Just what we need right now to lower tensions and give us respite. Liberace was ubiquitous on TV in the 50s here too and I remember watching Lawrence Welk with my grandparents. I also remember someone's take off that ended with the whole outfit drifting westward into the Pacific while LW shouted desperately "Turn off the bubble machine!". Good days!
The 1968 Flower Power video was hilarious. It reminded me of my Dad's attempt to keep in step with the younger generation by wearing a peace sign necklace. You appreciate the effort of your parents to keep relevant, but they miss the mark. I think that "cringe" is more than embarrassment at the action, it is also embarrassment that you are emotionally touched by the failed attempt.
Being a Baby Boomer, our first exposure to entertainment was the new medium of television. We were brought up continuously exposed to these “pop” entertainers, and as naive as many of us were at the time, gay still denoted joy and happiness. We wouldn’t have recognized a gay man if he came up and poked us in the rear.
But we were also the generation of Elvis and the Beatles and Stones. I loved the
Direct line from Liberace to Elton John—and Barry Manilow—and all those other gay entertainers who were not so obvious like Tab Hunter and Rock Hudson and Jim Nabers and others who were more obvious that we still didn’t really understand like Jim J. Bullock.
Thanks, Don. Most people had no clue about Rock Hudson, although it was an open secret in Hollywood, which was why his death from AIDS sent Americans into a tizzy of denial. Now I think of it, there's a terrific and very moving history of the AIDS disaster in a book called "And the Band Played On" by journalist Randy Shilts. It's great on the slow response of the government to AIDS, including among the medical establishment, and I thought of it often during COVID. I definitely thought in 1981 that teens in the US and UK were well ahead in our attitudes toward LGB rights.
It’s strange. I remember hearing in high school (late 60s) that Hudson and Jim Nabers were an item. When he was outed by AIDS I was not shocked, but surely saddened by the way that cruel disease destroyed his body.
IPTV continues the Lawrence Welk Show to this day on Saturday evenings. It was mandatory TV growing up (maybe still not there) and even when Mom was in a nursing home I called to remind her that it was time to turn on her show. Lol
Got me to thinking that culturally my grandkids are missing out on the old cartoons, maybe not the violence 🤷♂️, but how the toons were used to condition my ears to classical music in the background.
Another thanks for the reminders that not all times are bad times and even in bad times you can find good.
Aww, thanks, Scott, and weren't you lovely to think of your mum not missing Lawrence Welk! 😍 Yes on classical music in cartoons, especially Bugs Bunny!
Given a choice between watching Welk and water torture, I would be like bring it on 💦. But Liberace? Don't tell anyone, but I listened to one of his albums this morning . . . shhhh.... And are you kidding? Hoosen Jr is now the DC pie prince thanks to you!
Very enjoyable and informative, Annette! I remember that Las Vegas, but never got to a Liberace show or the museum. It's so sad the lengths he and others like Rock Hudson had to go to in order to hide what everyone knew--even what was killing them, except that Rock's AIDS diagnosis helped end that taboo, at least about the illness. So interesting to learn that he was conservative and an accomplished cook. Thanks for a fun post!
Thanks, Ruth! Yeah, I remember Hoosen got food poisoning from the legendarily massive and cheap hot dog one casino used to bring in crowds. Fortunately, I thought it looked gross (I was right) Vegas is glamorous again, but also a bit soulless, I think. And you're absolutely right that Rock Hudson's story was the big shocker: Everyone knew Liberace was gay, but Rock Hudson? (although check out Nonnie Don Holdridge's comment above, which I found really interesting, schoolyard rumors in the Sixties)
Poor Hoosen and wise Annette! … We lived in LA at the time and I can’t recall if we were shocked or not about Rock Hudson—probably not. Coming from San Francisco, ground central of the gay culture when I lived there, I was mostly shocked at how callous the political establishment was regarding the treatment of AIDS, with distinct parallels to the reaction to COVID 19 in 2020. But that’s another rabbit hole.
