The song was originally written by Tom Robinson for a Londongay pride parade in 1976, inspired by the directness and confrontational style of the Sex Pistols.[3] An out gay singer, he subsequently formed the Tom Robinson Band with three straight musicians.[3]
Robinson said he wrote the song to the tune of "Sara" by Bob Dylan: "But I realised I couldn't rip off Dylan, so I wrote new music, added the chorus and gave it that more upbeat swing."[4]
"Glad to Be Gay" is built on four verses criticising British society's attitudes towards gay people. The first verse criticises the British police for raiding gay pubs for no reason after the decriminalisation of homosexuality by the 1967 Sexual Offences Act.
The second verse points to the hypocrisy of Gay News being prosecuted for obscenity instead of magazines like Playboy or the tabloid newspaper The Sun, which published photographs of topless girls on Page 3. It also criticises the way homosexual people are portrayed in other parts of the press, especially in the newspapers Daily Telegraph, Sunday People and Sunday Express. The third verse points out the extreme consequences of homophobia, such as violence against gay people.
In the final verse, the song makes a plea for support of the gay cause. This part, originally intended as a bitter attack on complacency of gay people at the Pride march in 1976, became a rallying call for solidarity from people irrespective of their orientation.
Release and receptionEdit
"Glad to Be Gay" was originally released in February 1978 on the band's live EPRising Free.[3] The EP reached No. 18 on the UK Singles Chart,[3] after the band's initial success with the single "2-4-6-8 Motorway", which peaked at No. 5. At that time, EPs were also eligible to chart on the OCC singles chart.
Although "Glad to Be Gay" became the most popular track from the EP, BBC Radio 1 refused to broadcast the song on its Top 40 chart show, choosing the less controversial opening track "Don't Take No for an Answer" instead.[3] Even though the Chart Show wouldn't play it, John Peel did broadcast the track.[4] On the rival station Capital Radio, the song reached No. 1 on the listener-voted Hitline chart for six consecutive weeks.[3]
It was subsequently featured on the American pressing of the band's debut album Power in the Darkness in May 1978, and the 2004 UK reissue of the album.[5]
Over the course of his solo career, Tom Robinson has performed the song with its lyric updated to reflect current events.[6] There have been ten versions officially released.[7] Later lyrics addressed AIDS ("The message is simple and obvious, please – just lay off the patients and let's fight the disease"), and extended attacks on the tabloid press.
From 1996, it also addressed[8] what Robinson calls his 'late onset bisexuality'.[9]
The 6 November 1977, episode of Granada Television's So It Goes featured a live performance of the song by the Tom Robinson Band.
In 1979, Tom Robinson performed at the Secret Policeman's Ball, a benefit concert staged by the British section of Amnesty International to raise funds for its research and campaign work in the human rights arena. For this performance he reinstated a verse about Peter Wells not used since the original demo. Wells was a young man, later shot dead, who had been imprisoned for two-and-a-half years for sex with an 18-year-old man. Had his partner been a woman it would have been legal, but the gay age of consent was 21 as opposed to 16 for heterosexuals. Robinson sang this pointedly, as Amnesty were refusing to acknowledge gay prisoners as "political prisoners".[10]
Queercore band Sister George covered the song – retitled "100xNo" – on their 1993 album Drag King. In 2008, the song was covered by the Finnish group Eläkeläiset.
In the last episode of the first series of the BBC One drama Ashes to Ashes, a 31-year-old fictionalised version of Tom Robinson (portrayed by Mathew Baynton) is incarcerated with several members of the Gay Liberation Front. He sings "Glad to Be Gay" in his police-station cell.
^ abcdef"Sing If You're Glad To be Gay" on BothWays.com.
^ abSimpson, Dave (1 July 2013). "How we made: Tom Robinson and Nick Mobbs on Glad to Be Gay". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
^"Tom Robinson Albums" 2014-06-05 at the Wayback Machine. TomRobinson.com.
^Rapp, Linda (2004). "Robinson, Tom (b. 1950)" 2013-11-13 at the Wayback Machine. GLBTQ: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture.
