LISTEN: Once criticized by gays & conservatives, this hilarious new wave gem has since become a camp classic

Believe it or not, this month marks the *deep breath* 40th anniversary of the 1983 teen comedy Valley Girl, which launched then-newcomer Nicolas Cage into heartthrob territory and brought the Southern California “valley girl” aesthetic into the mainstream.

The tale of a preppy, popular suburban girl who falls for the punk from Hollywood, gays of a certain age will surely remember Valley Girl as their introduction to Nic Cage, leading man, and his very “specific” chest hair:

Nic Cage’s chest hair in Valley Girl is so… specific? pic.twitter.com/skPBBJqPFJ

— Tyler Coates (@tylercoates) August 25, 2019

But, for our purposes, another important part of the film’s legacy is its soundtrack, which features the catchy, baffling, controversy-courting pop-punk bop, “Johnny Are You Queer?”

Yes, that’s really the name of the song, and yes, it’s really asking what you think it’s asking!

The track is credited to sibling songwriting duo Bobby and Larson Paine and was originally performed by the Go-Go’s, who they had discovered. But, after a falling out with the band, the Paines held onto the song, and eventually gave it to singer Josie Cotton, who was dating Larson at the time.

Cribbing liberally from punk band Fear and their song “Fetch Me One More Beer,” the Paines’ version tells the story of a woman and the guy she’s interested in, Johnny. But Johnny doesn’t give her much attention and would rather hang out with his male friends, leaving her to wonder: “Are you queer?”

The lyrics of this specific verse spell it out pretty clearly: “And I saw you today, boy / Walking with them gay boys / Now you hurt me so / Now I gotta know / Johnny, are you queer?”

The song became Josie Cotton’s debut single in 1981 and a modest hit, eventually securing a place on her first album, Convertible Music. Decades later, Cotton even shared a lo-fi “music video,” of sorts, which features her singing the tune on a park bench to a nebbish and nervous looking Johnny.

Upon sharing it online in 2010, the singer says the retro clip was “never before seen except by one person”:

Both Cotton and “Johnny Are You Queer?” would go on to reach an even bigger audience thanks to Valley Girl. Like any teen comedy worth its salt, the film ends at prom where Cotton plays herself, performing a handful of her original songs.

With all the attention, “Johnny Are You Queer?” attracted its fair share of haters, from all sides. “Queer” was still a pretty controversial word at the time, and it’s been reported that The Advocate labeled Cotton a “homophobe” for recording the song, and The Village Voice even ran a piece with the headline, “Josie, Are You A B*tch?”

But that’s nothing compared to what Cotton heard from conservatives:

“My problems really began when the religious right decided I was Satan—or, more specifically, Satan’s transgender spawn thing,” the singer told Magnet magazine in 2006. She joked: “What I hadn’t known was that I was actually a gay man trying to convert unsuspecting straight men to my homosexual lifestyle. Wow!”

Looking back today, Cotton says the song “really hurt” her. As her star was rising, she was being courted by alternative record labels who promised her deals if only she dropped the song. But she refused.

She stood by the song then, and she still does today. With a careful consideration of the lyrics, you’ll find that the joke’s not really on Johnny—it’s more on the hapless narrator who just wants him to notice her. And while she’d rather Johnny spent more time dancing with her than other guys, she’s not judging him for it!

Cotton adores the “big gay following” she garnered from the song, and even told Magnet that, over the years, plenty of people had told her they were able to come out because of the song.

Related:

LISTEN: This epic star-studded ’80s collab gave LGBTQ people something to be thankful for

With a little easy listening and a lot of heart, this quartet raised millions for AIDS Research.

In the early ’80s, when the LGBTQ+ community was still being marginalized and kept behind closed doors, you couldn’t underestimate the power of being acknowledged, of simply being seen, in media.

In that same Magnet feature, Cotton summed it all up quite nicely:

“The whole ‘Johnny, Are You Queer?’ phenomenon was much bigger than me, but I didn’t know it at the time. I was just the singer. It was really more about breaking down barriers: sex and politics, punk rock and corporate America, and prejudice that cut both ways. For the record, it was my supreme honor to be the girl who got to stick it in the eye of all the small-minded morons of the world.”

As funny as it may be, this new wave lark from the Valley Girl soundtrack sure does pack some punch when you think about it!

Valley Girl can be streamed via Kanopy, FuboTV, and via the Showtime plug-in for Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, and The Roku Channel. It is also widely available on VOD for digital rental.