Pansy Division

After personal and professional issues kept me away from writing for more than a couple of weeks, I have the itch to write a new story. I could continue the Gay Icons/The Divas series or the Oscar-winning Songs Countdown, or I could put to paper one of the hundred-or-so new ideas that I have in my head. Instead, I actually wanted to go back to what was the original scope of this blog, the stories that I’ve been mostly doing during the first two years, presenting LGBTQI musicians and songs. Then, I realized that the last new story of an LGBTQI musician (save for a couple of revisits) appeared as long as 16 months ago. It was about the ill-fated Zelim Bakaev. It duly became one of the most-visited stories that I ever presented. So, ladies, gentlemen, and gender non-binary readers, today I present the story of Pansy Division.

Before I begin at the beginning, I will move slightly forward to present two of my favorite Pansy Division songs. One presents their lighter side and the other reveals their darker side. The first song is a cover – and has quite a story of its own.

Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other was written in 1981 by Latin country musician Ned Sublette and - based on his experiences growing up in Portales, N.M. - the song cleverly satirizes the stereotypes associated with cowboys and gay men. These are the lyrics:

“There's many a strange impulse out on the plains of West Texas;
There's many a young boy who feels things he don't comprehend
Well small town don't like it when somebody falls between sexes
No, small town don't like it when a cowboy has feelings for men

Well I believe in my soul that inside every man there's a feminine
And inside every lady, there's a deep manly voice loud and clear
Well, a cowboy may brag about things that he does with his women
But the ones who brag loudest are the ones that are most likely queer

Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other —
What did you think those saddles and boots was about?
There's many a cowboy who don't understand the way that he feels towards his brother
Inside every cowboy, there's a lady who'd love to slip out

Ten men for each woman was the rule way back when on the prairie
And somehow those cowboys must have kept themselves warm late at night
Cowboys are famous for getting riled up about fairies
But I'll tell you the reason a big strong man gets so uptight:

Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other —
That's why they wear leather, and Levi's and belts buckled tight
There's many a cowboy who don't understand the way that he feels towards his
Brother;
There's many a cowboy who's more like a lady at night

Well there's always somebody who says what the others just whisper
And mostly that someone's the first one to get shot down dead:
When you talk to a cowboy don't treat him like he was a sister
Don't mess with the lady that's sleepin' in each cowboy's head

Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other —
Even though they take speed and drive pickups and shoot their big guns;
There's many a cowboy who don't understand the way that he feels towards his
Brother;
There's many a cowboy who keeps quiet about things he's done”

This is the original version:

Pansy Division covered the song in 1994, for a split single called "Stop Homophobia":

Country legend Willie Nelson received a tape of the song in the mid to late 1980s. Nelson said, "I thought it was the funniest goddamn song I'd ever heard. I had it on the bus for 20 years, and people would come in and I'd play it. When Brokeback Mountain come out, it just seemed like a good time to kick it out of the closet."

The song was released as a single on Valentine’s Day, 2006 and became Nelson’s highest charting solo single since his 1984 duet with Julio Iglesias, To All the Girls I've Loved Before (#5), debuting at #52 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Here it is:

Their “darker” song is called Denny (naked) and first appeared on their 1994 album, Deflowered, as well as on the 1995 EP James Bondage. The song is about suffering in the age of AIDS set to a perversely chippy melody. These are the heartbreaking lyrics:

“Denny picked me up, Denny did me
He's got a tattoo of his dick on his belly
It was double vision, disorienting
Denny's kind of a dorky fella
Denny's dramatic, Denny's dark
He ain't nothing like the restaurant
He's got HIV+ tattooed in black
In 6" letters on his back
He said "I want them to see
What they've done to me"
Denny

Denny's reading the Decameron
About a plague that came before
'Cause Denny's dying and Denny don't like it
And Denny don't dance no more
He's kinda New Age, but Denny's not too smart
Trying to love himself
But he doesn't really know how
He's got a heart tattoo with his own name in it
Trouble is, Denny doesn't really get it
Self-esteem is just a dream for Denny

