{"id":17526,"date":"2017-12-01T06:00:55","date_gmt":"2017-12-01T05:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theenglishmansion.com\/blog\/?p=17526"},"modified":"2026-02-05T11:29:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T11:29:21","slug":"a-sexual-revolution-subversive-top-ten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theenglishmansion.com\/blog\/a-sexual-revolution-subversive-top-ten\/","title":{"rendered":"Sexual Revolution – Subversive Top Ten Music Chart"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Welcome to The English Mansion\u2019s
\nSexual Revolution –
\nSubversive Top Ten Music Chart<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/strong>Our musical Top Tens dedicated to all things kinky<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Sexual Revolution… it’s been a long time coming and we’re not there yet but there have been some fabulous and valiant trailblazers. So we’re celebrating the avant-garde artists, the enlightened pioneers and radical firebrands who all played their part and used music to change the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

All the songs in this Top Ten represent significant moments of this revolution – when the underbelly took on the mainstream and won; and the status quo was challenged and changed forever! It’s a subversive and perverted revolution addressing: fetishism & bdsm; cross-dressing, gender bending\/transgender notions; queer (lesbian, gay & bi) pride & politics; \"\"sex for pleasure; feminism & women not in a passive sexual role for male pleasure or purely procreation but enjoying their bodies and sexualities.<\/span><\/p>\n

My number 1’s are joint tracks from Army of Lovers<\/em> a Swedish ’90s “euro pop” band, whose work beautifully embodies all of these different sexual revolutions and in such a joyful and inclusive way. Their name is taken from the documentary ‘Army of Lovers, Revolt of the Perverts’ & ‘The Sacred Band of Thebes’ (a troop of soldiers made up from 150 pairs of male lovers who formed an elite force of the Theban army in the 4th century BC.) Their songs were the pervy anthems of my early fetish clubbing days.<\/span><\/p>\n

The release in 1983 of Relax by\u00a0Frankie Goes To Hollywood<\/em> marks a key moment in the history of pop, with its direct sexual references and overtly gay ones at that; while its original video was set in a decadent gay fetish club with allusions to ‘erections, cum & watersports’. It was subsequently banned which inadvertently turned it into a massive hit and it went on to sell two million copies in the UK.<\/span><\/p>\n

The track Me So Horny<\/em> by 2 Live Crew was declared obscene in 1990, leading to a ban (in Florida), the arrest of band members for performing it live, and obscenity prosecutions. The convictions were overturned on appeal, and the group was acquitted, turning the track into a landmark free-speech case.<\/span><\/p>\n

While George Michael<\/em>, “Yes, I’ve been bad”, having been ludicrously arrested and outed for having sex with an undercover police officer in a public toilet just ‘owned it’ and then wryly threw it right back at the LA Police Dept. in his fabulous satirical track and video, Outside.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s hard to get it now because nothing here seems that outrageous but back in the day many of these videos\/songs were banned outright or only allowed to be shown late at night. (Except Sex Dwarf which was declared to be pornographic, (it was actually a parody of ‘hetero’ porn and sexual hypocrisy) the police actually confiscated copies of it and it remains prohibited even today.) The mainstream have however, moved on from being outraged by Madonna<\/em> to cheering on Conchita<\/em> and that has to be something to celebrate.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Sexual Revolution – Subversive Top Ten<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1\u00a0\u00a0 Crucify
\n<\/strong>joint with<\/em><\/span>
\nSexual Revolution <\/strong><\/td>\n		Army of Lovers (1991 & 1994)<\/td>\nPlay Video
\n<\/a>Play Video<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2\u00a0\u00a0 Erotica
\n<\/strong>joint with<\/em><\/span>
\nHuman Nature
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		Madonna (1992 & 1994)<\/td>\nPlay Video
\n<\/a>Play Video<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3 \u00a0 Relax<\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		Frankie Goes To Hollywood (1983)<\/td>\nPlay Video<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4\u00a0\u00a0 Rise Like a Phoenix
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		Conchita Wurst (2014)<\/td>\nPlay Video<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5\u00a0\u00a0 Outside<\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		George Michael (1998)<\/td>\nPlay Video<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6\u00a0\u00a0 I Touch Myself
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		Divinyls (1991)<\/td>\nPlay Video<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7 \u00a0 Girls & Boys
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		Blur (1994)<\/td>\nPlay Video<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8\u00a0\u00a0 Rebel Rebel<\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		David Bowie (1974)<\/td>\nPlay Video<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Sexual Revolution
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		Macy Gray (2001)<\/td>\nPlay Video<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10\u00a0 Walk On The Wild Side<\/strong>
\njoint with<\/em><\/span>
\n10\u00a0 Sex Dwarf <\/strong>(Censored)
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		Lou Reed (1972)
\nSoft Cell (1981)<\/td>\n		Play Video
\n<\/a>Play Video<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Contenders that didn’t quite make it into\u00a0our\u00a0Top Ten:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Free Your Mind<\/strong> by En Vogue (1992)\u00a0 Play Video<\/a>
\nMe So Horny <\/strong>by 2 Live Crew (1989)\u00a0 \u00a0Play Video<\/a>
\nTainted Love <\/strong>by Marilyn Manson (2001)\u00a0 <\/strong>Play Video<\/a>
\nChaika <\/strong>by Pussy Riot (2016) Play Video<\/a>
\nI Kissed A Girl <\/strong>by Katie Perry (2008) Play Video<\/a>
\nNancy Boy <\/strong>by Placebo (1996)\u00a0 Play Video<\/a>
\nBorn this Way<\/strong> by Lady Gaga (2011) Play Video<\/a>
\nStrangelove<\/strong> (1987) or Master & Servant<\/strong> (1984) Depeche Mode Play<\/a> & Play<\/a>
\nYou Think You’re A Man <\/strong>by Divine (1988) Play Video<\/a>
\nI Want To Break Free<\/strong> – Queen (1984)\u00a0 Play Video<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The English Mansion\u2019s Kinky Music Charts<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Take a look at our other musical Top Tens dedicated to all things kinky<\/span>
\n~ to be included the rules are: they must be big hits or tracks from internationally well-known performers.<\/span><\/p>\n