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    In New TikTok Trend, Parents Dance Like It’s the ’80s and Bring Down the House

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    Videos of parents demonstrating their moves have been a surprise hit on a site where youth rules — perhaps because the trend isn’t played for laughs.TikTok can add a new skill to its résumé: disco time machine.The social platform, normally populated with an endless scroll of Gen Z-ers dancing — mostly in short choreographed routines that have been practiced and perfected — has recently been infused with the energy of a surprising demographic: their Gen X parents.In the viral videos, parents are asked by their adult children to dance as they would have back in the day to the 1984 sonic ear worm “Smalltown Boy,” by the British synth-pop band Bronski Beat. Most posts are tagged #momdancechallenge, #daddancechallenge or #80sdancechallenge, and they have racked up tens of millions of views.The reactions have been perhaps unexpected, because instead of going for laughs, the videos are cool, like really cool, serving as a portal to another era: when dance was more often improvisational and spontaneous, when people felt the beat and found the rhythm organically, moving without the constraints of a horizontal aspect ratio.When Valerie Martinez, 23, asked her mother, Yeanne Velazquez, 58, to participate, it was before the challenge had gone viral, and they had not prepared at all. “I didn’t even play the song for her before,” Martinez said in a phone interview this week alongside her mother. But Martinez was sure Velazquez would deliver, because her mother is always dancing, she said.It was nostalgic for Velazquez, who said that when the song was popular, she was about 19 and would go dancing in the one or two clubs in Puerto Rico, where she lived. Now she and her daughter live in Florida.

    @thatpersianqt she ate with this one I fear #fyp #foryou #80s #80sdancechallenge #momsoftiktok #80smusic ♬ Smalltown Boy – Bronski Beat

    @_miamimonkey Do we all have the same mom? 😂 I thought y’all were joking until I had her do it blindly 😂 @Savvy Sandy #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #80sdancemoves #80smusic ♬ Smalltown Boy – Bronski Beat We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Readers’ Picks: 12 Pride Anthems

