Halloween Countdown 2013: Monster Mash Remix

It isn't Halloween season until Bobby ("Boris") Pickett sings "The Monster Mash!" Here's an update for your Halloween Parties. Easy, Ygor! (I say that to all my dates.) My Halloween Countdown is just getting started, me pumpkins!

Cher: Madonna Is "a Bitch"

Sleep on this! Cher never holds back, and now says she thought Madonna was a bitch.

Cher took a swipe at her rival diva in true old-Hollywood fashion. Like Bette and Joan. The blab on Reddit:

Reddit - Do you still hate Madonna?

Cher - Madge, no. Actually I don't. I never hated her, I just thought she was a bitch.

Cher continued to state: "Actually I think Madge might be one of the most amazing artists I've known. I don't like everything she does, for sure, but she is always riding the crest of the wave. She always saw trends WAY before anyone else, and had great videos," Cher explained of the 55-year-old singer on Reddit, continuing, "So, besides saying 'WTF [is] MDNA', I'm fine with it."

Back in July 2012, Cher Tweeted: "WTF is MDA?"

Don't you just love it?

Below, Cher vs Madonna vs Whiney remix:

Halloween Countdown 2013 Continues: Sweet Dreams

Annie Lennox Meets Boris Karloff.  Brilliant mix from the great stervers62 @ YouTube. Something for your upcoming Halloween dance party.

Give your head up! And Sweet Dreams, Sweetums!

Let This Year's Halloween Countdown Begin, Witches!

Yes! The time has arrived!

So let's kick off with one of Buddy's fave horror films of all time! 1960's City of the Dead (released in the US as Horror Hotel). This is the original British version without the US edits. Going to Whitewood? Then click on the link!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N6fk0GNyNM

On My Turntables Sept. 27, 2013

Kristine W's back with a new club number that has "HIT" written all over it. You'll drop your cosmos, dahlings, and head straight to the disco floor when Ms W belts out "SoClosetoMe." This is outstanding diva-driven club music the way it always should be. She has a slew of fab remixers, my faves being the Todd Terry Main Mix, especially, and the Tony Moran Destination Club Mix.

Another fab diva returns with a Whitney cover that's tops. Ms Barbara Tucker joins producers The Cube Guys for "I Wanna Dance with Somebody." Cube Guys' original version is pumpin' with poz energy, but you can't get better than David Morales' Pride Anthem Mix. Does the name of this mix tell you where he's going to take us? You won't be able to sit this one out, believe me.

Miley Cyrus, "Wrecking Ball." Holy Hannah Montana, did she get our attention at the MTV Video Music Awards with her performance! As I've said before, the Paul Ruiz remix was fantastic.  Many of the dance mixes out are not as successful; just a bunch of busy noise. The Edson Pride/Sweet Beatz Project remix isn't bad, but I'll stick with Ruiz if I really feel the need to spin this.

Gabry Ponte's Funk & Love do-over of "I Will Survive" is a great, respectful  remix of Gloria Gaynor's eternal classic. Probably not for peak hour but maintains the integrity of the song that will definitely draw people to the floor, plus full of both Funk and Love as promised by its remix title.

Disco most certainly is still in style if UK"s Irish Colleens, The Saturdays, have named their latest song "Disco Love," although the song is more HiNRG in style rather than disco. Fave mix: Starlab Disco Club Mix. Runner-up: Wideboys Extended Mix. In any event, a catchy tune from the dance-music girl group.

Buddy B thanks my blog's audience in the US, of course, but also in the Ukraine, France, Germany, Netherlands, UK, Romania, Russia, Italy, Poland, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Thailand, and welcome Bangladesh! Take to the dancefloors, share the music, let unity and love, peace and harmony take over our planet. We are one world! SoClose.

Attached below, the original mix of Kristine W's "SoClosetoMe." (And dig those back-up vocals!)

Blab It to Beaverhausen Meets Spottiswoode & His Enemies

I blogged about Spottiswoode & His Enemies in concert two years ago. I've posted about their now-classic "Chelsea Boys" which has been on my annual Christmas Countdown as well. At last, we meet! Our Q&A ~~ Exclusively @ Blab It to Beaverhausen!

And here's the link:
http://blabittobeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/09/q-spottiswoode-with-little-help-from.html

Sunglasses at Night

Just a retro moment on the ol' blog to present one of the most famous hits, radio and club both, of the 1980s. What was it about this song that captivated people? Please respond; I'd like to hear opinions.
Canadian Corey Hart really became a star with this number (and "Never Surrender"). Hart's good looks alone did not put this song across. What intrigues us, perhaps even to this day?

