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Cross-dressing In Music And Opera
Cross-dressing in music and opera refers to musical performers or opera singers portraying a character of the opposite gender. It is parallel to cross-dressing in film and television and draws on a long history of cross-gender acting. In opera An entire cross-dressing genre of operatic roles, called "breeches roles" (aka trouser or pants roles) or ''travesti''. These are male roles performed by women, typically mezzo-sopranos but occasionally by sopranos. Some female opera singers specialize in these types of roles. One artistic reason for breeches roles was that some storylines included young boy characters, but the actual performance required an adult's vocal strength and stage experience in addition to a high, boyish voice. Women were thus better suited to these roles than actual boys. Some examples of these roles are Cherubino in ''The Marriage of Figaro'', Siebel in '' Faust'', and Hansel in '' Hansel and Gretel''. Other breeches roles were created due to the need for an a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cross-dressing In Film And Television
Cross-dressing in film has followed a long history of female impersonation on English stage, and made its appearance in the early days of the silent films. Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel brought the tradition from the English music halls when they came to America with Fred Karno's comedy troupe in 1910. Both Chaplin and Laurel occasionally dressed as women in their films. Even the beefy American actor Wallace Beery appeared in a series of silent films as a Swedish woman. The Three Stooges, especially Curly (Jerry Howard), sometimes appeared in drag in their short films. The tradition has continued for many years, usually played for laughs. Only in recent decades have there been dramatic films which included cross-dressing, possibly because of strict censorship of American films until the mid-1960s. One early exception was Alfred Hitchcock's thriller '' Murder!'', where the murderer is a transvestite who wears particularly frilly dresses and petticoats. Cross-gender acting, on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boy George
George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singer of the pop band Culture Club since the group's formation in 1981. He began his solo career in 1987. Boy George's music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by rhythm and blues and reggae. Boy George grew up in Eltham and was part of the New Romantic movement which emerged in the late 1970s to early 1980s. His look and style of fashion was greatly inspired by glam rock pioneers David Bowie and Marc Bolan. He formed the Culture Club with Roy Hay, Mikey Craig and Jon Moss in 1981. The band's second album '' Colour by Numbers'' (1983) sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. Their hit singles include " Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", " Time (Clock of the Heart)", " I'll Tumble 4 Ya", " Church of the Poison Mind", ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958April 21, 2016), more commonly known Mononym, mononymously as Prince, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Prince, numerous awards and nominations, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest musicians of his generation. He was known for his flamboyant, androgynous persona; his wide vocal range, which included a far-reaching falsetto and high-pitched screams; and his skill as a multi-instrumentalist, often preferring to play all or most of the instruments on his recordings. Prince produced his albums himself, pioneering the Minneapolis sound. His music incorporated a wide variety of styles, including funk, Rhythm and blues, R&B, rock music, rock, New wave music, new wave, soul music, soul, synth-pop, pop music, pop, jazz, and hip hop music, hip hop. Born and raised in Minneapolis, Prince signed a record deal with Warner Bros. Records at the age of 19, so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harris Glenn Milstead
Harris Glenn Milstead (October 19, 1945 – March 7, 1988), better known by his stage name Divine, was an American actor, singer, and drag queen. Closely associated with independent filmmaker John Waters, Divine was a character actor, usually performing female roles in cinematic and theatrical productions, and adopted a female drag persona for his music career. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, to a conservative middle-class family, Milstead developed an early interest in drag while working as a women's hairdresser. By the mid-1960s he had embraced the city's counterculture of the 1960s, countercultural scene and befriended Waters, who gave him the name "Divine" and the tagline of "the most beautiful woman in the world, almost". Along with his friend David Lochary, Milstead joined Waters' acting troupe, the Dreamlanders, and adopted female roles for their experimental short films ''Roman Candles (1966 film), Roman Candles'' (1966), ''Eat Your Makeup'' (1968), and ''The Diane Linklet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dead Or Alive (band)
Dead or Alive were an English pop band that released seven studio albums from 1984 to 2000. The band formed in 1980 in Liverpool and found success in the mid-1980s, releasing seven singles that made the UK top 40 and three albums on the UK top 30. At the peak of their success, the lineup consisted of Pete Burns (vocals), Steve Coy (drums), Mike Percy (bass) and Tim Lever (keyboards), with the core pair of Burns and Coy writing and producing for the remainder of the band's career. Two of the band's singles reached the U.S. top 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100: "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (No. 11 in August 1985) and " Brand New Lover" (No. 15 in March 1987). "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" peaked at number one for two weeks in 1985 in the UK, then charted again in 2006 following Burns' appearance on the television reality show ''Celebrity Big Brother'' and on season 4 of ''Stranger Things''. It also became the first of two singles to top the ''Billboard'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Wave Music
