PANSY DIVISION Celebrates the 30th Anniversary of "Deflowered" with Tour Dates
Photo Credit: Martin Meyers
Queercore pioneers, Pansy Division are back on the road promoting the 30th anniversary of their breakout album Deflowered.
“Pansy Division’s first major tour was back in 1993, and here we are, now over 30 years later, and still touring. It’s such an honor to have people interested in seeing us live after all these years, and we are grateful to still be able to give them a great show!”
This tour marks the second milestone that Pansy Division has celebrated in recent years.
“Last year, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the release of our first album, Undressed, and we played a lot of songs from that album on tour. This year, we will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of our second album, Deflowered, and we’ll be revisiting a lot of the songs from that album on our next tour.”
Released via Lookout! Records, Deflowered was the sophomore album of the San Fransico-based punk band and is often referred to as their best. The album included many tracks that would come to be viewed as classic songs such as the kinky “James Bondage,” the ode to sexy undergarments “Groovy Underwear,” the size positive “Beercan Boy,” and “Negative Queen” which introduced the popular quote, “He thinks he’s Oscar Wilde but he’s Paul Lynde.”
The success of Deflowered extended beyond the gay community and hit mainstream acceptance. Audiences queer and straight would follow the band. High profile fans of Pansy Division included Willie Nelson who covered their song, “Cowboys Are Secretly Fond of Each Other” and Green Day who took the band on the road with them on the Dookie tour in 1994. Judas Priest vocalist and heavy metal icon Rob Halford was inspired by Pansy Division to come out of the closet.
Pansy Division was formed in 1991 to provide much-needed LGBTQ+ representation in the rock scene. Thirty years later, the band themselves are overwhelmed by how much progress has been made in giving queer artists greater visibility.
“There is so much of it now that I can’t keep track of it, and that’s a far cry from when we were starting out. If more people had been out then, especially in rock, we might not have felt the need to start this band in the first place. But there wasn’t, so we did, and being so open, unapologetic, blunt, and fun about it means that it still resonates today.”
DEFLOWERED Tracklisting
1. "Reciprocate"
2. "Groovy Underwear"
3. "Anonymous"
4. "Fluffy City"
5. "James Bondage"
6. "Negative Queen"
7. "Denny"
8. "Rachbottomoff"
9. "Beercan Boy"
10. "Kissed"
11. "A Song of Remembrance for Old Boyfriends" (Jonathan Richman cover) 12. "Deep Water"
13. "Not Enough of You to Go Around"
14. "New Pleasures"
15. "Homosapien" (Pete Shelley cover)
