Good To Be Gay
Precursor song, recorded for Campaign for Homosexual Equality, 1975
Versions
Here are all the released versions of Glad To Be Gay plus several significant unreleased ones.
Features include:
– release data and record cover
– lyrics
– streaming audio
– MP3 download (encoded at 160kbps)
– notes explaining the lyric references
– comments from Tom
Original Demo
Unreleased demo recorded with Tom's acoustic trio Cafe Society, 1976
TRB Demo
Unreleased demo recorded with the unsigned Tom Robinson Band, mid 1977
Rising Free
Generally regarded as the original version. Recorded late 1977, released on the Rising Free EP, 1978.
KSAN
Unreleased live concert broadcast on San Francisco radio station KSAN, 11 June 1978
Passaic, NJ
Unreleased live recording on Tom's 29th birthday with the TRB Two line-up on their final tour, June 1979
Cabaret 79
Recorded during a week of Gay Pride concerts ten years after Stonewall
Secret Policeman's Ball
Solo acoustic version at the Secret Policeman's Ball benefit concert for Amnesty International, London, June 1979
Coming Out, Ready Or Not
Piano version at raucous gay concert, with enthusiastic singalong backing, December 1982
Glad To Be Gay 87
Not so much an update as an entirely new lyric, recorded live for inclusion on a 1987 greatest hits album
Winter of 89
Recorded live during the Tom Robinson Band reunion, 1990
Eton
Live at Eton morning assembly, 3 March 1994. Really.
The Last Word
One verse a capella, released as a hidden track on the Having It Both Ways album, 1996. 'If gay liberation means freedom for all, a label is no liberation at all...'
Holidays In The Sun
Live in Japan with full band, 1996
Home From Home: Europe
Pared down acoustic based version, live in Belgium 1998
Abbey Road
Sprightly acoustic version, 1998
Glad To Be Gay 2004
Unreleased acoustic version recorded for Queer Music Heritage, 11 June 2004
Cover Versions
Snarly queercore, Finnish folk, eerie Swedish pop and seething hiphop interpretations
