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BOOK REVIEW: Breaking Down the Walls of Heartache: Martin Aston

December 5, 2016

heartcahe-hi-resBreaking Down the Walls of Heartache

Martin Aston

Aston has produced an excellent book charting how music came out. ‘All rock and roll music is homosexual’ the Manic Street Preachers claimed and most music performers defy social and political conventions of their time, pushing and progressing many other social groups along with their music.

Popular music’s queer DNA is inarguable, from Elvis in eye shadow to k.d. lang’s female Elvis; from the far-reaching influence of Little Richard’s ‘Tutti Frutti’, the Velvet Underground and Bowie’s bisexual alien Ziggy Stardust; from Frankie Say ‘Relax’ to house music godfather Frankie Knuckles; from Kurt Cobain in a dress to lesbian icon and couture model Beth Ditto and 21st century trans ‘future feminist’ Anohni. It’s a comprehensive history – spanning a hundred years, starting in 1920s Harlem – of the queer pioneers of Popular Music with over 90 new interviews.

Check out more info on the book on Martin’s website here

Aston argues with delicious well informed observations, discussion and documentation over the last hundred years of popular music how it’s influenced LGBTQ rights and pushed for equality, but also shows us the regressive steps in Russia and Africa where songs from the LGBTQ experience show in sharp contrast how the fight between bigotry and freedom is far from over. Superb and the right stocking filler for the LGBT music fan in your life this is THE definitive guide to the way in which the LGBT Q world has molded and influenced popular ,music and culture today.

Out now, for more info or to buy the book see the publishers website here, they have a superb range of books of interest to the LGBTQ readers. Breaking Down the Walls of Heartache is a story for a wide audience, not just the LGBT community but a broad spectrum of music lovers who are fascinated by these characters, events, stories and songs

Hardback £19.99

Paperback £9.99

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