New Music - Telling On Trixie - Ugly, Broke & Sober

When I first saw the video for Orion's Light on LOGO, I thought it was a cool song, nice video, but got a little annoyed that MTV was in the process of making LOGO an outlet for MTV videos, and not supporting LGBT acts enough. But, dammit, I liked the song and then heard Halfway Back To Sane, a rockin' song that really grabbed me. So, I begrudgingly bought the CD, and started to look into them. The band could rock it out, and the soaring and textured vocals of the lead singer were fantastic. The sound bounded back and forth between the anthemic 80s stadium rock to power ballads. I was digging them. I have long loved good rock music [Led Zeppelin still rules], but grew tired of being looked at as the wimpy gay dude who lost his bearings on the way to the Gloria Gaynor concert.



It was then the light shone down on me. I was reading articles and interviews, and found out that lead singer Derek Nicoletto was yet another out gay man, playing with a bunch of hot str8 boys. He spoke about the birth of the child he and his partner and how that effected things. It was a revelation for me, and I was excited. I turned all fan grrrlie on him, and wrote a gushing note of appreciation, and he was kind enough to reply and not ask that I be prevented from attending any future shows. And guess what, that is Jack Mackenroth in the Orion's Light video! And those str8 boys are not only cool, they are effing hot!



While figuring out how to put out a second CD, the unsigned band put together the website, bandwithaplan.com, focused on raising money and keeping fans in the loop about what is to come. And if you gave money, your name was listed in the liner notes for the new CD. Yes, I gave money. If we don't support the music we like, how do we expect to hear more of it?



So the 2nd CD, Ugly, Broke & Sober, came out, and has some amazing music. A.N.F.O. is a flat out rocker, the driving beat and lyrics that include 'I didn't mean to slap that queen, I didn't mean to kiss my ex, I didn't mean to push that fratboy or the driver of the taxi. Hand me a hammer, babe, give me some good ammo, hand me a hammer baby, ANFO.'



The CD also has a great cover of the Belinda Carlyle tune, Mad About You - yes, I had the Belinda CD - and the guitar-driven Eden (Take A Bite). The first single out was Crash Me Up, a light and frothy pop tune. The video was made with the help of fans, who sent in tape of themselves playing with a red ball, and put together by the band.



Both the first CD, Telling On Trixie, and Ugly, Broke & Sober are great fun, well worth buying if you like rock. You can find out more about Telling on Trixie at their website.

International Music - Ivri Lider

I found Ivri Lider in the oddest of ways. I saw and loved a movie titled Yossi & Jagger and loved it. It was a film by Israeli director Eytan Fox, and quite beautiful. The soundtrack was very good, and the main theme was written and performed by Ivri Lider. I found the song and DL'ed it, and went to find more information on Lider.



I soon discovered Ivri Lider is an out and proud Israeli Pop/Rock star, one of the biggest selling musical acts in Israeli in the past decade. He is a writer/producer as well, helping many other artists. He also has worked on many of the films of Eytan Fox, including the lastest, a fantastic movie titled The Bubble. And I am shallow enough to admit I think he is very hot.



Ivri is working on an English language CD, rumored to be coming out at the end of 2009. He has released a couple of songs in English, from the translated Bo (Your Soul) to The Man I Love from the movie soundtrack to The Bubble, to Jesse, an intoxicating song that I swear bored a place in my brain and makes me listen.



Recently, Ivri answered the dare of a radio personality and did a cover version of Katy Perry's I Kissed A Girl, even shooting a video. It is fantastic. If he records music as good as this and Jesse, I hope this CD is a success. I will certainly be purchasing it!



You can find more photos and information about Ivri Lider at his website.

Worth Another Listen - Paul Lekakis

From Soundtrack to my Day

Back in 1987, a song hit the clubs that had everyone dancing. The song was Boom Boom (Let's Go Back To My Room) and it was impossible not to run to the dance floor. It was sung by Paul Lekakis, the stunningly handsome Nordic God. I ran out and bought the single, but had to wait to buy the CD, Tattoo It. But I did buy it first chance I got. I still listen from time to time, grooving to the sound of My House, One Step Closer, and others. From the coy You Blow Me Away to vibrantly sexy You Know You Want It, not to mention the beat-driven Are You Man Enough and Tattoo It On Me. This CD was meant to put a party in your pants - an easy feat if you took one look at the cover shots.



Paul went on to do movies - like Circuit and Sex, Politics & Cocktails - and a variety of shows in regional theater and Pride events around the world. And he still does music, having the singles Let It Out, Assume The Position and (I Need A) Vacation, all of which are in my collection. Just last year, I purchased a video collection of his songs, including a video shot to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Boom Boom. I also received a couple of signed photographs with the package, warming the cockles of, among other places, my heart.



Never particularly in the closet, Lekakis talked openly in the 90s about being HIV Positive, and continues to do work in that community. He has certainly kept himself in top shape, and looks even hotter now than he did when he first come on the scene.

From Soundtrack to my Day

You can find more pictures and information at Paul's website.

New Purchase - Daniel Boys - So Close

UPDATE: See New Post here.

So, after waiting far too long, I received the package from the internet store in London with my autographed copy of So Close, the first release from Daniel Boys. I first learned of Daniel from duets with John Barrowman. Later I discovered he was on the British program Any Dream Will Do, a reality program to cast the London revival of Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. In fact, Barrowman was a judge on the show, which is how he 'discovered' Daniel. It just recently ran on BBCAmerica [the home of my favorite show - Torchwood], and I watched up to the point Daniel was eliminated by a snitty Andrew Lloyd Webber [if I needed any more reasons to dislike ALW, there would be more than enough in the weeks I watched this show]. Frankly, Daniel was my favorite and thought he left too early, but can't say I missed watching the show. He is currently on the West End, playing Princeton and Rod in Avenue Q at the Gielgud Theater, for which he won Theatergoers Award for Best Takeover Role.


