Did icons like Marc Bolan help create a new take on men’s appearance and male sexuality?
Well, Marc Bolan never came out but he was completely bisexual. I slept with Marc. But he also liked girls. Privately he was never discreet about it, or careful. Looking androgynous and pretty might have said many things to people but the band Sweet were also pretty and lovely, but there was no one gay there. “Once I told them about Freddie Mercury and Queen the authorities were horrified by the fact that they were an ‘overt gay group who were going to propagandise gay life’.” You were involved with Japan, one of the biggest icons of the New Romantic era. I gather there was a lot of time spent preening in the gents? I signed them up and then found out they didn’t know a thing. They came to me because they hated punk and thought I’d do a promo. For three years their only market was Japan, hence the name. Frontman David Sylvian was very difficult. He had a great deal of insecurity about appearing remotely commercial or popular. He’d be in the studio writing songs for days and if anyone c