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      A playlist with personal stories about the ways music plays a vital role in struggles, triumphs and self-expression.Diana Ross’s “I’m Coming Out” has soundtracked many more.Mike Blake/ReutersDear listeners,A few weeks ago, I asked you to submit songs to help create the ultimate Pride playlist. As usual, you delivered. Big time.Today’s Amplifier is made up entirely of your suggestions and your stories. Some of these songs gave you the courage and enthusiasm to come out, and some are the tracks that you think best encapsulate the spirit of Pride.A few might be a little obvious — could we really have a Pride playlist without Diana Ross and Sister Sledge? — but that just makes them easier to share with your chosen family. Some of these songs address the queer experience directly, while others have been adopted — perhaps with a flair of camp — as unofficial anthems. And, as you may have guessed, almost all of them will make you want to dance.Thank you to each and every one of you who submitted a song and your comments; it was a total joy to read about the ways that music has played such a vital role in your struggles, your triumphs and your self-expression. As one reader (who also wrote the entry for the fourth song on the playlist) so eloquently put it, “Pride is all about overcoming the shame, the fear, the darkness in our lives and coming alive.” Amen to that.Listen along on Spotify as you read.1. Thelma Houston: “Don’t Leave Me This Way”1976 was the year I “emerged.” I discovered the joy and positive energy in the clubs filled with others like me. We danced and built important, supportive friendships, and found safety in numbers. Coming out was a longer journey of self-acceptance. This song was heard over and over, and brought everyone out on the dance floor together. It gave me hope. — Mark Pettygrove, Palm Springs, Calif. (Listen on YouTube)2. Perfume Genius: “Slip Away”Most of Perfume Genius’s songs speak to queer desires/experiences, but this one is especially colorful. “Slip Away” is a queer ballad about a relationship constantly under scrutiny by others, ultimately choosing each other over external pressures. It took years for me to start dating after I came out, but this song continued to remind me of the validity and power of queer love, no matter what anyone else may say or do. — Arley Sakai, Portland, Ore. (Listen on YouTube)3. Sophie B. Hawkins: “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover”“Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover” by Sophie B Hawkins gave voice to my gay teen desire in a way that I couldn’t articulate at the time. She sings about a kind of exquisite longing that is so germane to the queer experience: uncontrollably erotic, unrequited, transgressive and liberating. This song gave me permission to step into feelings that had hitherto been scary to me. It gave me permission to love. — Brendan Healy, Toronto (Listen on YouTube)4. Joe Jackson: “Steppin’ Out”I moved to San Francisco when this song was popular, and while the song is not specifically L.G.B.T.Q.-themed, it was all about the strong positive energy of living life out loud. San Francisco was a place to explore who I was, to get away from family and expectations and fears. I knew Joe Jackson was gay … I felt that he was talking to us! — David Silver, Kalaheo, Hawaii (Listen on YouTube)5. Tom Robinson Band: “2-4-6-8 Motorway”This was 1978, and my biggest fear as a teenage proto-gay in Scranton, Pa., was not that I would be shunned by my family, or die alone, or anything similarly dramatic. I worried that I would have to grow a mustache and learn to love disco. The existence of the out gay rocker Tom Robinson suggested that there were other options. “(Sing if You’re) Glad to Be Gay” is a more obvious T.R. choice, but “2-4-6-8 Motorway” was much more fun. — Michael Logan, Los Angeles (Listen on YouTube)6. Bronski Beat: “Smalltown Boy”As a 19-year-old gay woman, the song “Smalltown Boy” by Bronski Beat gave me courage to come out and escape to a world where women could love women, men could love men. “Smalltown Boy” is not necessarily about running away from a heterosexual upbringing but toward pride, freedom and acceptance. — Dawn Groundwater, New York (Listen on YouTube)7. Madonna: “Holiday”I like to joke that I came out the same time Madonna’s first album did. Coming out in suburbia in 1983 was so different. There were zero role models and not even a place to go to find my people. To me, “Holiday” was a metaphor for that place where I could live inside a bright, shiny rainbow. — J.P. Streeter, Alameda, Calif. (Listen on YouTube)8. Pet Shop Boys: “Go West”When I need a burst of gay freedom I dance it out to “Go West” by the Pet Shop Boys. It makes me feel like there’s a perfect place where I can really start a new life … in the open air … where people like us are free to be who we are! Go ahead and listen to it. I dare you to not be dancing by the end! — Jack Terry, Northville, Mich. (Listen on YouTube)9. CeCe Peniston: “Finally”I was a couple of years into my military career and had been on temporary duty in June 2001. I took a few extra days of leave at the end, which happened to coincide with Seattle Pride. Even though it was cool and rained off and on, the outdoor stage at the Eagle had CeCe singing “Finally” at the first Pride event I’d ever attended, and it felt amazing to “finally” be there. She gave it her all for the slightly damp crowd. I couldn’t believe my luck to hear these ladies I’d hammed to in high school and went back for Pride in Seattle a couple more times when I could. — Eric, Kentucky (Listen on YouTube)10. Diana Ross: “I’m Coming Out”My coming out song at the age of 38 was “I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross. After all of the great disco/gay-themed songs of the late ’70s, this is the one that got to me and led me to take that big step, partly due to the fact that it was by the legendary Diana Ross, who had such influence, being a global star. Everyone loved this song, making it an easy access statement for me in my quest to come out. — Harry N. Cohen, Queens (Listen on YouTube)11. Cass Elliot: “Make Your Own Kind of Music”Every single word of that song captures the feelings of knowing you are different and sharing that with the world will be hard. It may be rough, you may be alone, but you have that special song that the world needs to hear. Somehow, the dose of reality in that song, that you may lose some people in your life who “cannot take your hand,” is oddly reassuring. There may be a price to pay to sing your song, but it pales in comparison to the feeling of being free to sing it. I heard it first in the movie “Beautiful Thing,” bought the soundtrack, listened to it on repeat for what seemed liked hundreds of times and then came out to my family and friends. — Jared Schrock, Pittsburgh (Listen on YouTube)12. Sister Sledge: “We Are Family”As a young woman who grew up in a small town in Oklahoma, I felt quite alone as I realized I was a lesbian. The first time I heard “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge in a gay/lesbian bar and every person in the room hit the dance floor for a group dance, I knew I wasn’t alone. Many of us have to create our own families, families of choice, because our biological families rebuke us. “We Are Family” says right out loud that you can create a family. — Becky Wood, North Carolina (Listen on YouTube)“We Are Family” still feels like optimism one dreams for in Pride — in melody, production, lyric, and in spirit, more so than any other song I know of. — Patience NewburyAt the legendary show bar/entertainment complex El Goya in Ybor City, Fla., the entire drag show cast came onto the stage at the end of the Friday and Saturday night performances to lead the S.R.O. crowd in this iconic song. By this time the eclectic and dapper crowd have abandoned their tables to line the perimeter of the ample show bar and belt out the song right along with the queens. For the first time in my life, I felt a part of a group. Seems like we all had arrived at a big family reunion and everyone knew all the words as we joined hands and looked each other right in the eye. Finally, we were united and we were home. — Nina Gros, Louisville, Ky.Padam padam,LindsayThe Amplifier PlaylistListen on Spotify. We update this playlist with each new newsletter.“Readers’ Picks! 12 Pride Anthems” track listTrack 1: Thelma Houston, “Don’t Leave Me This Way”Track 2: Perfume Genius, “Slip Away”Track 3: Sophie B. Hawkins, “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover”Track 4: Joe Jackson, “Steppin’ Out”Track 5: Tom Robinson Band, “2-4-6-8 Motorway”Track 6: Bronski Beat, “Smalltown Boy”Track 7: Madonna, “Holiday”Track 8: Pet Shop Boys, “Go West”Track 9: CeCe Peniston, “Finally”Track 10: Diana Ross, “I’m Coming Out”Track 11: Cass Elliot, “Make Your Own Kind of Music”Track 12: Sister Sledge, “We Are Family”Bonus tracksYes, this playlist is mostly upbeat and celebratory, but plenty of you also shared the songs that made you feel seen in your lower moments. I particularly appreciated this suggestion, from Kenny in Brooklyn, of the young Chicago singer-songwriter Claud’s melancholy ballad “Tommy”:“This song helped me name the unique depression that comes with body dysmorphia. Listening to ‘Tommy’ made me realize that I will be happier in relationships once I accept being trans. It’s a very sad song about not being seen in your body, and there’s a comfort that comes with sharing and naming that sadness with others.” More