Denny could be very funny
Says he wanted my asshole tattooed on his chin
But Denny's very demanding
'Cause Denny ain't got long to live
Denny did porno, photos, and films
Until his tattoos ruined his career
He stares at the video, feeling dejected
Helplessly watching himself get infected
Denny's got pneumocystis
And a new tattoo as well
Denny got a skull and crossbones
Smack in the middle of his forehead
Says, "I want them to see
what they've done to me"
Denny”

Now, let’s go back to the start: once upon a time, Jon Ginoli, frustrated by the lack of openly gay rock musicians, started performing solo sets under the moniker Pansy Division (a pun on Panzer division and the word "pansy") around San Francisco. Shortly after this, in 1991, Ginoli placed an ad in the San Francisco Weekly looking for “gay musicians into the Ramones, Buzzcocks, and early Beatles”. This caught the attention of Chris Freeman, who joined on as a bassist. Ginoli and Freeman then recruited drummer Jay Puget, forming the first all-gay rock band that any of them had known. They hoped to defy the stereotype that gay men preferred pop divas and show tunes, by playing punk rock music.

“As a band, our mission was to not live in a world where there was not an out, queer rock band,” said Chris Freeman. “We thought that should be in existence, so we did it ourselves.”

Raised on a diet of 60s pop and 70s punk, their sound was suitably crunchy and catchy as hell. They wrote in-your-face lyrics but did it with a sense of humor. Not only did their music and stance defy stereotypic norms of rock musicians being openly gay, but they also broke gay cultural stereotypes that rock wouldn't interest gay people. 

In 1993, following extensive Californian touring, several 7" singles and compilation appearances, Pansy Division signed to Lookout! Records, released their first album, Undressed, and embarked on their first national tour. Here are some songs from Undressed. The second song on the album, Fem in a Black Leather Jacket, had been their first ever single, a year earlier:

On that single (but not on the album) we also find Smells Like Queer Spirit which is based on… Seriously, I don’t have to say it, do I?

The Byrds-influenced Boyfriend Wanted is a departure for the band:

Cocksucker Club was a fun track with bold lyrics:

All the album’s songs were written by Jon Ginoli, except for Rock and Roll Queer Bar, which was the Ramones’ classic Rock and Roll High School with different lyrics by Ginoli:

Their music caught the attention of former Lookout! labelmates Green Day, who took Pansy Division on tour for a couple of months in 1994 at the height of the mania surrounding their breakthrough album Dookie. Says Ginoli, “When we started our band we thought we’d be playing our music to people in their 20s & 30s who were gay or gay-friendly. Suddenly we faced thousands of high school kids each night, an amazing opportunity we never expected to have.” The response was decidedly mixed, but their popularity soared. The fact that their second album, Deflowered, was very good, definitely helped.

From this album, which also contained Denny (naked), Groovy Underwear features Ginoli and Freeman sweetly harmonizing:

James Bondage is among the album’s funnier tracks:

Fluffy City is a hilarious portrait of L.A.'s mainstream gay/club scene with one sharp putdown after another:

On the other hand, Deep Water is about feeling lost and desperately alone in a small town:

A winning version (with gender changed) of Jonathan Richman's A Song of Remembrance for Old Boyfriends fits in perfectly with the general mood:

Pile Up (1995) was a compilation album. In it were Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other, Denny (naked), and Smells Like Queer Spirit. Also in this album, other singles, like Homo Christmas:

… Bill & Ted's Homosexual Adventure:

… Jack U Off:

… also a cover of Jackson, a duet with Calvin Johnson:

Their third studio album, Wish I'd Taken Pictures (1996), had a stronger punk kick than Deflowered, helped in part by Dustin Donaldson's turn on the drum kit and tighter riffs from Jon Ginoli and Chris Freeman. A song like Pee Shy captures a perfect, classic Ramones style of volume plus a melody that's better than the band had done before:

Still, the real kickers can be found in Ginoli's increasing range of lyrical reflections on the ups and, much more often, the downs of life, romantic and otherwise. Songs like the exquisitely poignant I Really Wanted You, directed to a past love settled into a heterosexual marriage. The single’s music video actually played once on MTV:

The Summer You Let Your Hair Grow Out is perhaps the best of the bunch on that front, an enjoyable acoustic guitar/electric bass rave-up with Ginoli deftly touching on questions of whether or not love might be in the air:

Freeman once again gets a humorous moment of glory with the hilarious and fun tale of lust Dick of Death, which covers the situation where, as the liner notes say, "sometimes bigger is better."

