''Lesbian Concentrate: A Lesbianthology of Songs and Poems'' is a compilation of music and
spoken word
Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...
by
lesbian artists. It was released by
Olivia Records
Olivia Records is a women's music record label founded in 1973 by lesbian members of the Washington D.C. area. It was founded by Ginny Berson, Cris Williamson, Meg Christian, Judy Dlugacz, and six other women. Olivia Records sold more than one m ...
in 1977 in response to
Anita Bryant's
anti-gay crusade "
Save Our Children
Save Our Children, Inc. was an American political coalition formed in 1977 in Miami, Florida, to overturn a recently legislated county ordinance that banned discrimination in areas of housing, employment, and public accommodation based on sexua ...
".
The album's cover – a reference to Bryant's role as spokeswoman for the Florida Citrus Commission – has more recently received attention due to its inclusion on several "worst album covers ever" lists.
Critical reception
Country in ''
Lesbian Tide
The ''Lesbian Tide'' (1971-1980) was a lesbian periodical published in the United States by the Los Angeles chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis. It was the first lesbian periodical in the US to reach a national audience and the first US magazine t ...
'' described the album as "political and cultural, as well as entertaining",
that would "leave you spellbound".
Ilona Laney in
''The Body Politic'' said ''Lesbian Concentrate'' was "the best record to give someone as their first album of women's music". In ''
off our backs
''Off Our Backs'' (stylized in all lowercase; ''oob'') was an American radical feminist periodical that ran from 1970 to 2008. It began publishing on February 27, 1970, with a twelve-page tabloid first issue. From 2002 the editors adapted it i ...
'', Mer described the album as a "mixed bag... but it is also an affirmation of diversity, a striking convergence of different expressions of women". Women's studies scholar
Bonnie J. Morris dubbed the album as "the most racially and stylistically diverse"
of
women's music
Women's music is music by women, for women, and about women. The genre emerged as a musical expression of the second-wave feminist movement as well as the labor, civil rights, and peace movements. The movement (in the USA) was started by lesbia ...
.
Track listing
References
{{reflist
External links
Download page from Archive.org(under a
CC license)
1977 compilation albums
Lesbian culture in Washington, D.C.
Lesbian-related mass media in the United States
Women's music