Sunday, June 10, 2007
gay and lesbian music
I've been blog lazy - due to work and the great weather in Berlin - so much has been going on in our city and Ill be sure to write again in the next weeks: gay/lez street fetival is coming up as well as gay pride.
but today just a link for you: as a musician I really appreciate the Queer Music Heritage website. This guy has put a lot of work and probably years of research into this site! Preserving gay and lesbian history just becoz it has to be done and out of passion and personal beliefs has become rare in these fast paced times..so kudos to JD Doyle, and to say it in slightly modified ABBA words: thank you for the queer music JD!!
Be sure to check out this mp3: Here come the leaping Lesbians! Today it might seem hilarious, but back then in 77 any lez song was a revolution. I heard the Lesbian Concentrate LP for the first time in the early 80s - and although I was ecstatic about an all lesbian record, I was a bit confused about the song title Leaping Lesbians... frogs leap, bunnies leap. and as a young dyke I did a lot of unusual things...but leap? So, funny then and funnier now - and at least another L-word alliteration for the record.
but today just a link for you: as a musician I really appreciate the Queer Music Heritage website. This guy has put a lot of work and probably years of research into this site! Preserving gay and lesbian history just becoz it has to be done and out of passion and personal beliefs has become rare in these fast paced times..so kudos to JD Doyle, and to say it in slightly modified ABBA words: thank you for the queer music JD!!
Be sure to check out this mp3: Here come the leaping Lesbians! Today it might seem hilarious, but back then in 77 any lez song was a revolution. I heard the Lesbian Concentrate LP for the first time in the early 80s - and although I was ecstatic about an all lesbian record, I was a bit confused about the song title Leaping Lesbians... frogs leap, bunnies leap. and as a young dyke I did a lot of unusual things...but leap? So, funny then and funnier now - and at least another L-word alliteration for the record.
Labels: gay, lesbian, music, web stuff
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Drag-Trash de Luxe
Berlin subculture at its best: I recently had a great crazy evening at one of the cities most cool clubs White Trash - my friends from the SqueezeBOX band had invited me to a concert. PMS, the late hour (after midnight) and the freezing temperatures outside almost made me stay at home, but my GF managed to drag me outside, stating that I was about to become a lazy old couch potato, and I'm glad she did! The first act were the Teaserettes - Germany's first burlesque go-go dancers. Their show is incredible, a wonderful blend of dance, art, comedy and sex - and they had the crowd excited and cheering within minutes. The crowd being a colorful mix of gays, dykes, girlies, business men in suits, stylish women with expensive handbags, students who still go grunge style and some scene VIPs - anything goes at the White Trash.
So now finally: the SqueezeBOX band (Berlin edition!).
I guess they are one of the most unusual bands around. Jutta, Mr Wonke and Andrea are the cool dykes on guitar, drums and bass. Then a slim new-wavy kind of guy on the other guitar (sorry, I forgot your name, but you're extremely cool nonetheless!). And finally the leading ladies Gloria Viagra & Sherry Vine (who flew in from New York). Imagine two drag queens (with the most amazing long legs!) rocking the house with their wild repertoire from Pink to ACDC ... they are charming and rude at the same time, need a drink after every song and are sometimes so out of tune, but that really doesn't matter - it's all party party party and even gets the expensive handbags and business suits jumping up and down and screaming the lyrics.
Oh and check out Gloria's website - she has the cutest flash intro I've ever seen.
So now finally: the SqueezeBOX band (Berlin edition!).
I guess they are one of the most unusual bands around. Jutta, Mr Wonke and Andrea are the cool dykes on guitar, drums and bass. Then a slim new-wavy kind of guy on the other guitar (sorry, I forgot your name, but you're extremely cool nonetheless!). And finally the leading ladies Gloria Viagra & Sherry Vine (who flew in from New York). Imagine two drag queens (with the most amazing long legs!) rocking the house with their wild repertoire from Pink to ACDC ... they are charming and rude at the same time, need a drink after every song and are sometimes so out of tune, but that really doesn't matter - it's all party party party and even gets the expensive handbags and business suits jumping up and down and screaming the lyrics.Oh and check out Gloria's website - she has the cutest flash intro I've ever seen.
Labels: berlin, club, concert, music
Friday, June 16, 2006
My iTunes Signature
The Dykes in the City blog had a great idea today: "Hey, let’s all post the songs the iTunes Signature Maker selected from our iTunes collection!"
Which sounded like fun and it is! The list that was created for me was quite a surprise, as I really didn't know that I listen to so much old stuff or sad slow songs... It's a weird mix, but still: good songs. The tool comprised my list from the tunes I've played the most in the last 3 years so it must be true. Try it out and if you do, tell me about it, so I can check out your weird or superb music taste!
