A Very Disco Christmas

Since it is Friday and the start of the pre-holiday weekend, I was looking to find some music that might propel us into the weekend and the holiday spirit, all at the same time. And I was lucky enough to find a track I didn't even know existed to kick off the proceedings. I thought I knew all the songs released by the Village People, and, in fact, had most of them. Well, they fooled me, for I was not aware of a Christmas release, and could only find a version of "Disco Santa Claus", a campy take on their hits "Y.M.C.A." and "Macho Man". After a bit of research, I discovered it wasn't the Village People at all, but a sound-alike group called Holiday Express. They have adapted the lyrics, and spell out "N.O.E.L.", although I am not sure I would know the arm motions to spell it out! Please enjoy the Village People singing "Disco Santa (Santa Claus/N.O.E.L.)".

My remaining selections for the come from bands not nearly as well known, but still making sparkling Disco nonetheless. The Roller Disco Orchestra take on a song written in 1934 by composer Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard B. Smith, "Winter Wonderland". The song has been sung by many, but none with quite the flair in this recording. I hope you enjoy the recording of "Winter Wonderland" by the Roller Disco Orchestra.

The Hit Crew was a name used by a record label who put out many sound-alike covers of songs, and released on cheaper albums of so-called hits. But they also seem to want to take advantage of more than just the summer hits, for they did some interesting holiday covers as well. They did a Disco cover of "Silver Bells", the holiday classic written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, and first introduced by Bob Hope in the 1950 film, 'The Lemon Drop Kid'. I hope you enjoy this cover of "Silver Bells" by The Hit Crew.

Finally, there is also a Disco version of the Rock=influenced "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree", a song written by Johnny Marks and recorded by Brenda Lee in 1958. The song combined the sound and feel of Rock and Pop music, with a nod to the contemporary Christmas songs being made at the time. A couple of decades later, the holiday themed Mistletoe Disco Band added the song to their repertoire, and gave the Christmas classic a new sound. This is "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" by the Mistletoe Disco Band.

Have a great weekend!

Dance, Dance Evolution

Clockwise: Village People, RuPaul, Sir Ari Gold, and Brian Kent.

For my inspiration today, I decided to take a look at the last four decades, and pick a song I really loved to show an evolution of dance through the years. I have chosen songs that are in my iTunes collection. The artists are also very talented members of the LGBT community. There was a wealth of music from which to choose, so it wasn't the easiest post to put together, but it was very fun. I got to listen to many songs not posted here, which made me very happy. I will start with the 1980s, the first decade I took on. There was a wealth of great music, with the great Sylvester, Bronski Beat, Culture Club, and many others I remember calling me to the dance floor. But I finally settled on a song that was released in 1980, from a group that bridged the 1970s and the 1980s. That group was the Village People, icons of the disco era. When Victor Willis, Felipe Rose, Alex Briley, Glenn Hughes, David Hodo, and Randy Jones got together to sing, little could hold them back. As the cop, the Indian, the soldier, the leatherman, the construction worker, and the cowboy thrilled audiences with classic hits like "Y.M.C.A.", "Macho Man" "In The Navy" and others. In 198O, they released the title cut from a new album, as well as a movie by the same name. "Can't Stop the Music" was written by Jacques Morali, the mastermind behind the group. But once the boys got hold of it, it was totally theirs! And, before I forget, happy birthday, Randy 'Cowboy' Jones! You can see when you watch the music video for the Village People singing "Can't Stop the Music".

Now I will move on to the next decade, the 1990s. This was another decade with a ton of music I got to listen to, before I made a the tough decision. But I finally decided to go with song from 1992 by the drag queen who continues to set the standard for all, RuPaul. "Supermodel (You Better Work)" was written by RuPaul, Jimmy Harry, and Larry Tee. The song went to #45 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #! on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. The music video also took MTV (when it used to play music) by storm, going into regular play on the rotation. While Nirvana and Pearl Jam were ruling the airwaves, one very special drag queen stepped up to be heard. Please enjoy RuPaul singing "Supermodel (You Better Work)".

The next decade once again plunged me into a deep pool of wonderful music, including some of my favorite artists. What tipped the scales for me was the absolute positive message of this song. So I pikced the 2007 release by the handsome Brian Kent, "Breathe Life". It is the title cut off a wonderful album, and a glorious music video, too. The driving beat disguises the love and good offered by the song for only a few seconds. I swear, just playing this song makes my day a little brighter. I hope you feel the same way when you watch the music video for "Breathe Life".

