Vulture might have killed the song of the summer back in 2016, but if you’re a member of the LGBTQ+ community, it’s hard to argue against “Padam Padam” by Kylie Minogue. The track, released this May, has taken the queer community by storm, quickly becoming ubiquitous and inescapable – it's hard to even scroll on Twitter without a well-timed meme about the "padam-ic" popping up on the timeline. However, Minogue's song hasn't even cracked the Billboard Hot 100; instead, its status has morphed into that of a "gay anthem," a song widely celebrated inside the community but unable to garner longstanding success outside of it.
This episode of Switched on Pop, producer Reanna Cruz tackles a question that the LGBTQ+ community has debated over for decades: what makes a gay anthem? Through talking with everyone from academics to their close friends, the answer takes us from Judy Garland to 1920s cabaret to, of course, "Padam Padam."
Songs Discussed:
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chartbreakers: Mexican regional y más
Listening 2 Daft Punk: Random Access Memories
Listening 2 Daft Punk: Human After All / Alive 2007
Listening 2 Daft Punk: Discovery
Listening 2 Daft Punk: Homework
The Jonas Brothers' Yacht Rock Revival
From Westeros-techno to trance metal: Eurovision 2023
Who killed the key change in pop music?
A.I. Drake has put music in a tailspin
BTS goes solo together
This Generation's Caroline Polachek
The Shakira Conspiracy
Reinventing Bach
100 gecs and the new sound of hyperpop
Switches Brew
Modern Classics: Seal - Kiss From a Rose
How John Denver got huge in Asia
Chartbreakers: Jersey Club, Complicated Country, and 50s Crooners
Five years later, the legacy of Nipsey Hussle's "Victory Lap"
“Flowers” and the art of the response song
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Good One: A Podcast About Jokes
The Vulture TV Podcast
Vulture Festival Podcast