"Reflections on The Black Cap" "Sometimes dubbed ‘The Palladium of Drag, since time out of mind it has been one of London’s most popular gay venues....”.......The great Mrs Shufflewick was a regular performer, along with countless others."
http://www.polarimagazine.com/opinion/reflections-black-cap/
How to write a Morrissey lyric about London's LGBTIQ past.
Rule 1: Don't mention anything to do with the current scene centred around Old Compton Street as it's full of tacky dance music types going to watch Kylie at G-A-Y. These people are not miserable, they are having fun, misguided in thinking they are liberated and that those you write about would be off their trolleys on ketamine and Erecstasy too if they were around today. In fact, choose subjects before legalisation in "The Sexual Offences Act of 1967. This will help with your 'Olde Englande Thames tea shoppe" schtick with overseas market punters who listen to your music whilst planning a tourist jaunt to your next UK Tour on Trip Advisor. Remember, you core appeal is to Trustafarians world-wide who liek to swan around the planet like you, moaning about everything. Thankfully, they are in budget class, not business class, so you never have to meet them whilst navigating smelly uniformed types at airports. Why isn't there a VIP customs service? But I digress.
Rule 2: Be obscure! Make sure you use figures who the hoi-polloi won't have heard of and throw in a bit of palare for added effect.
Rule 3: Refuse to discuss why you are continually fixated on these topics despite denying you have had a homosexual relationship. Refuse to explain what a 'humasexual' is. Your 'fans' will think this means you are mysterious. Haters gonna hate, so ignore them, they don't buy $50 hoodies at concerts. Continue to insist you are an advocate of free speech whilst drawing up plans to deal with online dissent.
Rule 4: If your 'fans' fail to get the references in pre-gig montages or
"obvious troll is obvious" drum skins, in extremis, you may issue an edict via Julia at TTY. This is especially useful if there's another topic you'd like to spin, such as distracting media attention from bizarre behaviour from employees on tour, as an example. This creates an air of regal indifference, just like wot the Queen does.
Rule 5: If anyone"with a big nose who knows" mocks your 'gay london history writing class' techniques for song-writing and nudge-wink tour imagery: just wing it and create a new controversy. Then add their name to the list of banned undesirables who are no longer allowed to "ironically" participate at cult gatherings. You do the knowing camp irony, the herd 'crass consumers' who follow you must show obsequious respect! After all, you are a bona-fide genius, not some chancer who got lucky in the NME X-Factor Indie Talent Contest of 1983.
Rule 6: Always remember "The Monkey at Typewriter Rule". Keep banging away and something will crop up. Remember, this is a job and you don't manage a 30 year career as a capitalist music entrepreneur by being a lazy git.
Song 1: "Imagine you are the policeman raiding a Molly House. What do you see? Maybe you’re having doubts about your own sexuality. Maybe you see someone there who you know."
Song 2: ".. go for a drink at the Criterion. A glass of rose (yes, pink wine is best for this exercise) will cost you £7....write down in detail what you can see around you: the smells, sounds, colours, textures. Jot down some overheard dialogue."
Song 3: "Imagine you are Joe Orton. Imagine what it would have been like to create collages in library books. Visit the Islington Museum and study the books on display.... What do they tell you about Joe and Kenneth?"
Song 4: "Read the poems that Verlaine and Rimbaud wrote during the years they were in London..... Weave lines from the poems into your story, or poem. Visit 8 Royal College Street Make sure to throw in a few words of French!"
http://untoldlondon.org.uk/articles...some_gay_london_history_and_writing_exercises