Songs of The Stonewall Club * 1966 to 1969 * Pages 3 and 4

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"Songs of The Stonewall" ^©(page 3)

The "Songs of The STONEWALL", created, prepared and styled by the Stonewaller, 1969 Stonewall Rebellion veteran and SVA-er WILLIAMSON LEE HENDERSON, and published by the non-profit organization STONEWALL Veterans' Association ("S.V.A."), have been catalytic gems yet a mostly overlooked Gay history subject -- until nowayears!

These Stonewall Era songs of the Gay community are a historical, social and cultural -- besides musical -- factor. There was even a non-recorded "We Are The Stonewall Girls" semi-song with a "We Are What We Are" (from "La Cage aux Folles") type message and a Rockettes-type high-kicking choreography. THE STONEWALL GIRLS (any group of "girlz" who gathered) jinglette "We Are The Stonewall Girls" was soooo short-short, semi-sweet and sing-songy:

"We are the Stonewall Girls, we wear our hair in curls,
We always dress with flair, we wear clean underwear,
We wear our dungarees, above our nellie knees,
We ain't no wannabees, we pay our Stonewall fees!"

The points of the Gay song were that the Stonewall drag queens, the flair queens and the crossdressers (usually non-Gay) were not shady or dirty or crazy but mostly as good and as clean and as nice as the other Stonewallers. The "Stonewall fees" phrase was very significant as it refers to the admission cost at The Stonewall front door and other charges (fees) such as the coat check and the jukebox at the actual Stonewall Club. In other words, these gals paid their way like everyone else! (Realistically, many didn't and weren't allowed in the very popular Stonewall Club.)

Stonewall Note: There was later a second rendition of "Stonewall Girls", which was slightly revised, slightly stupid and slightly sleazy -- and definitely not the original nor representative of Gay kids but the trash version of the catchy Stonewall jinglette.

Rock 'n' Roll had ELVIS PRESLEY, THE BEATLES, JANIS JOPLIN, THE ROLLING STONES and JIMI HENDRIX. By the way, only one of those five fit in with the Gays -- surprise, ELVIS! The Black Civil Rights Movement had the "sounds" of MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., MALCOLM X, REV. JESSE JACKSON, et al. The Gay Revolution had the "Sugar 'n' Spice" of MARTHA REEVES & THE VANDELLAS with "We've Got Honey Love"; the determination and pride of SHIRLEYBASSEY's belter anthem "This Is My Life"; the comradery of THE FRIENDS OF DISTINCTION with "Grazin' In The Grass"; and the classic, upbeat romanticism of CHRIS MONTEZ with "Time After Time".

The Gay community also had the fun 'n' dance yet thoughtful, provoking and inspiring DIANA ROSS (every Queen's idol and most King's ideal) & THE SUPREMESwith their "(You Better Make Way For) The Young Folks", a national flipside favorite and youth anthem which popularized by first being played in Gay clubs. Identifiable lyrics advised that "You gotta make way for the young folks". The inspiring analogy for Gay people was substituting "young" for "Gay" and thus that "You gotta make way for the Gay folks!" Besides authoring "Everybody's Talkin'" for the Gay-flavored hot movie "Midnight Cowboy", FRED NEIL of Greenwich Village also wrote a protesting youth, hit song named "Get Together" by THE YOUNGBLOODS in New York City. BARBRA STREISD, fresh from winning an upset victory "Oscar" for Best Actress in March of 1969 for the prior year's Gay favorite film "Funny Girl", followed up with "Hello, Dolly!" songs being previewed in 1969. The promotional record of "Before The Parade Passes By" was an instant anthem -- more symbolic each year with the advent of Gay Pride parades -- for Gay people. Of course, The STONEWALL Jukebox had it.

Stonewall Addendum: Ironically, 25 years later (1994), BARBRA performed in concerts in Manhattan during Gay Pride Week at the exact time of the "Stonewall 25" anniversary. Indeed, from the Madison Square Garden stage, LA STREISAND paid verbal homage to "Stonewall" actually declaring: "I'm so proud to be here in New York especially during Gay Pride Week and the 25th Anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion". And, BABS sang her Gay fave torch song "He Touched Me"! Yes, it was memorably at The Stonewall!

Incredible, multi-gender and multi-racial (and no doubt multi-sexual orientation) SLY & THE FAMILY STONE -- always hot especially in the Gay clubs -- was perhaps the most all-encompassing, unifying, gritty and barrier-breaking maestros with their Gay-oriented "stand up/fight back" anthem "Stand!". With a pounding dance beat and timeless "act-up" lyrics like "Stand, in the end you'll still be you, one who's done all the things you've set out to do", and "There's a midget standing tall and the giant beside him about to fall", how could a Gay Revolution not have occurred in 1969? A quarter-of-a-century later, "Stand" is still a "Gay Power" rally. Ask "ACT-Up"!