And while my final pick has only a pool of songs that is far short of a decade, I still had more than enough songs to listen to. I had several favorites, but decided to go with Sir Ari Golds latest single and video, featuring "Play My F**kn' Record". The song was first heard off his wonderful album, 'Between the Spirit & the Flesh', Gold worked with filmmaker Francis Legge, and the result was both 2D and 3D version, with include cameo appearances by Michael Musto, Michael Lucas, Peppermint, Meital as Gaga, Jamie Drake, Manilla Luzon, Dwayne Milan, Lovari, Eddy Barrena, MEG, Antonio Minopoli, Sherry Vine & Ari's Mom! Enjoy watching "Play My F**kn' Record"!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday, Cowboy!

Randy Jones was born on this day in Raleigh, North Carolina. After completing high school, he went to North Carolina School of the Arts, and then, like many gay men are wont to do, set his sites on New York City in the early 1970s. While striving to find work as an actor and singer, Jones went to auditions held by Jacques Morali and his business partner, Henri Belolo. They had been writing and producing music featuring vocals by Victor Willis, using the group name Village People. Although some might have thought it unusual, the group was formed after the success of their first hit single, "San Fransisco (You Got Me)". In fact, Victor Willis and Filipe Rose, were the first on board, with three other men who were quickly replaced by, David Hodo, Glenn Hughes and, of course, Randy Jones.



The group shot to fame in the late 1970s, with iconic hits like "Y.M.C.A.", "In The Navy", "Can't Stop The Music", and "Macho Man" playing everywhere from the radio to the clubs. While their popularity waned in the early 1980s, they continued to perform on tours, and often playing fundraisers for AIDs charities and Pride functions. In 1991, founder Morali lost his battle with AIDs, but the group continued to do their good work. In 2007, Jones released a solo project, an album of dance music called Ticket To The World. The album featured covers of some of the great Pop hits of the last few decades, as well as some new music. I have to admit, I was unable to resist the urge, and it is a proud part of my music collection. Check out a sample of what you could find on the album.



In 2004, Jones married his partner of 20 years, Will Grega, in a ceremony in New York City. While it might not have carried any legal rights, it certainly carried great emotional and spiritual weight for the couple. To learn more about Randy Jones, visit his official website. You can also check out and purchase Ticket To The World on iTunes and Amazon.

Happy Veteran's Day

Clockwise from Top Left: Judy Garland, Vocal Majority, Village People & Marine Corps All-Star Jazz Band.

As we in the United States give our thanks to the men and women who have served this country in the armed forces. And by saying that, I mean all people, gay and str8. I thought I would try to celebrate it the way I do best here at this blog, with music. I will start with something I can think of little to say, and here is why. This is a clip of Judy Garland sings The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Amazing!



The choral group Vocal Majority is an amazing Dallas-based group that has won countless titles in competitions all over. Here is a clip of them celebrating the armed forces in a medley of the songs from each of the branches.



The Marine Corps All-Star Jazz Band has a wonderful tribute to the forces a couple of years ago, playing a jazz version of the Marine Hymn. Although it might not have a bunch of sexy dancing, it was still a delight and quite fun.



Of course, I would be unable to do this post without the tribute to the armed forces from the Village People, and their iconic In The Navy. I would have to think the appearance on the battleship was not endorsed by the Navy, but the flag routine is worth the cost of admission!



Happy Veteran's Day!

Worth Another Listen • Village People

The tales and rumors about the 6-man group known as Village People are many, to be sure. As legend has it, French music producer Jacques Morali was in a gay club in Greenwich Village and became fascinated by dancer Felipe Rose, a go-go boy wearing a Native American costume. This was 1977, the height of Disco, the year Saturday Night Fever was released. Jacques brought an idea to business associate Henri Belolo, with the idea to make a group. One of the first on board was lead singer, Victor Willis, who adopted the police officer costume. Willis was a straight singer/songwriter who had previously worked with Morali. He was married to Phylicia Ayers-Allen, who played Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show. There was also Felipe, who was the Native American, Randy Jones who played the cowboy, Glenn Hughes who was so convincing as the biker, David Hodo with his construction worker costume, and Alex Briley, the G.I. The idea of the group was to capitalize on the Disco movement that had it's roots in the gay clubs, and put together a group of men wearing archetypal masculine images, often the objects of fantasies of the gay men. Actually, recording began before the costing was complete, and in the early appearances of Village People, the construction worker, cowboy and biker were played by others. But soon the group was together, and making music together.


Top: The originals. Bottom: The replacement cast.

The music was filled with innuendo and double-entendre, sure to make many smile, and to allow those who prefer to be in the dark, stay there. Well, after a couple of club hits, which was the intent of the group, they released the single Macho Man in 1978. This is really the first time I remember hearing of the group, which was actually getting mainstream play with the song. In fact, Macho Man made it to #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.