Hart is still performing. And did you know he was considered for the Marty McFly role for the film "Back to the Future"? Is that enough '80s info for you?

Buddy B was probably grooving to this in the '80s photograph posted to the right.

Listen to the link:

http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-barilla-megillah.html

Subway Poem # 27

standing on the platform 

of atlantic avenue

the old tile sign

still reads

pacific street

even though

the stop is now called 

atlantic avenue - barclays center

things change through time

time changes things

even me

it seems even me

everything conveys the sense

that all things are a/k/a today

and known by many names

gone incognito

with various aliases

and you may ask

what's in a name

it's just that i 

feel sad about 

impermanence

and temporality

and my mortality

The Barilla Megillah

What a Guido!

Guido Barilla, "chairman of Barilla Group says his company will not feature gay families in advertisements for his products because he likes the 'traditional' family," Huffington Post reported today. "If someone disagrees, well, they can go eat another brand of pasta." Well, Guido, you can go eat my penne in that event.

The LGBT community is throwing down the gauntlet -- along with their plates of pasta. Activists are calling for a boycott of the Barilla brand that, in my opinion, is just so-so anyhow, though their bottled sauces taste God-awful! (70 calories per serving, 450 mg of salt, 6 g of sugar, 0 vitamins or minerals even with mushrooms or peppers added. How is that even possible??! They're tomato-based sauces!)

So, say farewell to farfalle, ciao to vermicelli, ta-ta tortiglioni, addio macaroni and arrivederci ziti if the brand is Barilla. As if gay people don't have enough on their boycott plates already, what with giving up Russian vodka and caviar over the Russian Olympics. Mama mia! Why, it's positively starting to feel like Lent at my place, dahlings!

Guido Gorilla -- ahem, I meant Barilla! -- was quoted by HuffPost as saying, "Our family is a traditional family. If gays like our pasta... they will eat our pasta; if they don’t like that, they will eat someone else’s pasta." In other words, "Let them eat Ronzoni!"

And so we shall. Va fungul, Barilla!

Link to My Blab It Q&A with Marc Massive of Massive Ego

Marc Massive said, "thanks for the interview..really enjoyed it." And so did Buddy Beaverhausen. Glad it was as good for you as it was for me, Marc! We were perfect together, in my humble opinion.

Another Massive Interview Tonight on Blab It to Beaverhausen with Marc of Massive Ego, Back with a New Dancefloor Hit That Will Turn You Out! Special thanks to Barbara Sobel and Sobel Nation for getting us together for this truly special Q&A.

Exclusively at Blab It to Beaverhausen!

http://blabittobeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/09/massive-egomania-q-with-massive-egos.html

Latest Interview at Blab It to Beaverhausen

You won't want to miss this interview with promoter songwriter/ producer/ entrepreneur Nick Lion @ Blab It to Beaverhausen! Amazing, very cool guy.

 http://blabittobeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/09/q-with-love-goddess-and-icons-nick-lion.html

Disco Diva Richard Simmons

Yes, people, exercise guru Richard Simmons is back to sing about "Hair Do." Not sure when he moved into the hairstyling business, but it works for me! I love this.

Cher: "My gay following has kept me alive when no one else came to see me!"

The diva is getting ready to tour, promoting her new album, Closer to the Truth (her first in over a decade), at  age 67. The tour, however, is entitled the Dressed to Kill Tour. We're certain Cher will live up to the title -- and the hype.

The tour will kick off in Phoenix, AZ, then move on to LA, Vegas, Boston & NYC. She'll be performing in Brooklyn on Friday, May 9, just four days prior to my birthday. So, who's taking me?

"My gay following kept me alive when no one else came to see me" is what Cher admitted to CBS Sunday Morning.  She expects her gay fans to be in force at her upcoming concert appearances. We're sure she won't be disappointed.

As for turning down performing at the opening of the Russian Winter Olympics, she quipped to CBS, "You can't cross that line. The 'gay line'. You just can't."

Hear that, Elton?

