Will Grega’s Gay Music Guide
Will Grega
Fifty-eight entries are for men, forty-one for women or mixed groups. Each entry in the guide, which is organized alphabetically by performer, begins with a description of the musical style, ranging from techno/ ambient/leather to jazz to contemporary Christian, and most entries include photographs and interviews, ranging from one question to five pages. The overwhelmingly positive reviews describe the music, set the performer in a sociopolitical context, and often make comparisons between the per- former and mainstream artists, helping those unfamiliar with the music to under- stand something about the recording’s con- tent.
The guide includes a few performers of art music-the flute/guitar duo Musica Femina, the Turtle Creek Chorale, and the Windy City Gay Chorus-and ethnic music -the women’s octet Libana, Laura Wetzler, and Elliot Pilshaw.
The bio-discography is followed by two pages of resources for gay and lesbian mu- sic (Hot Wire ceased publication in 1994), a list of Grega’s favorite recordings, and one page devoted to ‘How to Build a Gay Music Collection.’ The discussion is aimed at the listening public rather than librarians and recommends only artists included in the discography.
Because the guide’s focus on independently produced recordings eliminates such well-known women artists as Cris Williamson and Holly Near from its coverage and because it overlooks many in- dependent lesbian musicians (e.g., Erica Wheeler of Massachusetts, Miss Brown To You of Oklahoma, and Judy Fjell of California, all of whom have produced recordings since 1990), building a meaningful col- lection will require using Grega’s guide in conjunction with lesbian music resources such as Ladyslipper Catalog and Resource Guide (PO Box 3130, Durham, NC 27705; 800/634-6044-the most complete catalogue of women’s recordings available) and the excellent discography in Gay and Lesbian Library Service, edited by Cal Gough and Ellen Greenblatt (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1990). Grega’s guide is helpful, nevertheless, in locating some recent lesbian music, including a women’s music sampler that features performers outside Grega’s scope.
Two errors caught my attention: Melissa Etheridge’s name is misspelled as Etheredge (p. 4), and the entry for Dos Fallopia describes the tune ‘Kate and Ethel: Surf’s Up’ as ‘a medley of Beach Boy’s [sic] surfer hits interpreted by Ethel Merman and Kate Hepburn [!]’ (recte Smith, p. 26). Despite questions of scope and accuracy Grega’s Gay Music Guide is an indispensable contribution to the field of gay music discography, given its position as the only existing guide to independent gay and lesbian musicians and their recordings. ~ Renée McBride, Notes, Second Series, Vol. 52, No. 3 (Mar., 1996)
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Details
| ISBN | 9780963987198 |
| Genre | Music |
| Publication Date | May-94 |
| Publisher | Pop Front Press |
| Format | Paperback |
| No. of Pages | 96 |
| Language | English |
| Rating | NotRated |
| Subject | Gay men; Gay Men/ Songs And Music/ Discography; Gay musicians; Gays; Lesbians – Songs and music – Discography |
| BookID | 14657 |
