THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

"I sing a lot of tunes from the 1980s with my band Sixteen Candles, but there are a few songs that come to mind that not only helped shape my musical head space, but also paved the way for my emotional liberation and the birth of my self-expression as an ever-growing person and musician."

"I had never seen or heard anything like this before in my young, six-year-old life. The sly coo of his voice. Those jeans. The leather. That jukebox. Giving it his all. I totally got grounded for blasting this on the TV, conducting my own dance party, and subsequently waking my mom up from her nap. Definitely worth it."

"This song oozes sex. Of course, I had no reference for what she was singing about as a child, but with that hot ass drum loop and those horns, it didn't matter. But from what I could tell she was basically saying, "I'm not your toy. Try and put me in a box, and I'm out of here." I liked her attitude."

"This was the first slice of Minneapolis funk that I ever laid ears upon. I've been hooked ever since. This song began my long and standing love affair with Ms. Jackson and solidified her as my diva worship idol. I don't know where I'd be if it weren't for Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis."

"My brother and I saved up enough tickets playing arcade games at Showbiz Pizza to cash them in for this cassette tape. The passion and emotion that flowed out of this woman's mouth made me believe every single word she sang. Besides that, this song is such a perfectly produced, tightly-packed pop gem."

"She's So Unusual was one of the first records I ever owned. I bought it for $1 at a rummage sale, mostly because I thought she looked so cool dancing on the cover. The bright, bold colors and the look of intensity on her face matched the sounds that were coming out of the speakers. I was intrigued by the gender-bending lyrics and it introduced me to the idea of homosexuality. She could've easily changed the words, but instead kept them intact as Prince originally wrote them. One of my favorites."