Dressed to Kill tour dates
March 22 Phoenix, US Airways Center
March 24 Houston, Toyota Center
March 26 Dallas, American Airlines Center
March 28 Little Rock, Verizon Arena
March 29 Tulsa, BOK Center
March 31 Nashville, Bridgestone Arena
April 2 Pittsburgh, Consol Energy Center
April 4 Washington DC, Verizon Center
April 5 Uncasville, Conn., Mohegan Sun
April 7 Toronto, Air Canada Centre
April 9 Boston, TD Garden
April 11 Indianapolis, Bankers Life Fieldhouse
April 12 Detroit, Joe Louis Arena
April 23 Buffalo, First Niagara Center
April 25 Montreal, Bell Center
April 26 Ottawa, Canada Tire Centre
April 28 Philadelphia, Wells Fargo Center
April 30 Columbus, Ohio, Nationwide Arena
May 2 Cleveland, Quicken Loans Arena
May 5 Charlotte, N.C., Times Warner Cable Arena
May 7 Raleigh, N.C., PNC Arena
May 9 Brooklyn, Barclays Center
May 10 East Rutherford, N.J., Izod Center
May 12 Atlanta, Philips Arena
May 14 Jacksonville, Fla., Veterans Memorial Arena
May 16 Orlando, Amway Center
May 17 Ft. Lauderdale, BB&T Center
May 25 Las Vegas, MGM Grand
May 28 Denver, Pepsi Center
May 30 Lincoln, Neb., Pinnacle Bank Arena
May 31 Kansas City, Mo., Sprint Center
June 2 Louisville, KFC Yum! Center
June 4 St. Louis, Scottrade Center
June 6 Milwaukee, BMO Harris Bradley Center
June 7 Chicago, Allstate Arena
June 9 Des Moines, Wells Fargo Arena
June 11 Minneapolis, Target Center
June 20 Winnipeg, MTS Centre
June 21 Saskatoon, Credit Union Centre
June 23 Edmonton, Rexall Place
June 25 Calgary, Scotiabank Saddledome
June 27 Vancouver, Rogers Arena
June 28 Seattle, Key Arena
June 30 Portland, Ore., Moda Center
July 2 San Jose, SAP Center at San Jose
July 5 Ontario, Citizens Business Bank Arena
July 7 Los Angeles, Staples Center
July 9 Anaheim, Honda Center
July 11 San Diego, Valley View Casino Center

You can’t cross that line – the gay line,' she said. 'You just can’t.' - See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/cher-announces-us-tour-says-gays-have-always-stood-her230913#sthash.dy9btxof.dpuf

Phoenix, Arizona, and will go on to perform in such cities as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston and New York City. - See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/cher-announces-us-tour-says-gays-have-always-stood-her230913#sthash.dy9btxof.dpuf

At 67, Cher will once again turn back time and hit the road.
The gay icon announced today (23 September) that she will be kicking off her Dressed to Kill tour in March with a concert in Phoenix, Arizona, and will go on to perform in such cities as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston and New York City.
The tour announcement comes in conjunction with the release on Tuesday (24 September) of Cher's first new album in 11 years titled Closer to the Truth.
Cher expects to see plenty of her gay fans at the various stops.
'My gay following has kept me – in the old days – alive when no one else came to see me. I’ve had really bad times,’ Cher said Sunday (22 September) in an interview with the show CBS Sunday Morning.
That's why she did not hesitate to turn down the chance to perform during the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, where there are anti-gay laws.
'You can’t cross that line – the gay line,' she said. 'You just can’t.'
Dressed to Kill is scheduled to have more than 40 stops and run through July. But Cher's previous tour, The Farewell Tour, ended up lasting three years and was one of the most successful tours ever by a solo artist. It finally ended in 2005 after playing for a record-breaking 325 dates and being seen by over 5.5 million people.
'If I don't try it now, if I wait, it'll be too late,' says Cher who will be 68 when she launches the tour. 'I won't be able to tour after this.'
- See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/cher-announces-us-tour-says-gays-have-always-stood-her230913#sthash.9MABR6Jm.dpuf

At 67, Cher will once again turn back time and hit the road.
The gay icon announced today (23 September) that she will be kicking off her Dressed to Kill tour in March with a concert in Phoenix, Arizona, and will go on to perform in such cities as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston and New York City.
The tour announcement comes in conjunction with the release on Tuesday (24 September) of Cher's first new album in 11 years titled Closer to the Truth.
Cher expects to see plenty of her gay fans at the various stops.
'My gay following has kept me – in the old days – alive when no one else came to see me. I’ve had really bad times,’ Cher said Sunday (22 September) in an interview with the show CBS Sunday Morning.
That's why she did not hesitate to turn down the chance to perform during the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, where there are anti-gay laws.
'You can’t cross that line – the gay line,' she said. 'You just can’t.'
Dressed to Kill is scheduled to have more than 40 stops and run through July. But Cher's previous tour, The Farewell Tour, ended up lasting three years and was one of the most successful tours ever by a solo artist. It finally ended in 2005 after playing for a record-breaking 325 dates and being seen by over 5.5 million people.
'If I don't try it now, if I wait, it'll be too late,' says Cher who will be 68 when she launches the tour. 'I won't be able to tour after this.'
- See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/cher-announces-us-tour-says-gays-have-always-stood-her230913#sthash.9MABR6Jm.dpuf

