Velvet Mafia: The Gay Men Who Ran the Swinging Sixties
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Winner of the prestigious Penderyn Music Book Prize 2022
In the fifties and sixties, in the period leading up to the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality and the founding of the Gay Liberation movement, a group of gay men behind the scenes of rock'n'roll was changing pop, politics and society for good.
Through a mix of new interviews and contemporary reports, Darryl W. Bullock shines a light on the lives of the so-called 'Velvet Mafia', including impresario Larry Parnes, Beatles manager Brian Epstein, songwriter Lionel Bart, record producer Joe Meek, and Bee Gees and Cream manager Robert Stigwood.
Compelling and enlightening, The Velvet Mafia explores how the LGBT professionals at the heart of the music industry were working together and supporting each other at a time when being homosexual could mean the end of your career - or much worse.
Darryl W. Bullock is a writer specialising in music history and LGBT issues. He is the author of several books, including Florence Foster Jenkins: The Life of the World's Worst Opera Singer (2016), David Bowie Made Me Gay: 100 Years of LGBT Music (2017) and The Infamous Cherry Sisters: The Worst Act in Vaudeville (2019) as well as two volumes culled from his blog and internet radio show, The World's Worst Records. He lives in Bristol with a dog, a cat, an incredibly patient husband and a ridiculously eclectic record collection.