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 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 see Taboo (musical). Marilyn befriended Boy George through mutual friend, and former Blitz Kid Philip Salon. 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 (Boy George, Take It Like A Man, 1995). This was because Marilyn, who he assumed was a woman and was attracted to, was actually a man (Boy George, Take It Like A Man,1995). According to Boy George, Marilyn was once known to slide on David Bowie's lap at a club called Legends and kissed his ear (Boy George, Take It Like A Man, 1995). Bowie ignored his pleas to seduce him (Boy George, Take It Like A Man, 1995). The Blitz Kids had found themselves bored with the whole punk genre and, in an effort to find something new, took to wearing bizarre homemade costumes and clothing and excessive amounts of make-up. They were often extremely androgynous in nature. While Boy George went on to form Culture Club in 1981 and secure a recording deal with Virgin Records, Marilyn was still scouting for a recording contract. He teamed up with songwriter and pop entrepreneur Paul Caplin, with whom he co-wrote "Calling Your Name", "Cry and Be Free", "You Don't Love Me" and other songs. At this point Culture Club had made a commercial impact with their debut album, and record companies were seriously looking for artists with a similar cross-dressing image. Following an appearance in the video for Eurythmics hit single, "Who's That Girl?" which garnered him considerable press attention, Marilyn was signed to Phonogram Records and released "Calling Your Name" in November 1983. The song reached #4 on the UK Singles Chart, #3 in Australia, and #1 in Japan. The lyrics to the song are reportedly based on an argument Marilyn had with Boy George. He also released "Cry and Be Free" and "You Don't Love Me" in 1984, with varying success. In November 1984, he took part in the Band Aid charity record project "Do They Know It's Christmas?" with various other musicians of the era. Marilyn's début album Despite Straight Lines was released in June 1985, featuring his three previous hits and a new single, "Baby U Left Me (In The Cold)". The new single and the album were commercial failures in the UK, though found a modest audience in other parts of the world. Despite the initial collaborations between Boy George and Marilyn, their on-and-off friendship became increasingly strained due to fame and drug-related problems. On 9 July 1986, Marilyn along with Boy George's brother Kevin O'Dowd were sentenced at Marylebone Magistrates Court on a charge of possessing heroin. The resultant media fallout of Marilyn's drug addiction and disputes with Boy George seriously damaged his public career. While attempting to record a follow-up album to Despite Straight Lines with the record producer Don Was in Detroit, Michigan, with little record company support, Marilyn's finances were drained to the point of having to work regular jobs outside of music. He briefly retired from the industry until 2001, when he made a series of successful club appearances. He is still in demand for interviews and TV appearances. The 2002 stage musical by Boy George, Taboo, features Marilyn and other stars of the 1980s. The music was a West End Smash before transferring to Broadway in NY produced by Rosie O'Donnell. In 2006, Marilyn appeared in the UK Channel 4 documentary Whatever Happened to the Gender Benders?, in which he discussed his current mental health, his struggle with agoraphobia, and his fight against drug abuse.
References
- Boy George with Spencer Bright, Take It Like A Man (1995) ISBN 0 330 32362 8
Discography
- Despite Straight Lines (1985)
