How Erasure turned one of Cole Porter’s biggest hits into a powerful rallying cry during the AIDS crisis
Keith Haring, playwright Larry Kramer, and British film director Derek Jarman made some of their strongest work in direct response to the epidemic.
At the intersection of these different responses was the Red Hot + Blue album in 1990. The idea was simple: Invite people to record a cover of a Cole Porter song for a compilation album to benefit ACT UP.
The British synth-pop duo Erasure were among those to contribute. They recorded a version of Porter’s “Too Darn Hot”. Porter, who was gay, wrote the song for his 1948 musical, Kiss Me Kate.
Obviously, the lyrics contain no reference to HIV. However, there’s a nod toward frustrated sexual urges. “I’d like to sup with my baby tonight, refill the cup with my baby tonight, but I ain’t up to my baby tonight, ’cause it’s too darn hot.”It even mentions the groundbreaking Kinsey report into male sexuality of 1948 – perhaps a coded reference by Porter at the time. “According to the Kinsey report, ev’ry average man you know much prefers to play his favorite sport when the temperature is low.
