Novelist Matthew Rettenmund, in addition to authoring two fiction books as well as numerous pop-culture books—including the definitive reference work on iconic pop star Madonna, the Encyclopedia Madonnica—also authors a popular blog, Boy Culture, on which he indulges his passion for compiling lengthy lists.
His previous efforts included “History's 100 Hottest TV Actors,” “Dead Reckoning: Which Year Was the Worst for Celeb Deaths?” and “150 Gayest Songs EVER”—a list that included Abba’s "Dancing Queen,” the Alicia Bridges disco classic "I Love the Nightlife,” Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti,” and of course the Kinks’ gender-bending classic, “Lola.”
Last week, however, Rettenmund—author of the 1995 novel Boy Culture, from which his blog derives its name—posted what surely must be considered his magnum opus, his list of “History's 250 Greatest Gay-Porn Stars.”
“For gay men, with no societal instruction on what happens when two guys fall in love or even just lust, pornography was for decades the primary means by which we could find those answers,” Rettenmund wrote in the introduction to his list. “Perhaps those two observations help to explain why we take our porn so very seriously."
To start with, Stryker—certainly the most famous gay porn icon—does not top the list, placing instead at Number 2. Why? “Truth be told, I'm not wildly turned on by Jeff Stryker,” Rettenmund writes, “even though he is inarguably the most famous gay pornstar who's ever lived.”
Nonetheless, Rettenmund ranks Stryker second out of his 250 largely because “his fabled kickstand is hard to deny,” and “Stryker is the ultimate brand.”
But the list is not all vintage gay porn stars. Numerous active performers make the list, such as Carter Dane at Number 37, “a true beneficiary of the power of social media.” Rocco Steele comes in at Number 30, by virtue of possessing, according to Rettenmund, “the biggest, thickest tool in the toolbox.” Armond Rizzo places at 27th on the list, rated by the blog as “one of the most famous superbottoms in the history of porn.” And he describes Boomer Banks, at Number 20, as “one of the first of the new-breed gay-porn stars who were brand-conscious more than simply bouncing from job to job.”
So who rates the Number One spot on the Boy Culture gay porn star countdown?
That honor goes, posthumously, to Al Parker, who passed away from AIDS in 1992, “the ultimate star for fans of guys with facial hair,” Rettenmund wrote.
Parker’s biographer described him as “a gay everyman, someone guys could identify with, not just stand back and gape at it awed silence.”
“He has earned the right to be #1 on any porn list, both for his iconic performances and for his early rise to the top of the heap,” Rettenmund concluded. “There hasn't been another one like him since.”
Photos above of Carter Dane by Keith Ryan, Boomer Banks (photo courtesy of Cockyboys) and Armond Rizzo by Jeff Koga
