A quicke for monday, my family loves the music of the Classics IV, "Traces", "Spooky", "Every Day With You, Girl" and especially "Stormy". When we got our first CD player, back when that was big expensive deal, we got a 4 song mini disc with those 4 hits that we played over and over again. The original is a wonderful meditative pop song, a stormy grey tune, organ, a dash of drama, perfect in chord and suspenion. John Legend's take features his brilliant vocals with new lyrics, no piano, just nice organ as well, even more of a throwback to the doowah singalongs of the 50s, dripping with emotion. God his voice is amazing. And, the next generation of sanchezes love this song as well, my nephew Godfrey won't sit still for the camera:) enjoy
Classics IV - "Stormy"
John Legend - "Save Room"
Godfrey Angel Sanchez - "Save Room"
Monday, April 7, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
DML - Siouxsie and the Banshees - "Kiss Them For Me"
Todays musical excursion was the impetus behind this little project of mine. One night, I shared my thoughts about music through video examples with my awesome friend Melissa, using Siouxie.
Jayne Mansfield was a sultry 50s sexpot, platinum hair, hourglass figure, magazines, Playmate, think anna nicole (rip) or madonna of her day, her cleavage was always busting out of her top, her cup overfloweth. She made a few decent films, but was mainly featured in low budget flicks, though she remained a popular figure. Her vibrant life and tragic death at 34 were the inspiration to "Kiss Them For Me" which was also the title from one of her films.
The track itself is a lush bhangra take on hip hop, filtered through the british dance floors. Jayne's lush life is detailed, her Pink Palance, with it's champagne fountains and pepto pillows would have made a steel magnolia envious. "Divoon", Jayne's catch word (i'm assuming anything she would describe as such would be so divine as to make her swoon) South Aisan instruments and Siouxie's catty vocals, meowing and purring like Jayne might. All the attention, all the hype, the paparazzi still gets it right these days.
Tragedy, for the young beautiful mother of three, would take her too soon. Driving "on the road to new orleans" in the middle of the night, Jayne was killed as the car in which she rode crashed into a tractor trailer and underrode it. The three adults in the front were killed instantly, while her three children, Miklós, Zoltán, and Mariska survived with minor injuries. Mariska? Oh yes, Mariska Hargitay, of Law & Order: SVU fame, still carries a zig zag scar on her scalp from the accident that claimed the life of her mother.
anyways, the song is a trippy 80s mess of influences, accidents and insprirations. Jayne's blonde bombshell persona is still echoed today in jessica simpson, anna fabulous anna, who also left the party too soon, and countless other starlets caught up in the hollywood spin cycle. the siouxie sound would also live on, in Shirley Manson, the Cure, and in current voices like Ana Matronic of the Scissor Sisters.
Following are the song "Kiss Them For Me", Jayne's appearances int "The Girl Can't Help It" and, oh, did that sound familiar? Fergie does a cute tribute in her latest hit "Clumsy" not just quoting the title, but bouncing in a pink choffon mini dress and piling on the blonde hair. Also, the 5678s from kill bill "walk like jayne mansfield" and a few bonus clips, especially Jayne just being "divoon"
May your Firday glitter and gleam!
Siouxie and the Banshees - "Kiss Them For Me"
Jayne Mansfield in "The Girl Can't Help It"
The 5.6.7.8 s - "I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield"
Fergie "Clumsy"
Little Mariska, all grown up, in a Sapphic-themed video from L&O:SVU.
BONUS!
Jayne being herself, with Mickey Rooney
Jayne Mansfield was a sultry 50s sexpot, platinum hair, hourglass figure, magazines, Playmate, think anna nicole (rip) or madonna of her day, her cleavage was always busting out of her top, her cup overfloweth. She made a few decent films, but was mainly featured in low budget flicks, though she remained a popular figure. Her vibrant life and tragic death at 34 were the inspiration to "Kiss Them For Me" which was also the title from one of her films.
