Tag Archives: music

Katreese Barnes, Mystery Black Party Singer

I’ve updated my Black Party 2008 review to add that promoters have informed me that the unannounced 7:30am performer was Katreese Barnes, the musical director of Saturday Night Live, who sang her new single Alright, Alright to general acclaim from party attendees. And that’s a tough crowd right there, people. Barnes is the co-writer of SNL’s smash viral video Dick …

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Black Party 2008 Recap

Once again I failed to delay my arrival at the Black Party to an hour more amenable to sustaining my energy until the close of the event, an accomplishment I have only made four or five times in fifteen attendances, of which this year’s was my eleventh consecutive. Boo me. But as I had many out of town friends visiting, …

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Bob Mould Band At Irving Plaza

Last night I caught Bob Mould’s packed show at Irving Plaza on his tour to support his new album, District Line. I’ve seen Bob perform at least six or seven times over the last few years, and last night’s show might have been the best yet. The audience was super responsive, calling Bob back for two multi-song encores. A mini-mosh …

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Madonna Inducted

Madonna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame yesterday. Madonna. Hall of Fame. Rock and Roll. But not Donna Summer, who has won a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal performance. This is no justice in this world. But I’ll at least give Madge props for bringing along the also shamefully uninducted Iggy Pop to sing punked-up versions …

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RIAA Accused Of Investigative Abuses

File sharers take note, a woman mistakenly sued for illegal downloading may be about to force the RIAA to disclose their investigative techniques. Things will get very ugly over the next few months for the RIAA, if one disgruntled file sharing lawsuit victim gets her way. Tanya Andersen, the single mother who filed a countersuit against the RIAA after the …

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Disco Legend Paul Parker Returns

Out gay disco hottie Paul Parker is back! You may remember Parker from his big hits in the 80’s and 90’s, (Right On Target was my favorite). His new single Don’t Stop (What You’re Doing To Me) is now available on iTunes and Amazon. Here’s the audio-only YouTube clip of the new track.

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Yaz Tour Dates For U.S.

Six U.S. dates have been announced for the Yaz reunion tour I mentioned here last month. Jul 07 – Oakland, CA Paramount Theatre Jul 10 – Los Angeles, CA Orpheum Theatre Jul 11 – Los Angeles, CA Orpheum Theatre Jul 14 – Chicago, IL Chicago Theatre Jul 16 – New York, NY Terminal 5 Jul 17 – New York, NY …

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Cyndi Lauper’s “Set Your Heart”

Here’s a teaser snippet of Cyndi Lauder’s new single, Set Your Heart, as used in a Japanese car commercial. The track was co-written and co-produced by Cyndi and Blowoff DJ Rich Morel, who promised me he’d play it tomorrow night at the Highline.

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Yesterday No More

Carpenters fans are plucking at their multi-tracked heartstrings over the impending demolition of the duo’s family home, which was famously depicted on the cover of 1973’s Now And Then album. The house is also where Karen collapsed shortly before dying of anorexia. The family that bought the house from the Richard Carpenter in 1997 is fed up with gawking fans …

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Totally Gay For America

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Breaking News: Cher Has Gay Fans

“On every list, I was always on my way out. Gay men understand that I understand what it’s like to be an outsider. To singers, I wasn’t a singer. To actors, I wasn’t an actor. I know what it’s like to fight for your place. Besides, gay men are very choosy, and they have great taste.” – Cher, telling USA …

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Yes We Can Can

In reference to the clip below this one, I’m surprised that the Obama campaign hasn’t co-opted the Pointer Sisters’ 1973 classic first single, Yes We Can Can, from before they became a trio and veered into largely forgettable (but enormously successful) pop-disco. Yes We Can Can was originally recorded by Lee Dorsey in 1970 and the Pointers took it to …

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Obamarock: Yes We Can

More candidate rock, this one produced by Will.I.Am of Black Eyed Peas. Of the two dozen or so performers, I only recognized Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Herbie Hancock, and the wheelchair guy from Oz. Shows how I keep up. This is compelling bit of art and I have to admit it gave me goosebumps.

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HomoQuotable – Bob Mould

“I have a very small life now. Literally, this street, down ten blocks, then two streets each way, it’s a box, and that’s my whole life. Inside this box, I’m comfortable and safe. I have a room I work in at home that’s a special place to me. But the rest of D.C. is weird, because both the military and …

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Janet – Rock With U

Let’s close out today’s 80’s icons love fest with some Janet Jackson. Island hasn’t sent me the track yet, so head over to Janet’s site where a pop-up player will stream her next two singles, Rock With U (not a remake of MJ’s song by the same name, thankfully) and Luv. Man, I freekin’ love the Rock With U track. …

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HomoQuotable – Boy George

“We live in this kind of culture now which pretends to accept everything. So there’s this kind of pseudo-acceptance of everything that’s different. But the reality is: it’s not true. Today’s gay pop stars are out of the closet, but they don’t express anything about their sexuality. They don’t ever use the word “he” in their songs. They think they …

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Monday Wake Up – Gary Toms Empire

From 1975, here’s the Gary Toms Empire with their disco stomper 7,6,5,4,3,2,1 (Blow Your Whistle). “Take your breakfast and get up”? Can that be right?

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Yaz To Tour UK

Fab 80’s pop music duo Yaz (Yazoo in the UK) is set to reunite for a tour of the UK in June. Comprised of (post-Depeche Mode/pre-Erasure) keyboardist Vince Clark and (Andy Bell sound-alike) Alison Moyet, Yaz only put out two albums, both huge favorites of mine: Upstairs At Eric’s and You And Me Both. The tour is in support of …

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Never Can Say Goodbye

Yup. Cher is gonna perform again. Grammy® award winning performer Cher will begin performing at Ceasar’s Palace in Las Vegas in May, 2008. Cher joins an exclusive list of stars to perform at Ceasars Palace that includes Celine Dion, Elton John and Bette Midler. The Farewell Tour, Year 7.

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Linky Love: John Hughes

I met John Hughes, author of Johnny Is A Man and the fab 80’s music blog, Lost In the 80’s, back in the late 90’s when we starting chatting online about music after Johnny had been a winning contestant on the short-lived Rock-N-Roll Jeopardy. These days he’s also writing for PopDose. Check out his stuff, I dig his latest piece …

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