While most of you know EG Daily as Dottie in Pee Wee's Big Adventure, the topless friend in Valley Girl, Rick Soloman's first wife, or as the voice of Tommy on the Rugrats, many hundreds of gay 39 year old men know her as the songstress who's second hit Love In the Shadows explained to us that annoymous loving in an alleyway wasn't just for perverts anymore!
(sorry about the link, the video on YouTube had no embedded code, so you get the stills. but thanks to the guy who put it together!)
Really! Listen to the words. She's all about hooking up. No love. No foreplay. Just do me baby. Now! I can't imagine why us gays loved her so, or why it was not a hit in Topeka.
I won't go on and on about how Harold (Axel F) Faultemeyer produced it, or that on her 40th birthday, 3 planes killed thousands. That's what Wikipedia is for. Gays, do your research. I'm going for a walk...in the Shadows.
"I need secrets in the dark, love in the shadows,
Passion burning out from under my skin, Take me for a ride until the night time's over,
Ya, I said it and you're not going to like it but you're going to take it like a man. I wasn't always the industrial listening, Depeche loving, Prince appreciating man you see today. I was once a Missourian. And I loved Jerky, T-Tops, and the super group Asia. I even had the poster you see above. Right on my bedroom wall right next to a poster of Rob Halford with a leather bulge. Hey, wait. Am I gay? Oh, ya, right. Totally.
Don't scoff. They were a supergroup. You know why they were good? They were SUPER. It's right there in the description. Lead singer John Wetton was from King Crimson, Steve Howe was from Yes, Carl Palmer was from ELP, and Geoff Downes was from The Buggles. Their music was slick and powerful and not a flaw to be found. Their debut album had tons of hits (Heat of the Moment, Only Time Will Tell) and was the #1 selling album of 1982 -- even I find that shocking. The second CD, Alpha, contained Don't Cry and The Smile has left your eyes. Their last moment of goodness was the track Go, easily their best track, from their forgettable third CD, Astra. After that I lost track as these fogies were too haggard to be on MTV with hotties like Duran Duran and Madonna ready for their close ups.
In the end, the men of Asia are pretty much forgotten as they never fell into a good, retro-radio category like Metal, Soft Rock, or New Wave. They're just part of that crappy pre-wave 80's era populated by Christopher Cross, Toto, and Kim Carnes. We miss you, but stay in our memories, Asia.
I'll leave you with my friend Matt (currently on tour!). The only other man I could confess this love to (besides all you on the world wide interweb).
It would be EASY for me to pick a song from the Solid Gold archives week after week. But , NO. I want us to relive the magic together. And a HUGE part of the magic was the Solid Gold Dancers! SO this week I am shining a spotlight on Beverly Jeanne and a montage of her Greatest Moves.
Beverly was a sassy slice of 1980's sex wasn't she?
I seriously can't believe this isn't still on the air.
During the week, we have a strict daily post schedule with we (Chad mostly) sticks to, but we have the weekends open for topics that don't fit the criteria.
I have 3 kinds of friends when it comes to mashups: Hate them (alot), love them (a few) and "have no idea what a mashup is". I'd like to reach out to the 1st and 3rd. I know the haters remember those tragic early ones from a few years ago when anyone on Limewire could download mixing tools and put Missy over Metallica and put it up on the file sharing site. Most, well almost all, were horrible. But they've really evolved. Some of the best mashups can slowly take 2 or more songs and merge them into one seamless audible image. The best are usually more than 4. You'll know a good one when it sounds like one song, not 4. Take for instance this one, my favorite - How Six Songs Collide by Norwegian Recycling.
www.myspace.com/norwegianrecycling
This does the impossible, mixes 6 songs, of which only 2 I like, and creates a gorgeous listenable collage. By then end, all 6 are playing over each other and you don't realize it unless you really really pay attention. Amazing ear.