The track itself is a lush bhangra take on hip hop, filtered through the british dance floors. Jayne's lush life is detailed, her Pink Palance, with it's champagne fountains and pepto pillows would have made a steel magnolia envious. "Divoon", Jayne's catch word (i'm assuming anything she would describe as such would be so divine as to make her swoon) South Aisan instruments and Siouxie's catty vocals, meowing and purring like Jayne might. All the attention, all the hype, the paparazzi still gets it right these days.
Tragedy, for the young beautiful mother of three, would take her too soon. Driving "on the road to new orleans" in the middle of the night, Jayne was killed as the car in which she rode crashed into a tractor trailer and underrode it. The three adults in the front were killed instantly, while her three children, Miklós, Zoltán, and Mariska survived with minor injuries. Mariska? Oh yes, Mariska Hargitay, of Law & Order: SVU fame, still carries a zig zag scar on her scalp from the accident that claimed the life of her mother.
anyways, the song is a trippy 80s mess of influences, accidents and insprirations. Jayne's blonde bombshell persona is still echoed today in jessica simpson, anna fabulous anna, who also left the party too soon, and countless other starlets caught up in the hollywood spin cycle. the siouxie sound would also live on, in Shirley Manson, the Cure, and in current voices like Ana Matronic of the Scissor Sisters.
Following are the song "Kiss Them For Me", Jayne's appearances int "The Girl Can't Help It" and, oh, did that sound familiar? Fergie does a cute tribute in her latest hit "Clumsy" not just quoting the title, but bouncing in a pink choffon mini dress and piling on the blonde hair. Also, the 5678s from kill bill "walk like jayne mansfield" and a few bonus clips, especially Jayne just being "divoon"
May your Firday glitter and gleam!
Siouxie and the Banshees - "Kiss Them For Me"
Jayne Mansfield in "The Girl Can't Help It"
The 5.6.7.8 s - "I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield"
Fergie "Clumsy"
Little Mariska, all grown up, in a Sapphic-themed video from L&O:SVU.
BONUS!
Jayne being herself, with Mickey Rooney
SexyBack
Not much a lesson here, just an invitation to hear Corinne Bailey Rae's mega-hot cover of JT's "sexyBack" The song is an instant dancefloor classic, with it's Timbaland production and hard hitting synth hits. Check out Corinne's sultry stylings, and cabaret phrasing, reminiscent of Cole Porter's "Just One Of Those Things" by Blossom Dearie.
Justin Timberlake - "SexyBack"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAT5ypTjKOI
Corinne Bailey Rae - "SexyBack"
Peggy Lee "Just One of Those Things" (no blossom dearie available)
Justin Timberlake - "SexyBack"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAT5ypTjKOI
Corinne Bailey Rae - "SexyBack"
Peggy Lee "Just One of Those Things" (no blossom dearie available)
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Daily Music - The Supremes "Keep Me Hangin' On"
Happy April Fools' Day!
The Supremes are truly an American legend, and their music has transcended all genres. One of my favorite tracks is the funky "You Keep Me Hangin' On" with is breathy vocals, shouts from the backups, and all those "whoos!" One element that continues to be used in songs that came after is the morse code guitar lick in the introduction. I've added videos with similar uses from Sarah McLachlan and Glen Campbell. Listen how the snare trots along, pressing the music on. This is less bubble gum than many of the tracks in the early Supremes' catalog, like "Where Did Our Love Go" "Baby Love", and "I Hear A Symphony". Diana's vocals are more forced, trouble-tracked to fill out the sound, and that bass line just throbs along.
Vanila Fudge, the name is a nod to the blue-eyed soul, did a masterful, psychadelic cover of the tune, with the drums becoming even more prevalent, the brocade jackets, the poet collars, the psychadelia in regalia . . . the video is a thrilling testament to the groovy 60s. The song would be a hit again, until it would be covered again by pop singer Kim Wilde of "Kids in America" fame and resurface as an 80s powerpop megahit. The words are changed up a bit, the music is made for the dance floor, and it also speaks to a day and age that won't happen again. Enjoy this hit and it's pair of hit covers!