My list:
Free Your Mind, En Vogue
A Sorta Fairytale, Tori Amos
Pearl's a Singer, Elkie Brooks
I'm so Excited, The Pointer Sisters,
Sing It Back, Molokko
Symphonie, Silbermond
The Time is Now, Molokko,
This is your Life, Banderas
Leaving on a Jet Plane, Chantal Kreviazuk
Hanging by a Thread, Jann Arden
Maybe, Emma Bunton,
Love will Keep us Together, Captain and Tenille
Emotion, Destiny's Child
Look of Love, Sergio Mendez and Brazil 66
This is the Life, Wendy and Lisa
Fly me to the Moon, Julie London
You and Me, Rosie Thomas
You don't know me, Jann Arden
Paroles, Paroles, Dalida
Willst Du mit mir gehen, Nena
Which sounded like fun and it is! The list that was created for me was quite a surprise, as I really didn't know that I listen to so much old stuff or sad slow songs... It's a weird mix, but still: good songs. The tool comprised my list from the tunes I've played the most in the last 3 years so it must be true. Try it out and if you do, tell me about it, so I can check out your weird or superb music taste!
My list:
Free Your Mind, En Vogue
A Sorta Fairytale, Tori Amos
Pearl's a Singer, Elkie Brooks
I'm so Excited, The Pointer Sisters,
Sing It Back, Molokko
Symphonie, Silbermond
The Time is Now, Molokko,
This is your Life, Banderas
Leaving on a Jet Plane, Chantal Kreviazuk
Hanging by a Thread, Jann Arden
Maybe, Emma Bunton,
Love will Keep us Together, Captain and Tenille
Emotion, Destiny's Child
Look of Love, Sergio Mendez and Brazil 66
This is the Life, Wendy and Lisa
Fly me to the Moon, Julie London
You and Me, Rosie Thomas
You don't know me, Jann Arden
Paroles, Paroles, Dalida
Willst Du mit mir gehen, Nena
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Nothing Gay About the Winner
I have to correct yesterday's entry: Eurovision has a new face.... tonight the European viewers voted a monstrous Finnish metal band who looked like Orks and sung a growling song ( that could have been from any 80s metal sampler by the way) No.1.
The only gay thing about them was that their singer funnily enough had a microphone in the form of a Labyrs, but there it ends my friends. Well at least most others were as tacky as ever but the final vote was a total shock... and the 70s outfits of the contestants were as much horror as I can take.
Brotherhood of Man 1976
Finish group Lordi 2006
The only gay thing about them was that their singer funnily enough had a microphone in the form of a Labyrs, but there it ends my friends. Well at least most others were as tacky as ever but the final vote was a total shock... and the 70s outfits of the contestants were as much horror as I can take.
Brotherhood of Man 1976
Finish group Lordi 2006
Labels: Eurovision, music
Friday, May 19, 2006
Eurovision - Tacky, Camp and sooo Gay
If you're visiting Berlin this weekend be sure not to miss the Finals of the Eurovision Song Contest!
It will be shown on big screens in every other gay and lesbian bar in town. For a large part of the gay crowd the ESC is the sub-cultural highlight of the year. Forget the World Cup - Eurovision singers' outrageously horrid fashion and tacky dance performances beat 22 hairy legs by far!
Many of the wannabe-Ricky-Martin male singers do not succeed in hiding the obvious: I'm gay!
Dykes have come to be a rare sight at the annual contest as some countries nowadays tend to enter singers who look like anorexic barbie dolls (hoping to get some votes for the sexy factor, if the song is plain boring or bad).
At least we had 2004 winner Ruslana who could have won a Xena lookalike contest. And then there was Sestre (sisters), an entry from Slovenia. Three drag queens dressed up as trolley dolleys was a perfect scandal and a lot of fun!
Israel has won this contest 3 times and as an Israeli fan once told me: the first winner was a gay guy, winner number two was the band Milk and Honey that featured a lesbian singer and then 1998 saw transsexual Dana International win with her disco-anthem DIVA. Don't even start to ask why on earth Israel is in a European contest...the ESC's history is long and complex!
Visit rainbownetwork to find out what really makes the Eurovision Song Contest such a gay event.
Just for the record, my favourites this year are Turkey's Sibil Tüzün with Süperstar - the next European gay anthem if you ask me - and Germany's Texas Lightning, who actually have the crazy guts to sing a country song and wear country-band outfits. They also stand out for me because singer Jane Comerford is probably a good 40 plus (and then plus) - a great antipole to the mainly 20ish girlies that will be performing on Saturday.
