Hello everyone, I will begin with an apology for the delay and large gap between the last update and now. I have been swamped with university work, but now it’s summer break so I’m free to do my art group work and this. I’m so so happy to be back writing here. I have been holding this one concept in for a while as I have been tying it into my art group work. Later, I will do a short update on my personal life, but first we are discussing the sparks topic everyone’s here to read. Today’s post is about the album Angst in My Pants and the connection to the LGBT community. I hope you all enjoy this one as much as it has bubbled and brewed the more I’ve researched and thought about this concept.
(Front cover)
So Angst in my Pants, why am I discussing this album in June, also known to many as Pride Month. As a fellow queer creative who chooses this month to make people aware how pride is not a party or a time to spend £15 on a pride themed cardigan in primark because “it’s cute and I want to show I’m an ally”, if you want to show real support and understanding for pride, remember it’s a protest and that in numerous countries it is still illegal to be any form of LGBT and that some countries it’s punishable by death to be who you are; also buy your pride themed goods from actual LGBT creators as it will be going to good causes rather than to fulfil the wealthy people with evil laughter. I now apologise for going off track, but it is important you know why we have a pride MONTH. Yes we also have important days during the year where we remember our community who are no longer with us too but it is extra important we think of them for a month and parade our streets and shout for rights.
(Back design)
When I look at this album (currently I’m listening to it as I write this) I see a pride parade in a red post punk/new wave sleeve. The album cover is one that stands out in their catalogue, it makes me laugh and happy stim as I have numerous times drawn it or made it on a coaster. See the images after this paragraph for evidence of said art. The image is of our two band leaders, Ron and Russell Mael dressed like it is for a wedding. Ron looking handsome and unapologetically proud in a wedding dress and Russell suiting up in a shiny and glittery suit. This album cover to many is incredibly 80s and it blends and bonds with other artworks that were around at the time. The back design also screams wedding as Russell and the backing band match outfits which reminds me of a wedding band who were assigned to play some 50s rock and roll covers as the bride and grooms family dance together and become aware of each others existences
(Artwork by me, Jack Whyte, using Angst album cover)
So more on Angst and the connection to LGBT community… this album came out in 1982 which was the year that the AIDS crisis began leading to worldwide panic and fear that gay people were spreading their agenda in a disease that could kill one. Many years have past since that panic and much research has happened to say, AIDS isn’t just affecting gay people and that it’s spread via contact and fluids. But the initial panic created mass homophobia from the belief gay people were sick. Unfortunately most when they contracted this horrible disease were locked into rooms alone and with no contact from friends and family. When one passed on, families of them would be angry at their child, almost a “how dare they shame us into becoming gay” and would try and erase this family member from existence, however, friends would create quilts using any old fabrics, clothes and blankets they left behind as a way to cope with their passing and s a way to remind the future that they existed. This album feels almost like a comfort and party for the struggling and isolated queer community from that time. Especially track “Sextown U.S.A.” Which feels like a gay club dance track to make you forget you’re shunned by the government and societies of the world.
More on the artwork; I ADORE this album art especially the outtakes which makes me smile as you can see how much fun they had trying to figure out how they will pose to create both comfort and disgust. For me the art is comforting, knowing in the height of all the pain and sadness the queer community at the time were going through there was 2 straight men who were saying “we see you. We are here for you”. It’s no secret that the fan base is full of queer people and they find this band a safe haven in being themselves, especially linking in how No.1 in Heaven was a frequent spin in the Blitz Club in London during the 80s. The Blitz was a haven for outsiders to dress how they wanted and dance how they felt and listen to music from queer and diverse musicans, it was ran by Steve Strange and Rusty Egan who believed there was not enough safe places for queer folk to meet and to be themselves. The Blitz also introduced sparks to many musicians and famous people such as Jonathan Ross and Depeche Mode. Sparks heard about their record being increasingly popular in the gay scenes of the UK and wanted to give us a love letter to thank the queer community for standing with them and to assure them they were noticed and loved.
Songs on this album also reflect this love letter, especially I Predict with it’s amazing video which had the legendary story that David Lynch had directed this video (as much as I wish it was true, it is not)
This is the link to the I Predict music video.
This video is something many sparks fans (myself included) would love to see the behind the scenes and outtakes to. It is a gem which assured the queer community at the time that everything was going to be fine and created outrage and disgust around the straight community who were nauseous at the sight of Ron Mael being a stripper and Russell being the leader of the club. I find the video assuming knowing how they did recreations or similar things during live shows at that time which made fans smile and feel safe knowing that sparks saw them and wanted to show gender was something to play with and creating uproar for your video depicting the not singer stripping off was worth it. After all, it told frightened queer people that they saw them and that soon they would be pain free.
In today’s world we are seeing the same fears in trans people, in my country the UK the government blame trans people for their inability to address waiting list times at the NHS and the cost of living being out of control. In a EU survey it found the UK was the most dangerous place to live if you are trans due to the amount of hate crimes and inaccessibility for vital live saving healthcare. Currently, the wait times for going on HRT is over 6 years. And going private is way too expensive for many (myself included). But listening to sparks assures me one day there’ll be a rainbow and I can access the help I so need to become the person I’ve always wanted to be. It’s also very similar to the extremely terrifying laws that are occurring over in America where most states are told to “out” queer kids even when they’re unsafe; most states have also banned trans healthcare. The world is going backwards and repeating the same fears that swamped the world around the gay community of the 80s. But from a queer trans persons eyes, we are not going anywhere, despite being afraid of my future and how the government will treat me for just living and breathing as a creative.
Thank you so much for reading. I hope everyone’s okay and excited for more updates, I love writing as it’s an escape away from constantly drawing. Now I have no university deadlines looming over me so I will try and do more posts here. Also in my personal life, I’ve been preparing a cool neurodivergent pride event which will be happening soon so I can’t wait to discuss more on sparks and pride. Also I have been preparing for my London trip in August as I am nervous but will probably have the same joys Ron and Russell had when they first went there. For people curious, our no.1 sparks fan Esme has also been fine. She and I listened to my newest sparks vinyls which are coloured and sound BEAUTIFUL. We had a mini party just vibing to them.
Once again, thanks for reading. I’ve been Jack and I hope I catch you next time. Feel free to leave your opinions and thoughts in the comments or message me them. I am all for opening conversations about this interesting topic.
(Back design)
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