New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. Later, critical consensus favored "new wave" as an umbrella term involving many popular music styles of the era, including power pop, synth-pop, ska revival, and more specific forms of punk rock that were less abrasive. It may also be viewed as a more accessible counterpart of post-punk. Common characteristics of new wave music include a humorous or quirky pop approach, the use of electronic sounds, and a distinctive visual style in music videos and fashion. In the early 1980s, virtually every new pop/rock act – and particularly those that employed synthesizers – were tagged as "new wave". Although new wave shares punk's do-it-yourself philosophy, the artists were more influenced by the styles of the 1950s along with the lighter stra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lola (song)
"Lola" is a song written by Ray Davies and performed by English rock band the Kinks on their 1970 album '' Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One''. The song details a romantic encounter between a young man and a possible trans woman or cross-dresser, whom he meets in a club in Soho, London. In the song, the narrator describes his confusion towards Lola, who "walked like a woman but talked like a man". The song was released as a single in the United Kingdom on 12 June 1970, while in the United States it was released on 28 June 1970. Commercially, "Lola" reached number two on the UK Singles Chart and number nine on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The track has since become one of the Kinks' most popular songs, later being ranked number 422 on "Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and was re-ranked at 386 on the 2021 list. "Lola" was also ranked number 473 on the " NME's 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time" list. Since its release, "Lola" has appeared on mul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm and blues and Merseybeat, and were briefly part of the British Invasion of the United States until their touring ban in 1965. Their third single, the Ray Davies-penned "You Really Got Me", became an international hit, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and reaching the Top 10 in the United States. The Kinks' music drew from a wide range of influences, including American R&B and rock and roll initially, and later adopting British music hall, folk, and country. The band gained a reputation for reflecting English culture and lifestyle, fuelled by Ray Davies' wittily observational writing style, and made apparent in albums such as '' Face to Face'' (1966), '' Something Else'' (1967), '' The Village Green Preservation Society'' (19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh rock band formed in Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (drums, percussion, soundscapes), plus Nicky Wire (bass guitar, lyrics). They form a key part of the 1990s Welsh Cool Cymru cultural movement. Following the release of their debut single "Suicide Alley", Manic Street Preachers were joined by Richey Edwards as co-lyricist and rhythm guitarist, the band became as a quartet. The band's early albums were in a punk vein, eventually broadening to a greater alternative rock sound, whilst retaining a leftist political outlook. Their early combination of androgynous glam imagery and lyrics about "culture, alienation, boredom and despair" gained them a loyal following. Manic Street Preachers released their debut album, ''Generation Terrorists'', in February 1992, followed by ''Gold Against The Soul'' in 1993 and ''The Holy Bible'' in 1994 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicky Wire
Nicholas Allen Jones (born 20 January 1969), known as Nicky Wire, is a Welsh musician and songwriter, best known as lyricist, bassist and secondary vocalist of the Welsh alternative rock band, Manic Street Preachers. Prior to the group, Wire studied politics at university; this would later influence his lyrical work. He was co-writer of the band's lyrics (alongside Richey Edwards) from 1989 to 1995, and has been the band's primary lyricist since 1995, following Edwards' disappearance. In addition to his work with Manic Street Preachers, Wire released a solo album, '' I Killed the Zeitgeist'', in 2006. Biography Early life Born Nicholas Allen Jones in Llanbadoc, Monmouthshire, Wales, Wire is the younger brother of poet and author Pat Jones. He attended Oakdale Comprehensive School with James Dean Bradfield, Sean Moore and Richey Edwards. Wire played competitive schools football and, aged 14, was captain of the Welsh national schoolboys' team. Although he was offered a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syd Barrett
Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his whimsical style of psychedelic music, psychedelia, English-accented singing, and stream-of-consciousness writing style. As a guitarist, he was influential for his form (music), free-form playing and for employing effects such as Consonance and dissonance, dissonance, Distortion (music), distortion, echo machine, echo and Audio feedback, feedback. Originally trained as a painter, Barrett was musically active for less than ten years. With Pink Floyd, he recorded four singles, their debut album ''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'' (1967), portions of their second album ''A Saucerful of Secrets'' (1968), and several unreleased songs. In April 1968, Barrett was ousted from the band amid speculation of Mental disorder, mental illness and his exce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
