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Marilyn


Biography


Peter Robinson (born November 3, 1962), better known as Marilyn, is a cross-dressing singer who reached fame with his song “Calling Your Name” in the 1980s.

Marilyn was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He grew up in Hertfordshire, England as part of a musical family and was influenced by the songs of Barbra Streisand, Motown and gospel. During his teenage years he began experimenting with his sexuality and image, adopting the blonde hair, makeup and movements of his idol Marilyn Monroe, hence his stage name Marilyn. Coincidentally Monroe died the same year Peter Robinson was born.

Marilyn was a part of the British new romantic movement which emerged in the late 1970s and was popularised in the early 1980s. Boy George and Marilyn were regulars at ‘The Blitz’ (regulars being labelled as Blitz Kids), a highly stylised nightclub in London run by Steve Strange of the musical group Visage, and a place which spawned many early 1980s pop stars such as Spandau Ballet. Essentially the new romantics based their image on the coolness of David Bowie and high fashion, and the music of David Bowie, Kraftwerk, Marc Bolan and post punk New Wave. Marilyn befriended Boy George through mutual friend, and former Blitz Kid Philp Sallon. Boy George and Marilyn moved into a squat in Kentish Town a suburb of London. They were soon chased out by the neighbour who tried to break down the front door with an axe. This was because Marilyn, who he assumed was a woman and was attracted to, was actually a man. According to Boy George, Marilyn was once known to slide on David Bowie’s lap at a club called Legends and kissed his ear. Bowie ignored his pleas to seduce him. The Blitz Kids had found themselves bored with the whole punk genre and, in an effort to find something new, took to wearing bizarre home-made costumes and clothing and excessive amounts of make-up. They were often extremely androgynous in nature

Videos





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    Copy Copy Copy Copy Copy Totally 80s
    One-Hit Wonders of the 80s with guest Sam Hollander

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