At 67, Cher will once again turn back time and hit the road.
The gay icon announced today (23 September) that she will be kicking off her Dressed to Kill tour in March with a concert in Phoenix, Arizona, and will go on to perform in such cities as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston and New York City.
The tour announcement comes in conjunction with the release on Tuesday (24 September) of Cher's first new album in 11 years titled Closer to the Truth.
Cher expects to see plenty of her gay fans at the various stops.
'My gay following has kept me – in the old days – alive when no one else came to see me. I’ve had really bad times,’ Cher said Sunday (22 September) in an interview with the show CBS Sunday Morning.
That's why she did not hesitate to turn down the chance to perform during the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, where there are anti-gay laws.
'You can’t cross that line – the gay line,' she said. 'You just can’t.'
Dressed to Kill is scheduled to have more than 40 stops and run through July. But Cher's previous tour, The Farewell Tour, ended up lasting three years and was one of the most successful tours ever by a solo artist. It finally ended in 2005 after playing for a record-breaking 325 dates and being seen by over 5.5 million people.
'If I don't try it now, if I wait, it'll be too late,' says Cher who will be 68 when she launches the tour. 'I won't be able to tour after this.'
- See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/cher-announces-us-tour-says-gays-have-always-stood-her230913#sthash.9MABR6Jm.dpuf

At 67, Cher will once again turn back time and hit the road.
The gay icon announced today (23 September) that she will be kicking off her Dressed to Kill tour in March with a concert in Phoenix, Arizona, and will go on to perform in such cities as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston and New York City.
The tour announcement comes in conjunction with the release on Tuesday (24 September) of Cher's first new album in 11 years titled Closer to the Truth.
Cher expects to see plenty of her gay fans at the various stops.
'My gay following has kept me – in the old days – alive when no one else came to see me. I’ve had really bad times,’ Cher said Sunday (22 September) in an interview with the show CBS Sunday Morning.
That's why she did not hesitate to turn down the chance to perform during the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, where there are anti-gay laws.
'You can’t cross that line – the gay line,' she said. 'You just can’t.'
Dressed to Kill is scheduled to have more than 40 stops and run through July. But Cher's previous tour, The Farewell Tour, ended up lasting three years and was one of the most successful tours ever by a solo artist. It finally ended in 2005 after playing for a record-breaking 325 dates and being seen by over 5.5 million people.
'If I don't try it now, if I wait, it'll be too late,' says Cher who will be 68 when she launches the tour. 'I won't be able to tour after this.'
- See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/cher-announces-us-tour-says-gays-have-always-stood-her230913#sthash.9MABR6Jm.dpuf

At 67, Cher will once again turn back time and hit the road.
The gay icon announced today (23 September) that she will be kicking off her Dressed to Kill tour in March with a concert in Phoenix, Arizona, and will go on to perform in such cities as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston and New York City.
The tour announcement comes in conjunction with the release on Tuesday (24 September) of Cher's first new album in 11 years titled Closer to the Truth.
Cher expects to see plenty of her gay fans at the various stops.
'My gay following has kept me – in the old days – alive when no one else came to see me. I’ve had really bad times,’ Cher said Sunday (22 September) in an interview with the show CBS Sunday Morning.
That's why she did not hesitate to turn down the chance to perform during the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, where there are anti-gay laws.
'You can’t cross that line – the gay line,' she said. 'You just can’t.'
Dressed to Kill is scheduled to have more than 40 stops and run through July. But Cher's previous tour, The Farewell Tour, ended up lasting three years and was one of the most successful tours ever by a solo artist. It finally ended in 2005 after playing for a record-breaking 325 dates and being seen by over 5.5 million people.
'If I don't try it now, if I wait, it'll be too late,' says Cher who will be 68 when she launches the tour. 'I won't be able to tour after this.'
- See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/cher-announces-us-tour-says-gays-have-always-stood-her230913#sthash.9MABR6Jm.dpuf

