Who would have thought this wholesome young man would have become the outrageous white trash we know and love today?

Divine (born Harris Glenn Milstead) was the only son of wealthy, conservative Baptist parents.To say he rebelled against this background would be an understatement.

He enjoyed hosting lavish parties (at his parents expense, since he didn’t see the point of getting a job). At these he would dress up to imitate his favourite celebrity, Elizabeth Taylor. Some years later he was to say, “All my life I wanted to look like Elizabeth Taylor. Now I find Liz Taylor is beginning to look like me!”

In the mid-60s he met John Waters –  the man who was to set him on a successful career of tack, trash and general bad taste. Waters was in the habit of giving all his friends nicknames and it was he who christened the young Mr Milstead ‘Divine’.

I saw Divine in 1985 – performing from a showboat in the middle of the Thames as part of the Gay Pride celebrations. It was quite a sight – even with half a river between us. In typical Divine style, his opening greeting to the crowd was a cheery, “Fuck you very much!” – a salutation that echoed up the Thames as far as the Houses of Parliament.

There are many clips of Divine performing You Think You’re a Man but I selected this one because I think there’s something distinctly surreal about it, In a nutshell, it’s a mainstream pop programme trying to be cool by accommodating a snarling drag queen who sashays around two scantily-clad, pec-pumping body builders. The bewildered faces of the audience (and, indeed, the body builders) say it all!