Diana Ross and The Supremes "Keep Me Hangin' On"
in lieu of an embeddable video, I offer two links of live performances you can cut and paste, as well as an embed of the song set to pictures. Enjoy the fashion!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=EMKaRKbsswM
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1_MlkR8cAfs&feature=related
Vanilla Fudge - "Keep Me Hangin' On"
Kim Wilde - "Keep Me Hangin' On"
two examples of "morse code" in context
Sarah McLachlan - "Sweet Surrender"
Glen Campbell - "Wichita Lineman"
"Sweet Surrender" is such a great song, showing amazing control with a quiet persistance, and the video is evocative. "Wichita Lineman", wow, what can i say, one of my favorite songs ever, such fantastic picture painting "i can hear you in the whine . . . ' listen for that telegraph in both songs.
OH YEAH!
BONUS: Practice the shoulder roll, remember, keep your hand below your chin on the 'stop" so the audience can see your face, and always ALWAYS snap on 2 & 4. You can do it. Now go buy some long satin gloves.
The Supremes "Stop! In The Name of Love"
The Supremes are truly an American legend, and their music has transcended all genres. One of my favorite tracks is the funky "You Keep Me Hangin' On" with is breathy vocals, shouts from the backups, and all those "whoos!" One element that continues to be used in songs that came after is the morse code guitar lick in the introduction. I've added videos with similar uses from Sarah McLachlan and Glen Campbell. Listen how the snare trots along, pressing the music on. This is less bubble gum than many of the tracks in the early Supremes' catalog, like "Where Did Our Love Go" "Baby Love", and "I Hear A Symphony". Diana's vocals are more forced, trouble-tracked to fill out the sound, and that bass line just throbs along.
Vanila Fudge, the name is a nod to the blue-eyed soul, did a masterful, psychadelic cover of the tune, with the drums becoming even more prevalent, the brocade jackets, the poet collars, the psychadelia in regalia . . . the video is a thrilling testament to the groovy 60s. The song would be a hit again, until it would be covered again by pop singer Kim Wilde of "Kids in America" fame and resurface as an 80s powerpop megahit. The words are changed up a bit, the music is made for the dance floor, and it also speaks to a day and age that won't happen again. Enjoy this hit and it's pair of hit covers!
Diana Ross and The Supremes "Keep Me Hangin' On"
in lieu of an embeddable video, I offer two links of live performances you can cut and paste, as well as an embed of the song set to pictures. Enjoy the fashion!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=EMKaRKbsswM
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1_MlkR8cAfs&feature=related
Vanilla Fudge - "Keep Me Hangin' On"
Kim Wilde - "Keep Me Hangin' On"
two examples of "morse code" in context
Sarah McLachlan - "Sweet Surrender"
Glen Campbell - "Wichita Lineman"
"Sweet Surrender" is such a great song, showing amazing control with a quiet persistance, and the video is evocative. "Wichita Lineman", wow, what can i say, one of my favorite songs ever, such fantastic picture painting "i can hear you in the whine . . . ' listen for that telegraph in both songs.
OH YEAH!
BONUS: Practice the shoulder roll, remember, keep your hand below your chin on the 'stop" so the audience can see your face, and always ALWAYS snap on 2 & 4. You can do it. Now go buy some long satin gloves.
The Supremes "Stop! In The Name of Love"
Fascination, Modern Love
Those of you who know me pretty well know just how passionate I am about music, all music, pop to folk to opera to bluegrass, I love just about any GOOD music out there I can find, and I especially love analyzing, in my own particular way, why I like a song, and what about it appeals to others. This is the first of many bulletins I hope to distribute, let me know what you think, feel free to agree or disagree, but most of all, enjoy a little new music, old music, cover music, you name it. Comment or message me any concerns.
