WARNING!
Distributor | Released | Length |
---|---|---|
Greenwood/Cooper Home Video | 1992 |
Distributor | Released | Length |
---|---|---|
Greenwood/Cooper Home Video | 1997 | 50 |
Description source: Zephyr
The first version of this educational film came out in 1992 with the title 'The' Gay Man's Guide To Safer Sex. It was notable for depicting sex between men more explicitly than British censors had previously allowed. The presenters used graphic sexual terms while different models acted out the scenarios, including Aiden Shaw who can be seen in many of these encounters. The 1992 version was only released on VHS and contained original music by the British band Coil, who allowed the producers to credit their band and both members by name. This version is out of print though copies still circulate.
By 1997 those behind the making of the first film had learned more about how HIV is spread, and with the discovery of effective antiretroviral therapies not yet known about in 1992, an updated version was made. The second film was titled 'A' Gay Man's Guide To Safer Sex: Getting It Right. Some of the same footage was kept from the 1992 version but edited in with newer segments, presenters and men showing the sex acts. The 1997 film was also released on VHS, then became the only version available on DVD. Most if not all of the music by Coil was left off these later copies.
The Coil music heard in the first version of the film included a theme song, plus tracks titled 'Nasa-Arab 2' and 'Exploding Frogs'. Following the deaths of both members of Coil (John Balance in 2004 and Peter Christopherson in 2010), the original master tapes from the 1992 film were remastered and released for the first time as an album in 2019 by Musique Pour La Danse. Titled 'The Gay Man's Guide To Safer Sex + 2' this unofficial soundtrack contains all of the music heard in the original film plus additional tracks, including an alternate mix of the theme as well as previously unreleased versions of the other songs.