Cole Porter part 2

Cole Porter's sex life is certainly a chapter by itself: It's actually refreshing to discover people who lived their lives in those closeted times in such a hedonisitc abandon. Granted, he was rich, famous and talented. Also granted, he lived in places (Paris, New York, Hollywood) where gay sex partners were much easier to find. But still, one wonders how come the 20s, the 30s and the 40s offered such sexual diversity. Quite possibly, only the 70s were a match. As for the 21st Century, I wouldn't know. Perhaps you can enlighten me in your comments.

Porter began his sex life as a tortured, but also libidinous, romantic: in his younger years, he would often fall in love. His numerous lovers included Nelson Barclift (a dancer / choreographer and former U.S. Marine), Robert Bray (a married Californian), Jack Cassidy (actor, father of David and Shaun), architect Ed Tauch, director John Wilson and longtime friend Ray Kelly, whose children still receive half of Porter's copyright royalties.

It was his infatuation with Russian poet Boris Kochno, however, which marked a turning point in his life: after a brief, frustrating affair with Kochno in 1925, Porter limited his sex life to encounters with sailors and hustlers. He maintained that sex, like other pleasures, could be far less complicated when it was purchased. Porter's old friend, actor Monty Woolley, often joined him to cruise New York City's waterfront bars and bordellos. The tricks they picked up in these places were not likely to talk and would not be believed if they did. The two friends were usually successful in their quests for fresh diversion, at least in part because of their boldness. One night, a young sailor they drove up to on the street asked outright, "Are you two c**ksuckers?" Wooley smiled and said, "Now that the preliminaries are over, why don't you get in and we can discuss the details?"

After relocating to  Hollywood, he was a regular guest at George Cukor's Sunday all-male pool parties, but soon the two became rivals. Porter started organizing competing all-male parties, and Cole’s became the more valued invitation. Porter was not discrete. A recent biography recounts that in his later years, Cole kept "breaking appliances so he could lure cute repairmen into his lair". Also, Scotty Bowers' recent Hollywood tell-all recounts that Porter had a decided taste for giving BJs to Marines and other tough-looking young men while receiving verbal abuse and humiliation. He became more brazen in the more open and permissive atmosphere of Hollywood. Linda reacted by staying away from California, sailing back and forth between her residences in Paris and New York. She was quietly making plans to divorce Cole. Then in 1937, Cole was involved in a tragic horse riding accident and fractured both his legs. Things changed after that. More tomorrow.

The songs we'll be dealing with today all come from a play that is one of his two most popular (along with "Kiss Me Kate"). "Anything Goes" debuted on Broadway in 1934 and has since been revived several times and has been filmed twice. It contained classics such as I Get A Kick Out Of You, All Through The Night, It's De-lovely and Let's Misbehave (the latter two in the 1962 revival), as well as the three songs to be presented.

Anything Goes, the title song, stuck with me ever since I heard it in "Terms Of Endearment" (the scene before Debra's wedding). Right after, I heard it in the cold open of Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom. I knew I was hooked. I found the superlative "Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Songbook" rather easily, but spent a good part of two decades searching for the Ethel Merman original Broadway version, in various record stores, in England as well as in France. It also appears on two other films that are gay favorites: The Boys In The Band and Sleuth.

The lyrics emphasize just that: it's a new era and Anything Goes: "If bare limbs you like, or me undressed you like, why, nobody will oppose. When ev'ry night the set that's smart is intruding in nudist parties in Studios, anything goes."

Here's Ethel Merman in a shortened film version:

Here's Ella Fitzgerald:

Here's the latest remarkable version, by Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga:

Easy to Love was written for architect Ed Tauch, an object of Porter's affection. It seems that it wasn't reciprocated in a satisfactory way, since the lyrics go: "And we would be so grand at the game, carefree together that it does seem a shame that you can't see your future with me, cause you'd be, oh, so easy to love."

Here's Billie Holiday:

And here's Shirley Bassey:

Last for today, a phrase I'm sure most of us are familiar with: You're The Top.

It seems that being a top was always prized in the gay community: Porter showers the top in question with a plethora of superlatives, while belittling himself, because, baby, I'm the bottom, you're the top!" (So as not to be misunderstood, this is a "tongue-in-cheek" explanation of the lyrics.)

Here's a rare occasion to listen to Cole Porter sing the song himself:

And here's the inimitable Barbra: