Her good natured New Wave tunes have earned her a perky spot in music her-story. But the divine Josie Cotton has also proven herself to be a incisive chronicler of exploitation flicks and low budget horror. No less of an authority than John Waters endorsed her brilliant 2007 collection of often obscure cult movie themes, Invasion of the B Girls.
With that culturally significant project, songs of special interest to mad monster fans include her takes on the theme to Green Slime, Goodbye Godzilla and Who Killed Teddy Bear?, the title track to the celluloid gem of the same name. The inclusion of that particular number also pays heed to Cotton’s huge LGBTQIA following, as the film itself stars lavender icon Sal Mineo, at his sweating, speedo hugging best, and features a uninhibited performance from Elaine Stritch as Mineo’s cut throat lesbian employer.
Along with Adam Ant, one of her musical counterparts, and cult film icon Mary Woronov, Cotton also brought some enthusiastically hedonistic vibes to the odd n’ dreamy ‘80s horror Nomads. As a member of a murderous crew of ghostly vagabonds, she haunted the film’s leads, played by Pierce Brosnan and Lesley-Anne Down, with a visibly malevolent intent – an old school admirer finally getting to enact on her Karloff-Lugosi fantasies.
Nicely, as of today, this cultural renegade is still keeping those independent, punk fueled dreams alive by running her own record label (https://kittenrobot.com/records/) and by bringing as much enthusiasm to her live shows as she did when anthems like Johnny, Are You Queer? were decorating soundtracks and prime MTV airwaves.
Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!
Big Gay Horror Fan 