Marilyn

Born Peter Robinson on 3 November 1962 in Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies, Marilyn first entered the British music scene by riding the visibility of his acquaintance Boy George, quickly establishing himself as the nation’s second prominent cross-dressing pop performer. Frequent appearances in youth-oriented magazines propelled him to widespread recognition in 1983, when the single ‘Calling Your Name’ climbed to number 4 on the UK chart, prompting several reviewers to note its resemblance to an unreleased Culture Club recording. Tabloid coverage soon shifted to open hostility. Reflecting on the backlash, Marilyn later remarked, ‘You just expect that, after Danny La Rue and Quentin Crisp and God knows who else, that people would be able to accept someone with a bit of make-up. England is like such a bunch of old drag-queens anyway. If you pick up a history book... I’m quite tame compared to a lot of people.’ Subsequent Mercury Records releases saw steadily falling chart positions: the gospel-tinged ‘Cry And Be Free’ peaked at 31 in February 1984, while ‘You Don’t Love Me’ reached number 40 precisely twelve months afterward. The label arranged a Detroit, Michigan, session with producer Don Was, yet no accommodation had been booked upon his arrival. Lacking resources, Marilyn sheared off the long blonde hair that had inspired his stage name and stopped wearing cosmetics, discarding the look responsible for his breakthrough. Even so, one of the two tracks cut with Was, ‘Baby You Left Me’, failed to restore momentum, and public mention of the singer now surfaces chiefly in retrospective “Where Are They Now” pieces.