It is. Did you read "And the Band Played On" by journalist Randy Shilts? Sounds like you don't need to: You lived through that story. I was in Calfornia, but young, a recent immigrant, and a bit confused. I remember a visit to a wonderful pizza joint in Lavender Heights, Sacramento's little answer to The Castro,and overhearing a man confiding to a friend that he was terrified of getting AIDS from his partner. It was such a sad thing to overhear. Worse was the silence: While I had a high school friend who was out and proud and took me to the prom (thank you, Patrick!), older gay men were understandably nervous. A college friend and I puzzled over how to break it to older friends that we knew they were a triple, that it was ok to be open about it with us. We didn't want to put them on the spot, If they're reading, now they know that story.
Yes, I did read it—and I lived it too! I also read Randy Shilts’ book about Harvey Milk, The Mayor of Castro Street. I met both Harvey Milk, San Francisco's first gay politician, and George Moscone, its charismatic mayor, and was working just a few blocks from City Hall when they were assassinated on November 27, 1978 and Dianne Feinstein became mayor—an indelible memory. The city was quite a sociopolitical maelstrom when I lived there. Pretty different than today.
Best of times, worst of times, Ruth. You met Harvey Milk and George Moscone? Wow. Just wow. I didn't arrive in CA for three more years, and it took me awhile to learn about these men and the assassination, and what that meant. Those are times to have lived through. SF now? I don't even bother, sad to say.
Well, I’m a bit older than you, Annette, and being in SF was kind of an accident, but it was a fascinating time. It’s still a great city, but the issues are really so much different now, as is the culture. First of all no one as poor as I was then could afford to live there now—which is a crying shame, because there was a fair amount of economic and racial diversity, which was “educational” for all of us youngsters. I wouldn’t trade that time for anything—and I also met my husband there, an added bonus.🤗
Tbh, Ruth, I never forgave SF for my disappointment in it not holding a candle to London, where I never visited without seeing someone famous, and where the museums and shopping and theatre were the last word 😂 Going away now. This is why I don't get invited to parties. 😂
Lovely piece - full of wisdom and affection. There's a direct line from Liberace to Barry Manilow, I suppose: also much loved ...
Ooh, that's actually a good question! Need to look that up. And thank you Julia!
I once told my parents that Liberace was their generation's Elton John. They were not amused. 😆
But you were RIGHT, Gregg!! 😀
They probably didn't want to admit it.
In that, they had loads of company!
Just what we need right now to lower tensions and give us respite. Liberace was ubiquitous on TV in the 50s here too and I remember watching Lawrence Welk with my grandparents. I also remember someone's take off that ended with the whole outfit drifting westward into the Pacific while LW shouted desperately "Turn off the bubble machine!". Good days!
I giggled at the satire, Lynn! And so glad this piece worked for you! 😀
Stan Freiberg. I looked it up.
Oh, now that makes sense!
The 1968 Flower Power video was hilarious. It reminded me of my Dad's attempt to keep in step with the younger generation by wearing a peace sign necklace. You appreciate the effort of your parents to keep relevant, but they miss the mark. I think that "cringe" is more than embarrassment at the action, it is also embarrassment that you are emotionally touched by the failed attempt.
Ah, that is a lovely way of putting it, Lynn! Big points for trying, indeed. 😀
Being a Baby Boomer, our first exposure to entertainment was the new medium of television. We were brought up continuously exposed to these “pop” entertainers, and as naive as many of us were at the time, gay still denoted joy and happiness. We wouldn’t have recognized a gay man if he came up and poked us in the rear.
But we were also the generation of Elvis and the Beatles and Stones. I loved the
Direct line from Liberace to Elton John—and Barry Manilow—and all those other gay entertainers who were not so obvious like Tab Hunter and Rock Hudson and Jim Nabers and others who were more obvious that we still didn’t really understand like Jim J. Bullock.
Thanks, Don. Most people had no clue about Rock Hudson, although it was an open secret in Hollywood, which was why his death from AIDS sent Americans into a tizzy of denial. Now I think of it, there's a terrific and very moving history of the AIDS disaster in a book called "And the Band Played On" by journalist Randy Shilts. It's great on the slow response of the government to AIDS, including among the medical establishment, and I thought of it often during COVID. I definitely thought in 1981 that teens in the US and UK were well ahead in our attitudes toward LGB rights.
It’s strange. I remember hearing in high school (late 60s) that Hudson and Jim Nabers were an item. When he was outed by AIDS I was not shocked, but surely saddened by the way that cruel disease destroyed his body.
