Monday 30 June 2014

Physically, physically, physically fit



The move continues - and of course, we will be without the interwebs at Dolores Delargo Towers #3 until tomorrow, when at some stage the cable people may decide to turn up and connect us once again to the outside world.

No TV, no radio, no Google. How will we cope?

Hey ho. We need some motivation in order to get the rest of this stuff done!

Here's an appropriate (and suitably upbeat) number that should do the job...


Of course.

Fred and Lucille help us move



This Tacky Music Monday is a rather special one - as today we move lock, stock and barrel to our new abode!

To help us along, how about some footage of our gang at Saturday's glittering Gay Pride event?


OK, OK, so neither Fred nor Lucille (nor Cyd) were actually there, but...

Sunday 29 June 2014

Pink Pride



Friends and family. Feathers, foof and faff. Laughter in the rain. 30,000 participants. A 300,000-strong crowd lining the route. Sinitta. Conchita. Military queens. Dyke mums. Doggy slaves. Drag Queens. Semi-naked buff boys. Posing for photographs. Bacon butties and champagne....

...and being so PINK we could be seen from space!

Gay Pride in London.















A fantastic day!

As always.

We even made the website of Mein Kampf The Mail on Sunday...

[click any pic to embiggen]

Saturday 28 June 2014

Gay Xmas!



It's here...

Happy Gay Xmas, everyone! We're off to London Gay Pride, resplendent in shocking pink, one and all, and look forward to a sparkling parade through the heart of the West End - in the company of...ummmm...one or two others.

As is traditional, here's our usual send-off anthem, here sung (unconventionally) by a man - take it away, Mr Josh Young, and let's Bring On The Men!


[Apparently Broadway Backwards is an annual (charity) celebration where gays and lesbians see their stories told through the great songs of musical theatre, sung by their favourite Broadway performers. Sounds fun to me!]

Friday 27 June 2014

I wanna sample what's around



Stop the presses!

One of our tackiest "heroines" of 80s Hi-NRG camp, Miss Sinitta, will be making her comeback to the pop world on the main stage at Gay Pride in Trafalgar Square tomorrow - and apparently her new single (that she will debut on the day) is none other than her own mother Miquel Brown's gay-gay-gay hit So Many Men, So Little Time...


5 - 10 - 20 - 40 - 50 - 60 - 10 - 80 - 85 - 90 - 95 - ooh

It's morning I open my eyes
And everything's still the same
I turn to the guy who stayed last night
And ask him: "Whats's your name?"

This seems to happen more and more
I love those men one and all
Each new one I meet makes heart beat faster
When I see them so strong and tall

So many men, so little time
How can I lose?
So many men, so little time
How can I choose?

They tell me I'm up to no good
I should just settle down
But I don't wanna stay with just one man
I wanna sample what's around

Feels like I'm in heaven every night
Being here with someone new
A physical thrill, a beautiful smile
And wonderful muscles too

So many men, so little time
How can I lose?
So many men, so little time
How can I choose?

5 - 10 - 20 - 40 - 50 - 60 - 10 - 80 - 85 - 90 - 95 - ooh

So really who cares about love?
The ones that feel, take it away
For 52 weeks of every year
That's a new man every day

It's too hard a choice to make up my mind
So many men turn on my light
Still want to go some, don't want brains
Just give me their bodies tonight

So many men, so little time
How can I lose?
So many men, so little time
How can I choose?


Amen to that.

It's Gay Xmas Eve.

It's looking less likely it will piss down while we are actually marching tomorrow.

So, more than ever.... Thank Disco (or should that be Thank H-NRG?) It's Friday!

Hope yours is a fantabulosa party...

Pride in London

Thursday 26 June 2014

Ooh, life is juicy



Oh dear. The weather forecast for the weekend (understandably; this always happens during the Glastonbury Festival/Wimbledon Fortnight) is not so good - heavy showers expected.

We will have to invest in pink brollies for Gay Pride!