"Fascination"" is an infectious tune from the Danish band Alphabeat. With a driving drum line, cute boy-girl harmonies, and 80s drum beats, it's hard not to want to get up and bounce to it. It's a clever send up of Bowie's "Modern Love" which actually was a tribute to Little Richard, and bears a slight resemblance to Elton John's "I'm Still Standing." There's a lot of cute 80s imagery in the video, I love the guy singer's skinny suspenders, and the bright bright colors. There's also a Bowie nod in the lyric about "all the young dudes. (The guitar beat and countermelody seems to come from The Pointer Sister's "I'm So Excited" on closer listening, this was added after first posting, check out the video at the end)
Compare the opening drum beat, the call and response shout, and overall harmonic basis of the Alphabeat track to "Modern Love." Bowie's 80s classic is also a cleverly disguised discourse on God and Man, while Alphabeat's slight grasp of English gives us passion rhyming with passion, and a tribute to the "pace age" (sic.) And I can't tell you just how much I love Bowie's "blue-eyed soul.
On first hearing, my immediate reaction was "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins, and "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina & The Waves. Both of these songs had an infectious dance beat, and make great wedding reception standards. Everyone I've introduced the song too (which was introduced to me by the fabulous Richard Ellender, music maven extraordinaire) has had similar reactions, mentioning an 80s song it reminds them of, very New Wave in it's conception. I hope you enjoy it for what it is, light airy pop.
I've added a video for "Modern Love", a tremendous Nile Rodgers production, with guitar by Stevie Ray Vaughn. I've also thrown in a cover version by The Last Town Chorus that was, of course, featured on "Grey's Anatomy" (talk about a discourse on God, Man, and angsty hospital dramas) It's a really nice slowed-cover, drowsy lapl steel, british female vocals, move over Cat Power! Okay, Cat Power's covers are magnificent in and of themselves, but you get the drift.
- JJ -
Alphabeat - "Fascination"
David Bowie - "Modern Love"
The Last Town Chorus - "Modern Love" (cover)
The Pointer Sisters - "I'm So Excited"
So there you go, let me know what you think, too much info, too little, maybe you had a different response, maybe you're just happy to hear something new, or old . . . I'm gonna keep these up as long as I have a little time to share. Tomorrow, the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On."
"Fascination"" is an infectious tune from the Danish band Alphabeat. With a driving drum line, cute boy-girl harmonies, and 80s drum beats, it's hard not to want to get up and bounce to it. It's a clever send up of Bowie's "Modern Love" which actually was a tribute to Little Richard, and bears a slight resemblance to Elton John's "I'm Still Standing." There's a lot of cute 80s imagery in the video, I love the guy singer's skinny suspenders, and the bright bright colors. There's also a Bowie nod in the lyric about "all the young dudes. (The guitar beat and countermelody seems to come from The Pointer Sister's "I'm So Excited" on closer listening, this was added after first posting, check out the video at the end)
Compare the opening drum beat, the call and response shout, and overall harmonic basis of the Alphabeat track to "Modern Love." Bowie's 80s classic is also a cleverly disguised discourse on God and Man, while Alphabeat's slight grasp of English gives us passion rhyming with passion, and a tribute to the "pace age" (sic.) And I can't tell you just how much I love Bowie's "blue-eyed soul.
On first hearing, my immediate reaction was "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins, and "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina & The Waves. Both of these songs had an infectious dance beat, and make great wedding reception standards. Everyone I've introduced the song too (which was introduced to me by the fabulous Richard Ellender, music maven extraordinaire) has had similar reactions, mentioning an 80s song it reminds them of, very New Wave in it's conception. I hope you enjoy it for what it is, light airy pop.
I've added a video for "Modern Love", a tremendous Nile Rodgers production, with guitar by Stevie Ray Vaughn. I've also thrown in a cover version by The Last Town Chorus that was, of course, featured on "Grey's Anatomy" (talk about a discourse on God, Man, and angsty hospital dramas) It's a really nice slowed-cover, drowsy lapl steel, british female vocals, move over Cat Power! Okay, Cat Power's covers are magnificent in and of themselves, but you get the drift.
