Bright Light Bright Light: Everything I Ever Wanted

In aid of Elton John’s Aids Foundation, Bright Light Bright Light records a special version of his single ‘Everything I Ever Wanted’ with the Pink Singers.

“It’s a song about care and protecting someone so they achieve the best they can, so thematically it’s the best song for the day, but also I really wanted full chorals on it so it seemed the best choice!”

Jaime Nanci: ‘Toy’ Talk.

Jaime of Jaime Nanci & the Blueboys gives Polari a track by track breakdown of new album Toy.

“I think it’s quite baroque in its melodrama. We played a show at this underground Vaudeville type club that descended into bedlam and debauchery. It really felt like travelling back in time to a liquor soaked opium-scented madhouse.”

The New Era in Sci-Fi.

In the 1950s, the post-war American empire changed the politics of the world. It took a science-fiction novel, Gore Vidal’s Messiah, to see how that change was not necessarily for the good.

“Vidal’s progress toward writing a sci-fi story about America in the grip of post-war hysteria started with the publication of his novel The City and the Pillar in 1948. Through its tale of a young man struggling with his homosexuality, Vidal inadvertently entered the realm of speculative fiction.”

Gay Doctor Who.

The Sisterhood of Karn is a London-based group for gay fans of Doctor Who. Daniel Milford-Cottam writes about its twenty year history and enduring allure.

“Knowing that somewhere, gay fans of our beloved programme were regularly meeting in a pub, and had a name for their gathering, somehow made our digital community feel a little more special. “

Subversive Mutants.

Does science fiction have the power to infiltrate the mass consciousness with socially progressive ideas that can ultimately change a person’s worldview?

“The allegorical power of the series over the decades has probably done more to shape contemporary culture than placing a range of rather token gay characters ever could, and this alone should justify X-Men’s place within queer history.”

Polari’s August Bona-nza: It’s a sexy world!

The work of Portuguese artist Alexandre Sequeira Lima is interested in queering the political and politicising the queer.

“I could call myself a ‘shy happening’. Shy because I must contain myself sometimes, because you can’t always play yourself twenty-four hours a day.”

Polari’s August Bona-nza: Against the Grain.

Paul Smith considers the art of Aubrey Beardsley, who delighted in a sense of demonic mischief and dared to push against the boundaries of Victorian England.

“It was his bold interpretation of Oscar Wilde’s Salome that brought him huge acclaim with naked demonic hermaphrodites, deformed dwarfs and malevolent women with evil smeared on their lips.”

Queer Voices.

The Queer’Say events celebrate the power of the spoken word. We introduce a series of interviews with performance poets, and consider why the medium is so popular.

“This is poetry that is populist and democratising, and contagious, as can be seen by videos of spoken word poets that have gone viral in recent years.”

On The Other Side.

A retrospective of the inimitable Tori Amos’ finest B-sides, rarities and cover versions.

“The B-sides are not merely the songs that ‘didn’t make the cut’ of the album; they are the ones that are strong enough to stand up on their own.”

A Little Respect.

Exclusive: Scarlette Fever covers Erasure’s ‘A Little Respect’ for Polari Magazine.