At 67, Cher will once again turn back time and hit the road.
The gay icon announced today (23 September) that she will be kicking off her Dressed to Kill tour in March with a concert in Phoenix, Arizona, and will go on to perform in such cities as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston and New York City.
The tour announcement comes in conjunction with the release on Tuesday (24 September) of Cher's first new album in 11 years titled Closer to the Truth.
Cher expects to see plenty of her gay fans at the various stops.
'My gay following has kept me – in the old days – alive when no one else came to see me. I’ve had really bad times,’ Cher said Sunday (22 September) in an interview with the show CBS Sunday Morning.
That's why she did not hesitate to turn down the chance to perform during the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, where there are anti-gay laws.
'You can’t cross that line – the gay line,' she said. 'You just can’t.'
Dressed to Kill is scheduled to have more than 40 stops and run through July. But Cher's previous tour, The Farewell Tour, ended up lasting three years and was one of the most successful tours ever by a solo artist. It finally ended in 2005 after playing for a record-breaking 325 dates and being seen by over 5.5 million people.
'If I don't try it now, if I wait, it'll be too late,' says Cher who will be 68 when she launches the tour. 'I won't be able to tour after this.'
- See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/cher-announces-us-tour-says-gays-have-always-stood-her230913#sthash.9MABR6Jm.dpuf

At 67, Cher will once again turn back time and hit the road.
The gay icon announced today (23 September) that she will be kicking off her Dressed to Kill tour in March with a concert in Phoenix, Arizona, and will go on to perform in such cities as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston and New York City.
The tour announcement comes in conjunction with the release on Tuesday (24 September) of Cher's first new album in 11 years titled Closer to the Truth.
Cher expects to see plenty of her gay fans at the various stops.
'My gay following has kept me – in the old days – alive when no one else came to see me. I’ve had really bad times,’ Cher said Sunday (22 September) in an interview with the show CBS Sunday Morning.
That's why she did not hesitate to turn down the chance to perform during the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, where there are anti-gay laws.
'You can’t cross that line – the gay line,' she said. 'You just can’t.'
Dressed to Kill is scheduled to have more than 40 stops and run through July. But Cher's previous tour, The Farewell Tour, ended up lasting three years and was one of the most successful tours ever by a solo artist. It finally ended in 2005 after playing for a record-breaking 325 dates and being seen by over 5.5 million people.
'If I don't try it now, if I wait, it'll be too late,' says Cher who will be 68 when she launches the tour. 'I won't be able to tour after this.'
- See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/cher-announces-us-tour-says-gays-have-always-stood-her230913#sthash.9MABR6Jm.dpuf

Two Mensches: Tom Jones and Leonard Cohen

Tom Jones' cover of Leonard Cohen's song, "Tower of Song" is amazingly powerful and touching. Tell me what you think. Check out his latest video:



I think it's a universal lament. A tribute to our shared mortality. After all, none of us are getting out of this existence alive, are we? None of us get younger. As Woody Allen once said, "I know we all have to die some day. I just thought I'd be the exception."

Of course, wishing long lives and good health to us all! Bless us and enjoy the brilliance of this performance. A great artist at his peak.

Oh, Toni, You're So Fine! Happy Birthday, Toni Basil!

Toni Basil (Antonia Basilotta) was born in Philly, PA. Her mom was an acrobatic comedian in her family's act, Billy Wells and The Four Fays. Toni became a cheerleader in her teen years after her family had moved to L.A.

A professional dancer since childhood, she became assistant choreographer and dancer on tv's Shindig and the classic rock movie, The TAMI Show. She choreographed David Bowie's Diamond Dogs tour in '74 and his Glass Spider Tour in '87. She choreographed Bette Midler in the film, The Rose, and worked with Miss Midler up through her Showgirl Must Go On tour.



She had a major recording career in the 1980s and had roles in the movies Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces.

Ms Basil's personal life has always been kept very private. She is an Emmy Award winner and best known for her single, "Mickey," which is installed in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. She turns 70 today.



I especially love her club hit off her second and final album, "Over My Head."

Beauty Queens

Beauty is so important in our culture. Everyone wants to claim it. But it's an eye-opener to read that a transgender California teen is homecoming queen. That's beautiful.

A transgender teen in Huntington Beach, Calif., was named homecoming queen of Marina High School Friday night. Cassidy Lynn Campbell, 16, told The LA Times. She always felt like a girl. Born male, she began taking estrogen injections and hormone blockers when she entered high school.

"If I win it would mean that the school recognizes me as the gender I always felt I was," Campbell said before the election. "But with all the attention, I realized it's bigger than me. I'm doing this for the kids who can't be themselves.

"She was stunned. She kind of broke down on the podium," school district spokesman Tom Delapp said of her win. "She was shocked. She cried a lot.

"Her classmates chanted her name and friends ran down to hug her," Delapp told The Times.