- JJ -
Alphabeat - "Fascination"
David Bowie - "Modern Love"
The Last Town Chorus - "Modern Love" (cover)
The Pointer Sisters - "I'm So Excited"
So there you go, let me know what you think, too much info, too little, maybe you had a different response, maybe you're just happy to hear something new, or old . . . I'm gonna keep these up as long as I have a little time to share. Tomorrow, the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On."
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Monday, July 2, 2007
chubbychecker.com - wtf?
We Compare Ourselves To...
Before Alexander Graham Bell... no telephone.
Before Thomas Edison"... no electric light.
Before Dr. George Washington Carver... no oil from seed or cloning from plants.
Before Henry Ford... no V8 Engine.
Before Walt Disney... no animated cartoons.
Before "Chubby Checker".. no "Dancing Apart to the Beat"
What is "Dancing Apart to the Beat?"
Dancing apart to the beat is the dance we do when we dance apart to anyone's music with a beat and before "Chubby Checker" it could not be found!
We compare this event to famous people because of its uniqueness of dance in the music industry. It was no secret that "Dancing Apart To The Beat" happened in 2 minutes and 42 seconds on American Bandstand with Chubby doing the "Twist". The Twist is putting out a cigarette with both feet, wiping off your bottom with a towel to the beat of the music. If you're wiping off your bottom with a towel to the beat your not touching your partner and doing that thing at the same time. This is "Dancing Apart To The Beat". Then came "The Pony". In today's terms it's called "Hip Hop". That's what a pony does. Throw your hands in the air and wave them like you just don't care. Then your doing "The Fly". If your doing "The Fly" you've got to be doing "The Shake" at the same time. Then came "The Hucklebuck". The nasty dance. Everybody and everything does it. We call these the musical dancing keyboards for "Dancing Apart To The Beat".
Before Alexander Graham Bell... no telephone.
Before Thomas Edison"... no electric light.
Before Dr. George Washington Carver... no oil from seed or cloning from plants.
Before Henry Ford... no V8 Engine.
Before Walt Disney... no animated cartoons.
Before "Chubby Checker".. no "Dancing Apart to the Beat"
What is "Dancing Apart to the Beat?"
Dancing apart to the beat is the dance we do when we dance apart to anyone's music with a beat and before "Chubby Checker" it could not be found!
We compare this event to famous people because of its uniqueness of dance in the music industry. It was no secret that "Dancing Apart To The Beat" happened in 2 minutes and 42 seconds on American Bandstand with Chubby doing the "Twist". The Twist is putting out a cigarette with both feet, wiping off your bottom with a towel to the beat of the music. If you're wiping off your bottom with a towel to the beat your not touching your partner and doing that thing at the same time. This is "Dancing Apart To The Beat". Then came "The Pony". In today's terms it's called "Hip Hop". That's what a pony does. Throw your hands in the air and wave them like you just don't care. Then your doing "The Fly". If your doing "The Fly" you've got to be doing "The Shake" at the same time. Then came "The Hucklebuck". The nasty dance. Everybody and everything does it. We call these the musical dancing keyboards for "Dancing Apart To The Beat".
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Beyonce, or Melissa?
I've got to wonder, maybe Melissa ate the last Beyonce cd and this is what she crapped out?
and i KNOW this what she's gonna have to say about this! Can't wait to see you! oh btw, we're using the left over paint to cover our bodies and go out in public in the "nude"!
and i KNOW this what she's gonna have to say about this! Can't wait to see you! oh btw, we're using the left over paint to cover our bodies and go out in public in the "nude"!
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
Godfrey Bey Sanchez
My nephew is freakishly cute, and has very interesting taste in music. He can impress you by singing "Lento" by Julieta, "Buttons" by the Pussycat Dolls, he calls "How To Save A Life" cuidado because it actually fits in the chorus, and it sure does make sense. Maybe it's the easy lyrics, but he adores "Lips of an Angel" by Hinder . . . . that being said, my sister discovered he also likes John Legend. It's pretty much any good song he has to hear my sister play while he rides in the back . . . here's me coaxing a performance out of him . . .
