Music News: ...Everyone Is Gay

Robbie Daw presents a weekly pop music update here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own site called Chart Rigger.

"Teenage angst has paid off well. Now I'm bored and old." So begins Nirvana's third and final album, 1993's In Utero—the opening lines of "Serve The Servants."

Nirvana. Not the most gay topic of discussion, nor the gayest of music to bring up. So why bring it up at all?

This week is actually the eve of my first year doing a pop music column on Towleroad.

One question I keep coming back to is this: what really constitutes "gay music"? Scissor Sisters, Ari Gold, Elton John, Sam Sparro, Darren Hayes, Pet Shop Boys, The Feeling, George Michael and Andy Bell are mainstream gay artists or groups with gay members—all of which we've talked about here on Towleroad—but is the actual music those folks create gay?

As well, Madonna, Amy Winehouse, The Killers, Britney Spears, Sally Shapiro, Mariah Carey, LCD Soundsystem, Robyn, Kylie Minogue, Frankmusic, Sugababes, Cyndi Lauper, Spice Girls, Girls Aloud and Saint Etienne are music artists who have somewhat of a "gay appeal," though what does that really mean?

Is country music gay enough? Did Mika ever come out? Does Hip hop speak to us? When all was said and done, was Hard Candy any good?

And where do Chris Brown, Miley Cyrus, Duffy, Fall Out Boy, Santogold and Smashing Pumpkins fit in?

The truth is, I don't have the foggiest idea. What I do know is that pop music is subjective. And while I can't answer the question on what gay music truly is, I can say that no two people will probably every see completely eye to eye when it comes to individual taste.

But that's okay. Life would be pretty dull otherwise.

Over the past year, I've pondered my own psychological state after listing to Mariah's "Touch My Body," posed the question to you on whether Katy Perry is truly offensive, let nostalgia get the best of me over the re-release of Michael Jackson's Thriller and offered up Robyn scolding her godchildren in Swedish over the phone from Stockholm here on Towleroad—all in the name of delivering pop music news to the online masses from one guy's gay perspective.

Something about pop, whether it be one song, one artist or a single bar or note, can reach into the heart and send the imagination soaring, or hurtling back to a certain time and place.

Which brings us back to the original topic at hand. This past week NPR ran an interesting "All Things Considered" feature on 17-year-old Los Angeles native Spencer Elden (pictured right), who you may remember best as the baby swimming after the dollar bill on the cover of Nirvana's Nevermind album.

Admittedly, I'm a longtime Nirvana fan from the time when I was 17 myself and Nevermind hit like a grenade. So it's a bit surreal to catch up on what this kid's been up to.

Given that Elden appeared sans clothing on the cover, it's amusing to read him looking back: "Quite a few people in the world have seen my penis. So that's kinda cool. I'm just a normal kid living it up and doing the best I can while I'm here."

As for teenage angst paying off well, he notes that his father was given $200 for letting his son be photographed for the seminal, 26-million-selling record's artwork.

I guess it should be noted that, judging from his comments about "worrying about stupid girls," Spencer is apparently straight—a fact which inevitably calls to mind the opening of "All Apologies," the last track on Nirvana's final album:

"What else should I say? Everyone is gay?"

THE WEEK'S NEW RELEASES:

Josh Kelley's Backwoods. (You know, the guy married to Katherine Heigl.)

British trip hop act UNKLE's End Titles... Stories For Film.

Remixes of Natasha Bedingfield's current hit, "Pocketful Of Sunshine".

The self-titled debut album from alt rock band Scars On Broadway.

Hot Chip's iTunes-only Live:Berlin Festival EP.

New singles from Lindsay Buckingham ("Did You Miss Me"), Jonas Brothers ("Tonight"), T-Pain ("Can't Believe It") and Hinder ("Use Me").

Music News: Jay-Z Burns Oasis At Glastonbury, George Michael, Annie, Kurt Cobain, Sam Sparro, Labelle

Robbie Daw presents a weekly pop music update here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own site called Chart Rigger.

Jay-Z headlined England's famed Glastonbury festival on Saturday, a controversial move given the rock-heavy bill the event usually touts. Perhaps no one was more vocal about their disdain for Hova as headliner than Noel Gallagher of Oasis: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you start to break it then people aren't going to go. I'm sorry, but Jay-Z? No chance."

In turn, the rapper and music mogul clearly wowed the crowd with his opening song choice: a cover of "Wonderwall."

On a bit more tame note -- well, lately, at least -- George Michael brought his 25 Live tour to The Forum in Los Angeles on Wednesday. It was the first time he's played L.A. since 1988.

