In Which We Go Back A Bit

For those of you who missed them the first time around, or those who still miss them, here is the 1980s wrapped up in one video:

Let’s see, do we have all the parts?

• Bleach blonde, pouty lipped pretty boy singer?  Check,
• Hyper stylized clothes that make you look like you got dressed in a hurry, in the dark?  Check.
• Synth laden music ripping off better, more original music (in this case, Spin Me Round by Dead or Alive)?  Check.
• Ronald Reagan’s poisonous spirit looming around?  Check.
• The terrifying mystery of AIDS just off camera, but very present?  Check.

Turns out the last is more important to this bit than was originally intended since the singer, Paul Lekakis, admitted in an interview with POZ magazine that he had lied about his HIV status to his customers while turning tricks in Los Angeles in the 90s.  The interview and, maybe, Lekakis makes this sound unpardonable and shocking.  Sweetie, I was there and I remember that by the late 90s when Lekakis was working West Hollywood what AIDS was was unquestionable and how it spread was well established. What he did was bad, but was it that shocking?  If you ask a rentboy about his HIV status and then take his word for it, you are simply too naive to be hiring one.

In other 80s news, Buttocks of the Past:

Mike Timber

Buck Hayes

Mike Betts