Fenton Bailey’s ‘ScreenAge’

by Brian Bromberger

In his introduction to Fenton Bailey’s “ScreenAge,” gay British talk show host Graham Norton, calls Bailey “the Forrest Gump of popular and tabloid culture,” remarking that if an event or personality created headlines, he was there. With his romantic (once boyfriends but no longer, “now we’re like an old married couple”) and professional partner Randy Barbato, Bailey created their World of Wonder production company “to uplift and promote the voices of marginalized queer communities.”

His new essential book consists of three interweaving sections: personal memoir, the role of television in our lives, and the impact of queer pop culture. If Norton depicts Bailey as Forrest Gump, Bailey sees himself more as the Andy Warhol of his time.

Pop camp visibility

Bailey grew up in Southampton England, knew he was gay from an early age, but wanting to follow in Warhol’s footsteps, moved to New York in 1982 to attend film school at New York University. On the first day he met New Jersey native Randy Barbato. They bonded instantly as pop culture enthusiasts. For a few years they formed a singing electro/synthesizer group The Fabulous Pop Tarts, which never quite caught fire.