For me, one the reasons I wanted to read Deflowered, was I liked Pansy Division. Which might not seem so much as a surprise. I mean if your going to read the inside story on the first gay pop-punk band, it’s a good bet you like their music. Which brings me, first to point out I’m not really into punk music and over the last twenty years or so, I’ve lost my taste for music in general. Now, most of music influences came from the early 1980s MTV days, when the cable music channel played videos. Still, then, a lot of what they played and the stuff I liked, was shoved into 120 Minutes, their alternative showcase for music outside the norm. And 120 Minutes usually aired late at night, on Sundays if I remember right.
Anyways, I discovered Pansy Division, early in their career, when I stumbled across Deflowered, their second CD in 1993 (I also think I read something about them in one gay magazine or something). I bought the CD and it still remains my favorite, and is on rotation on my iPod. But it wasn’t until Green Day (just as the punk band was getting bigger, outside the small, cultish nature punk music likes) asked them to be their opening act that many people -mostly straight - would hear about Pansy Division.
In Delfowered, Ginoli recounts his days growing up in Peoria, Illinois (a mere three and half hours from Chicago). For me, maybe that is also why I liked PD -we had the same roots in many ways, as he’s only 9 months younger than my older brother. Plus I never -and still do - feel I don’t follow the whole gay culture things. Sure I love my showtunes, but I hate dance music, disco and have little or no feelings about Kylie Minogue or Madonna. And like Ginoli who also discovered this, some gays are shocked by this. But that’s always been my goal, in some unintentional way. I never wanted to fall into the gay stereotype.
Still as a confident gay man, he (like many gay men) needed to get out of their small, ands sometimes, small minded home towns, to achieve their destinies. Moving to San Francisco, it was their in the City by the Bay that Jon started Pansy Division -a humorous take on a dance act called The Panzer Division.
And while Jon loved punk music, he also though -at times, I guess - thought it took itself way too seriously. His idea was to have fun, so most of the songs he wrote had a very humorous bent to them. And while humor was its main thrust (if you can excuse the pun), politics also played a role. When Chris Freeman joined, Jon really thought they could now make an impact in a few areas no one had dared go before.
The book over flows with Jon’s wit and since he kept a detailed diary of their adventures (including the tales of their ever revolving door of drummers) it does not get bogged down in any sort of ennui. Plus, its nice to read a book about a band that actually got a long, and where ego and drugs never seemed to hinder their performances -unlike some of the venues they played. The only ax Ginoli might grind is PD’s association with Lookout! Records, the indie company that released their early CDs. Still without their support and Green Day’s insistence that they tour with them, one wonders how much Pansy Division might not have gotten out to gays like me.
It’s a fast read, and a wonderfully detailed account of a band that more gay people should be listening and buying. And while I own only three of their CD’s -Deflowered, Pile Up and Wish I Taken Pictures, I will always adore Jon and Chris (and whatever drummer is currently playing for them), Luis and Joel. For me, it made it okay to like something other than the mainstream and while some people may think their nothing but a joke, I know that Pansy Division was best thing to happen to music in the last (almost) 20 years.
Anyways, I discovered Pansy Division, early in their career, when I stumbled across Deflowered, their second CD in 1993 (I also think I read something about them in one gay magazine or something). I bought the CD and it still remains my favorite, and is on rotation on my iPod. But it wasn’t until Green Day (just as the punk band was getting bigger, outside the small, cultish nature punk music likes) asked them to be their opening act that many people -mostly straight - would hear about Pansy Division.
In Delfowered, Ginoli recounts his days growing up in Peoria, Illinois (a mere three and half hours from Chicago). For me, maybe that is also why I liked PD -we had the same roots in many ways, as he’s only 9 months younger than my older brother. Plus I never -and still do - feel I don’t follow the whole gay culture things. Sure I love my showtunes, but I hate dance music, disco and have little or no feelings about Kylie Minogue or Madonna. And like Ginoli who also discovered this, some gays are shocked by this. But that’s always been my goal, in some unintentional way. I never wanted to fall into the gay stereotype.
Still as a confident gay man, he (like many gay men) needed to get out of their small, ands sometimes, small minded home towns, to achieve their destinies. Moving to San Francisco, it was their in the City by the Bay that Jon started Pansy Division -a humorous take on a dance act called The Panzer Division.
And while Jon loved punk music, he also though -at times, I guess - thought it took itself way too seriously. His idea was to have fun, so most of the songs he wrote had a very humorous bent to them. And while humor was its main thrust (if you can excuse the pun), politics also played a role. When Chris Freeman joined, Jon really thought they could now make an impact in a few areas no one had dared go before.
The book over flows with Jon’s wit and since he kept a detailed diary of their adventures (including the tales of their ever revolving door of drummers) it does not get bogged down in any sort of ennui. Plus, its nice to read a book about a band that actually got a long, and where ego and drugs never seemed to hinder their performances -unlike some of the venues they played. The only ax Ginoli might grind is PD’s association with Lookout! Records, the indie company that released their early CDs. Still without their support and Green Day’s insistence that they tour with them, one wonders how much Pansy Division might not have gotten out to gays like me.
It’s a fast read, and a wonderfully detailed account of a band that more gay people should be listening and buying. And while I own only three of their CD’s -Deflowered, Pile Up and Wish I Taken Pictures, I will always adore Jon and Chris (and whatever drummer is currently playing for them), Luis and Joel. For me, it made it okay to like something other than the mainstream and while some people may think their nothing but a joke, I know that Pansy Division was best thing to happen to music in the last (almost) 20 years.
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