Fridae

I'm sure at least half of the world's gay population knows about Queer As Folk by now.

If those three words sound Greek to you, you're probably either playing for the other team or had hit your head in the proverbial closet and passed out motionless for the last three years. Anyway, welcome back and I hope you hibernated well (don't forget to shower).

As everyone else knows, the groundbreaking British series gave the word "queer" a new meaning.

Before this, "queers" were almost always drug addicts, AIDS victims, over-the-top drag queens, or screaming fags that were added to a cast for comic purposes�not playing an important role in the plot.

Queer As Folk changed all that. For once in prime-time television's history (or in any other media), gays and lesbians were portrayed in real life as main characters. They were loud, proud, rude, disgusting, and most importantly, human�just like the straight people on Melrose Place or Twin Peaks
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The series was sexually and vocally explicit, revolving around the lives of gays and lesbians in Manchester. Two years and a minor storyline rewrite later, the Americans placed these queers in Pittsburgh (of all places) with a glossier and more dramatized Hollywood production, thanks to the movie channel Showtime.

What's a gay TV series without a soundtrack album to accompany it? Actually, I have two of them freshly flown from Sacramento, USA courtesy of my friend. (What, you think I found these in KL? Ask me again in a few years, honey�the pigs haven't sprouted any wings as yet.)

The British soundtrack which was released in 1999 is as predictable and obvious as a drag queen marching down Wall Street with a pink feather boa, sneering at passing executive yuppies. I can't explain it in any more detail.

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It screams "gay! gay! gay!" with fag anthems like It's Raining Men (no "hallelujah" from me) by The Weather Girls and I Am What I Am by Respect (featuring Hannah Jones). And by God, I am still dumbfounded on how Urban Cookie Collective's 1993 hit The Key The Secret ended up on the CD.

It's not a total disaster, though. The cover of Celine Dion's To Love You More by Rapport (featuring Rochelle) might be one of the CD's best tracks next to Alexia's Uh La La La (which should be a gay pride parade theme song).

It's sometimes hard to accept, but the Americans win hands down when it comes to sliver screens and silver discs. This is especially true with Queer As Folk's American soundtrack. Like the remake of the series, the soundtrack bursts with boundless energy and spirit�right from the 28-second intro to the 28-second "outro" (Duh! I can't explain that either).

Take a listen to Heather Small's (remember her from M People?) Proud and feel your goose bumps as she sings, What have you done today to make you feel proud? Relive the days of Footloose as you listen to Katty B's remake of Let's Hear It For The Boy and marvel at the thought of Crying At The Discotheque by Alcazar.

Simply put, they're here, they're queer, but they definitely aren't clich�d. No sign of Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive or the Village People's Y.M.C.A. here, although the new remake of It's Raining Men by Geri Halliwell would have been a good addition, had it come out sooner.

For those who have been deprived all this time, watch the series and listen to the soundtracks. I don't give a rat's ass how you get them, just get them�and I recommend the American version. Hail to the new chapter in Gay TV!