisted of commentary, and interviews, with folks like musicians Alix Dobkin, and Maxine Feldman, and authors and activists, such as Ann Bannon and Barbara Grier. And a few poems and songs thrown in, which were sent into them. The recordings were issued in two-tape sets, and I know of two such releases. If any of you know of more, please let me know. Anyway, this is fascinating stuff to a historian...amateur lesbian artists sending in their songs, so that they could be mailed out on "Lesbian Frequency" tapes. Both of the songs I chose have the artist introducing the song. Here are M. Joyner Bullock and Elaine Townsend.

M. Joyner Bullock - Sister (1983)
Elaine Townsend - Marshall's Song (1983)

I have no information about M. Joyner Bullock, but Elaine Townsend is out of South Carolina, released a cassette in 1989 and a CD in 2000, and is still performing.

Next, I have a tape in my collection that made me question my criteria for this show. It definitely fits the "Lesbians on Cassette" criteria, and it's not been on vinyl or CD, but here's the difference. It's not music. It's author and film producer Linda Thornburg, and the title of the tape reads "Good Girls Don't: Stories about growing up queer and clueless in a small midwestern town in the 50s and 60s." So, this is almost an audiobook, but I thought it very entertaining, so here's a small very edited snippet from it, telling us about one of her teachers, Nora Hamilton.

Linda Thornburg - Nora Hamilton (1996)

Linda Thornburg, telling us about "Nora Hamilton," from 1996. This next artist, in the cassette liner notes, says "Special thanks to Jamie Anderson for her inspiring, courageous career choice as an 'out' lesbian musician." And Jamie is Assistant Producer of the recording and plays on it and sings backup. The artist Jamie was helping out was Michelle Marquand, and her 1990 tape was called "Fragile Chemistry." Here's her song "One Track Mind."

Michelle Marquand - One Track Mind (1990)
Vicki & Sheri - People Say I'm Crazy (1990)

That last song, called "People Say I'm Crazy," comes from an interesting tape, which has some mystery to it. It's a demo tape, with the big title on the front "Vicki & Sheri: Lesbian Musicians Performing Original Songs." It's from 1990, and the liner notes give the lyrics and that's about it; for out lesbians I would have thought it would give their last names. It does give a phone number, area code 310, which is the Los Angeles area. Vicki and Sheri, if you're out there, hey, send me an email.

Up next is Erica Wheeler, with her debut release, a cassette from 1989 called "Strong Heart," and I quite liked from it the song "To The Southwest."

Erica Wheeler - To The Southwest (1989)

Well, thank you all for being so patient with me, while I took you into the world of obscure lesbian releases. I quite enjoyed putting this together. I'm closing the show with a special recording. It was produced by Canadian artist Lucie Blue Tremblay and was a cassette single whose soul purpose was to help people come out of the closet. The song was called "I Want You To Know Who I Really Am," and when I interviewed her in 2006 I asked her about it.

Lucie Blue Tremblay interview comments (2006)

Well, that song actually came out years ago, as a cassette. It was called the Coming Out Kit, and I just thought…you know how sometimes how stressful it is to come out to people, and I thought, wouldn't it be nice if you just had a little button you could press on, go enhh!...and you were out, and you didn't have to deal with any of the questions, the attitudes, the facial expressions, the body language, you know, everything that comes with that. I just thought, wouldn't it be nice if you just a little "beep," press on a button and you're out, boom. And I thought I'm going to write a song, a coming out song, and I'm going to put it on a cassette, and then people can just send the cassette to their family, they don't have to…they can just put it in the mail. They don't have to deal with anything, and, have some blank lines in the cassette liner so you can write a note, to the person you're sending it to, and they had some 1-800 numbers as well, for the National Coming Out Day people, and also the Washington DC address for PFLAG. And I just thought, this would be a little helpful tool. And I made a bunch of them. I probably made like a thousand of them, and I sold them, and people just started, you know, just mailing those out, and I really like that song.

Being the collector that I am I asked Lucie Blue if she had any copies of that tape left, as I would love to have one, and a few months later, when she got home from her tour, she sent one to me. She re-recorded the song for her 2004 CD, "It's Got To Be About Love," but I had never heard the original, which was shorter and had a very different arrangement than the new one. So I was very pleased to hear it, and I think you will be as well. This is JD Doyle for Queer Music Heritage, thanking you again for listening. Here's the song "I Want You To Know Who I Really Am," by Lucie Blue Tremblay.

Lucie Blue Tremblay - I Want You To Know Who I Really Am (1991)