Rather than invoke the spirit of MegaBabs, and continuing our countdown to the big day, here's the ultra-cool boys of the faboo Japan with their inimitable version of our anthem for the Pride march:


Conchita Wurst won't be happy if she gets her frock wet - she's the headliner on the Trafalgar Square stage!

Wednesday 25 June 2014

Do You Enjoy What You Do?



Bless 'im!

It's our favourite wayward sex addict George Michael's birthday today.

To continue our countdown to Gay Pride this weekend, here's one of his camper early moments with Wham! (and that hairdo):


Hey everybody take a look at me,
I've got street credibility,
I may not have a job,
But I have a good time,
With the boys that I meet "down on the line"


Indeed.

George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, 25th June 1963)

Tuesday 24 June 2014

Living in ecstacy



Time once more, methinks, for another timeslip moment - back thirty years again, to the heady days of power-dressing and androgyny-as-artform, to a Very Gay Week indeed in the UK charts. Most appropriate for our continuing countdown to Gay Pride this Saturday!

As I mentioned way back at the beginning of the year, 1984 was destined to be "The Year of Frankie Goes To Hollywood", the band whose in-yer-face gayness knocked many of the more coy gay popstrels out in a cloud of poppers-infused smoke. This week alone, Two Tribes was at Number 1 and Relax was climbing back up the charts again (it had been there since January!) to Number 5.

Still-closeted George Michael was at Number 2 with Wham's Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go; Bronski Beat was at Number 3 with Smalltown Boy; High Energy by Evelyn Thomas and Hazell Dean's Searchin' were banging their 140 beats-per-minute rhythms in the Top 20; and both Jump and Automatic by the Pointer Sisters were still hovering in the lower reaches of the chart.

And speaking of sisters... The marvellous Sister Sledge were in at Number 11, with the camp-but-cool Thinking of You!


Everybody let me tell you 'bout my love
Brought to you by an angel from above
Full equipped with a lifetime guarantee
Once you try it, I am sure that you'll see

(Without love) There's no reason to live
(Without you) And what would I do with the love I give
(All my lovin') To you I'll be giving
And I promise, yes I'll do, as long as I'm living

I'm thinking of you and the things you do to me
That makes me love you, now I'm living in ecstasy
Hey, it's you and the things you do to me
That makes me love you, now I'm living in ecstasy

All the time he makes me glad that I'm alive
Together we will survive
What do you think brought the sun out today
It's my baby, oh, help me sing

(Without love) Without love there's no reason to live
(Without you) Oh, what would I do with the love I give
(All my lovin') To you I'll be giving
And I promise, yes I'll do, as long as I'm living

I'm thinking of you and the things you do to me
That makes me love you, now I'm living in ecstasy
Hey, it's you and the things you do to me
That makes me love you, now I'm living in ecstasy

I'm in love again
And it feels so, so good

Hey, it's you and the things you do to me
That makes me love you, now I'm living in ecstasy
Yeah, it's you (You and the things you do to me) and I
(That makes me love you) That makes me love you (Now I'm living in ecstasy), oh
It's you, you, you (And the things you do to me), yeah
(That makes me love you) That makes me love you (Now I'm living in ecstasy), ey...hey...


Makes me want to wear satin stretch-pants... Again.

Monday 23 June 2014

Fosse, gay puppets and crotch-watching in the sunshine



It was certainly a camp way to spend a Sunday afternoon - watching a succession of snippets from some of Theatreland's most lauded musicals, on stage in Trafalgar Square, in the sunshine, free of charge!

West End Live has (remarkably) been going for ten years now, and yet this was the first time (to my chagrin) I had ever been! So when Paul suggested we pop along for a bit of alfresco entertainment, I jumped at the chance to get away from boxes, boxes and more boxes everywhere in our slowly-emptying house.

