Boys Keep Swinging: A Memoir

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Sadly, the book ends rather abruptly around 2005, and I was HOPING for a detailed account of Shear's collaboration on the failed musical version of "Tales of the City' (which I saw in its premiere production in - where else? - San Francisco). But Shears hints that there MIGHT be a volume two chronicling the last dozen years - and I for one would be first in line to read it! Well it's so strange how easily we as a people settle into misery when it's what we come to expect, especially under this administration

It’s a song on which upbeat choruses belie their unhappy break-up lyrics. This is his most autobiographical album to date, but – the gloriously melancholic “All For What” and “Everything I’ll Ever Need”, exposing his vulnerable side, excepted – it is uplifting party music, much in the vein of his former band. I did. It's language that to straight people might not seem coded or offensive at all, but... it is. I enjoyed this book for a number of reasons, but particularly because I identified with Shears' struggles growing up, dealing with the bullying of his peers and seeking the acceptance of his parents and others. How many young people trying to come to terms with their sexuality and wondering if they'll ever find happiness haven't felt the way he did? I also identified with his struggles to feel happy even amidst the success and fulfillment he had achieved, as I've been there, too. I’ve never liked the saying “Everything happens for a reason.” But what if that reason is yourself? Is it wrong that I’m thankful that my mom’s fiancé, the first love of her life, never returned from that fateful flight? I sometimes think of this alternate person that would have existed instead of me, a dream brother. I picture someone with my flaws and oddities ironed out, striding with ease through his normal, quiet life. It wasn’t until years later, while living and studying in New York City, that Jason would find his voice as an artist and, with a group of friends and musicians who were also thirsting for stardom and freedom, form the band Scissor Sisters. First performing in the smoky gay nightclubs of New York, then finding massive success in the United Kingdom, Scissor Sisters would become revered by the LGBTQ community, sell out venues worldwide, and win multiple accolades with hits like “Take Your Mama” and “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’,” as well as their cult-favorite cover of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb.”Jake Shears, lead singer and author of this book, was one of the rare artists at that time who was unabashedly fabulous and flamboyant, with absolutely no compunctions about what he looked like on screen. I thought that was incredibly cool. Later, my regular barber spot was in the entryway of a Smitty’s grocery store. When I sat in the chair, a very tan, wrinkled man would ask me if I wanted “the G.I. Joe or the Mr. T?” Duh, the Mr. T: He had a Mohawk. My dad, as if he believed the barber were serious, tapped his shoulder and said, “Just a regular cut is fine.” I was crestfallen when we left. My hair looked like it always did. I felt that the book dragged a bit in places, particularly in the lead-up to the birth of Scissor Sisters. There was a lot of the same story over and over again, just with different celebrities or men he knew mentio

What we do get is decades of drug abuse and gay sex (though neither are detailed--for Jake it's about quantity, not quality). He seems to be bragging about his ability to survive through the drugs and his sexual conquests, which make him feel appreciated. The drugs obviously do something to his mind and his health, but he's too dumb to notice. He hilariously claims that when he finally graduated college (after multiple schools, bad grades, and many years delay) it was proof that "I had my shit together." The album was written at the same time as his memoir Boys Keep Swinging . It’s a compelling read that’s sad, inspiring, and soul-baringly honest, recounting as it does everything from the bullying he suffered at school, to coming out to his parents aged 15, his struggles with his identity, the beginnings of his performing career, his heady partying lifestyle, love/sex life, through to the Scissor Sisters’ success. A self-professed binge reader, Shears took inspiration from memoirs by Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein, and Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon. I remember listening to Scissor Sisters in the early 2000s; I always thought their videos were so incredibly bizarre. When a book has already been blurbed by the likes of Armistead Maupin and Sir Elton John and reviewed by Lambda Literary, there isn’t much that my two cents is going to add to the buzz. All I can say is that I was a little sad when I reached the end of this one. Shears leaves us on a note of melancholy and hope. Here’s to the next leg of his journey. May it be as passionate and fulfilling as the first.

Last Man Dancing

Even amidst its high-octane energy, Jake Shears’ new album offers Scissor Sisters’ front-man the opportunity to reflect on how he got to where he is today. In his own words, Last Man Dancing is “a journey through the ultimate house party. The first half gives you those singalong moments that get everyone into it at the top of night.

Shears is aware of the time he has spent chipping away at the music industry. “I’m going into my third decade [as a musician] now,” he says. I have only ever heard 3 songs by the band but haven’t really thought of them as anything more than a one-hit-wonder. After reading this book, that notion will have to change. Trying to find his own identity and voice, he realizes he wants to sing. On stage. Be the center of attention, which he loves. When he moves to New York, his meeting with Babydaddy is pivotal and begins the formation of the band Scissor Sisters.It was disorienting not having the band anymore. It was really scary, not quite knowing what I was going to do next”, he recalls. “I was writing songs I didn’t really know what they were for. For a solid 12 years I always had this mission, this thing that was just so big in my life.” It’s amazing to think she built a whole career around advising women how they might look more stylish ( What Not to Wear began on the BBC in 2001). In her royal days, after all, she sported a look that was “somewhere between Victoria Wood and Fergie” (polka dots, plentiful ruching). But I don’t know, for all that it must have been lucrative, that it made her happy, even if it was only after it ended that her boozing began in earnest (she once appeared drunk on QVC). Somehow, though, she got through this bad patch. A turn as Anton Du Beke’s worst ever partner on Strictly Come Dancingwould, indeed, one day be hers (in 2018), and it surely says something about her charmed life that, in the small hours, it’s Ann Widdecombe of whom she thinks enviously, the former politician having somehow made it to week 10 of that redoubtable, long-running talent show. It’s important after a big life change – you want a change of appearance, and place. I was absolutely heartbroken. It’s something I don’t know if you totally get over. Maybe someday…” You told Billboard a couple of years ago that you never wanted to make a solo album because that was "depressing." So what changed? Hoping that the third time would be the charm, Archibald and Freida eloped to the Little White Chapel in Vegas, no one else there but themselves. In the photograph, my mom sported a graceful updo, my father overgrown muttonchops, both of them with huge smiles on their faces. They’ve been happily married ever since.