In 1994 the Pet Shop Boys were invited to perform 'Go West' at the Brit Awards.
They agreed and brought with them 3 separate choirs of miners. Some of those miners had marched with the gay and lesbian members of LGSM in the 1980s. It is one of the great, near-lost music moments
vimeo.com/293437684
Other members of the colliery choirs said that they didn't know who the Pet Shop Boys were when they performed, but after they had relatives and friends (and remember these guys were from small-town Wales and England) come out to them, and say seeing them on that stage meant the trusted them.
I know this, because in the early 2000s I wrote a piece for a magazine on it. Now sadly lost to time.
I got to speak to some of those old miners who were legit in tears about how being on that stage meant friends told them they were gay. And how it changed their worldview. I cried writing it, too.
There used to be a better video on YouTube. It's gone now. I assume the actual footage exists in an archive somewhere, but it's probably been forgotten. It was a passing moment.
But also one that I know changed a lot of lives, in a big way, in small towns. It really should be better known.
I remember the much better version too, and I once spent a frustrating half hour trying to find it and wondering whether I'd imagined it.
It's an amazing video.