“If this could help one child or more, hundreds or thousands or millions, then it was more than worth it,” she said.

Her principal told KCAL-9 News he is proud of the school and its student body.

"I was so proud to win, not just for me but for everyone out there," Cassidy said. "I think it really shows the progression of the times."

Amen.

Meanwhile, a Miss America drag queen parody is headed  to Atlantic City. "The Miss'd America pageant is a lot like the long-running beauty contest, but with drag queens," says Pop2It.

"The attention the beauty contest brings to Atlantic City certainly couldn't hurt Miss'd America. The drag queen pageant, which judges entrants on swimsuits, talent, evening gowns and the interviews raises money for local charities and also hopes to boost gay and lesbian tourism to the city."

Happy Anniversary, Will & Grace

It's the 15th Anniversary of the now-classic tv sitcom, Will & Grace, groundbreaking in many ways. What a divine cast! I miss this series. It brought me so much joy and I think it is underestimated for the way it made "Middle America" understand that gay people are just people like everyone else.

Debra Messing went on to be a smash on "Smash" (never forget). Megan Mullally's  Karen is a classic sitcom scene-stealer, Sean Hayes has a new tv series this season ("Like Father, Like Daughter") and Eric McCormack remains one of my Top 5 Most Fabulous Men and was great on Broadway in The Best Man.
http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-top-five-most-fabulous-men.html
http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2012/04/best-man-on-broadway.html

I loved going down to Florida and watching reruns with my mom on late-night tv. She especially loved Jack (Sean Hayes). And I think the show assured her of how secure and safe my life was in NYC with my own circle of friends.

Late in Will & Grace's run, the club remix (below) came out. I still adore it. Please check out this video:

Blab It's Taking Off

Don't miss what's going on over at my exclusively Q&A Beaverhausen blog, Blab It to Beaverhausen!

Latest interview with America's next big thing music-wise, believe me. Q&A with singer/songwriter Jerid Nowell, bound for stardom:

http://blabittobeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/09/q-with-up-and-coming-singersongwriter.html

Also, at Blab It, my first-posted Q&A with Marilyn Michaels who is performing tonight Dix Hills Performing Arts Center in Long Island.

http://blabittobeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-q-with-funny-lady-marilyn-michaels.html

Check it out. Exclusive buzz, juicy dish, revealing and informative interviews you won't want to miss!

http://blabittobeaverhausen.blogspot.com/

Liza with a Z Is Norma with an N

News from Online PR Media:

[T]he iconic Liza Minnelli officially announced the news; she is finally taking time off from the concert stage, to begin work on what she calls 'the role of a lifetime'; Norma Desmond in "Sunset Blvd". 

Back in 2003, after making her comeback from brain encephalitis and various addictions, Andrew Lloyd Webber approached her for consideration of the 'Norma' role. However, due to a relapse, a divorce and various other commitments, Minnelli was unable to follow through. There was talk amongst the theatre and film community that Lloyd Webber would move forward with the project anyhow, instead replacing Liza with Glenn Close as Norma Desmond. 

Fortunately, due to possibly divine intervention of some kind, Andrew Lloyd Webber and producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan made the decision to hold off on production until Minnelli became available. And that time seems to be now. Zadan and Meron, known for their major success with bringing musicals like "CHICAGO" to the silver screen, are the leading producers on 'Sunset', and were the first to bring Liza the idea. Meron says "Anyone who knows Sunset Blvd. knows how perfect Liza Minnelli is for the role of Norma Desmond. There's no doubt in my mind that Liza's maturity and life experience have brought her to the ideal level to conquer such a challenging role as this, not just vocally but psychologically. This will surely be Liza's greatest work since "Cabaret". 

When asked about who Liza will be starring with in the film, Craig Zadan implied that there will be another Broadway icon in the film, and that within the month of October the casting of the leading man will be made public. Filming is set to begin in January 2014, and Clint Eastwood is currently signed on to direct. So far, this is looking like a movie musical worth writing home about!

Initially, Hugh Jackman was approached to star in the William Holden role from the Billy Wilder film. As Sunset is currently in pre-production, not many more details are immediately forthcoming. But this is shaping up as a movie event to definitely look forward to.

180 Thousand and Going Strong on This Blog!

Pop open the champagne tonight because this blog has gone over the 180,000 mark thanks to my readers around the globe! I've just had my 4th anniversary of this labor of love and I recently spun off a companion blog just for my interviews (http://blabittobeaverhausen.blogspot.com/). Plus, I have some upcoming posts that should excite you. At this exact moment of posting, I have 180,012 views. I'm ecstatic!

