#163: Johnny Are You Queer? by Josie Cotton

City: Toronto, ON
Radio Station: CHUM
Peak Month: February-March 1982
Peak Position in Toronto ~ #4
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Johnny Are You Queer?”
Lyrics: “Johnny Are You Queer?”

Josie Jones was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1956. In the late 70s, Josie headed west from Texas and drove to Los Angeles. She had dreams of making it as a pop singer. She was given the song “Johnny Are You Queer?” after it had been a demo recorded by the Go-Gos. Taking the stage name Josie Cotton, she released her debut album Convertible Music in 1982. The album had a sixties girl group sound which included a cover of the 1963 Top Ten hit by The Exciters titled “Tell Him”.

The debut single, “Johnny Are You Queer?” had artwork on the sleeve of the disc recalling cartoon books from the fifties and sixties.

“Johnny Are You Queer?” was cowritten by Bobby and Larson Paine. The song’s music was based on “Fetch Me One More Beer” by the Los Angeles-based punk rock band Fear, written by the band’s guitarist Philo Cramer and John Clancy. Bobby and Larson Paine, who were managing the Go-Gos, reworked the song with new lyrics and gave it to them. But after the Paine’s fell out with the Go-Gos, they forbade them from playing it and gave the song to Josie Cotton. In several interviews, Cotton has suggested that the song’s title was lifted from lyrics in the Fear song, though she has also stated that Fear’s version went “You’re a fuckin’ queer.” When Fear found out a variation of their song had become popular, they met with the Paines to discuss the publishing rights and together decided that the rights would go to the winner of a coin toss, which the Paines won.

The song’s lyrics are written from the perspective of a young woman who is questioning her relationship with the titular Johnny. He had approached the unnamed woman and asked her on a date, only for him to spend most of his time with his friends and with various men she believes are homosexual. Because of this and Johnny’s apparent ambivalence toward her, she questions Johnny’s sexuality, asking him if he is ultimately queer. The music video shows Cotton and Johnny sitting on a park bench where she makes romantic advances, much to Johnny’s discomfort.

In the press, the then-controversial use of the term “queer” caused The Village Voice to ask on its cover “Josie, Are You a Bitch?” and gay magazine The Advocate to call her “a homophobe.” Out Magazine reported that “One religious network played Johnny Are You Queer? at half speed so Josie would sound like a man. They even said there was no Josie Cotton and that she was actually a gay man who was trying to convert unsuspecting straight men into a homosexual lifestyle.”  While Spin Magazine commented “Some people thought the song was totally homophobic; other people thought it was totally campy and clever, in a catty drag-queen kind of way.”

“Johnny Are You Queer?” peaked at #4 in Toronto, and #13 in Smithers (BC).

Josie Cotton told Magnet Magazine, she was on a lot of television shows. This included “a Halloween special with the Stray Cats and Oingo Boingo, Dance Fever, Square Pegs (starring Sarah Jessica Parker) and a hilarious sketch-comedy show called Laugh Trax.”

Cotton made an appearance in the 1983 film Valley Girl, starring Nicolas Cage, with Josie singing “Johnny, Are You Queer?”, “He Could Be the One” and “School Is In” during the film’s prom scene.

From Convertible Music, “Bye Bye Baby” was a Top Ten hit in Long Beach (CA). Her follow-up single, “He Could Be The One” reached the Top Ten in Long Beach, and the Top 20 in Boston and Los Angeles.

In 1984, Elektra issued Cotton’s follow-up album, From the Hip, which returned a minor hit with the cover of Looking Glass’ “Jimmy Loves Maryann” (with guitar by Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsay Buckingham). The single was a Top Ten hit in Florence, Italy. In 1986, Cotton appeared in a minor role as the character Silver Ring in the horror film Nomads opposite Adam Ant and Pierce Brosnan. “Johnny Are You Queer? later appeared in the 2006 slapstick comedy film Jackass Number Two.  

For her second album, From the Hip, Electra Records publicist wanted Josie Cotton to show more “tits and ass.” Cotton recalls “they wanted me to do a Penthouse layout.” Cotton declined and her publicist stormed out of the session. Soon after Josie Cotton was dropped by Electra Records.

She told Magnet Magazine in 2006, “I ultimately walked away from the music business, but I never stopped being an artist. I went on to record five more albums over the years, and I decided to open a recording studio with my life-long friend Geza X, a Los Angeles punk icon who produced the Germs and Dead Kennedys. We recorded everything from Meredith Brooks’ “Bitch” to Elliott Smith’s From A Basement On The Hill at our studio, Satellite Park.”

Josie Cotton’s vocal style is credited as being an influence on Katy Perry.

September 28, 2026
Ray McGinnis

References:
Dustin Fitzharris, “Catching Up with Josie Cotton,” Out, August 22, 2010.
Chuck Eddy, “Katy Perry’s Campy, Gay-Baiting Polka-Dot Pop Was First Cooed By ’80s New Waver Josie Cotton,” Spin, October 18, 2013.
Patrick Gavin, “Johnny Are You Queer?: Cover Songs Uncovered,” Pop Culture Experiment, October 9, 2017.
“Josie Cotton: The Story of 80s New Wave Hit ‘Johnny Are You Queer?,” Magnet Magazine, 2006.

Toronto’s Top Singles CHUM 1050-AM Toronto (ON) | March 6, 1982