Thursday, June 14, 2007
ha ha ha, bless your soul
you CAN NOT beat a cover featuring a THEREMIN. There is no way. Don't try it. Unless you use and ONDES MARTENOT. And I know no one reading this knows what either of these things are without consulting wikipedia. I remember when I lost my mind . . .
Saturday, June 2, 2007
ciao!
i refuse to say ciao. I won't do it. I think it's gay. just cause you're from reynosa does NOT make you italian. ciao stinks. ciao is a republican's face looking at cindy sheehan. ciao is mood rings. ciao is how anna nicole smells right now. ciao is ugly. ciao lack couth. ciao is kracken. ciao spooks me out. ciao is gangsta rap. ciao is lil' kim's pasty. ciao is an avocado empanada. ciao shows no mercy. ciao is silk stalkings on USA network. chuck norris hates ciao. ciao is what dogs eat, and dogs eat poop. ciao is curdled breat milk yogurt. ciao is water buffalo b.o. ciao is feline leukemia. if you say ciao to me, i might go off on you bjork-style. ciao hurts. ciao stings. ciao is the opposite of krispy kreme donuts. FRESH krispy kreme donuts. ciao is racist. ciao is sexist. ciao is aushwitz. ciao is shining path. ciao is pol pot. hitler said ciao. un deux ciao. ciao is pg-13. ciao doesn't remember your name. ciao is arrogant. ciao is fallible. ciao is cruel to animals. ciao is fur is murder. ciao is partial birth abortion. ciao is sheperd's pie. ciao doesn't call you back. ciao leaves before you wake up and takes that last twenty from your wallet. ciao is erectile disfunction. ciao is that blue line of poop on the back of a shrimp you half to eat in a shrimp cocktail. ciao cries. ciao made andrea bocelli blind. it's time to say goodbye to ciao.
Friday, June 1, 2007
my thoughts of you are leaving . .
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Thursday, May 31, 2007
back in business - part deux
So this in honor of Mel's return to the blog, who might just be the only reader of my blog :) and I do mean that smile in a nice way, not a snarky way . . .
Anyways, she's back and I wanted to post "Back in Business" from the movie Dick Tracy with Madonna and Warren Beatty. It was silly fun, pre-"Chicago", and I was a gay little 4th grader, worshipping my "I'm Breathless" Madonna inspired-by soundtrack. It had a trampy little song about S&M that I thought was so titillating as a youth, as well as all kinda campy tracks, and three gorgeous tracks written by Sondheim, who I wouldn't get to know till Bravo turned me into a big mary sissy fag in high school and I'd watch musicals all during the month of June in honor of gay pride month.
There was one long, hot summer where I watched so many "pink" films and tv shows, that truly shaped the person that I am now. I watched every episode of Twin Peaks on Bravo AND Melrose Place on E!, I sobbed at the hiv tragedy Longtime Companion, loaded up on musicals (Godspell, Pippin, Sunday in the Park with George, Sweeney Todd, Jesus Christ Superstar, all the Rodgers and Hammerstein I could rent, West Side Story, Into the Woods(!), Camelot) Prick Up Your Ears!, My Beautiful Laundrette, The Piano, oh the Merchant-Ivory sumptuousness of Maurice . . . I raided the library for D.H. Lawrence for it's latent homoeroticism, I trolled the Sexuality section of the new Hastings in our mall to peek at "The New Joy of Gay Sex" and discovered my nipples were sensitive, I uncovered Pansy Division, found porn on the Internet (of all places!) I started "getting into" 8os music, especially all that ultra-fem and oh-so-fab New Wave . . . . I wish I woulda just come out back then, instead of delaying it for so long . . . but, it was a different time and a very different place. Anyways, back to Sondheim . . . .
That old grey girl can sure write some tunes that stab you in the heart. Inside the Actors Studio had him on its' inaugural season, before it became such an SNL gag (and really, c'mon, Jennifer Lopez? please, girl can dance and shake her ass, but acting? and teaching anyone anything about acting?) Anyways, they had a couple sing some of his signature songs ('Barcelona' ahhh), but it was only later I'd discover a few that just, *sigh, can't be ignored.
