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The iconic queer performer reflects on building a LGBTQ community in '80s London.
Fresh off the release of their 17th studio album, World Be Gone, Erasure's Andy Bell celebrates Pride Month today with a playlist of queer anthems inspired by his experiences as a young man in '80s London. The tracklist opens with the London synth-pop duo's iconic 1988 anthem, "A Little Respect," and moves through an array of Liza Minnelli, Tom Tom Club and Diana Ross.
"The experience of coming out for any young gay person is probably one of the most exciting, exhilarating times of their entire life," Andy Bell told OUT. "For me, it was no different in the heady, fairly desolate, landscape of London in the mid '80's. They were quite dangerous times and we really had to pull together as a community and work, work, work and march for equality; the age of consent then was still 21. These songs are a reflection of those times: drag queens making do, tarting themselves up for the evening and us going out into the night, not quite old enough to understand the power of beauty and youth."
Stream Erasure's Pride playlist, below.