Just before the final encore, in which he performed "Freedom '90," Michael was surprised by Bo Derek, who walked on stage to give him a birthday cake as his band played "Happy Birthday." The London-born singer is 45.

Enough about Jay-Z...what were the reviews like for Sam Sparro's appearance at Glastonbury?

Word on the street has it that Norwegian pop blondie Annie, of "Chewing Gum" fame, has got a new EP out. Towleroad vehemently looks down upon illegal filesharing, but something tells me that if you typed in "Annie" and "EP" into a search engine, you might be taking the first step to finding out more information on this bit of noise.

This Delicate Film We've Made, a live concert DVD containing the last night of Darren Hayes' 2007 tour, will be released from his own Powdered Sugar Productions on July 22.

Creole Lady Marmalade! All three original members of seminal '70s funk-glam trio LaBelle are set to reunite for their first album together since 1976. The group will also perform this Saturday during the Essence Festival -- where else -- down in ol' New Orleans.

London's Madame Tussauds Wax Museum will unveil a statue of Amy Winehouse later this year: "We are really pleased to be creating Amy; she is a real icon in mondern British music, a continual award winner and an internationally recognized star widely requested by our guests.

So imagine if a bunch of Alanis Morissette fans got together online and did karaoke to try to win free concert tickets...

Did you know you can now purchase Converse sneakers from Nordstrom with writing from Kurt Cobain's journals on them? This seems like something to get up in arms over, but if Courtney Love says it's ok, then... Oh, well. Whatever. Nevermind.

Aerosmith's Steven Tyler finally admits he checked into rehab to recover from more than just foot surgery: "I don't know about (guitarist) Joe (Perry) but I was off and running and I didn't like the me that was me. This was a month ago, so I just put the brakes on and checked into detox and just pulled the plug on all of it."

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:

Where The Light Is, a live CD/DVD from John Mayer recorded at Los Angeles' Nokia Theater.

High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens' second solo effort, Identified.

R.E.M.'s iTunes-only set, Live: From London.

Love To Make Music To, from L.A.-based electronica producer Daedelus.

New singles from The Faint ("The Geeks Were Right"), LL Cool J ("Baby") and Lee Ann Womack ("Last Call").

Guilt, a new EP from Sheffield indie band The Long Blondes.

Music News: How Gay Is Katy Perry? Plus, Nas, Pet Shop Boys, Jennifer Hudson, The Ting Tings

Robbie Daw presents a weekly pop music update here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own site called Chart Rigger.

Beginning last year, I'd been getting pitches from a publicist dealing with online press for an artist called Katy Perry and her song "Ur So Gay." To be completely honest, I just didn't dig the song. But as the title might imply, I also started wondering whether or not I was right to feel a bit offended by the lyrical premise -- a female telling off her H&M scarf-wearing boyfriend with the insult, "You're so gay and you don't even like boys," implying that he'd rather spend time with his friends and "MySpace-ing," etc. I basically chalked it up to me being a bit uptight, the song not being my thing, and moved on.

But the pitches kept coming. Soon Katy was signed to Capitol Records, a major label, and the press releases started mentioning Perez Hilton was touting her as a next big thing for summer 2008. In an interview with Blender, Perry, who turns out to be a pastor's daughter, exclaims, "I'm completely outrageous and I'll do anything for attention!"

Now the singer's got a heavily-promoted single called "I Kissed A Girl" (not a Jill Sobule cover), though it doesn't have a video. But rather than expound upon what I think of a seemingly heterosexual 23-year-old woman singing about her drunken female conquest, "I don't even know your name, it doesn't matter/You're my experimental game," I thought I'd turn it over to see what you, the Towleroad reader, think.

Are Katy Perry's lyrics offensive, or are they just silly, gimmicky pop songs by a self-proclaimed attention seeker to be taken with a grain of salt? Clips of "Ur So Gay" and "I Kissed A Girl" are below.

Two things to think about: 1.) A bit of digging finds that Katy Perry released an album of Christian music a few years back under the name Katy Hudson. 2.) Would your thoughts on the level of offense, if any, be different if it were a straight male artist singing either song (particularly if the latter were "I Kissed A Boy")?

Incidentally, Katy Perry's album, One Of The Boys, is out in June.

Hip hop star Nas drops the original controversial title for his new album.

The Pet Shop Boys are working on new material with frequent Sugababes' collaborators Xenomania. Meanwhile, clips from a 2006 episode of U.K. program The South Bank Show on Dusty Springfield have popped up on YouTube, wherein the Boys discuss what it was like working with the singer on her 1991 album, Reputation.

