The Velvet Mafia: The Gay Men Who Ran the Swinging Sixties - Hardcover

by Darryl W. Bullock (Author)

In the fifties and sixties, in the period leading up to the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality and the founding of the Gay Liberation movement, a group of gay men behind the scenes of rock'n'roll was changing pop, politics and society for good.

Through a mix of new interviews and contemporary reports, Darryl W. Bullock shines a light on the lives of the so-called 'Velvet Mafia', including impresario Larry Parnes, Beatles manager Brian Epstein, songwriter Lionel Bart, record producer Joe Meek, and Bee Gees and Cream manager Robert Stigwood.

The Velvet Mafia explores how the LGBT professionals at the heart of the music industry were working together and supporting each other at a time when being homosexual could mean the end of your career - or much worse.

Author Biography

Darryl W. Bullock is a writer, publisher, and editor specialising in music and the arts. He has written for publications including The Guardian, Pitchfork, the Quietus, Songwriting Magazine, The Bath Chronicle, Venue, Folio, The Spark, B24-7, 3Sixty, The Bath Magazine, the Bristol Evening Post, and The Western Daily Press. He is also the publisher of The Green Guide to Bristol and Bath. Darryl is the author of The World's Worst Records (Volumes 1 and 2), Florence Foster Jenkins: the Life of the World's Worst Opera Singer (Duckworth-Overlook, 2016), and David Bowie Made Me Gay. His next book, The Infamous Cherry Sisters, will be issued in December 2018.