2 others to check out real quick are DJ Earwork (thanks to my brother for that one) and Girl Talk. Earworm has all his for free download . Make sure you get his Stairway to Bootleg Heaven (Dolly Parton, Pat Benatar, Laurie Anderson, Beatles, Eurythmics) and Since U Been Gahan that mixes Photographic by Depeche Mode with Since U Been Gone. Amazing, but you need to listen to the whole song to appreciate it.
Girl Talk (who I'm seeing with George in November) is a bit trickier. He's actually Glitch Pop that goes one step further and just takes little samples of songs and layers way more in the course of one song creating more cacophony than music. But bootie shaking nonetheless. http://www.myspace.com/girltalk
Dorky, behind the scenes of how Greg (Girl Talk) makes a mashup.
So in 1995 I was OBSESSED with all things England. Actually not much has changed. Anyways- Shampoo WAS 1995. "Trouble" was a song that I SHOULD feel guilty for liking. I don't. Imagine that.
Ace video featuring all the best bits about London @ night... Have a gander. Cheers! Ok, I'll stop now.
Much like NSync did to New Kids on the Block, so did The Spice Girls to Total Coelo, taking a poorly executed attempt at pop, refine it, hire better talent and make billions. Not that I don't love this Kiwi import from 1982. I think their one hit I Eat Cannibals is an addicting little slice of faux-jungle pop. And its about eating people for some unknown reason!
Total C never even did a full CD. They had one more single and then made a compilation of the 2 singles, Bsides, and other unreleased crap. Talk about embracing your one-hittness. I actually own their "greatests hits". Much like T'Pau and Dream Academy, don't soil your memory by delving deeper than I Eat Cannibals.
When talking about Underrated and Underexposed bands of my past, I have to start out with one of MY personal favourites VOICE OF THE BEEHIVE.
Now, for me, its kinda weird calling them underexposed. This band was HUGE in So Cal when I was growing up. It was only when I moved to Chicago that I learned that next to no one knows them! :(
If you don't know them start with "I Say Nothing" off the Let It Bee album.
Our "Guilty Pleasures" entires will probably be the MOST FUN we will have on this blog. You have stumbled upon some people with some serious musical diversity.I mean look at what this blog has already: Melissa Manchester and Front 242. I dare you to find that kind of hot match anywhere on the web. You won't. I promise you.
Britney has dropped her "real comeback", and I love it. It's a campy electro purr-fest in which Ms. Thang calls out a HOT "WOMANIZER". I'm loving the song. Now lets talk about the video. Brit-Brit sure knows who is paying her bills. The gay boys are. And she caught this one hook, line, and sinker. The video has everything we want from Britney. A 110% better B (naked, no less), a hot boy, and some campy dancing. Check,Check and CHECK!
Nice to have you back girl.
Next for me? I'll be back on my New Wave bandwagon, I promise. But I heart the ladies. Melissa and Britney brought the heat. I had to salute.
This is the first posting for what we're calling Dance Hall Days, a look back at the songs we were shaking our perky young butts to back in the day.
Wow, I've never seen this video. I abhor Anton Corbijn (see Depeche Mode), but this song still gets me going. Completely timeless in my opinion. Its one of those tracks that sets a high point early on in their career that you can never meet up to. It just sounds so fresh and angry. The rest of their material all sounded like it was a cheap copy of Headhunter. In fact, I'm guessing they remixed this one like 20 times since. Stop it
This post is going WAY OUT there. But hey- Thats what Marc and I are when it comes to music. Don't expect any one blog to set the tone. Just when you think you will have us pinned down BAM!: Melissa Manchester may make another appearance. Consider it a warning my friends.
When I was young, Solid Gold ruled my weekends. The top pop hits. Gold Lame' tights on all the dancers. Marilyn McCoo (and later Dion Warwick!!! AHHH!) What more could a blossoming gay boy in suburbia need?
So it is with GREAT PLEASURE that I inaugurate this blog with a STELLAR performance by Melissa Manchester. This song won her a Grammy for Best Female Vocalist Performance in 1982. I still love this song today. Seriously, one of these pop-tarts out there now should be covering some of this.....
Now you know the origin of Morrissey's retort; "Oh Manchester, so much to answer for !!!"
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