Josie Cotton (born 1956) is an American singer and songwriter, best known for "Johnny Are You Queer?" and "He Could Be the One" from 1982.
Born Josie Jones in Dallas, Texas, Cotton sang with Dallas area bands before moving to Los Angeles, California. She met Larson Paine in Hollywood and him and his brother, Bobby, gave her "Johnny, Are You Queer?", previously performed by The Go-Go's, to record as a demo. After the first label to sign her folded, Bomp! Records released the song as a single.
The performance of the single attracted the attention of Elektra Records, which re-released both the single and a full album, with the future Kingdom Come member Johnny B Frank on keyboards, in 1982. The Convertible Music LP has music reminiscent of the 1960s girl group tradition. Cotton made an appearance in the 1983 film Valley Girl, singing "Johnny, Are You Queer?", "He Could Be the One" and "School Is In" during the film's prom scene.
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 work by Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac). In 1986, Cotton appeared in a minor role as the character Silver Ring in the John McTiernan horror film Nomads opposite Adam Ant and Pierce Brosnan. "Johnny, Are You Queer?" was later used in Jackass: Number Two during the "Anaconda Ballpit" stunt. The punk band Screeching Weasel covered the song on their 1994 album, How To Make Enemies And Irritate People.
Cotton recorded Frightened by Nightingales (as Josey Cotton) in 1993. The collection of songs by the songwriter/violinist/self promoter Bill Rhea was released on the French label Silences. Continuing to work behind the scenes, Cotton co-founded B-Girl Records, which issued recordings by Goldenboy and Alaska!. An album of her own music, The Influence of Fear on Salesmen, was planned for release in 2002 on B-Girl but failed to materialize under that title. Cotton released Movie Disaster Music in 2006, followed by Invasion of the B-Girls, composed of B-movie theme song covers, also produced in part by Bill Rhea, in 2007. Building on the critical success of those disks, Cotton released Pussycat Babylon in late 2010. As of May 2018, "Johnny Are You Queer" ranks at No. 80 on VH1's "Top 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders Of The 80's" list.
