Here, Van Credenza pays tribute to the trend setting Massachusetts band, The Barbarians.
With their 'beach pirate' look, Cape Cod's Barbarian's were one of the earliest transvestite groups to release a record, and possibly the first to have a minor hit. "Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?" hit 55 in the US national charts almost 50 years ago, propelling cross dressing into the spotlight.
The band themselves were aficionados of Hermann Freiherr von Teschenberg, an Austrian who worked on the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee. von Teschenberg, a transvestite who fought against the stigma of cross dressing, had been influenced by Italian femminiellos, and he eventually settled in Italy, having been resident in Germany and England for a time.
Of course, in many cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional and ceremonial reasons. However, the Barbarians just liked ladies' clothes.
() )( () )( () )( () )( ()
