Pansy Division is an American rock band formed in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, United States, in 1991 by singer-songwriter Jon Ginoli and bassist Chris Freeman. Conceived as the first openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

rock band featuring predominantly gay musicians, Pansy Division's music, a mix of

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti- suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other p ...

and

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and c ...

, focuses mainly on

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

issues, sex and relationships, often presented in a humorous light. In 1993, the band signed to punk label

Lookout! Records Lookout Records (stylized as Lookout! Records) was an independent record label, initially based in Laytonville, California and later in Berkeley, California, Berkeley, focusing on punk rock. Established in 1987, the label is best known for having ...

and received international notoriety touring with Green Day in 1994, becoming the most commercially successful band of the

queercore Queercore (or homocore) is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifical ...

movement which began in the 1980s. Pansy Division have released seven studio albums and three B-side compilations, among other recordings. In 2008, the band were the subject of the documentary film entitled ''Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band''.

History

Formation

Frustrated by the lack of openly gay rock musicians, Jon Ginoli started performing solo sets under the moniker Pansy Division (a pun on Panzer division and the word "

pansy The garden pansy (''Viola'' × ''wittrockiana'') is a type of large-flowered hybrid plant cultivated as a garden flower. It is derived by hybridization from several species in the section ''Melanium'' ("the pansies") of the genus ''Viola'', ...

") around

.Frequently Asked Questions
, PansyDivision.com, accessed 30 July 2016. Shortly after this, in 1991, Ginoli placed an ad in the San Francisco Weekly looking for “gay musicians into the Ramones, Buzzcocks and early Beatles”. This caught the attention of Chris Freeman, who joined on as a bassist. Ginoli and Freeman then recruited drummer Jay Paget, forming the first all gay rock band that any of them had known. They hoped to defy the stereotype that gay men preferred pop divas and showtunes, by playing punk rock music.

Lookout! years (1993-2000)

In 1993, following extensive Californian touring, several 7" singles and compilation appearances, Pansy Division signed to

, released their first album, ''

Undressed ''Undressed'' is an American anthology series that aired on MTV from July 26, 1999, to September 5, 2002. The series was created and executive produced by British director Roland Joffé. Synopsis The series follows the relationships (both rom ...

'', and embarked on their first national tour. In 1994, with the release of their second album '' Deflowered'' and an appearance on Outpunk's seminal compilation '' Outpunk Dance Party'', the band had proven themselves to be one of the more prolific and well-known artists to spring from the budding

movement. Also catching the wave of pop punk's mainstream explosion, Pansy Division were asked to tour with Green Day on the band’s 1994 ''

Dookie ''Dookie'' is the third studio album and the major label debut by American rock band Green Day, released on February 1, 1994, by Reprise Records. The band's first collaboration with producer Rob Cavallo, it was recorded in late 1993 at Fantas ...

'' tour, thus introducing the group and queercore to a much larger audience. During the tour's New York stop, the band caught the attention of

Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, '' The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terr ...

, who met them backstage, and spent a segment talking about them on his nationally syndicated radio show. While signed to Lookout!, the band continued to release an album a year: 1995's '' Pile Up'' (notable for its various cover songs, including Ned Sublette's "

Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other "Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other" (1981) is a song by Latin music (genre), Latin country musician Ned Sublette, whose music, according to Howard Cohen, features a "Swung note, lilting West Texas waltz (3/4 time at about 60� ...

" and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (covered as "Smells Like Queer Spirit")), 1996's '' Wish I'd Taken Pictures'' (featuring the single "I Really Wanted You", the music video of which played once on MTV) and the 1997 B-sides compilation '' More Lovin' From Our Oven''. During this time, Pansy Division primarily performed as a trio, with Freeman and Ginoli being the only constant members amid a slew of perpetually rotating drummers, both gay and straight. In 1996, the band finally found a permanent gay drummer in the form of Luis Illades and became a quartet in 1997 with the addition of lead guitarist Patrick Goodwin. 1998 saw the release of their fifth studio album '' Absurd Pop Song Romance'', which was a departure from earlier Pansy work, featuring less humorous, more introspective lyrics and a darker, two-guitar layered

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

sound. The band was again taken on tour by a mainstream punk band, when they opened for Rancid on their 1998 '' Life Won't Wait'' tour.

Alternative Tentacles years (2001-present)

In 2001, Pansy Division was finally ready to record another album, but the lack of support from Lookout! caused the band to leave their long-time label and sign with Alternative Tentacles later that year. What resulted was 2003's '' Total Entertainment!'', an album that the band described as a meeting point between the lighthearted humor of their early work and the introspective rock of their previous album. Goodwin left the band the following year, being temporarily replaced by Bernard Yin and then by former Mr. T Experience member Joel Reader. In 2006, Alternative Tentacles released '' The Essential Pansy Division'', a comprehensive 'best-of' compilation featuring thirty tracks hand-picked by Ginoli and a DVD of various video footage. Following the release of ''Total Entertainment'', Pansy Division's active touring and recording schedule declined as most of the members relocated to different parts of the country. The band continued to perform sporadically, usually at various gay pride festivals or local shows in San Francisco. In 2007, Pansy Division launched their first national tour since 2003 with reformed San Francisco punk band The Avengers, whose current line-up features both Illades and Reader. In 2008, the band became the subject of a documentary film entitled ''Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band'', directed by Michael Carmona. The film has been touring internationally, playing at various LGBT film festivals, and was released on DVD in 2009. 2009 saw the release of their seventh studio album, titled '' That's So Gay'', a live DVD, another national tour, and Ginoli's memoirs, a biography of the band entitled ''Deflowered: My Life in Pansy Division''. After a seven-year break from recording, Pansy Division returned in 2016 with Quite Contrary.

Members

; Current members * Jon Ginoli –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

(1991–present) * Chris Freeman – bass, vocals (1991–present) *Joel Reader – lead guitar, vocals (2004–present; also of The Avengers, formerly of The Mr. T Experience and The Plus Ones) *Luis Illades – drums (1996–present; also of The Avengers) ; Former members *Patrick Goodwin – lead guitar (1997–2004; currently of Dirty Power, formerly of Hammers of Misfortune) *Bernard Yin – lead guitar (2004; currently of Astra Heights) *Jay Paget – drums (1991–1992; formerly of

Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 were an American experimental indie rock group, which was formed in 1986 in San Francisco though half of its members are from Iowa. Their albums combine lo-fi noise rock and ambient sounds (referred to as "Felle ...

) *David Ward – drums (1992–1994) *Liam Hart – drums (1994) *David Ayer – drums (1994) *

Dan Panic Dan Sullivan, also known as Dan Panic or Danny Panic, is an American punk rock drummer from Chicago, Illinois. Career Dan Sullivan began his musical career with Ivy League, a quartet from Chicago's western suburbs who released one 7" EP in 19 ...

– drums (1994) *Patrick Hawley – drums (1995) *Dustin Donaldson – drums (1995–1996; currently of I Am Spoonbender)

Discography

Studio albums *''

'' (1993) *'' Deflowered'' (1994) *'' Wish I'd Taken Pictures'' (1996) *'' Absurd Pop Song Romance'' (1998) *'' Total Entertainment!'' (2003) *'' That's So Gay'' (2009) *'' Quite Contrary'' (2016)

References

External links

The Official Pansy Division Website

Pansy Division’s page
on their label, Alternative Tentacles website. {{Authority control 1991 establishments in California Alternative Tentacles artists LGBT culture in San Francisco LGBT-themed musical groups Mint Records artists Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups from San Francisco Pop punk groups from California Punk rock groups from California Queercore groups