What a 4-year anniversary gift! Thanks to every single person reading my proud accomplishment. What do you know?! I have a following!

Most amount of hits here are from the USA but also a big thanks and hug to Russia, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Mexico, Thailand, Ukraine, Serbia, Brazil, China, Poland, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Australia and just about everywhere all over the world. I really started this as something I hoped my circle of friends would read!

Now, however, it's up, up and away because, believe me my friends, the best is yet to come!

Elton John and Moscow Discow

Word is out that Elton John will be performing at the Olympics in Moscow come December "despite the violently homophobic climate pervading Russia and the safety threats to openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals in the country, both citizens and foreigners," as Huffington Post succinctly reported.

Some are calling him a whore for money and media attention. He is receiving 12 million dollars for this gig. I certainly plan to refrain from purchasing his new album that arrives in stores next week until I see how this plays out.

John is widely quoted as saying, "I've got to go," echoing Gladys Knight about that Midnight Train to Georgia. (And she was going to Georgia, USA; not the country of Georgia, once part of the USSR!) "I’ve got to think about what I’m going to say very carefully. There’s two avenues of thought: do you stop everyone going, ban all the artists coming in from Russia? But then you’re really leaving the men and women who are gay and suffering under the anti-gay laws in an isolated situation. As a gay man, I can’t leave those people on their own without going over there and supporting them." We'll see how far he goes and how much support he offers. Only then will I decide whether to purchase The Diving Board. As for now, I'm considering Elton to have gone off the deep end.

Fall is sweeping in a lot of great dance music for us to download. The always awesome Debby Holiday (whom I interviewed last year: http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2012/06/buddy-bs-exclusive-q-with-debby-holiday.html) returns with new 2013 remixes of her classic dancefloor smash, "Dive." Remixers on board include Chris Cox, Matt Consola & LFB, Club Junkies and the Dickinson/Farley remix among others. (My interview with Joel Dickinson at: http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2012/02/dj-buddy-beaverhausens-q-with-dj-joel.html.)

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=debby+holiday+dive&sprefix=debby+holida%2Cdigital-music%2C315

Also on Amazon, you can download the marvelous Martha Wash's new single, "It's My Time," remixed by The Paperchasers. Love this song and her latest album from which it came. My blog review that was also posted on the diva's website: http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/02/im-into-something-good-martha-wash.html

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_14?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=martha+wash+it%27s+my+time&sprefix=Martha+Wash+It%2Cdigital-music%2C776

Barbara Sobel of Sobel Promotions tipped me off to a second batch of remixes of the new Village People song, "Let's Go Back to the Dancefloor." Expect this to get large, especially after their appearance on the new Arsenio Hall show. Again, a remix here by none other than our own Joel Dickinson!

http://www.amazon.com/Lets-Back-Dance-Floor-Remixes/dp/B00EVVDLUA/ref=sr_shvl_album_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1379545185&sr=301-3

Get Kristy Love! Thanks once more to Ms Sobel and Sobel Promotions regarding the remix of Kristy Love's new single, "All Over the World." The diva was, at one time, a member of the classic group, The Platters. Hear her out! Enjoy this remix from Julian Marsh (our recent Q&A at http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/08/my-exclusive-q-with-remixer-producer-dj.html). You can download this and other remixes as well as the original mix at:

https://soundcloud.com/sobelpromotionsmusic/all-over-the-world-julian?in=sobelpromotionsmusic/sets/kristy-love-all-over-the/s-7itlD

Wrapping it up, the jury's out on Elton. The jury's verdict is up with new remixes. And we send our support to Russia:

Twerkin' It on the Disco Round with Miley Cyrus

Twerk it, bitches!

Express from Barbara Sobel and Sobel Promotions:

"Love her or hate her.... we are all talking about her!
Here is Miley Cyrus' latest 'Wrecking Ball' remixed by Saul Ruiz.
Soon you will all be discussing Saul's remix as much as Miley!"

Seriously terrific remixing this Hot Mess around by the incredible Saul Ruiz. This mix will bring you to the dancefloor, bitches! So, twerk it!

https://soundcloud.com/sobelpromotionsmusic/miley-cyrus-wrecking-ball-saul/s-C1VzV 

 

Bob Esty, Michele Aller Are Calling You!

A lost disco classic in my opinion! But, thanks to the divine Bob Esty, we can hear it at Soundcloud. The Jeanette MacDonald/Nelson Eddy "Indian Love Call" was slyly reinvented as "When I'm Calling You," a wonderfully remade camp classic during the height of the disco era.

