The Miracles "Ain’t Nobody Straight in L.A."

Over a Latin-tinged (think Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing”), proto-disco War-like rhythm section (the flutes and strings are particularly appealing), Billy Griffin’s falsetto finds a liminal territory between a grudging acceptance of alternative lifestyles and outright hilarious distance from a bluntly obvious reality, in the process essentially codifying the Maxim demographic two decades before the magazine existed. The best/worst/best again part of the song, by far, is the chorus, when the music swells and Griffin attempts worldly sentiment: “Homosexuality is a part of society. I guess that they need some more variety.” Convenient rhyme aside, who, in fact “they” are—society itself or the gay population—is up for grabs, but either interpretation of Griffin’s perspective is fun to parse. If Griffin is referring to gay people, is he inferring that their lifestyle is not only a matter of choice, but one determined merely by a need for “variety?” Like new carpeting in the den wasn’t enough, so the only alternative was leather chaps? Or, if “they” refers to society as a whole, does Griffin intend for us to believe that same-sex relationships were the product of a sort of reverse social Darwinism, that the human rainbow needed another color and thus created one? This is not resolved by song’s end, unsurprisingly. The Miracles chose to close the piece by quoting the aforementioned Marvin Gaye—the “conversation” that takes place at the end of “Straight” sounds like a more specifically mic’ed version of the intro to “What’s Goin’ On,” with a very awkward, not-meant-to-be-public exchange captured between a few dudes trying to find something to do on a weekend, before deciding on a gay bar. Although they agree that some of the finest women can indeed be found where dudes (and, perhaps chicks) make out with their own gender cohort, an important point is raised by one dude: “Hey, but dig…how you know they’re women?” We’re left hanging, never to know if Billy Griffin’s Adam meets the Steve of his dreams, but are instead presented with the next track, “Love Machine,” which, while standing as one of the Miracles hugest hits, takes on an interesting new context if allowed to serve as the “later that night” conclusion to its predecessor. (buy)

ELSEWHERE: Goodhodgkins invites bloggers over to play again, this time making with the jibber-jabber re: cover versions. I get loquacious about Stevie Wonder’s version of “We Can Work It Out” and Talking Heads’ “Take Me to the River.”