IPTV continues the Lawrence Welk Show to this day on Saturday evenings. It was mandatory TV growing up (maybe still not there) and even when Mom was in a nursing home I called to remind her that it was time to turn on her show. Lol
Got me to thinking that culturally my grandkids are missing out on the old cartoons, maybe not the violence 🤷♂️, but how the toons were used to condition my ears to classical music in the background.
Another thanks for the reminders that not all times are bad times and even in bad times you can find good.
Aww, thanks, Scott, and weren't you lovely to think of your mum not missing Lawrence Welk! 😍 Yes on classical music in cartoons, especially Bugs Bunny!
I love this piece. We used to watch him on tv…so much better than Lawrence Welk!
And thank you for the very kind shout out!
Given a choice between watching Welk and water torture, I would be like bring it on 💦. But Liberace? Don't tell anyone, but I listened to one of his albums this morning . . . shhhh.... And are you kidding? Hoosen Jr is now the DC pie prince thanks to you!
Very enjoyable and informative, Annette! I remember that Las Vegas, but never got to a Liberace show or the museum. It's so sad the lengths he and others like Rock Hudson had to go to in order to hide what everyone knew--even what was killing them, except that Rock's AIDS diagnosis helped end that taboo, at least about the illness. So interesting to learn that he was conservative and an accomplished cook. Thanks for a fun post!
Thanks, Ruth! Yeah, I remember Hoosen got food poisoning from the legendarily massive and cheap hot dog one casino used to bring in crowds. Fortunately, I thought it looked gross (I was right) Vegas is glamorous again, but also a bit soulless, I think. And you're absolutely right that Rock Hudson's story was the big shocker: Everyone knew Liberace was gay, but Rock Hudson? (although check out Nonnie Don Holdridge's comment above, which I found really interesting, schoolyard rumors in the Sixties)
Poor Hoosen and wise Annette! … We lived in LA at the time and I can’t recall if we were shocked or not about Rock Hudson—probably not. Coming from San Francisco, ground central of the gay culture when I lived there, I was mostly shocked at how callous the political establishment was regarding the treatment of AIDS, with distinct parallels to the reaction to COVID 19 in 2020. But that’s another rabbit hole.
It is. Did you read "And the Band Played On" by journalist Randy Shilts? Sounds like you don't need to: You lived through that story. I was in Calfornia, but young, a recent immigrant, and a bit confused. I remember a visit to a wonderful pizza joint in Lavender Heights, Sacramento's little answer to The Castro,and overhearing a man confiding to a friend that he was terrified of getting AIDS from his partner. It was such a sad thing to overhear. Worse was the silence: While I had a high school friend who was out and proud and took me to the prom (thank you, Patrick!), older gay men were understandably nervous. A college friend and I puzzled over how to break it to older friends that we knew they were a triple, that it was ok to be open about it with us. We didn't want to put them on the spot, If they're reading, now they know that story.
Yes, I did read it—and I lived it too! I also read Randy Shilts’ book about Harvey Milk, The Mayor of Castro Street. I met both Harvey Milk, San Francisco's first gay politician, and George Moscone, its charismatic mayor, and was working just a few blocks from City Hall when they were assassinated on November 27, 1978 and Dianne Feinstein became mayor—an indelible memory. The city was quite a sociopolitical maelstrom when I lived there. Pretty different than today.
Best of times, worst of times, Ruth. You met Harvey Milk and George Moscone? Wow. Just wow. I didn't arrive in CA for three more years, and it took me awhile to learn about these men and the assassination, and what that meant. Those are times to have lived through. SF now? I don't even bother, sad to say.
Well, I’m a bit older than you, Annette, and being in SF was kind of an accident, but it was a fascinating time. It’s still a great city, but the issues are really so much different now, as is the culture. First of all no one as poor as I was then could afford to live there now—which is a crying shame, because there was a fair amount of economic and racial diversity, which was “educational” for all of us youngsters. I wouldn’t trade that time for anything—and I also met my husband there, an added bonus.🤗
Tbh, Ruth, I never forgave SF for my disappointment in it not holding a candle to London, where I never visited without seeing someone famous, and where the museums and shopping and theatre were the last word 😂 Going away now. This is why I don't get invited to parties. 😂
Greatly enjoyed this . Thanks
Ah, so glad. Joyce! Unexpectedly, this turned me into a Liberace fan. :)