Q-Music:Regarding reissues – Pride edition

By Gregg Shapiro

A recent article in Rolling Stone about the new, expanded reissue of Lotti Golden’s 1969 soul/garage/

psych breakthrough “Motor-Cycle” (Atlantic/High Moon) is finally giving the remarkable album some

long overdue attention. Golden, who was a teenager at the time of the album’s release, was taken under the wing of gay songwriter, producer, and all-around music legend Bob Crewe for the production and arrangements of the album. Her queer influences and inspirations extended beyond Crewe as

Brooklyn-native Golden spent much of her time hanging out with her entourage, including LGBTQ folks, in the East Village. Musically, Golden sounds like she could be the motorcycle-jacket-wearing, slightly

younger sister of Laura Nyro. But where Nyro’s songs were succinct pop gems, Golden’s sprawling (and

never boring) songs clocked in between six and a half and eight and a half minutes. Daring for its time, the music, including “Gonna Fay’s,” “The Space Queens (Silky Is Sad),” “Motor-Cycle Michael,” and “A Lot

Like Lucifer (Celia Said Long Time Loser),” are mind-blowing. With extensive and informative

liner notes by Holly George-Warren, Richard Hell, Lucas Van Lenten, and others, this album is sure to get listeners’ engines revving. Proto-punk, glam rock, gender fuck – New York Dolls served it all.

And they did it in full hair and makeup and heels (well, platforms). In 1973! Plus, they had the remarkably talented line-up of David Jo Hansen (aka David Johansen), Sylvain Sylvain, Johnny Thunders, Arthur Kane, and Jerry Nolan. Sadly, none of them are still alive (with Johansen’s passing in February 2025 being the most recent). However, New York Dolls’ music continues to enthrall and inspire. The band’s eponymous 1973 album, originally released on Mercury Records, has been gloriously reissued in a 180 gram vinyl, 45 RPM double LP audiophile edition by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab. Whether you’re a longtime fan or a newcomer, roofraising and rocking New York Dolls

originals such as “Trash,” “Looking For A Kiss,” “Jet Boy,” “Personality Crisis,” and the gorgeous

acoustic number “Lonely Planet Boy,” will make you fall in love, “L-U-V,” with these Dolls.

If the vocals by trans singer Cinder of dark industrial postpunk band Cindytalk sound

familiar, you may recognize them from their performance of the cover of “Kangaroo” from This Mortal Coil’s 1984 album “It’ll End In Tears.” As you can hear on the remastered, clear vinyl reissue of Cindytalk’s 1984 debut album “Camouflage Heart” (DAIS), Cinder’s vocals alternate between a growl, a yowl, and a whisper, transporting the songs into the stratosphere. Ranging from noise rock to sludgy grind (“Memories of Skin and Snow,” “The Spirit Behind the Circus Dream”) to elegance (“Disintegrate…”), this is an album you won’t soon forget. What should have been a cause

for celebration is now being observed in a much more solemn way. The 30th anniversary reissue of

queer singer/songwriter Jill Sobule’s eponymous 1995 album on Rhino/ Atlantic/Lava), debuting on vinyl (in red, no less), has taken on different meaning after Sobule died in a house fire in early May 2025. Her passing is an immeasurable loss felt by many, and tributes across the country, known as Jillith Fairs, are taking place to honor her memory. Thankfully, we still have her singular body of work, including this self-titled album containing her brilliant hit single (and video) “I Kissed A Girl” (which pre-dates Katy Perry’s song of the same name by more than a dozen years), “Supermodel” (also featured on the “Clueless” soundtrack), Sobule’s trademark story songs such as “Karen By Night” and “Margaret,” as well as political statement such as “Resistance Song.”

For the diva-hungry gays, the eponymous 1990 debut album by Mariah Carey arrived just in time.

Madonna’s “Like A Prayer” had restored her queer fans’ faith in her (get it?), but the 1990 “Dick Tracy”

movie tie-in follow-up sent most scattering (with the exception of album closer “Vogue”). So, Carey’s

timing was perfect, and according to her gay legions, so was her voice and her look. However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Carey. An ugly divorce and the “Glitter” fiasco caused the fans to flee. But she

remedied the situation by leaving Columbia Records (and her ex-hubby Tommy Mottola) behind and found a kind of paradise on Island Records. Carey’s Island breakthrough was 2005’s “The Emancipation of Mimi” (Island), newly reissued in a double-LP vinyl edition to mark its 20th anniversary. In addition to

containing the hit singles “We Belong Together,” “It’s Like That,” and “Shake It Off,” the vinyl reissue

expands on the original version by six songs.

New York Dolls