Recording artist Ferras (pictured left) -- whose track "Hollywood's Not America" you likely recognize as this season's American Idol good-bye song -- took to his MySpace blog Friday to dedicate the new single "Liberation Day" to the overturning of California's ban on same-sex marriage: "YAY!!!!!!!!!! ITS LIBERATION DAY EVERYONE!!!! WAKE UP!!!!!! It's 'LIBERATION DAY' for GAY PEOPLE everywhere!!!! The road to liberation day has been a long one, filled with tears and a great fight, but one that thankfully does not include giving up hope. Today, the end of the road is a little bit closer. Today, two people in love can finally be recognized just like everyone else. Its about love, acceptance and life. This is not only about a piece of paper, its about human rights. Its about rejoicing in the beauty of each and every person living on this planet! Its about individuality and the right to exist! Gay people are citizens just like everyone else and should be afforded the same rights. Without recognizing gay marriage as a legitimate expression of love, partnership and equality, we are still living in the dark ages-communicating a message of intolerance and hate. It's 2008. Its a new time. A new era. A time to wake up and 'throw your illusions away.' May all beings rejoice and be happy, as we get one shot- one life- to be all we can be, be the best humans we can be and to love and be loved equally, as we all bleed the same blood. To all my gay and lesbian peeps- this ones for you. All my love and respect, FERRAS"

Darren Hayes will appear as a guest judge on the upcoming season of Austalian Idol, along with fellow Aussie Tina Arena. The London-based singer will help suss out talent in the U.K. for the program: "As an Australian entertainer living in London I definitely have a soft spot for Aussies trying to make it overseas. Rather than judging people, I'm going to be looking for that little bit of magic that someone once saw in me."

Janet Jackson's going on tour: "It will definitely be a big production but it will definitely also be something that I've never done before, that people have never seen from me before." Don't they all say that?

Jennnifer Hudson's album due out in September: "I think people will be pleasantly surprised, because it shows a side of my work that no one has heard before." Now, hold on a second...!

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:

The Ting Tings' debut set, We Started Nothing. The dancey pop/rock duo have the current #1 single on the U.K. chart with "That's Not My Name," while they're also enjoying a sizeable stateside hit with "Shut Up And Let Me Go," thanks to its inclusion in an Apple commercial.

Donna Summer's Crayons, her first studio album of pop material since 1991's Mistaken Identity.

Stop Drop And Roll from Foxboro Hottubs. The big "secret" is that it's actually Green Day doing punk-infused, '60s-sounding bubblegum.

Liverpool electro quartet Ladytron's fourth LP, Velocifero.

Actress Scarlett Johansson's album of Tom Waits covers, Anywhere I Lay My Head.

Jesse McCartney's Departure. McCartney is currently enjoying the success of having co-written Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" with OneRepublic's "Ryan Tedder."

New singles from Aimee Mann ("Freeway"), Solange ("I Decided, Pt. 2") and Judas Priest ("Visions").

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #235

BOOING KEN HUTCHERSON: Focus on the Family's Stuart Shepard discusses the horrible liberal teachers who booed Pastor Ken Hutcherson when he was invited to speak at a high school MLK day. He neglected to mention Hutcherson's taking on of Microsoft or his association with the Watchmen on the Walls group. More here.

MAKE ME A SUPERMODEL: Dynamic duo of something rocks the sheets on the Bravo reality show.

CASEY: Video for Darren Hayes' new single "Casey".

ANONYMOUS: Declares war on Scientology. More here.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

Music News: The Eagles Leave Britney In The Dust, Plus Ex-Boyfriends, Darren Hayes, Sheryl Crow, Prince, Justice, Peaches

Please welcome Robbie Daw, who will be penning weekly music posts for us here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own pop music site called Chart Rigger.

In the 11th hour (i.e., today), Billboard and Nielsen SoundScan came to an agreement to revise the music publication's chart rules to allow albums sold exclusively at only one retailer to be eligible for entry on Billboard's charts. This spelled a certain doom for Britney Spears' #1 debut. Although Blackout sold about 290,000 copies -- far lower than the 350,000 projection made by Billboard last week -- she was still expected to capture the top position on the album chart.

However, at the same time, The Eagles Long Road Out Of Eden became available last Tuesday at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club outlets, and went on to sell 711,000 copies over the course of the week. With the revised chart policy, the classic rock band's first studio album in 28 years easily beats Britney to #1 on this week's Top 200.

