The following two clips are both music videos of the song "California Dreamin". The first is by the original artists, The Mamas and the Papas performed on the television show Hullabaloo. The show only ran from 1965 through 1966. The second clip is a remake performed by Royal Gigolos that was released in 2004. Note that both versions were intended to be dance songs and make sure you don't miss the Hullabaloo dancers in the original. I love the contrast and the fact that I enjoy both versions. Let me know what you think.
Daniel DiRito | May 27, 2006 | 9:58 PM |
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This is
ATB's version of the song "You're Not Alone". It is one of my favorite renditions. The other one that I really like is by Olive.
Daniel DiRito | May 18, 2006 | 9:58 AM |
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One of my favorite movies is
Hedwig and the Angry Inch. It's funny and its sad; its silly and its serious. On the surface the movie is about two people who fall in love and then fall apart. It is actually far more complex. In reality, the movie is about only one person who is struggling to find the second half of him. This song is near the end of the movie and it is the point at which Hedwig finds his other half. As you watch the video, be sure to note that the cross that appears on the forehead of the singer (his name is Tommy Gnosis...which is significant because it was one of the "lost" gospels...see Elaine Pagels take on the meaning of this gospel
here) ends up on the forehead of Hedwig, the man who is watching the other sing. If you haven't seen the movie, it is worth renting.
Daniel DiRito | May 17, 2006 | 7:14 AM |
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Blank & Jones' deliberately simple dance music dominated the top of Germany's dance charts during the country's late-'90s trance explosion. This is a video of their song "Beyond Time".
Daniel DiRito | May 13, 2006 | 11:09 AM |
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Divine (Glenn Milstead) was a well known drag queen and actor who starred in many of John Waters movies. He died suddenly at the age of 42. I saw him perform live in Seattle in 1985. For me, his on-screen performances were far better. I have included some video footage at the bottom of this posting. If you've never seen any footage of Divine, he had a unique persona. In many ways, his career mirrored the emergence of gay culture as an increasingly visible segment of mainstream society. The following bio is from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Harris Glenn Milstead (October 19, 1945 – March 7, 1988) was better known by his drag persona Divine.
Born in Towson, Maryland to Bernard and Diana Frances Milstead, at the age of 12 the family moved to Lutherville, a suburb of Baltimore. John Waters was a childhood friend who lived six houses down the street.
Milstead starred in a number of films and was part of the regular cast known as the Dreamlanders. The Dreamlanders appeared in many of John Waters' earlier works such as Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, Polyester, and Hairspray. Repeating their successful pairing in Polyester, in 1985 Divine appeared opposite Tab Hunter in their bigger hit Lust in the Dust. Besides these roles, Milstead was the inspiration for the appearance of Ursula, the half-octopus villain from Disney's 1989 animated movie The Little Mermaid.
He is also remembered as a major character in the documentary homage Divine Trash by Steve Yeager, covering the life and work of John Waters.
In the 1980s, Milstead's comedy records were hits through America, Europe, and Australia. The typical progressive type of synthesizer disco music was composed, created, performed and produced by Bobby Orlando.
Late in his career, Milstead also played in non-drag roles in his last three films: Trouble in Mind, Hairspray, and Out of the Dark. In Hairspray he played two roles - one male and one female.
In 1988, Milstead was chosen to portray the character of Uncle Otto on the new FOX prime-time series Married With Children. Quite unexpectedly, he died at age 42 from sleep apnea in Los Angeles, California. The cause was attributed to his obesity.
He was buried in Towson, Maryland, which was accompanied with a funeral procession attended by thousands.
Glenn was born before civil rights, gay rights, or women's rights...God doesn't want people created out of a Xerox machine...The tragedy is that Glenn was cut off right at the point of becoming who he really was, and the world will never see how that flower could have unfolded."
–Reverend Leland Higginbotham at Divine's eulogy; Baltimore, Maryland, March, 1988
Daniel DiRito | May 7, 2006 | 7:18 AM |
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The following music video is of the song "My My My" by Armand Van Helden from his CD
New York: A Mix Odyssey. It's a good CD if you ever get a chance to pick it up. It includes remixes of
Blondie's "Call Me",
Soft Cell's "Tainted Love", and "Owner of a Lonely Heart" by
Yes.
Daniel DiRito | May 5, 2006 | 9:27 AM |
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