It was great fun, as we caught the "Ten from Ten" slot that formed the run-up to the two-day event's grand finalé - ten classic shows that are not currently in the West End (some perhaps on tour) by ten leading performers/ensembles. Among the highlights were Leanne Jones singing Good Morning Baltimore from Hairspray, Caroline Sheen singing numbers from Mary Poppins, Charlotte Wakefield singing The Sound of Music, and Vivienne Carlyle and Stuart Boother from another sadly-missed show Blood Brothers.



A particular fave was the ebullient Jodie Prenger (a good mate of Paul O'Grady; she often sits in to present his Radio 2 show when he's away) with As Long As He Needs Me from Oliver and Secret Love from her forthcoming show Calamity Jane. [There was a mad flurry of excitement later when Miss Prenger arrived at Halfway to Heaven to catch the drag show by Crystal d'Canter and Kelly Mild!]

Oh - and the sing-along-a-Sound of Music slot, when we, and the assembled thousands in the audience, got a chance to exercise our tonsils with Do-Re-Mi was great fun, too.



Among the very best of the best, however, were the rather gorgeous Daniel Boys performing Any Dream Will Do and Close Every Door from Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat. [Never mind the songs, get yer kit off!]






...and the sexy totty brilliant cast of (birthday boy Bob Fosse's) Chicago:


...and Avenue Q:




...and Priscilla Queen of the Desert:


Campness abounds!

I shall certainly not be missing this wonderful free entertainment next year.

West End Live

Samba Carra!



It's another Monday. Groooo!

Having spent a sunny weekend alternately packing for the move, sunbathing, and yesterday afternoon at West End Live (more of that later, no doubt), we greet the dawn of a new working week with an inevitable agonised groan.

What better way to welcome in the new week on this Tacky Music Monday (and to begin the countdown to Gay Pride on Saturday) than with one of our campest Patron Saints Raffaella Carrà (who celebrated her 71st birthday on 18th June), and her Disco Samba medley?


Safety gays in pink tights?

How fantabulosa.

Have a great week, everyone...

Sunday 22 June 2014

Sweet Bird of Youth - the musical?



The Mighty Miss Meryl Streep (eighteen-times-Oscar-nominated, she won twice) blows out 65 candles on her cake today. Bloody hell...

I do adore the woman, despite all the sniping she gets from jealous critics - Silkwood, Out of Africa, Postcards from the Edge, The Devil Wears Prada, Julie & Julia, The Iron Lady, I loved them all!

Here she is in a scene I must admit I had forgotten from the fantabulosa Death Becomes Her (co-starring Goldie Hawn; a camp classic) - her song-and-dance number from "Sweet Bird of Youth - the Musical".

I wouldn't walk out on her...


Meryl Streep (born Mary Louise Streep; 22nd June 1949)

Saturday 21 June 2014

So take off all your clothes


Asarina scandens in the gardens at Dolores Delargo Towers.

It's the Summer Solstice, and it has been a hot one (yay!). We have been busy scrubbing layers of nicotine off surfaces so we leave the place in a fit state for the next tenants, but in-between bouts of slog we have been enjoying the delights of the garden (most of which will be moving with us, of course) - and it's still light at 10pm!

Here's an appropriate song for a mid-summer's day - and one of my favourite videos ever - from the lovely Tiga:


Nelly, whooooo?

Friday 20 June 2014

Keep on keepin' on



Sad news - one of the most prolific lyricists of the late 20th century, Mr Gerry Goffin (of Goffin and King fame) has died, aged 75.

Among his impressive outpouring of songs were hits such as Pleasant Valley Sunday for the Monkees, The Loco-Motion for Little Eva (and eventually Kylie), Crying in the Rain for the Everly Brothers, Will You Love Me Tomorrow for the Shirelles, Up on the Roof for the Drifters, Take Good Care of My Baby for Bobby Vee, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman for Aretha Franklin, Herman's Hermits' I'm into Something Good, James Taylor's You've Got a Friend, the Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To?) for Diana Ross, and Some of Your Lovin' and Goin' Back for Dusty Springfield. He even wrote Savin' All My Love for You - the hit that launched a thousand wibblers, courtesy of Whitney Houston. Phew.