"Being Alive"
The current production of Company, starring Raul Esparza, is particularly "relevant" in that the lead actor /closet case is actually gay in real life, so the fact that he hasn't met the right woman, or "person" cuts to the heart of Sondheim, the composer and lyricist. It's hard not to turn it into a showstopper, it begs and demands and shouts itself into the theater . . . witness, children
Being Alive - Patti LuPone
I always wondered why the mom from Life Goes On was such a great singer on the show . . . woman is famazing, fantestical, but that hair is NOT electrocute. No, m'am!
I just tossed this in cause I remember watching a lot of figure skating back then, and c'mon, the Yamaguchi was a fucking bad-ass!
"I'm Still Here" - Yvonne De Carlo
you gotta love a dame in a tunic . . . and you can't sing this if you're not an old broad with a pack-a-day habit and a story to tell.
"Johanna" - Hugh Panaro (I wanna call him Huge Canary)
i dunno about the package, but what a great voice and some good acting, and fuck, the tune Johanna gets my goat everytime . . . . i feel you . . .. . one day, I'll STEAL you .. .. . mercy
Anyways, she's back and I wanted to post "Back in Business" from the movie Dick Tracy with Madonna and Warren Beatty. It was silly fun, pre-"Chicago", and I was a gay little 4th grader, worshipping my "I'm Breathless" Madonna inspired-by soundtrack. It had a trampy little song about S&M that I thought was so titillating as a youth, as well as all kinda campy tracks, and three gorgeous tracks written by Sondheim, who I wouldn't get to know till Bravo turned me into a big mary sissy fag in high school and I'd watch musicals all during the month of June in honor of gay pride month.
There was one long, hot summer where I watched so many "pink" films and tv shows, that truly shaped the person that I am now. I watched every episode of Twin Peaks on Bravo AND Melrose Place on E!, I sobbed at the hiv tragedy Longtime Companion, loaded up on musicals (Godspell, Pippin, Sunday in the Park with George, Sweeney Todd, Jesus Christ Superstar, all the Rodgers and Hammerstein I could rent, West Side Story, Into the Woods(!), Camelot) Prick Up Your Ears!, My Beautiful Laundrette, The Piano, oh the Merchant-Ivory sumptuousness of Maurice . . . I raided the library for D.H. Lawrence for it's latent homoeroticism, I trolled the Sexuality section of the new Hastings in our mall to peek at "The New Joy of Gay Sex" and discovered my nipples were sensitive, I uncovered Pansy Division, found porn on the Internet (of all places!) I started "getting into" 8os music, especially all that ultra-fem and oh-so-fab New Wave . . . . I wish I woulda just come out back then, instead of delaying it for so long . . . but, it was a different time and a very different place. Anyways, back to Sondheim . . . .
That old grey girl can sure write some tunes that stab you in the heart. Inside the Actors Studio had him on its' inaugural season, before it became such an SNL gag (and really, c'mon, Jennifer Lopez? please, girl can dance and shake her ass, but acting? and teaching anyone anything about acting?) Anyways, they had a couple sing some of his signature songs ('Barcelona' ahhh), but it was only later I'd discover a few that just, *sigh, can't be ignored.
"Being Alive"
The current production of Company, starring Raul Esparza, is particularly "relevant" in that the lead actor /closet case is actually gay in real life, so the fact that he hasn't met the right woman, or "person" cuts to the heart of Sondheim, the composer and lyricist. It's hard not to turn it into a showstopper, it begs and demands and shouts itself into the theater . . . witness, children
Being Alive - Patti LuPone
I always wondered why the mom from Life Goes On was such a great singer on the show . . . woman is famazing, fantestical, but that hair is NOT electrocute. No, m'am!
I just tossed this in cause I remember watching a lot of figure skating back then, and c'mon, the Yamaguchi was a fucking bad-ass!
