On 26th June 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriages would be legal throughout the United States. The LBGT+ community rejoiced. America (mostly) celebrated. Humanity smiled. Facebook became a rainbow. Love won.
Getting with the times, the U.S.A is embracing its sexuality and for many education in gay culture is still required. No other band is more fitting on giving a lesson in the LBGT+ lifestyle than Scissor Sisters. Grown from the back streets of downtown New York but shunned by the US, the pop-rock quintet should be the soundtrack to the ‘gay love revolution’. Preconceptions at a premium, what other band could tackle issues in the gay community like HIV, drugs, oppression, burlesque, sex and violence and set them against such nu-disco awesomeness?
So, it’s time to end the hiatus and for Scissor Sisters to get back together.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H5I6y1Qvz0&w=740&h=422]
The U.K. (obviously more forward thinking), embraced the band from the very beginning. Their eponymous debut album topped the charts and became the biggest selling album of 2004 – ahead of Keane’s Hopes And Fears. In contrast, the album didn’t enter Billboard 100 in the U.S. and WalMart refused to stock the album! The huge chain store stated their song ‘Tits On The Radio’ was “a snarling, swaggering attack on conservatism”. Ha!
Regardless, Jake Shears, Babydaddy, Del Marquis, Paddy Boom and the fearsome Ana Matronic became sensations around the U.K. and Europe. Educative and not afraid to ‘go there’, Scissor Sisters brought some of the finest glam rock / disco anthems you could have dreamt of. Now 11 years old, their debut album included hits like ‘Laura’, ‘Take Your Mama’, ‘Filthy / Gorgeous’ and the heart-wrenching ‘Mary’. On top of that, the triumphant LP also included their breakthrough, Pink Floyd approved, re-imagining of ‘Comfortably Numb’.
Returning 2 years later with ‘Ta-Dah’ and the huge Number 1 single ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’’, Scissor Sisters had become one of the hottest bands around. Enlisting fellow gay icon Elton John for the chart-topping track, the band’s ability to embrace their sexuality really became apparent. I mean, you never heard Elton calling people an “acid junkie, college flunky, dirty puppy, daddy bastard”. After a difficult third album and a more sure footed fourth, the band announced an indefinite hiatus in 2012.
During their 8 years at the top, Scissor Sisters created a reputation as serial hit-makers and almost spokes people of the LBGT+ community during those songs. They were, however, mostly overlooked in the U.S. But now, in the light of a cultural shift in favour of same-sex marriage, it’s time for them to return to their homeland. Loud and proud. Other “gay icons” – Kylie, Cher, Madonna or even Elton John and Adam Lambert – have their merits and are all capable of creating huge anthems worthy of celebrating same-sex marriage and the gay community. But, the roots of U.S. gay culture run deeply in Scissor Sisters – the good and the bad.
Way before Dead Lesbian and then Fibrillating Scissor Sisters, before he was a go-go stripper and a hit on NY’s electroclash scene, Jake Shears had been shunned by his parents after revealing his sexuality and had subsequently moved to the Big Apple for its more accepting subculture. Hetrosexual frontwoman Ana Matronic comes with an even more interesting story as her father died following an AIDs-related illness. In our new age, from the underground to the rainbow-filled light of day, these are probably the stories we need to know.
But on top of that, a return for Scissor Sisters, sonically, would see a return for huge pop-rock choruses that we can all sing-a-long to.
It’s a pipe dream but so was same-sex marriage in the U.S. just a few years ago. So, Scissor Sisters, we feel like dancing – do you?
Words by Alexander Bradley