A monumental history of the gay influence on popular culture, from the rise of Little Richard to the collapse of disco in 1979: award-winning author Jon Savage takes us on a fast and captivating journey through the history of pop music as seen through the eyes of queer artists.
Nearly comprehensive ... The story Savage tells is a rich and fascinating one, shedding new light on familiar icons and bringing forgotten ones out of the past ... The legacy of performers like Sylvester continues to inspire new generations of queer artists and audiences, and The Secret Public is an invaluable guide to anyone wanting to understand how it all got started.
His intention in The Secret Public is to show how gay musicians and audiences affected the mainstream, but too often the connections are left implied ... One of the pleasures of The Secret Public is its description of who listened to what records.
Skillful ... This is a meticulously researched tome ... We can only hope this book might herald a sequel in which Savage can turn his rigorous depth and tenderness to what did happen next.
