The Secret Public presents a monumental history of the queer influence on popular culture, from the rise of Little Richard to the collapse of disco in 1979. Author Jon Savage explains how music has been the key medium through which homosexuality was expressed for much of the last half century.

Depicting nothing less than the birth of rock and roll, the narrative begins in the mid-1950s with Little Richard, whose music possessed secret codes of the gay underworld and whose magnetism attracted millions of white teenagers. As Savage engagingly proceeds through the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s with evocations of, among others, Elvis Presley, James Dean, Andy Warhol, David Bowie, Janis Joplin, Donna Summer, Sylvester, and the disco-era Bee Gees, he demonstrates that it was mostly music—with supporting roles from cinema, literature, and fashion—that broke the dam that led to the widespread acceptance of LGBTQ culture today.

The Secret Public, with its “pancake and pompadour” descriptions of a generation in revolt, provides an electrifying look at the key moments in music and entertainment that changed pop culture forever.

Available from Penguin Random House

Jon Savage is a “leading punk expert” (AllMusic) and the author of 1966: The Year The Decade Exploded; England’s Dreaming: Sex Pistols and Punk Rock; and Teenage: The Creation of Youth, 1875-1945. He is the writer of the award-winning film documentaries The Brian Epstein Story and Joy Division, as well as the feature film Teenage. Savage has written liner notes for Wire, St. Etienne and the Pet Shop Boys, among others, and his compilations include Dreams Come True: Classic Electro 1982-87 (Domino); Meridian 1970 (Heavenly/EMI); and Queer Noises: From the Closet to the Charts, 1961-1976 (Trikont). He is a regular contributor to the Guardian.

About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist based in Toronto with a focus on tourism, lifestyle, entertainment and community issues. He has written several travel articles and has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He’s willing to take on any assignments of interest, attend parties with free booze, listen to rants, and travel the world in search of the great unknown. He’s eager to discover the new, remember the past, and look into the future.