Odd, then, that it sat on the shelf for almost 12 months before finally getting its moment in the spotlight as the lead single for the group’s Arrival album. “We knew immediately it was going to be massive,” she said. When Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, of arguably the world’s greatest pop band, created this track, they knew they had a fine song. This universal anthem of dancefloor liberation crosses all generations and forms of self-identification, which makes its inclusion in this list of the best LGBTQ+ Pride songs no less legitimate. He also created one of the best white dance records of all time.” On the death of flamboyant frontman Pete Burns, in 2016, Spandau Ballet songwriter Gary Kemp said: “Pete was one of a triumvirate of cross-dressed boy stars, brought up on a diet of glam rock, who stormed the barricades of macho rock in the 80s. One of the best LGBTQ+ Pride songs still guaranteed to fill dancefloors, You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) took an epic 17 weeks to reach the UK chart summit, and would revisit the Top 10 twice more in the 21st century. Dead Or Alive had admired the trio’s first hit with Hazell Dean, Whatever I Do (Wherever I Go), and sought out the still-struggling production outfit for help creating this classic single during a tense overnight recording session. In the mid-80s, Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman recycled the energy of “Boystown” Hi-NRG and began to pair it with the melodic simplicity of classic pop, creating a phenomenally successful musical movement in The Hit Factory and PWL.
The tabloids and the record-buying public couldn’t lap it up fast enough!ģ6: Dead Or Alive: You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) (1984)
The Liverpool five-piece allowed the Midas touch of producer Trevor Horn to transform their urgent demo into a Hi-NRG supernova, offering just enough of a sniff of a thrilling gay subculture to potentially corrupt the kids. Forever enshrined as one of the best LGBTQ+ Pride songs, Relax’s already-solid sprint up the UK singles chart was powered into overdrive by the BBC’s subsequent ban on the song, and a year-long assault on the nation’s sensibilities was to follow (the next two Frankie Goes To Hollywood singles, Two Tribes and The Power Of Love, would also peak at No.1).
One infamous statement from BBC Radio 1 DJ Mike Read, and a phenomenon was unleashed. Music can effect change, and this countdown is the narrative of a struggle that’s decades in the making, with so much achieved but still so much further to go… Listen to 100 great Pride anthems here, and check out our 40 best LGBTQ+ Pride songs, belowĤ0: Frankie Goes To Hollywood: Relax (1983) What makes the ultimate LGBTQ+ Pride anthem? A euphoric (usually female) vocal? The call to arms of emboldened identity or perhaps a powerful piece of evocative storytelling? Maybe just perfect timing – simply the right song at the right moment? These 40 best LGBTQ+ Pride songs all exemplify much of that list, but also deliver an extra special something that elevates their status from a worthy canon.