So, that is my 'history' with Daniel, in a nutshell. For me, he is handsome, talented, seemingly nice, and openly gay, all things that work for me. When I learned he was releasing a CD, I went online and ordered it. I figure chances are slim I will see him performing live, so might as well spend a little extra to import So Close and buy the autographed copy! I like it very much. Daniel has an excellent voice, with a nice mix of a strong tenor with a sweet vibrato. The songs are a mix of pop tunes infused with a bit of the theatrical. The title song is quite nice, with a sweetness and honesty I appreciate. One Day More is an uptempo pop tune that is both catchy and surprisingly wordy. Better Than I is a rangy pop song, and Daniel's falsetto is more than up for the task [it's kinda amazing, really].


They Don't Make Glass Slippers is flirting with being overly melodramatic, but when all is said and done, he pulls it off. There is a sweetness in his tone that makes it work for me. His cover of the country song I Hope You Dance is quite nice. Again, the purity of the vocals and the delivery works so very well. Lullaby (Goodnight My Angel) is just gorgeous. By Billy Joel, it is one of his better songs, and Daniel does a fantastic job with it. Un Da Llegara is a beautiful song, sung beautifully. Can't say much more - except it is one of my favorites on the CD. Always There, a song from the show Secret Garden, is certainly good, although not stellar. It builds rather nicely, although the background chorus seems a tad out of place.

Everything, the Micheal Buble song, is a bit on the irritating side, but I will say I like Daniel's version far more than the original. But I do find Buble annoying, so perhaps I am not the best judge. Daniel brings it more uptempo, both in speed and temporament. Daniel was not nearly as successful with John Denver's endlessly overplayed Annie's Song, because, if we were being honest, does anyone really need to sing that ever again? I mean, come on. I surely hope there is a reason it was even considered, let alone recorded.


The CD opens and closes with shortened versions of Nature Boy, a song written in the 1940s, which recieves interesting albeit odd treatment. It opens with the hiss of an old turntable/record with a few scratchy/ticky moments, a sound only revisited by the reprise at the end. Not exactly sure about the nature of this particular statement, but have opted to let that big question go.


On the whole, I enjoyed the CD and it is already on the iPod. I am listening as I type this up. I like Daniel's voice, neither too rich nor too thin in quality, but with a strong range. At times he might slip into over-enunciation, often found in theater performers. While I don't see myself jumping on a plane and flying to the UK to catch him in concert, I am certainly a fan and can't wait to see what will happen next for him, be it another tour with John Barrowman [and YouTube videos!], another West End show, and just maybe another CD. You can find out more about Daniel at his website.

Chess in Concert: Interview with Josh Groban | Great Performances | PBS

Chess In Concert is playing on PBS on Wednesday night, and I will be glued to the TV. Besides Groban, it also stars Adam Pascal [of Rent fame] and Idina Menzel [the lucky beyatch married to Taye Diggs].



OK, I ordered this on DVD because Josh Groban is spectacular. When he sings 'Anthem,' it sends chills up my spine.

Chess in Concert: Interview with Josh Groban | Great Performances | PBS

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The Amazing Jimmy Somerville

Before there was American Idol and Adam Lambert, there was an extremely gifted and out singer named Jimmy Somerville.



He was the lead vocalist for the Bronski Beat and The Communards before he embarked on a solo career. Like Lambert, he was known for his amazing range and fearless use in soaring vocals. The difference is that Jimmy was forming the Bronski Beat the year Lambert was born. Somerville moved easily between Hi N-R-G mixes, to blues-inspired ballads. There was the amazing Why? and Smalltown Boy, and the soulful Need A Man Blues and It Ain't Necessarily So while with the Bronski Beat. The Communards had sucess with dance hits Don't Leave Me This Way and Never Can Say Goodbye as well as the AIDS-inspired ballad, For A Friend.



Jimmy never stood behind a coy answer about his sexuality. And unlike Elton John, he wwas never 'married' nor transitioned with the cover of being bisexual. Of course, that might be tough when he was singing songs like There's More To Love Than Boy Meets Girl and Read My Lips (Enough Is Enough). Most of the songs he sang he had either co-written or wrote himself. In the mid 90s, he took some tie off and left England for San Fransisco to work in the AIDS community projects so he could bring what he learned back to England.



This year, Jimmy released his 6th solo project, Suddenly Last Summer, available only as a digital download from iTunes. It is a collection of acoustic covers of songs he found on his iPod, ranging from the flirty My Heart Belongs to Daddy to the Blondie song Hangin' On The Telephone, to a heart wrenching a cappella version of (Sometimes I Fell Like A) Motherless Child, recorded live for a crowd demanding yet another encore. His Walking After Midnight owns more to anonymous sex and tea rooms than it does to Patsy Cline's original. For me, it is great to hear him sing once again, and and have a great time doing it.

Rock Show - Pictures I Have Taken

In preparation for the Tom Goss show I am attending this coming weekend, I revisited some of the pictures I have taken over the last few years. I tend to bring my camera, and for the most part have had no problem getting it to the shows. I love taking the pictures, and they certainly bring back some memories of fantastic shows.

Aiden James



Eric Himan




Tom Goss




Ace Young