Gerald "Gerry" Goffin (11th February 1939 – 19th June 2014)

He also wrote this - a far-from-sad choon that is most appropriate to get us in the party mood for the weekend - for Gladys Knight and the Pips. Thank Disco It's Friday!


All my life, all I ever wanted was to be a Pip.

Have a great weekend, folks!

Thursday 19 June 2014

Is this the Cocksucker residence?





The marvellous Miss Kathleen Turner celebrates her 60th birthday today! We've adored her since she triumphantly turned the Steve Martin movie The Man With Two Brains from, well, a Steve Martin movie into something much, much more memorable. Even Romancing the Stone was bearable mainly because she was in it... But it is for one magnificent character we love her the most.

Here is Miss Turner in (probably) her finest, and certainly most camp, role as "Beverly" in John Waters' Serial Mom, tormenting poor "Dottie Hinkle" (Mink Stole)...


Miss Turner has lately returned to her original great love, the stage. And here she is, earlier this year, singing in the play Mother Courage:


At present, the great lady herself is appearing in the West End in Stephen Sachs' Bakersfield Mist (which, admittedly, does not appeal). Hopefully at some point we'll see her in a production more to our taste - Serial Mom - the Musical, perhaps?

Mary Kathleen Turner (born 19th June 1954)

Wednesday 18 June 2014

No more Jubblies for you, kids!


No more Spangles.


No more Smith's Crisps.


No more BlackJacks or Rhubarb & Custard Penny Chews.


No more Fizzers.


No more Cresta ("It's Frothy, Man!").


No more Jubblies!

Terry Scott will be turning in his grave...


Let us mourn the demise of the School Tuck Shop, courtesy of the miserable bunch of namby-pamby busybodies that pass for "Her Majesty's Government" and their health-fascist cronies...

Pois o samba est animado



One of the advantages of the World Cup [words I never thought I'd hear myself utter, being no fan of football, nor football fans, nor telly schedules interrupted by football] being hosted in Brazil is the fact that the sounds of Samba and Bossa Nova are everywhere, not least on the radio.


[Another good thing about the World Cup is that lots of fit young men like Jack Wilshere take their tops off.]

Only last night, I caught the first of a new series by jazz musician and DJ Gilles Peterson on BBC Radio 2 focusing on the many different types of music from across that vast country, and was reminded of this absolute classic (here with the added bonus of being graced with a purring introduction from our Patron Saint, Miss Eartha Kitt) from Sérgio Mendes and Brasil 66:


Now that should cheer us all up!

Gilles Peterson's Musica Brasileira

Tuesday 17 June 2014

My cup of tea!







The magnificent (and very sadly missed) Beryl Reid would have celebrated her 95th birthday today.

Here she is (delightful as ever), extolling the virtues of a good night out - a girl after our own heart! [NB Words I never utter: "I Shall Hate Myself In The Morning"...]


"This life may be wicked and sinful and bad
But it's certainly my cup of tea!"


Beryl Elizabeth Reid, OBE (17th June 1919 – 13th October 1996)

Monday 16 June 2014

Racy?



Another weekend closes. Ho hum.

As we get ever nearer our moving date (just one Saturday to go, then it's Gay Pride, then we move out), things are coming together here at Dolores Delargo Towers (in boxes, mainly)...

...and The Race Is On!


[That's Jody Miller, apparently. Whoever she is. It's a Scopitone. It's Tacky Music Monday. What do I care?]

Sunday 15 June 2014

Voices of childhood

Sad farewells today to two people who each had a very big part to play in my childhood.



RIP Francis Matthews, stalwart "straight man" to Morecambe & Wise, and the voice of Captain Scarlet...





...and RIP Casey Kasem, voice of "Shaggy" in Scooby-Doo (and latterly on late-night ITV here in the 80s as host of the American Chart Show).


Very sad.

Saturday 14 June 2014

Arise...





