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
Rihanna Party! ICYMI
The L.A. guitar shop that reinvented indie folk
A History of Whammies at the Grammys - Into It with Sam Sanders
Wonders: Bobby McFerrin
The New Wave of Paramore
Taylor Swift and the music industry's next $20
SZA's Endless Melody
Too Fast? We’re Curious: The sped-up remix phenomenon
ICYMI 90s Music Canon
ICYMI: We *do* talk about Bruno
Anitta & Rosalía on the borders of Latin pop
How Bad Bunny won 2022
The soft sounds of Kali Uchis (live from Vulture Fest)
Why do new Christmas songs fail?
The Art of Flow
Willow Smith rocks harder
The Sound of Sapphism
Scary Pockets funkify pop classics (with Lizzy McAlpine)
Up late with Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’
Steve Lacy brings bedroom pop to the Billboard top
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Good One: A Podcast About Jokes
The Vulture TV Podcast
Vulture Festival Podcast