32 Songs - Track 3

Sweet Transvestite - Frank N Furter & Rocky Horror Cast

"I'm just a sweet transvestite,
from transexual,
Transylvania"

My Dad is a drama teacher and my mother an ex-NIDA student and actress. They met while involved in the Adelaide theatre scene of the late sixties. The result of this was they managed to produce a son who has a comprehensive knowledge of show tunes and musicals while also being heterosexual.

I grew up with Jesus Christ Superstar , Evita, The Man of La Mancha, Camelot, Oklahoma, Oliver, Zorba the Greek and, most importantly, The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Though I didn’t see the movie until a teenager I’ve been singing the lyrics to the various songs off the Rocky Horror soundtrack since I was much younger, much to the horror and psychological discomfort of my primary and high school teachers. A fact that is to be blamed entirely on the original cast recording LP that was in my parent’s record collection.

Rocky Horror is a gender and music bending musical from the brain of Richard O’Brian (who played Riff-Raff) that went from being a small musical to a Broadway, West End and Film production in just 18 months back in 1973. The film was released in 1975 with Tim Curry reprising his stage role of Frank N Furter and Suzanne Sarandon and Meatloaf as Janet and Eddie.

Sweet Transvestite is the introduction number for Frank N Furter and is a song that needs to be done hugely over the top. From the opening lines of “How dya do?/I see you’ve met my/ faithful handyman./ He’s a little brought down because/ when you knocked/ he thought you were the candyman.” through to the fantabulous “I’m not much of a man by the light of day/ but by night I’m one hell of a lover” the song is full of some of the greatest lyrics ever written in history.

I rescued the album from my parent’s collection a while back and also have the original movie soundtrack on vinyl and CD. And while it has been revisited on stage with Jason Donovan, Craig Mclachlan and Tim Fergusson in the role of Frank I’ve never been to see it. Because it is the soundtrack that does it for me, and not the visuals.

If there is a song that never fails to bring a smile to my face then it is this one. If you haven’t seen the movie then go and get it.

And yes I have always wanted to get into the fishnets and do it the way it was meant to be done.