ANTEBELLUM BLOG

6/10/12

TODAY IS JUDY GARLAND'S 90TH BIRTHDAY

Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969)
was an American actress, singer and vaudevillian. Renowned for hercontralto voice, she attained international stardom through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as arecording artist and on the concert stage.

Respected for her versatility, she received a Juvenile Academy Award and won a Golden Globe Award, as well as Grammy Awards and a Special Tony Award. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the remake of A Star is Born and for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1961 film, Judgment at Nuremberg. At 39 years of age, she remains the youngest recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in the motion picture industry.

Garland always had a large base of fans in the gay community and has become a gay icon. Reasons often given for her standing, especially among gay men, are admiration of her ability as a performer, the way her personal struggles mirrored those of gay men in America during the height of her fame and her value as a camp figure.

When asked about how she felt about having a large gay following, she responded, "I couldn't care less. I sing to people."

Some have also suggested a connection between the date of Garland's death and funeral on June 27, 1969 and the Stonewall riots, the flashpoint of the modern Gay Liberation movement, which started in the early hours of June 28.

MARVIN GAYE

Marvin Gaye, (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), (he added the 'e' as a young man), was an acclaimed American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range, who achieved major success in the 1960s and 1970s as an artist for the Motown Records label.

Starting his career as a member of the doo-wop group The Moonglows in the late 1950s, he ventured into a solo career after the group disbanded in 1960, signing with Motown Records subsidiary, Tamla. He started off as a session drummer, but later ranked as the label's top-selling solo artist during the 1960s. He was crowned "The Prince of Motown" and "The Prince of Soul". because of solo hits such as "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)", "Ain't That Peculiar", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," and his duet singles with singers such as Mary Wells and Tammi Terrell.

His work in the early- and mid-1970s included the albums, What's Going On, Let's Get It On, and I Want You, which helped influence the quiet storm,urban adult contemporary, and slow jam genres. After a self-imposed European exile in the early 1980s, Gaye returned on the 1982 Grammy-Award winning hit, "Sexual Healing" and the Midnight Love album.

In 2008, the American music magazine Rolling Stone ranked Gaye at number 6 on its list of the Greatest Singers of All Time, and ranked at number 18 on 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and he ranked number 20 on VH1's list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Gaye was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

marvin gaye had a tumultuous relationship with his father his entire life.

as a young boy marvin gay sr. was abusive to his son. he was a preacher and condemned marvin jr to hell many times, yet dressed in drag at home and had effeminate qualities.

On Christmas Day, 1983, Marvin gave his father an unlicensed .38 to protect him from probable intruders. On April 1, 1984, Gaye was fatally shot by his father after he intervened between his parents in a screaming dispute over misplaced financial documents. Marvin's father later pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to five years of probation after accepting aplea bargain.

Marvin Gaye died one day before turning 45.

On April 5, 1984, Marvin's funeral was attended by 10,000 mourners including his old Motown colleagues and most of his family and friends. The musician's remains were later cremated and his ashes was spread to the Pacific Ocean. He has a burial plot at Los Angeles' Forest Lawn Cemetery. Several tribute songs dedicated to Marvin were composed and released within months after his death including those from Edwin Starr ("Marvin"), Duran Duran (the live version of "Save a Prayer"), Diana Ross ("Missing You"), Todd Rundgren ("Lost Horizon"), Teena Marie ("My Dear Mr. Gaye") and The Commodores ("Nightshift").

CASTRATION SQUAD

CASTRATION SQUAD circa 1982

A scan of a 30 year old photocopy of a Polaroid.
L-R: Phranc, Alice, Shannon, Tiffany, Mary.

repost courtesy~ alice bag~ sedona/antebellum correspondent

RICK CASTRO & FERTILE LA TOYAH JACKSON

RICK CASTRO & FERTILE LA TOYAH JACKSON @ troy cafe~
1street- little toyko- circa 1993
photo courtesy~ alice bag~ sedona/antebellum correspondent

REMEMBER LOS ANGELES GAY HISTORY

THE BLACK CAT IN SILVERLAKE WAS THE ORIGINAL GAY UPRISING

to honor gay day LA~ 2012, i would like to point out that the first gay protest against police raids happened in SILVERLAKE, LOS ANGELES- 2 YEARS BEFORE STONEWALL~

How it went down in 1967 in Los Angeles.

On june 16, 1967- Los Angeles citizens appeared in court (Div. 59) to enter pleas to charges resulting from a police mass arrest at a bar called THE BLACK CAT, (now LE BARCITO) located at 3909 Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles. The bar has been open approximately 2 months. The arrests took place New Year's eve (January 1, 1967) and were made by a large goup of police officers. About 12 vice-squad officers (plainclothesmen) started beating patrons to the floor about 5 minutes after midnight. They did not identify themselves except by their weapons. After beating the patrons, the 16 to be arrested were laid face down on the sidewalk outside the bar. 5 patrol cars, containing 2 uniformed officers each, were brought from a near-by side street where they had been parked for sometime and the individuals arrested were taken to the newly opened Rampart St. Police Station. 3 bartenders were among those arrested.

Officers then went to a second bar, at 4001 Sunset Blvd., attacked the lady bar owner and the bar's manager and bartender, who came to her aid. The owner and manager were not arrested, although the manager was left on the sidewalk bleeding. The bartender was so badly beaten that he is still in County General Hospital, where he has undergone an operation to remove his ruptured spleen. He had gone 2 hours before being sent to the hospital. He was finally booked on a felony charge of assaulting an officer.

as the story goes.. the police raided the black cat on new years eve, 1967. the entered the bar beating and arresting everyone in the place. the police then went to a second bar @ 4001 sunset blvd, (now circus of books) and demanding to know who the owner was. someone pointed out they were at the bar. the police thought it was a gay man in drag, but in face the owner was a woman dressed very festive for new years eve.

the police threw her to the ground and beat her so badly she had to go to emergency.

Two months after the raid, hundreds protested in front of the bar, carrying signs that read "Peace in Silver Lake," "No More Abuse of Our Rights and Dignity" and "Abolish Arbitrary Arrests."

this all took place february 20th,1967
@ the black cat now Le Barcito, (and soon to close permanently)
3909 W. Sunset Boulevard
Silverlake, CA

don't forget the past.... happy gay day- june 10th, 2012.