...Dame Angelina Maleficent Jolie-Pitt!

[Does this mean we have to call Brad "My Lord", instead of just "Yes, please, Sir"..?]

Here to give the Dame a cheer is the (sadly neglected for an honour) Julian Cope and Teardrop Explodes, with an appropriate number from thirty-three years ago - the fantabulosa Reward:


Bless my cotton socks I'm in the news
The king sits on his face but it's all assumed
All wrapped up the same
All wrapped up the same
They can't have it
You can't have it
I can't have it, too
Until I learn to accept my reward

Prisoners stand in queues and stand accused
Live in solitude like Howard Hughes
All wrapped up the same
All wrapped up the same
Silence has it
Arrogance has it
I can't have it, ooh
Until I learn to accept my reward

Suddenly it struck me very clear
Suddenly it struck me very clean
All wrapped up the same
All wrapped up the same
They can't have it
You can't have it
I can't have it, too
Until I learn to accept my reward

Until I learn to accept my reward
Until I learn to accept my reward
Until I learn to accept my
I learn to expect my
I learn to accept my reward


Read about the rest of the recipients of awards in HM The Queen's Birthday Honours List on the BBC website.

Friday 13 June 2014

Up all night to get lucky



It's Friday 13th, peeps! Oo-er...

To end our week in traditional fashion, let's have something "lucky" to ward off the bad omens - how about a bit of tight-trousered Roller Boogie to get the party started?


I doubt Pharrell and Daft Punk were even born when this film was made...

Thank Disco It's Friday!

Have a great weekend!

Thursday 12 June 2014

You were always afraid of my female sensitivity



Timeslip moment once more...

Let's head back thirty years again, to a time when big Soul sounds like this (not to mention big hair) were all the rage.

Entering the UK Charts this week in 1984, it's Change and Change Of Heart. A double helping, indeed - first their "live" version, followed by the much better quality studio recording. Enjoy!



Give me back all my love
I've had a change of heart
Give me back all my love
I've had a change of heart

I have opened up my eyes
Now I can see clearly
You told there's no other guy
Who would be as good to me

I fell in love and didn't stop
To think what you were doing
But now I know
I don't need you at all
You're no good for me

I've changed my mind
I'm taking back my love

Give me back all my love
I've had a change of heart
Give me back all my love
I've had a change of heart

I would never let you down
So you began to use me
You were always afraid of
My female sensitivity
(And you knew that)

I do my best
To give you what you want
And you abuse me
It's time you go
I'd rather be alone
Without the heartache

I've changed my mind
I'm taking back my love

Give me back all my love
I've had a change of heart
Give me back all my love
I've had a change of heart


Whatever happened to Jam and Lewis?

...or for that matter, the fabulous Miss Deborah Cooper?

Wednesday 11 June 2014

Hoochie Coocher





The rather attractive Mr Hugh Laurie is 55 years old today...

In America, he's become a bit of a sensation thanks to his appearance as the star of House [no idea; never seen it], and more recently, for his blues albums.

Over here, of course, he is far more famous as the comedy partner of "national treasure" Stephen Fry - not least in Jeeves and Wooster, from which this pithy interpretation of Minnie the Moocher is taken...


Many happy returns!

James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE (born 11th June 1959)

Tuesday 10 June 2014

PoP-py day



In the extensive gardens of Dolores Delargo Towers... the poppies have arrived!

To celebrate, let's - ahem! - have something poppy. Groan.

It's the lovely Hugh Grant, and his one-and-only appearance as part of "80s band" PoP...


It's a fantastic spoof, of course - from the film Music and Lyrics (2007). No, I'd never heard of it, either.

Monday 9 June 2014

B'Stard no more





RIP Rik Mayall, comedy genius. Among our cherished TV moments, he was the star of The Young Ones, Comic Strip Presents, Blackadder, and... The New Statesman!


Another part of my younger life has gone. Very sad indeed.

Richard Michael "Rik" Mayall (7th March 1958 – 9th June 2014)