Astrologically-speaking, the Stonewall Era was in the heat of "The Age of Aquarius" whether you were into THE ZODIACS or not. "Hair" was the #1 Broadway musical. THE FIFTH DIMENSION's medley record of "Aquarius" and "Let The Sunshine In" was from the Broadway play "Hair". Like the play, the song was very #1 -- everywhere around the world. OLIVER, the British- and Gay-sounding singer who turned out not to be British (actually from North Carolina) nor Gay (married to a real woman with children), made it to 'numero uno' with his infectious "Good Morning Starshine" -- also from "Hair"! (See "SOTS" #5.) Supremely speaking, DIANA ROSS & THE (super duper) SUPREMES appropriately had the #1 song at The Stonewall when it was raided by the NYCPD on Friday night, June 27, 1969. The song, ironically, was about astrological signs -- all are chanted in the background by the girlz. The song was gayly interpreted as very boy-lookin'-for-boy/boy-gettin'-boy aggressive as MISS ROSS declared: "No Matter What Sign You Are (You're Gonna Be Mine You Are)"! Along with its goovy, bump 'n' grind beat, it provided meet-someone-new confidence to even the shyest Gay guy -- or gal!

Songs of The Stonewall

"Songs of The Stonewall" *** Page Three {original}

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"Songs of The Stonewall" ^© (page 4)

From the archives of the STONEWALL Veterans' Association ("S.V.A."): "Songs of The Stonewall" (accompanying narrative) ====Page Four====

Reflecting upon and reviewing the "Songs of The Stonewall" and recognizing that all these songs were played there -- and presumably at most Gay clubs throughout America -- constantly and with the emphasizing ingredients of singing and dancing to them, the increasing message of the music was a powerful catalyst for "change". Even the titles were self-explanatory: individualistic "It's Your Thing (Do What You Wanna Do)" by THE ISLEY BROTHERS; romantically promising "(I Love You) More Today Than Yesterday (But Not As Much As Tomorrow)" by THE SPIRAL STARECASE; economic reality advisory "Don't Let The Joneses Get You Down" by THE TEMPTATIONS; social peace advisory "Put A Little Love In Your Heart" by JACKIE de SHANNON; psychological strength advisory "Only The Strong Survive" by JERRY BUTLER; political change advisory "Crystal Blue Persuasion" by TOMMY JAMES & THE SHONDELLS; even a religious spiritual "Oh, Happy Day" by the EDWIN HAWKINS SINGERS; and, of course, OLE BLUE EYES's be proud/be different/be yourself inspirational powerhouse "My Way", the eternal anthem for everyone!

Unfortunately, there rarely are any real Gay-oriented songs in the 1990s or beyond. Worse yet, Gay people (and their non-Gay counterparts) basically do not even ask each other to dance anymore. Fortunately, there are the timeless "Songs of The Stonewall" which do and must live, sing and dance on and on and on....

Gayly yours,
Williamson

Williamson L. Henderson, Director
STONEWALL Veterans Association
"Someday We'll Be Together", 1969;
re-mixed, re-released and re-hit 1994

1994 Update: Some of the original "Songs of The Stonewall" were included in the Pier 25 outdoor theatrical production of "Stonewall: The Play - Night Variations" Manhattan, New York. All of the musical information about The Stonewall Club was provided exclusively by Williamson Henderson.

1995 Update: An entertaining, incredible and unique 36-song cassette of "Songs of The Stonewall" was created by "SOTS" compiler Williamson Henderson. Many of the great songs such as the strong and dance "Don't Bring Back Memories" by THE FOUR TOPS or "There Will Never Be Another You" by CHRIS MONTEZ are hard to obtain through any source. The musical cost of the fab "SOTS" cassette is -- what else -- appropriately $19.69! All the net proceeds are donated to the non-profit STONEWALL Veterans' Association.

1996 Event: The S.V.A. presented another great educational and popular "Stonewall Symposium XXVII". Giving a really unique and atmospheric authenticism to the affair, several "Songs of The Stonewall" were played prior to the start and after the event. The symposium featured ten 5-minute biography speeches by the actual Stonewall Veterans themselves. The event at the Gay Community Center in Manhattan, New York, was hosted by "Stonewall" book author Martin Duberman. The happening included an exciting and interesting audience questions and answers session about all things "Stonewall"!

1996 Update: At long last..... "Stonewall: The Movie"! The S.V.A. was prominent at the opening of the movie's premiere at the Joseph Papp Theater in Manhattan. For a historic and eye-catching visual, Williamson Henderson and Terri Van Dyke brought the blue 1969 Cadillac convertible "Stonewall Car". The famous car was placed on display in front of the theater. Jeremiah Newton and "His Guy" Delson arrived in an over-sized 'hot' pick-up truck -- suitable for Matty Dean! In the film, several "Songs of The Stonewall" were showcased. After the showing of the movie, Stonewall veterans who were interviewed in the film, notably Queen Allyson Allante and Randy Wicker, and producers and stars of the flick were all brought on stage to thunderous applause.

1997 Event: "Stonewall Symposium XXVIII" was sponsored by the STONEWALL Veterans' Association. The forum was held at the New York City Gay Community Center. It featured Williamson Henderson, Storme DeLarverie, Terri Van Dyke, Yvonne Ritter and Rusti Rose, among other Stonewall veterans. It was hosted by openly-Gay NYC judge Karen S. Burstein. The S.V.A. had a disc jockey play some "Songs of The Stonewall" before the symposium commenced -- like musical bookends -- and after it concluded!

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Songs of The Stonewall

"Songs of The STONEWALL" **** Page Four {original}

Revised:
27 June
2010

==== 41st Anniversary of the NYC Stonewall Rebellion ====


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