"Sexuality" | ||||
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Single by Billy Bragg | ||||
from the album Don't Try This at Home | ||||
Released | September 17, 1991 | |||
Genre | Folk rock | |||
Length | 3:47 | |||
Label | Elektra | |||
Songwriter(s) | Billy Bragg, Johnny Marr | |||
Producer(s) | Grant Showbiz, Johnny Marr | |||
Billy Bragg singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Sexuality" (Official Video) on YouTube |
"Sexuality" is the ninth track on Billy Bragg's 1991 album, Don't Try This at Home . The song was released as a single which reached No. 27 on the UK charts and No. 2 on the U.S. alternative charts.
"Sexuality" is an anti-homophobia and generally sex-positive song. It was written by Bragg with Johnny Marr, who also plays guitar on the recording. The music video, which was conceived and directed by comedian Phill Jupitus, features Kirsty MacColl singing backing vocals as well as Jupitus himself. [1]
Jupitus has also performed, with Bragg, a parody version of this song named "Bestiality". [2] In November 2021, Bragg created a re-worded version of the song to reflect support for transgender rights. [3]
Upon its release, David Quantick of NME described "Sexuality" as "the funniest and most determined record of the week" and noted the "straightforward and spunky melody". He added, "Bragg goes on marvellously with an absurd storm of rhymes, football teams and paeans to doing it with people of all sexes." [4]
Chart (1991) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Singles (OCC) [5] | 27 |
US Alternative Airplay ( Billboard ) [6] | 2 |
Talking with the Taxman About Poetry is the third album by Billy Bragg, released in September 1986. With production by John Porter and Kenny Jones, Talking with the Taxman About Poetry featured more musicians than Bragg's previous works, which were generally little more than Bragg himself and a guitar.
Phillip Christopher Jupitus is a retired English stand-up and improv comedian, actor, performance poet, cartoonist and podcaster. Jupitus was a team captain on all but one BBC Two-broadcast episode of music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks from its inception in 1996 until 2015, and also appears regularly as a guest on several other panel shows, including QI and BBC Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.
Never Loved Elvis is the third album by The Wonder Stuff released in 1991. Guest musicians on the album include Kirsty MacColl and Linda McRae.
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Don't Try This at Home is the sixth album by urban folk artist Billy Bragg, released on 16 September 1991 by Go! Discs. It reached #8 on the UK Albums Chart.
William Bloke is the seventh album by alternative folk artist Billy Bragg, released in September 1996, five years after his last studio album. It peaked at number 16 on the UK Albums Chart. The album's only single, "Upfield", reached number 46 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1996. The album's title is a pun on the 18th-century English poet William Blake.
"Ask" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Smiths. It was released as a single on 20 October 1986 through Rough Trade Records. Credited to vocalist Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr, "Ask" is an ostensibly upbeat, positive pop song built around major chords. Its lyrics discuss shyness and encourage listeners to overcome their inhibitions. Its multiple guitar parts and complex production led to disagreements regarding its final mix. Craig Gannon, who at the time was rhythm guitarist for the group, has claimed he wrote – and was denied credit for – the song's chord structure.
Electric Landlady is Kirsty MacColl's third studio album. Released in 1991, it was her second Virgin Records release and second collaboration with producer/husband Steve Lillywhite. The title is a pun on Jimi Hendrix's album Electric Ladyland.
Titanic Days is the fourth studio album by Kirsty MacColl, released in 1993. Containing eleven tracks, Titanic Days was sometimes hard to get in years after its release, but it was remastered and re-released in 2005 by ZTT with a second CD of non-album tracks and some live recordings, including a version of "Miss Otis Regrets". In 2012, another remastered re-issue of the album was released by Salvo/ZTT, which again featured a second disc of bonus tracks. This is the final album to be produced by her husband Steve Lillywhite, before they divorced several years after the release.
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Desperate Character is the first solo album of British singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl, released in 1981. The album was re-released in March 1985 as Kirsty MacColl, with three tracks replaced with other songs. The album has been remastered and received a CD release for the first time on 8 October 2012 on the Union Square Music label and features the original twelve track listing.
Kirsty Anna MacColl was an English singer-songwriter, daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl. She recorded several pop hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis" and cover versions of Billy Bragg's "A New England" and the Kinks' "Days". Her first single, "They Don't Know", had chart success a few years later when covered by Tracey Ullman. MacColl also sang on a number of recordings produced by her husband Steve Lillywhite, most notably "Fairytale of New York" by the Pogues. Her death in 2000 led to the "Justice for Kirsty" campaign.
Tooth & Nail is a 2013 studio album by folk musician Billy Bragg.
"Walking Down Madison" is a song by Kirsty MacColl featuring Aniff Cousins, released by Virgin Records on 7 May 1991 as the lead single from her third studio album, Electric Landlady. It charted at No. 23 on the UK Singles Chart and impacted a number of Billboard charts.
"Greetings to the New Brunette" is a song by Billy Bragg from the 1986 album Talking with the Taxman About Poetry. It was the second single from the album, following "Levi Stubbs' Tears", and reached No. 58 on the UK Singles Chart in October 1986. The song features Johnny Marr on electric guitar, and vocals by Kirsty MacColl.
"Can't Stop Killing You" is a song by British singer and songwriter Kirsty MacColl, which was released in 1993 as the second single from her fourth studio album Titanic Days. It was written by MacColl and Johnny Marr, and produced by Victor Van Vugt and Baboon Farm. The song reached No. 20 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks and remained on the chart for seven weeks.
What Do Pretty Girls Do? is a live compilation album by British singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl, released by Hux Records in 1998. The compilation features fifteen tracks recorded across four BBC Radio One sessions between 1989 and 1995.