A History of LGBTQ Music from 1969-2000

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KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2026

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In his new book “Mighty Real: A History of LGBTQ Music 1969-2000” music critic Barry Walters looks at how music produced and performed by gay and straight musicians has been embraced, celebrated, and defined by queer culture. As he notes, queer musicians “have made an art of saying what can’t be overtly said” and their LGBTQ listeners “have learned to hear what others can’t.” Walters traces the influence of rockers, pop stars, country crooners, R&B artists and disco queens from David Bowie to Sylvster, the Village People to the Petshop Boys, Grace Jones to k.d. lang. We talk to Walters and hear from you: What’s a song that helped define queer culture for you? Guests: Barry Walters, author, "Mighty Real: A History of LGBTQ Music, 1969–2000" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for KQED Podcasts comes from San Francisco International Airport.
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0:31.5	From KQED. Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. Music critic Barry Walters came of age into the great
0:39.6	coming out for American music. Queerness had been a subtext in the music of the 1960s, but disco
0:45.4	brought it into the bright, bright lights, and it has remained a fascinating thread of popular
0:49.8	music ever since. In his new book, Mighty Real, a history of LGBTQ music, 1969 to 2000,
0:57.5	he traces both sides of the musical experience, the musicians and the producers and the record
1:02.7	labels with queer roots and goals, and then the listeners who adopted music by musicians of all
1:08.1	genders and sexualities as their anthems of inner and outer expression.
1:13.3	This book is fantastic. Even if you know a lot about music, maybe especially if you know a lot
1:18.7	about music, Walters' encyclopedic knowledge and careful storytelling allow a broadening
1:23.7	and deepening of perspective that's also just so much fun. And what makes a book like this go
1:29.1	from academic exercise to living monument is taste, really. And Walter's critical sensibility
1:34.9	shines throughout all these pages. You want to listen to the songs he finds interesting, not just
1:40.1	because they're contextually relevant, but because they are good. And here he is. Welcome,
1:45.5	Barry Walters. Hello. It's great to be here. So, you know, you write that most music is not designed
1:53.4	for us, not even music by us. What do you mean by that? And who is the us in this statement?
	...

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