Glad to Be Gay comprehensive fansite with all versions and background material
October 27, 2023
glad, song, british, punk, rock, wave, group, robinson, band, their, defining, songs, been, considered, britain, national, anthem, song, robinson, bandfrom, album, rising, freereleasedfebruary, 1978genrefolk, punklength5, 04labelemi, recordssongwriter, robinso. Glad to Be Gay is a song by British punk rock new wave group Tom Robinson Band It is one of their defining songs 1 and has been considered Britain s national gay anthem 2 Glad to Be Gay Song by Tom Robinson Bandfrom the album Rising FreeReleasedFebruary 1978GenreFolk punkLength5 04LabelEMI RecordsSongwriter s Tom Robinson Contents 1 Song information 2 Release and reception 3 Notable performances and cover versions 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksSong information EditThe song was originally written by Tom Robinson for a London gay pride parade in 1976 inspired by the directness and confrontational style of the Sex Pistols 3 An out gay singer he subsequently formed the Tom Robinson Band with three straight musicians 3 Robinson said he wrote the song to the tune of Sara by Bob Dylan But I realised I couldn t rip off Dylan so I wrote new music added the chorus and gave it that more upbeat swing 4 Glad to Be Gay is built on four verses criticising British society s attitudes towards gay people The first verse criticises the British police for raiding gay pubs for no reason after the decriminalisation of homosexuality by the 1967 Sexual Offences Act The second verse points to the hypocrisy of Gay News being prosecuted for obscenity instead of magazines like Playboy or the tabloid newspaper The Sun which published photographs of topless girls on Page 3 It also criticises the way homosexual people are portrayed in other parts of the press especially in the newspapers Daily Telegraph Sunday People and Sunday Express The third verse points out the extreme consequences of homophobia such as violence against gay people In the final verse the song makes a plea for support of the gay cause This part originally intended as a bitter attack on complacency of gay people at the Pride march in 1976 became a rallying call for solidarity from people irrespective of their orientation Release and reception Edit Glad to Be Gay was originally released in February 1978 on the band s live EP Rising Free 3 The EP reached No 18 on the UK Singles Chart 3 after the band s initial success with the single 2 4 6 8 Motorway which peaked at No 5 At that time EPs were also eligible to chart on the OCC singles chart Although Glad to Be Gay became the most popular track from the EP BBC Radio 1 refused to broadcast the song on its Top 40 chart show choosing the less controversial opening track Don t Take No for an Answer instead 3 Even though the Chart Show wouldn t play it John Peel did broadcast the track 4 On the rival station Capital Radio the song reached No 1 on the listener voted Hitline chart for six consecutive weeks 3 It was subsequently featured on the American pressing of the band s debut album Power in the Darkness in May 1978 and the 2004 UK reissue of the album 5 Chart 1978 PeakpositionUK Singles Chart 18Capital Radio Listeners Hitline 1Notable performances and cover versions EditOver the course of his solo career Tom Robinson has performed the song with its lyric updated to reflect current events 6 There have been ten versions officially released 7 Later lyrics addressed AIDS The message is simple and obvious please just lay off the patients and let s fight the disease and extended attacks on the tabloid press From 1996 it also addressed 8 what Robinson calls his late onset bisexuality 9 The 6 November 1977 episode of Granada Television s So It Goes featured a live performance of the song by the Tom Robinson Band In 1979 Tom Robinson performed at the Secret Policeman s Ball a benefit concert staged by the British section of Amnesty International to raise funds for its research and campaign work in the human rights arena For this performance he reinstated a verse about Peter Wells not used since the original demo Wells was a young man later shot dead who had been imprisoned for two and a half years for sex with an 18 year old man Had his partner been a woman it would have been legal but the gay age of consent was 21 as opposed to 16 for heterosexuals Robinson sang this pointedly as Amnesty were refusing to acknowledge gay prisoners as political prisoners 10 Queercore band Sister George covered the song retitled 100xNo on their 1993 album Drag King In 2008 the song was covered by the Finnish group Elakelaiset In the last episode of the first series of the BBC One drama Ashes to Ashes a 31 year old fictionalised version of Tom Robinson portrayed by Mathew Baynton is incarcerated with several members of the Gay Liberation Front He sings Glad to Be Gay in his police station cell See also EditList of songs banned by the BBCReferences Edit Ralph Heibutzki Power in the Darkness review at Allmusic Peter Tatchell Not Glad to Be Gay Archived 2013 11 13 at the Wayback Machine a b c d e f Sing If You re Glad To be Gay on BothWays com a b Simpson Dave 1 July 2013 How we made Tom Robinson and Nick Mobbs on Glad to Be Gay The Guardian Retrieved 2 July 2013 Tom Robinson Albums Archived 2014 06 05 at the Wayback Machine TomRobinson com Rapp Linda 2004 Robinson Tom b 1950 Archived 2013 11 13 at the Wayback Machine GLBTQ An Encyclopedia of Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender and Queer Culture Glad To Be Gay Versions gladtobegay net The Last Word gladtobegay net Interview with Tom Robinson pt 4 gladtobegay net Secret Policeman s Ball gladtobegay net External links EditGlad to Be Gay comprehensive fansite with all versions and background material Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Glad to Be Gay amp oldid 1160596563, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
