A new survey has crowned Erasure‘s 1988 hit A Little Respect as the ‘Ultimate Gay Pride Anthem’.
In a listener poll to celebrate the opening of Virgin Media Pride’s new radio station, the UK single defeated Christina Aguilera, Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue, Cher, and Madonna to claim the top slot. ‘Beautiful’ by Christina Aguilera came in second, followed by Steps’ ‘Tragedy’ in third, Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ in fourth, and Spice Girls’ ‘Spice Up Your Life’ in fifth.
“I want to express my gratitude to all Erasure fans for voting for us and ‘A Little Respect for Pride Anthems,’” stated Erasure’s Andy Bell. “It’s a timeless classic, and we’re looking forward to seeing you perform it on tour in October. And once again, we want to express our gratitude to Virgin Radio and everyone involved. Everyone had a happy Pride!”
One of serval memorable hits by the UK duo – including Vince Clarke (of Depeche Mode fame), other Erasure classics include ‘Love To Hate You’, ‘Oh L’Amour’, and ‘Chains Of Love’.
The complete set of Pride Anthem voting results include:
1. Erasure – ‘A Little Respect’
2. Christina Aguilera – ‘Beautiful’
3. Steps – ‘Tragedy’
4. Lady Gaga – ‘Born This Way’
5. Spice Girls – ‘Spice Up Your Life’
6. Kylie Minogue – ‘Your Disco Needs You’
7. Madonna – ‘Vogue’
8. Cher – ‘Believe’
9. Britney Spears – ‘Stronger’
10. ABBA – ‘Gimme Gimme Gimme’
11. Bronski Beat – Smalltown Boy
12. Pet Shop Boys – ‘It’s A Sin’
13. Gloria Gaynor – ‘I Am What I Am’
14. Diana Ross – ‘I’m Coming Out’
15. Queen – ‘I Want To Break Free’
16. Weather Girls – ‘It’s Raining Men’
17. Keala Settle – ‘This Is Me’
18. Whitney Houston – ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)
19. George Michael – ‘Outside’
20. Frankie Goes To Hollywood – ‘Relax’
42 years since the Stonewall riots in NYC, Pride Month began last week and has been recognized by a number of prominent personalities in the music industry including Pink, Kylie Minogue, and Years And Years who performed for the charity webcast ‘Can’t Cancel Pride’ on Friday (June 4). Lady Gaga has collaborated with Versace on a new Pride capsule collection, while Taylor Swift issued a statement “expressing my admiration and love to those courageously living out their truth.”
Erasure will release ‘The Neon Remixed’ next month as a follow-up to its 2020 album, ‘The Neon’.
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Author: Luke Traina
Photo: Andrew Hurley