A PRIDE CLASSIC
30 YEARS AFTER “IT’S RAINING MEN,” DANCE DIVA MARTHA WASH IS BACK — AND STILL INSPIRING were scared. Mainstream America was scared. People always feel like they have to blame somebody. So naturally, it was heaped upon the gay community. It was really awful; there was no dialogue going on because nobody knew anything. It was a very scary time. You were raised on gospel music? Yes, I grew up in a very Pentecostal church, and the only music that was played in my house was gospel music — so that’s what I grew up listening to. My mother sang in the church choir. … I played for the youth choir in my church. That’s what keeps me grounded. And my faith has just carried me all of these many, many years. … But for many, many decades, preachers did not embrace the gay people that were members of their church. I am a Christian and I believe if we try to live the best that we can and we’re led by God, He will bless us. When you were young, did you ever feel like an outsider?
You were so supportive, early on, in the fight against HIV/AIDS, recently receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the AIDS Emergency Fund. You experienced HIV/AIDS devastation up close and the stigma it carried — even as a friend of our community.
Honey, I had my days and my problems. I was the fat kid in school. I always got picked on because I was bigger than everybody else. It got to the point where I didn’t want to go to school, I didn’t want to be bothered with other kids because they were going to ridicule me, talk about me, bully me. I’ve been through all that. But somewhere deep down inside, there must have been a spirit, saying “OK, I need help,” whether from somebody like a psychologist or just praying. You know you pray to get through situations. Some people don’t feel like anybody understands them and they don’t feel like what they’re going through at the time is worth living for. … And they want to take their own life. I had felt that way at times when I was a kid.
During that time, in the music community, we lost a lot of people — artists, producers, DJs. A lot of them were just gone. And people
You have a long career, several hits, and now another well-received CD. What are you most proud of, so far?
Just still being here 30 years later. [Laughs.] Just still really being in this business. It’s a tough business, right? Oh, honey, yeah.
THE CLASSIC TRACKS: • “Everybody, Everybody” • “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” • “It’s Raining Men”
32
EQUALITY
WINTER 2013
Follow Wash on twitter @Martha_Wash Her new album, “Something Good,” is available at www.marthawash.com and music resellers nationwide.
Photo: Luke Jones
M
artha Wash still recalls recording the song almost as a lark in Los Angeles, 30 years ago. Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, Cher and Donna Summer had all turned it down. Wash herself didn’t think the song would fly. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Wash remembers telling her musical team. “We recorded the song in about 90 minutes, walked out of the studio and went on about our business,” she says. The Pride anthem, “It’s Raining Men,” has sold more than 6 million copies worldwide. Wash even sang it for President Clinton at the White House. From being a guest judge on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” to releasing a new solo album, “Something Good,” on her own label, Wash is back — and more inspiring than ever. One standout track, “It’s My Time,” has already been used at state-level marriage equality rallies. Wash was extremely popular in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in San Francisco in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. She sang backup as a member of Two Tons o’ Fun and then the Weather Girls for the legendary Sylvester, who performed early on with the drag troupe The Cockettes. Wash never backed down from a fight. When she faced discrimination from the music industry for her weight — she was not credited several times for her work because music professionals chose to use someone of a smaller size — she went to court. Wash, who lives in New York, has sung at several HRC galas. Equality caught up with her recently.