"I'm Still Here" - Yvonne De Carlo
you gotta love a dame in a tunic . . . and you can't sing this if you're not an old broad with a pack-a-day habit and a story to tell.
"Johanna" - Hugh Panaro (I wanna call him Huge Canary)
i dunno about the package, but what a great voice and some good acting, and fuck, the tune Johanna gets my goat everytime . . . . i feel you . . .. . one day, I'll STEAL you .. .. . mercy
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Songs from the Big Chair
as the days pass, longer and longer as the summer stays just out of grasp, i return to the songs of my youth. this song came back into my life a few years ago but I still cannot (or refuse to) shake it from my subconcious. When Orzabal shouts "men of stone!", when Oleta sweetens and covalesces with that harmony that is neither high nor low, just blends in . . . when the faux flutes at the beginning begin the haunting, twisting eighth note ostinato, when the cute bass player with my hair cut frowns at the camera . . . it's all too much, mini-soap opera in 5 minutes that could be taking place next door or in any west european hovel . . . .Oleta, who just seers into 'Get Here' which i tagged under the video, really makes this song, such an evocative power ballad from a group famous for power ballads (Sowing the Seeds of Love (piccolo trumpet!), Shout, Head over Heels, and the 8os song to end all 8os songs, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, all of which I'll probably remark on soon) Sometimes I hear a song that I can't say I know, but when I hear it, I know, I've heard it, it's in my head and I know the words. When I was young I used to leave the radio on at night, and I think I know a lot of music because of that. I know my mind shuts down and my hearing cuts out, but if that actually worked, I think I'm proof.
I adore the line, cross the desert like an Arab man . . .
Friday, May 25, 2007
you can't take it with you
. . . . in light of the events of the past week, after reading this, I don't feel so bad, though the thought of adults acting like little children still shakes my core a little.
"According to a New York Post report, O'Donnell's chief writer, Janette Barber, was allegedly led out of the building on Wednesday after she was caught drawing mustaches on photographs of Hasselbeck in "The View" studios. ABC executives didn't return repeated calls for questions on the incident Friday."
"According to a New York Post report, O'Donnell's chief writer, Janette Barber, was allegedly led out of the building on Wednesday after she was caught drawing mustaches on photographs of Hasselbeck in "The View" studios. ABC executives didn't return repeated calls for questions on the incident Friday."
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
made me smile . . . .
Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church has announced plans to picket the funeral of Reverend Jerry Falwell. They say: "WBC will preach at the memorial service of the corpulent false prophet Jerry Falwell, who spent his entire life prophesying lies and false doctrines like 'God loves everyone'. There is little doubt that Falwell split Hell wide open the instant he died. The evidence is compelling, overwhelming, and irrefragable."
I don't think "irrefragable" is an actual word, but it makes me want to dance my cares, worry, it's for another day, maybe I'll let the music play . . .
On NPR I heard a cute story out of NOLA about KIPP schools, part of the Knowledge is Power Program.
Two little black girls were fighting, and one girl was in the wrong so she apologized, not just to the other girl, but . . .
"Not just the school, but New Orleans. We're supposed to change New Orleans, and how I'm going to change New Orleans if I'm fighting all the time?" she says.
Now I'm gonna go cry over Melissa Doolitte and Coach Asshole Capello some more . . :(
I don't think "irrefragable" is an actual word, but it makes me want to dance my cares, worry, it's for another day, maybe I'll let the music play . . .
On NPR I heard a cute story out of NOLA about KIPP schools, part of the Knowledge is Power Program.
Two little black girls were fighting, and one girl was in the wrong so she apologized, not just to the other girl, but . . .
"Not just the school, but New Orleans. We're supposed to change New Orleans, and how I'm going to change New Orleans if I'm fighting all the time?" she says.
The other students respond to her apology by snapping their fingers in a round of quiet KIPP applause. C'mon, NOLA, forgive this girl already!
Now I'm gonna go cry over Melissa Doolitte and Coach Asshole Capello some more . . :(
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