Mark Simpson's Blog, page 2

Puppetry Without Penis

Arching a bitchy eyebrow at Anglo K-pop TV experiment Made in Korea Back in 1994, the year of the metrosexual’s birth, and the height of boybandery, my agent sent the BBC (and, I think, ITV) my proposal for a series exploring whether a boyband could be manufactured from scratch, with the working title ‘Puppets on a String’.… Read More »Puppetry Without Penis

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Randall & Hopkirk (Redux)

Remembering Kenneth Cope’s immaculate ‘Marty’ Mr Hopkirk – aka Kenneth Cope – is, sadly, deceased. Again. Though this time at the ripe old age of 93, instead of cut-off-in-his-prime. As a kid I loved the 1969 ITC produced UK detective show he is best known for, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), about two private dicks based in London –… Read More »Randall & Hopkirk (Redux)

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Stranger Danger

Dwelling upon the day-dreamy romance movie ‘All of Us Strangers’ I finally found it within myself to overlook all the rave reviews and watch All of Us Strangers. It was free on Disney +, I had a bad cold, and was bored. And maybe feeling a bit sorry for myself.  Andrew Haigh’s melancholic, melodramatic, and nostalgic… Read More »Stranger Danger

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James Bond’s Gay Test

Hulu’s George Lazenby doc is a ‘curious’ yarn I recently caught up with the curious Hulu 2017 docudrama ‘Becoming Bond‘ about George Lazenby, the Australian male model who was the first 007 after Connery – and, famously, for only one film: ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ (1969). He was also at 29 the youngest, and… Read More »James Bond’s Gay Test

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The Pressing Problem of Male Nipples

A recent poll claims most Brits now find male toplessness “unacceptable” You might be unaware that male toplessness in public places was banned in most US states until the late 1930s, even at swimming pools and the beach. To prevent the provocative sight of male nippleage inflaming the lusts of goodly Christian America when bathing, men… Read More »The Pressing Problem of Male Nipples

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The Early Supper Club – Andrew McCarthy’s doc Brats

‘Youth! Youth! There is absolutely nothing in the world but youth!’ – Lord Henry Wooton, The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde I WANT TO TALK about Andrew McCarthy’s eyes. And what became of them.  He never quite had classic Hollywood lead looks: his face was sensitive boy-next-doorish; a poetic-looking Anthony Perkins. Perhaps that’s… Read More »The Early Supper Club – Andrew McCarthy’s doc Brats

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High Stitching: The lives & loves of Lagerfeld & Balenciaga

On watching two ‘bio-streams’ about dead gay fashionistas I could have been Lee Alexander McQueen’s husband. Back in the last years of the 20th century, the now sadly deceased British designer, usually described as an ‘enfant terrible’ of the fashion world, offered to marry me. In writing. In 1998, my fax machine (younger readers: a kind… Read More »High Stitching: The lives & loves of Lagerfeld & Balenciaga

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High Stitching

On watching two ‘bio-streams’ about dead gay fashionistas I could have been Lee Alexander McQueen’s husband. Back in the last years of the 20th century, the now sadly deceased British designer, usually described as an ‘enfant terrible’ of the fashion world, offered to marry me. In writing. In 1998, my fax machine (younger readers: a kind… Read More »High Stitching

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This Disarming Man: Morrissey’s Smiths Solo

When ageing Smiths fans like me sing along to ‘This Charming Man’, their second, breakthrough 1983 single – and the song that ruined our lives – we fondly imagine ourselves achieving some kind of crude approximation of his famous vocals, after all these years of study and devotion. Trying to live up to the lyrical… Read More »This Disarming Man: Morrissey’s Smiths Solo

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1989: The Year the C20th & Gay Bohemianism Ended

On the 55th anniversary of the NYC bar riot at which everyone over 75 now claims they threw the first bottle, I thought I would post this piece about the expiration of gay bohemianism in the 1980s. More a series of not terribly well-integrated notes than essay, it was originally published in Arena Hommes Plus,… Read More »1989: The Year the C20th & Gay Bohemianism Ended

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