Gay Great:
Steve Strange
A 'Punk Rocker', 'first class
show-off' and 'beautiful gay man'.
This was how Boy George described Steve Strange at his funeral in March this year. A
pioneer of the New Romantic movement, the face of London’s Blitz club and frontman of
pop group Visage, Steve was everything that epitomised the outrageous extravagance of a
generation.
Dedicating this issue’s Gay Great to someone whose life has already been so clearly and
wonderfully documented (including Drew Jaymson’s depiction of him in the Boy
George musical, Taboo, and Marc Warren’s portrayal in Worried About the Boy)
may seem unnecessary but to not acknowledge both the life and talent of a man
so influential in the creation of iconic club culture seems amiss.
Born Steven Harrington, Steve had a difficult childhood. His mother left their
home, in Newbridge, Caerphilly, and his father later killed himself after being
diagnosed with a brain tumour. A fashion rebel from an early age, Steve was
suspended from school after turning up with orange hair and a nose chain. Soon
after leaving Wales for London, Steve began work for Malcolm McLaren and it
was there that he met Rusty Egan, drummer in new wave band The Rich Kids.
They became flatmates and this partnership led to the opening of The Blitz club,
a small place with a massive impact. “250 kids really did change the way that
we lived and looked and played and partied in this country…forever” Robert
Elms said in the documentary Whatever Happened to the Gender Benders. He
was referring to the New Romantic movement in which Steve Strange’s Blitz
club was instrumental. It spawned the Blitz Kids, the likes of which included Boy
George, Marilyn, Princess Julia, Philip Sallon, Rusty Egan and Spandau Ballet and
Steve Strange was at the heart of it all helping the movement pulsate with music,
glamour and attitude.
With Boy George working as the club cloakroom attendant and David Bowie a patron,
it’s not surprising that the Blitz led to both a style and a sexually liberated and often
androgynous revolution.
A pop star in his own right, teaming up with Midge Ure to form Visage (who hasn’t seen the
‘Fade to Grey’ video?) which concentrated on arty, synthetic pop, Strange’s new career was
short lived and he hit a downward spiral of cocaine and heroin that lasted for a number of
years.
WINTER 2015
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