1983. Miquel Brown: So Many Men, So Little Time.
I still wince when I think about the title and timing of this song.
Upon it’s release it was adopted by the gay male community as an anthem for the sexual freedom of that time. Within a matter of months it’s meaning had become a lot more ambiguous. Sadly, it could also be read as, “[For] so many men [there is] so little time”.
Extract from AIDS leaflet produced by San Francisco's Harvey Milk Gay Democratic Club in 1983. Note the T-shirt.
As is screamingly obviously from the video, the song was aimed well and truly at the gay market. (Even Blind Freddy could see the absurdity of Ms Brown pondering “So many men…how can I lose?” in a room full of Muscle Marys!).
The whole thing is an extraordinary time piece. Just look at all the gay stereotypes, for one thing – it’s like the next generation of the Village People! But it’s also the flagging up of the end of an era, and the beginning of a much more difficult one.
Here’s to the memory of so many men who didn’t make it through to the other side.
Remembering Studio 54 Thanksgiving night and that Saturday night with Miquel Brown – one song at 2am…. the place was so crazy !!! ….Billy Amato
Hey Billy!
You hired me that Saturday night at Studio 54 to dance on the elevated moving stage next to Miquel Brown while she sang her song. It had to be one of the most thrilling nights of my life. We became friends that night and you asked me to come back again to Studio 54 on New Year’s Eve to be one of the dancers in the cage (another night of sweet memories). You provided an awesome venue for the exhibitionist in me! Thanks for those opportunities. We kept in touch a bit into the mid-eighties, but grad school eventually won out to my stage desires. Hope that you are well. I’ll never forget the wild crowds and dancing in the lights of Studio 54, both on and off the stage. Keep the memories burning!