The Boys Are Back

While their popularity has declined since their late-'80s peak, the Pet Shop Boys have retained a steadfast following.

Fundamental entered the British charts at No. 5 and made the Top Ten for album downloads for iTunes subscribers in Canada, Germany, Spain and Scandinavia. Those numbers are healthy enough to spare Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe from the fate of many of their one-time contemporaries, doomed to relive past glories on shows such as VH1 Bands Reunited.

However, The Boys Are Back once more. The influence of gay culture has never been hard to find in the music biz, an industry that has long traded on the allure of young men in tight trousers.

In the early '60s, impresario Larry Parmes built up a stable of prefab stars with vigorous names such as Tommy Steele. Nearly 40 years after his death, Beatles manager Brian Epstein is still the subject of innuendo concerning his interest in the Fab Four. Openly gay music acts were rare even amid the rampant hedonism of glam and disco, the real shocker was that David Bowie and most of the Village People would eventually be outed as straight.

Well, times are changing so does culture, pop or gay.