Heavy Metal Rest Stop Parking Lot
Posted by Mark Allen on 01 Sep 2006 | Tagged as: Random Posts
I ran across the “Gays in Metal” article from the current issue of Decibel magazine (thanks to Jockohomo) and found it to be interesting, weirdly glam-less and full of strangely contrasting little nuggets:
“The political climate and the war are big focal points in hardcore [metal] right now, as opposed to a bunch of ‘I’ll break your face, you fucking coward liar motherfucker’ songs.” says former Botch bassist Brian Cook.
Then…
“Another issue I have with metal is that long hair looks really awful on guys,” says Cook. “I definitely prefer the straightedge, shaved-head jock types. Then again, I do like the fat-dude-with-a-big-beard-and-tattoos look too. Kerry King is totally hot.”
Decibel quote-checks that girl from 1986’s Heavy Metal Parking Lot who says she’d “Jump his bones” if she was in Rob Halford’s presence (her Baltimore accent pronouncing bones, ‘bewns’) before a long interview with Halford; “I think everyone knew that I was not going to go out there and start every performance with ‘Hi, I’m Rob Halford the metal god, and I’m a gay man’,” he says.
Here’s a link to the “Gays In Metal” article. More articles on headbangers with balls who like other headbanger’s balls can be found here, here and here (and rebuttal here). Gays In Metal (dead?) Yahoo group here. Jim says that this Billy Squire video is one of the gayest things ever – he’s right!
Priest also has a video for “Out of the Closet” that’s pretty outta control. Anybody know where to find it?
The outward stylistic trappings of even the most extravagant of what the heavy metal genre has to offer has never crossed over into the categorization of “camp” for me– but that just be my beady old eyes and one good working cauliflower ear denying me the pleasure. Not to mention my pickled cranium. However, the symbols of it are all there. According to Susan Sontag’s “Notes On Camp”, the definition of said categorization mostly relies on a blurring of the line between “good” and “bad”, by an agreed upon recognition of, and connection with, the earnestness of the creators of such work, especially in the face of such work being perceived as “bad” by the part of society that is outside the group recognizing the work as so. So where does that leave the earnest fan of the “worst” heavy metal? Or the rest of society who genuinely hates it? I honestly don’t perceive where gay men fall into all this. Although Mr. Halford obviously did, hellbent for leather no doubt.
What’s strange is that in the late 60’s and 70’s, rock stars like Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix and Mick Jagger and Bowie practically bragged about bisexual exploration! There’s that urban legend of Jagger openly giving Hendrix a blow job in a bar somewhere..(or was it another two? can’t remember). Anyway, you never see that today.
Dead people do not give good head. Janice told me so, just a few months before she died.
The gay metalheads are here: http://www.queermetal.net