Also in 1996, the band released a couple of EPs. There was Valentine's Day:

… Then, there was the imaginatively titled, For Those About to Suck Cock… We Salute You. The lead track was Headbanger:

During this time, Pansy Division primarily performed as a trio, with Freeman and Ginoli being the only constant members amid a slew of perpetually rotating drummers, both gay and straight. In 1996, the band finally found a permanent gay drummer in the form of Luis Illades and became a quartet in 1997 with the addition of lead guitarist Patrick Goodwin.

Right from the top, their next album, Absurd Pop Song Romance (1998), conveys a sense that Pansy Division has evolved from its early days of no-holds-barred homocore. The first track is a brief, eerie sound sample, immediately followed by February 17 - a track with all the upbeat rock power of previous albums, but with a decidedly more serious, frustrated tone.

On the other hand, the next track, Sweet Insecurity, reverts to a happy, mellow pop/rock beat with sweet, self-doubting lyrics.

Bad Boyfriend demonstrates that Ginoli’s earnest and humorous approach to subjects is retained in full, whether the tone is cynical or celebratory.

You're Gonna Need Your Friends has echoes of the Kinks:

In 2001, Pansy Division was finally ready to record another album, but the lack of support from Lookout! caused the band to leave their long-time label and sign with Alternative Tentacles later that year. What resulted was 2003's Total Entertainment!, an album that the band described as a meeting point between the lighthearted humor of their early work and the introspective rock of their previous album.

The bouncy and bittersweet Spiral eschews simple pop-punk for crunchy power pop:

They've also got a knack for new wave, like the vocodered No Protection:

The dark and grinding Alpine Skiing is reminiscent of the Pixies’ punk - and if you don't know what that euphemism means, well, you'll just have to either think about it for a few minutes or listen to the song:

2009 saw the release of their seventh studio album, titled That’s So Gay. This is the title track:

Iconic punk-rocker and Dead Kennedy Jello Biafra takes turn singing vocals on Average Man (a slam on the blue collar-types who bestow prejudice):

Pansy Division take a long, hard look at their illustrious career with 20 Years of Cock reminiscing fondly, "Well yeah I'm aging but I'm still raging/I'm getting grayer but feeling gayer."

Some of My Best Friends is the first original Pansy Division song with lyrics written by a heterosexual (this time dealing with the hatred of homophobic behavior from a straight guy's perspective) The song appears on this webisode of Jonah. (It begins at 5:47.)

Their last album, which was released in 2016, is called Quite Contrary. In Love Came Along, Ginoli and Freeman celebrate middle age:

Blame the Bible is a scathing condemnation of politicians who use religion to attack civil liberties. There are so many of them… but they won’t prevail.

… The last song in today’s story is also from their last album: it’s called Kiss Me At Midnight:

Freeman and Ginoli know that Pansy Division’s mission didn’t end with Elton or Etheridge coming out – or even the existence of singers like Sam Smith and bands like the Scissor Sisters selling millions of records while being out and proud. “As long as people in other parts of the world are being stoned to death or thrown off buildings or tortured for being gay, then we still have a mission,” Freeman said in an interview for The Guardian. “We have certain factions in this country who don’t want ‘gay’ to be a norm – look at Orlando. As long as someone can say, ‘That voodoo God in the sky says gay is wrong’, I’m going to continue to knock down the door.”

This sense of mission has been intensified by the Orlando murders. “It’s sort of shocking to think that 20 years ago we couldn’t have had a conversation about gay marriage. But now we have it. And yet people are still being killed because they’re gay. So you’ve got one side of the ship is going up and the other side is going down. We want to try and make the whole thing float if we can.”

Keep on fighting the good fight, guys. We are by your side.