Regardless of whether Blackout had debuted on top or not, the writing for Britney seems to be pretty much on the wall. Her last studio record, In The Zone, racked up sales of 609,000 in its first week four years ago -- more than twice the sales of Blackout. Of course one could argue that illegal downloading has only increased since that time, causing music to sell less now more than ever. But take into consideration that Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride -- the previous chart-topping album -- managed to move 527,000 copies its first week out.

Blackout has received a lot of goodwill and swell reviews in recent days, but perhaps Britney's shenanigans really have finally caught up with her, as America has clearly moved on to other sweethearts.

San Francisco-based pop punk trio Ex-Boyfriends (pictured left) "are looking for bands that like to take long walks on the beach, cuddle for hours on end, watch Merchant Ivory films and love taking it up the a**."

Darren Hayes is back in the U.S. to do several gigs and Miami's White Party, and he may be hitting a Borders near you.

Beyoncé to sing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow," while Carrie Underwood takes on "The Sound Of Music."

Turns out only two out of five listeners paid for the one million downloads of Radiohead's In Rainbows, but that's necessarily a bad thing.

Sheryl Crow releasing "environmentally conscious" new album in February.

Prince threatens his own fans with legal action, but they're ready for their day in court.

Peaches, Justice, 2 Live Crew and Jason Bentley to have a Hard New Year's Eve in L.A.

THIS WEEK'S NEW RELEASES:

New singles from Kylie Minogue ("2 Hearts"), Spice Girls ("Headlines"), Oasis ("Lord Don't Slow Me Down") and Idina Menzel ("Brave").

Nearly a year after its European release, To All New Arrivals by U.K. dance act Faithless arrives on iTunes.

Jay-Z's album of songs inspired by the the film American Gangster.

Chris Brown's Exclusive, containing the current #1 single on Billboard's Hot 100, "Kiss Kiss."

Sia's Day Too Soon EP.

News: Project Runway, Mars vs Iraq, Wes Anderson, Humanity

The Project Runway designers are here! (Bios)

David Beckham rushes back to England after his father suffers a near-fatal heart attack.

''It will take months and years to really see" if Episcopal vote on exercising restraint with regard to gay clergy and same-sex relationships will mend the rift in the Anglican church, according to church leaders.

Milo Ventimiglia's booty makes appearance in new film.

Darren Hayes releases new video for "Me, Myself & I" but his Attitude magazine cover story is nowhere to be found.

Hotel Chevalier, Wes Anderson's 13-minute prequel to his upcoming film The Darjeeling Limited, is now available for download on iTunes.

Fishing Polar Bear spotted for the first time in two centuries: "The Inuit people of the Arctic have always known about it. But no outsiders have witnessed it for 200 years: a polar bear fishing. Not by scooping the fish out of the water like a brown bear - but by plunging in and swimming...Last August, researchers based in Iqaluit, Canada, watched an adolescent polar bear swimming in a river estuary packed with charr, a relative of salmon, that was migrating upstream. It caught about one fish an hour, swimming and peering into the water, then diving. In the two days they saw the bear, it caught three charr and three sculpin, a spiny fish that lives under rocks - which the bear seemed to lose enthusiasm for eating."

Clergy members in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley have come together to urge the Supreme Court to overturn the state's ban on same-sex marriage: "Ahead of what is widely expected to be the next major state Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage, reverends, pastors and rabbis met at St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church in North Hollywood to announce they would file 30 amicus briefs, formal documents intended to persuade courts on an issue. The religious leaders, who were joined by 90 civil-rights organizations across the state that also filed briefs, are hoping to influence the court's decision on an upcoming review of a lawsuit seeking to overturn the ban on gay marriage."

The money the U.S. has spent in Iraq could have funded 11 independent missions to Mars.

A map of humanity.

Researchers: Is Alzheimer's memory loss due to a previously unknown third form of diabetes? " Now scientists at Northwestern University have discovered why brain insulin signaling -- crucial for memory formation -- would stop working in Alzheimer’s disease. They have shown that a toxic protein found in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer’s removes insulin receptors from nerve cells, rendering those neurons insulin resistant. (The protein, known to attack memory-forming synapses, is called an ADDL for 'amyloid ß-derived diffusible ligand.') With other research showing that levels of brain insulin and its related receptors are lower in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, the Northwestern study sheds light on the emerging idea of Alzheimer’s being a “type 3” diabetes."

Texas student suspended for wearing John Edwards T-shirt to school.

Elton John defends seized Nan Goldin photo: "The photograph exists as part of the installation as a whole and has been widely published and exhibited throughout the world. It has been offered for sale at Sotheby's New York … and exhibited in Houston, London, Madrid, New York, Portugal, Warsaw and Zurich without any objections that we are aware of."