Paris-based Phil O’Kings, or Phill O’Kings or perhaps even
Phil O’Kins (he was credited with a different spelling on each of his 45s)
released a handful of Eurodisco singles in France in the mid 80s. He also
appeared, as part of a conglomeration of 75 French stars, on the charity single
Liban (Lebanon), issued in 1988.
From what I’ve been able to glean there were three singles,
each issued on a different label: Good Time Break (released around 1984 and clearly influenced by the breakdancing
craze), the 1989 release Chasseur du Charme, and the truly terrible Homo Gay issued in 1985, the 12” mix of which features
almost six minutes of Monsieur O’Kings’ out of tune caterwauling.
The lyrics of Homo Gay
make no sense in either language, but the first verse seems to be about our
Phil’s obsession with a cute English boy with wavy blond hair and a penchant
for wearing tweed. In verse two Phil sings about an androgynous-looking person
with skin like black plastic. My assumption is that it’s this section that inspired
the sleeve designer/photographer to take an image of Phil doing his best Grace
Jones impersonation. Luckily the
chorus is pretty self-explanatory.
And how did I discover this nonsense, you ask? Well, for the
last 10 months or so I have been writing about the history of LGBT music and
musicians for a book, due to be issued this November, entitled David Bowie
Made me Gay. Those of you who follow this
blog via Facebook will probably know that I recently held a workshop on
homophobia in music and it was through a discussion on what tracks to use that
we found this gem. During my research I’ve uncovered some of the most peculiar
records I’ve ever heard – some of which I’m going to share with you, you lucky
people!
As each of Phil’s singles features just one song (all other
tracks are either remix or instrumental versions of the title track) I’ve
included both Good Time Break and Chasseur
du Charme as well as the execrable Homo
Gay.
Jouir!
Download Homo Gay HEREDownload Good Time HERE
Download Chasseur HERE
aaah ahhha i feel love aaaaah aaaaaaaaaah rhaaaaaaaaa
ReplyDeleteoh yeeeeeeah !
That's from the lyrics of Homo Gay found here:
http://www.bide-et-musique.com/song/7194.html
Thanks Bob. I saw that but after passing them through Google Translate they made even less sense!
DeleteDarryl, the lyrics have sense but contains a lot of slang or familiar vocabulary. He expresses his desire, first for a clean blond-haired and then for another man, an athletic and androgynous black male....
DeleteThose backing tracks just scream the 80's, don't they!
ReplyDeleteI remember Billy Squier often had his surname spelt incorrectly (Squire), but this is the first time I've come across a performer with three different versions of their name.
do you mind sending me good time break? :)
ReplyDeleteGladly, but you didn't leave me your email address or name, so I've updated all three links above. Enjoy!
Delete