Song of the Day: Boom bang-a-bang, LULU - 1969 Eurovision winner
.
It will be shown on big screens in every other gay and lesbian bar in town. For a large part of the gay crowd the ESC is the sub-cultural highlight of the year. Forget the World Cup - Eurovision singers' outrageously horrid fashion and tacky dance performances beat 22 hairy legs by far!
Many of the wannabe-Ricky-Martin male singers do not succeed in hiding the obvious: I'm gay!
Dykes have come to be a rare sight at the annual contest as some countries nowadays tend to enter singers who look like anorexic barbie dolls (hoping to get some votes for the sexy factor, if the song is plain boring or bad).
At least we had 2004 winner Ruslana who could have won a Xena lookalike contest. And then there was Sestre (sisters), an entry from Slovenia. Three drag queens dressed up as trolley dolleys was a perfect scandal and a lot of fun!
Israel has won this contest 3 times and as an Israeli fan once told me: the first winner was a gay guy, winner number two was the band Milk and Honey that featured a lesbian singer and then 1998 saw transsexual Dana International win with her disco-anthem DIVA. Don't even start to ask why on earth Israel is in a European contest...the ESC's history is long and complex!
Visit rainbownetwork to find out what really makes the Eurovision Song Contest such a gay event.
Just for the record, my favourites this year are Turkey's Sibil Tüzün with Süperstar - the next European gay anthem if you ask me - and Germany's Texas Lightning, who actually have the crazy guts to sing a country song and wear country-band outfits. They also stand out for me because singer Jane Comerford is probably a good 40 plus (and then plus) - a great antipole to the mainly 20ish girlies that will be performing on Saturday.
Song of the Day: Boom bang-a-bang, LULU - 1969 Eurovision winner
.
Labels: Eurovision, music
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Video still kills the Radio Star
I've been blog-lazy..and why? Of course too much work but also because I've been hooked to Google Idol...it's totally stupid and totally fun. Watching teenagers lip-syncing to any kind of pop song - who needs it?! Well obviously we all need a break from shiny want-to-be-perfect American Idol and similar shows.
Gidol then took me to Google Video which is even better, just enter lip-sync into the search and you'll get even worse pop-star-wannabees. My favourites at the moment are these two girls lip syncing to Beep... if only I had had a webcam when I was a kid (or even Internet for that matter)... it so beats using a hairbrush as a microphone and singing into the mirror when noone is watching.
Enjoy!
Gidol then took me to Google Video which is even better, just enter lip-sync into the search and you'll get even worse pop-star-wannabees. My favourites at the moment are these two girls lip syncing to Beep... if only I had had a webcam when I was a kid (or even Internet for that matter)... it so beats using a hairbrush as a microphone and singing into the mirror when noone is watching.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Dalbello has Brains... Let's Blog!
Last night I was at a party and suddenly "Let's Tango" was blazing out of the stereo, which made me quite ecstatic because back in 1987 this song by Dalbello was my favorite and as with all great songs it still had that power and made me scream along with the chorus (making everyone in the room jump out of their skin!)... wondering what became of Dalbello I just did some research and found out: she has a blog here at blogspot!!
And an intelligent one too... if you're into politics and like people who speak their mind you should visit her blog at Voxpopgirl
The funny thing: she links to some of the same sights about the Middle East as my friends at M and J Adventures
Blogworld is so small at times... There is the theory that you only have to know 6 people to actually know the world (Six Degrees of Separation theory by Stanley Milgram). I wonder if the Web and blogs will change that? Anyway this original theory is being tested on the Web and it's a cool project called Small World Project
L World viewers will know the sexual variation of the Six Degrees of Seperation from the The L Word Chart
I've tried this out in Berlin and it actually works... left a woman in shock who thought she had nothing to do with the local scene here, when we proved that she was actually linked to at least 30 women she didn't even know!
SONG OF THE DAY MUST BE: LET'S TANGO
And an intelligent one too... if you're into politics and like people who speak their mind you should visit her blog at Voxpopgirl
The funny thing: she links to some of the same sights about the Middle East as my friends at M and J Adventures
Blogworld is so small at times... There is the theory that you only have to know 6 people to actually know the world (Six Degrees of Separation theory by Stanley Milgram). I wonder if the Web and blogs will change that? Anyway this original theory is being tested on the Web and it's a cool project called Small World Project
L World viewers will know the sexual variation of the Six Degrees of Seperation from the The L Word Chart
I've tried this out in Berlin and it actually works... left a woman in shock who thought she had nothing to do with the local scene here, when we proved that she was actually linked to at least 30 women she didn't even know!
SONG OF THE DAY MUST BE: LET'S TANGO
Labels: Celebrities, music
