How 70’s Gay Porn Disco Music influences modern Trance and Electronica

How 70’s Gay Porn Disco Music influences modern Trance and Electronica

At one time there was a magical place called San Francisco. It was full of Gay Men, Drag Queens, after hour clubs, drugs and disco music. It was a place where stereotypes were born, where promiscuous men could have sex, do a line of cocaine, and shake their booty to the latest music for days at a time.  Unfortunately this Paradise on Earth was soon to crumble as that spectre of the 19080’s gay lifestyle, HIV, was already infiltrating the city.

Two prominent members of the community that crossed at the corner of Disco and Fabulous were Sylvester (known as the Queen of Disco) and Patrick Cowley. When the two met, Sylvester already had a moderately successful career. He was an founder of a musical group made up of black transwomen and cross-dressers called The Disquotays, a member of The Cockettes and a solo artist. He also had released several albums and had signed with Fantasy Records who’s best known act was Creedence Clearwater Revival.

One of Sylvester’s better known songs is his first hit single, “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real.)”

Liking his sound, Sylvester asked Cowley to join his studio band and lay down some synthesizer tracks. One of their collaborations hit #4 on the Billboard dance chart in 1982 – “Do Ya Wanna Funk.”

Hear we can hear a great early electronica 4/4 beat that is the cornerstone of many modern House, Techno and Electronica songs. Patrick Crowley also had a successful solo career with hits such as “Menergy” and “Megatron Man,” as a writer for many other artists of the time, and as a successful DJ at Dance Club The EndUp. (Which is still in business, and plays music, especially Cowley’s, from this era every Sunday.)

But his other major musical contribution was the sound tracks to many Gay Porn movies. The pure sensuality and energy of his synthesizer is such that decades later they continue to be used across the entire porn industry.

Patrick Cowley died of HIV November 12, 1982, bringing his music career and pioneering musical influence to an unfortunate halt. But not before completing two entire albums in the year between when he first became sick and his death. Sylvester also succumbed to HIV on December 16, 1988 after a year of increasingly ill health. He followed his partner who had died a mere year before in 1987.

Fortunately for us, both men’s music lives on. We have even been fortunate to recently uncover some of  Crowley’s lost works that have complied and released as “School Daze.” Both were heavy influencers of the “Hi-NRG” style of uptempo disco and electronic dance music that first came out in the 1970’s. Combining high tempo beats with great lyrics that make just about anyone want to jump out of their seat and dance the night away, this style embraced electronic musical instruments to create unique sound.

Hi-NRG saw it’s peak in the 1980’s, with artists such as Donna Summers, Dead or Alive, Bannarama, and the Village People all getting into the Hi-NRG scene. Many of them used electronic music as backups to drive the beat of their songs. During this time they genre and style spread to Canadian and British Dance Clubs as DJ’s incorporated it into their play lists. It is interesting to note that many Electronica and Techno artists continue to remix Hi-NRG songs to this day.

In turn, Hi-NRG music heavily influenced House Music. Based on the pedigree of those highly sexualized rhythmic beats, House Music likely started in Chicago night clubs that catered to the African American and Latino Gay population of that city. It expanded to Detroit, New York, San Francisco and other American cities before spreading across the Atlantic Ocean to British and European Dance Clubs.

By the end of the 90’s House Music had not only superseded the Hi-NRG genre in popularity, it had become incredibly fragmented also. Techno, Electro, Trance and the various House Derivatives such as Electro House and Progressive House all come from House music as artists bent and recreated sounds in an effort to differentiate themselves from other groups.

Today, groups such as Kraftwerk, Daft Punk, Moby, Front 424 and thousands of others continue to push the frontiers of Electronica music splitting it even further into more and more diverse genres. But if you listen closely you can still hear that driving, penetrating, sensual 70’s Gay Porn Disco beat pioneered by Sylvester and Patrick Cowley.

What music by today’s artists do you hear that 70’s Disco Porn beat in? Please comment below!

Followers, DND Style

Followers, DND Style

One of the biggest boons in AD&D to player characters, were the followers. By 7th through 9th level most Classes started gaining followers. The rules for followers were found in the AD&D Dungeon Master Guide, pg.16. A group of Player Characters could amass an army pretty quickly. There is even a random followers generator over at deadskexies, based off this chart.

Dragon Magazine had several sets of flavor rules on attracting followers for almost every class. Many of the article had a series of tables to roll on to figure out what types, level, and number of followers a player character could have. These were meant to supplement the rules in the Dungeon Master’s Guide and add a bit more flavor to games.

If you’d like to re-read some of those articles, and still have your old copies of Dragon Magazine, check out the following issues.
Dragon #92 – The more, the merrier (Clerics)
Dragon #99 – Tables and Tables of Troops (Fighters)
Dragon #103 – More range for rangers (Rangers)
Dragon #113 – Clout for Clerics (Clerics)
Dragon #178 – Follow the Leader (Paladins)
Dragon #219 – Pirate Crews and Retinues (Fighter subclasses)
Dragon #246 – A Few Good Henchmen (List of NPCs to use as Henchmen)

A savvy DM could also use these tables to quickly generate followers for NPCs. The table from Dragon #219 “Barbarian” could generate a tribe of primitives for instance. Or the Pirate table could be used to crew a ship from an actual Pirate ship to a Merchantman. (Click here for Random Gangs and Guilds generators)

Unfortunately, the concept of followers was moved from an automatic boon to characters at a certain level, to a Feat in DND 3.x. The 3.5 Dungeon Master’s Manual has this feat on pg 106, and it is also in the SRD. I have yet to see a Player ever take this feat though.

While the concept of followers above it heavily influenced by Dungeons and Dragons, it can be easily transferred to other game systems, and not just fantasy ones. Nor does it have to be a virtual army of NPCs following the Player Characters along. It could just as easily be a single follower or henchman that complements the Player’s Class.

For instance, an Police Officer could have a rookie partner assigned to them. A Solider could advance in rank and have a batman. An Indiana Jones type character could have an especially bright student as a follower. A Superhero could have a sidekick with complimentary powers. The possibilities are endless.

The biggest problem with followers though is that it’s one more NPC for the GM to keep track of. The best way to handle this is offload the work of tracking stats and such to the Player, while the characters motives are still controlled by the GM. This allows the GM to not worry about their stats, but gives them an additional way move plot points along, or even introduce new ones as needed.

Good examples of such are that the Follower could have a deep dark secret that is coming back to haunt them. They could have a stroke of intuition, or luck, at just the right moment in time that is the key to solving the puzzle. They can add a precious bit of fire power in battles, or be used to cause a distraction at a critical moment.

The usefulness of followers in Role Playing games should not be over looked by players or GMs. While they add a bit of work for both parties, the additional opportunities for role playing more then make up for it. Have you used followers in your game? If so, how did that work out? Any memorable scenes where the follower played a critical role?

Written for the December 2013 RPG Blog Carnival