While many believed the success of Macho Man was just a blip, the group released YMCA next, and it astoundingly made it to #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Slick and coy, the song is all but an advertisement for gay sex in the showers of the YMCA. And, it should be noted that over 30 years later, when the opening bars of the song is played at a wedding reception or a sporting event, people of all ages get up to dance and spell it out.



On the heels of those hits, they released the album Go West in 1979. The first single followed the route of the others, finding it's way up the Billboard chart. It wasn't long before In The Navy was #2 on the chart, and a new video featuring the boys, the US Navy and a battleship were in the mix.



As the furor about Disco music came to a head in 1979/1980, with the screams of "Disco Sucks" and the crushing of Disco albums by angry white men at a sporting event, producers readied a movie about the group called Can't Stop The Music. Before that started, Victor Willis left the group, and was replaced by Ray Simpson, brother of successful songwriter/Pop singer Valerie Simpson. There is the ironic factor that the guy how originally played the police officer later has quite the record with the authorities. The soundtrack featured the song Can't Stop The Music, which made it to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, despite the film's ultimate failure.



The failure of the film was a clear signal of the end of an era. The term 'Disco' was put away, and Dance music was the new term. At the end of 1980, Randy Jones left the group, pursuing his own projects. Than includes a 2007 solo project of dance music that found it's way into my collection. He also married his partner in 2004, which while illegal then, can now be made legal. In 1996, Biker Glenn Hughes retired from performing, and passed away in 2001. Although rumors were rife about his passing, it was after a battle with lung cancer. Rose, Hodo and Briley remain with the group today, often performing at fundraisers and nostalgia events. The music is still popular, and played all the time. And it could be argued that the music is some of the first 'gay' music by gay men to be accepted by the mainstream. To learn more about Village People, check out their official website here.

Happy Veterans Day!

Clockwise from Top Left: White Christmas scene, Cher, Village People & Gene Simmons & Friends.

As we in the United States give our thanks to the men and women who have served this country in the armed forces. And by saying that, I mean all people, gay and str8. I thought I would try to celebrate it the way I do best here at this blog, with music. One of my favorite military-themed musical numbers comes from the movie White Christmas. The song, Gee, I Wish I Was Back In The Army, featured the musical talents of Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. It had quite the sense of humor, and some fun music and props!



Of course, few tributes to the men and women in the armed forces could top Cher's in her video for If I Could Turn Back Time. I mean, what means military more than an aircraft carrier, a group of sailers in their dress whites, a woman in a body stocking with a well-placed ribbon and a leather jacket? Not to mention the rather large and protruding artillery...



Gene Simmons had his own tribute to the armed forces a couple of years ago, although it was not as sexy as Cher's, it was still heart-felt and quite fun.



Of course, I would be unable to do this post without the tribute to the armed forces from the Village People, and their iconic In The Navy. Unlike in Cher's video, I would have to think the appearance on the battleship was not endorsed by the Navy, but the flag routine is worth the cost of admission!



Happy Veteran's Day!

Friday Night Party Mix - Dressin' Up

Clockwise from Top Left: The Village People, Dead Or Alive, Oingo Boingo and Culture Club.

Back in the day, you couldn't imagine having a hit song without a really good frock. Yes, I am speaking back in the 70s and 80s, when some of the costumes were a source of campy humor, or a statement to a world that might have just been ready to think about what the performers had to say. Take, for instance, The Village People. The Cop. The Cowboy. The Indian. The Biker. The Construction Worker. The Marine. Given this information, you might guess them to be rough and tumble me, ready for a brawl. But that wasn't the case, as it was a powerhouse disco group of the 70s and 80s, The Village People. This is their hit, YMCA.



Frontman Pete Burns put it all out there when he was performing with Dead Or Alive. He took the gender-bender craze to a different level when the stunning and provocative singer announced he was not a drag queen, but transgender and was starting to transition from man to woman. But that came after they had their big hit, You Spin Me Round.



Boy George certainly didn't shy away from the gender-bending issue, with a high-style make-up and long dreads. He certainly made a statement from the first time Culture Club was noticed and has never looked back. Here they are performing a dance hit, War.



Danny Elfman put together a band that was high on theater, but every bit as high on musical freedom. Oingo Boingo might have had a big hit with Weird Science, but the perfect Halloween song was Dead Man's Party. This was a bunch of str8 men who could rock a costume!



There you have it, four different bands whose costumes were at home on the stage, but could be equally inspiring at any Halloween parade. Hope you enjoyed!