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      Steve Bronski, of Pioneering Gay Band Bronski Beat, Dies at 61

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      He was part of a British trio whose songs often directly addressed gay themes and issues in a way few other pop music acts were doing.Steve Bronski, part of the 1980s British synth-pop trio Bronski Beat, whose members were openly gay at a time when that was uncommon and whose early songs unabashedly addressed homophobia and other gay issues, died after a fire on Dec. 7 at his apartment building in the Soho section of London, British news outlets reported. He was 61.The London Fire Brigade confirmed that it had responded to a fire on Berwick Street and taken an unidentified man to a hospital, where he later died. Josephine Samuel, a friend who had been helping to care for Mr. Bronski since he’d had a stroke several years ago, told The Guardian that Mr. Bronski was the fire victim.Mr. Bronski formed Bronski Beat in 1983 with Jimmy Somerville and Larry Steinbachek, and their first single, “Smalltown Boy,” was released the next year. It was a stark story of a young gay man’s escape from a provincial town where he had endured a homophobic attack; a haunting chorus repeats, “Run away, turn away.” The official video for the song, fleshing out the events the lyrics allude to, has been viewed more than 68 million times on YouTube.The song became a Top 5 hit in Britain and made the charts in other countries as well, including the United States. A follow-up, “Why?,” another chart success, was equally direct, the lyrics speaking to the ostracism and social disapproval experienced by gay people. “You in your false securities tear up my life, condemning me,” one lyric goes. “Name me an illness, call me a sin. Never feel guilty, never give in.”At the time, a number of mainstream performers — Elton John, the Village People, Boy George — telegraphed gayness, often with stereotypical flamboyance, but rarely addressed gay issues directly in song. Bronski Beat was different, eschewing coyness and gimmicks.“They buck stereotypes,” Jim Farber wrote in The Daily News in 1985, “presenting themselves as everyday Joes.”The group’s debut album, “The Age of Consent” (1984), was as forthright as the two singles. The album sleeve listed the “minimum age for lawful homosexual relationships between men” in European countries, an effort to underscore that the age in the United Kingdom at the time, 21, was higher than almost everywhere else. The sleeve also included a phone number for a gay legal advice line.Mr. Bronski said the trio didn’t start out as a political or social statement.“We were just writing songs that spoke about our lives at the time,” he told Gay Times in 2018. “We had no idea ‘Smalltown Boy’ would resonate with so many people.”But when they began doing live performances in 1983, he told The Associated Press in 1986, the audience reaction helped them realize that they had struck a chord.“We had all these people coming backstage saying, ‘I think it’s great you’ve been so honest about it,’” he said.That same audience reaction landed them a contract with London Records in early 1984. Mr. Bronski was on keyboards and synthesizers along with Mr. Steinbachek; Mr. Somerville’s distinctive falsetto vocals were the group’s signature.Warren Whaley, an electronic music composer based in Los Angeles and half of the synth-pop duo the Dollhouse, struck up a running correspondence with Mr. Bronski when he wrote to him after Mr. Steinbachek’s death in 2016.“I recall hearing their debut single, ‘Smalltown Boy,’ on the alternative music radio station in Los Angeles in 1984,” Mr. Whaley said by email. “The song starts with a heavy octave bass. Then a staccato hook. Then Jimmy Somerville’s lovely falsetto. I was hooked by 22 seconds in. This band was something special. Something new — but old. Their sound harkened to disco and R&B. But it sounded new, different.”Mr. Bronski in 1996. He continued to make music after the original Bronski Beat trio broke up. Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives, via Getty ImagesThe original Bronski Beat lineup didn’t last long; Mr. Somerville left the group in 1985. But Mr. Bronski continued to make music, with Mr. Steinbachek for a time and with others over the years, most notably “Hit That Perfect Beat,” a hit in Britain and elsewhere in 1986 and a dancehall favorite ever since. Mr. Whaley said that though Bronski Beat’s best-known songs had gay-centric lyrics, “their appeal crossed the boundaries of sexual alignment.”“Everyone bopped their heads and danced to their music,” he said.Mr. Bronski was born Steven Forrest on Feb. 7, 1960, in Glasgow. He had made his way to London by the early 1980s, where he met Mr. Somerville and Mr. Steinbachek.“It was a lot easier living in London,” he told Classic Pop magazine in 2019, explaining why he and other gay men had gravitated to the city, “since there was a thriving gay scene compared to other parts of the country.”Information on his survivors was not available.In 2017, more than three decades after the release of “The Age of Consent,” the only album with the original Bronski Beat lineup, Mr. Bronski teamed with Stephen Granville and Ian Donaldson to release the album “The Age of Reason” under the Bronski Beat name, revisiting songs from the original record and adding new tracks.“I think a lot of the songs are as relevant today as they were all those years ago,” he told Gay Times. More