How fabulous is this?!

https://soundcloud.com/bobesty/when-im-calling-you-aller-esty

Happy Birthday to Village People's Randy Jones!

Happy Birthday to the Village People's original randy cowboy, Randy Jones! The disco icon with the midnight cowboy image moved on to a solo career. He is also an actor, author, American Music Award winner and multi-platinum recording artist. Randy is currently touring. 

"From D-O-M-A to Y-M-C-A! Dust off those roller skates because it's time to celebrate!" So announced Huffington Post.  This week, Jones will marry his partner of 30 years, Will Gregga, in New York City.

Village People Cowboy+ Times Sq Naked Cowboy

Congratulations, Randy Jones & Happy Birthday, Macho Man!

Below, Randy singing Kylie's "Your Disco Needs You," with images of Ms Minogue in concert.

 

Guest Blogger A.J. Reber Meets Diana Ross

A. J. is a Facebook friend who always has me laughing with his clever, crazy posts. He went to the Diana Ross concert in Pittsburgh in late August, and I invited him to be a guest writer on my blog. Here's his take:

The day of the Diana concert, I woke up with pure Electric Silk. I was totally Swept Away. It was a wonderful Chain Reaction.... Anyway, you get my drift! Nothing could ruin my day. Diana was here and I was ready for her!

I called the theater ahead of time to see if I could bring her flowers ~ or not. A few years back, I took flowers to Cher's first farewell concert in 2002, in Philly, and security had a problem with it; they were not going to let me take them in. Though, after a few rounds of checks, I was finally able to bring them in and give them to Cher during her second number. (Ahhh, good times!!)

After a few calls and leaving messages regarding Miss Ross, I got a call back from the right person who said she'd spoke to the concert promoter who said it was fine to bring the flowers. Miss Ross would accept them. Just nothing in a box!!? WHY would I give Diana Ross flowers in a box?? It is all about presentation. I wanted everyone to see the most beautiful two dozen long-stemmed red roses I had purchased for the diva! If I was going to give her anything in a box, it would have been with me in it, of course, labeled "Fragile!"

Before the concert, my best friend, Dawn, and I went to a Diana Ross pre-party that had all her music playing non-stop from every single decade. There were also special drinks and food served in her honor and named after her songs and movies. It was pure heaven to be with like-minded folks! And the atmosphere and surroundings, food and drinks were all wonderful.

I met some fabulous new friends and we all exchanged numbers and Facebook info and some had a few "remix" cds that we had made and all exchanged them. It was just pure happiness all around that night!

When I got to the theater,  I bought a Diana Ross concert t-shirt. I am an xxl but all they had was a large. So, of course, I bought it to have the shirt as memorabilia. Plus, I bought the official concert picture book. It is beautiful and I just had to have it!

Miss Ross came on-stage and was totally fierce. I gave her my flowers while she was singing "I Will Survive" at the end.  I had to hold them through the whole show but it was well worth it!

This was that night's set list  (Aug. 20, Tuesday 8 pm):

I'm Coming Out 

More Today Than Yesterday 

My World Is Empty Without You 

Baby Love 

Stop! In the Name of Love 

You Can't Hurry Love 

Touch Me in the Morning 

Love Child 

The Boss 

Upside Down 

Love Hangover 

Take Me Higher 

Ease on Down the Road 

The Look of Love 

Don't Explain 

Why Do Fools Fall in Love 

Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To) 

Ain't No Mountain High Enough 

I Will Survive 

Encore:

Reach out and Touch Somebody's Hand

I Will Survive (reprise)

Dj Buddy B Links:
http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2012/06/diana-ross-live-in-central-park.html
http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/08/results-of-my-disco-diana-poll.html

Cher v. the Russian Olympics

Cher is the latest diva with a large LGBT following to diss the Russian Olympics over President Vladimir Putin's fanatical homophobic policies.

"Not that LGBT people needed another reason to love Cher, but there is one," The Advocate informed us today. "[S]he turned down a chance to give the opening performance at the upcoming Olympics in Russia because of all the 'gay hate' there.

"'I can’t name names but my friend called who is a big oligarch over there, and asked me if I’d like to be an ambassador for the Olympics and open the show, she told Canadian newsmagazine Maclean’s. 'I immediately said no. I want to know why all of this gay hate just exploded over there. He said the Russian people don’t feel the way the government does.'"

It's not like I'm involved enough in sports or, specifically, the Olympics to name anyone Olympian besides Olympia Dukakis but, this year, gay bars and businesses have continued boycotting Russian vodka and other products imported from Russia. Our dance-diva idols, meanwhile, have supported opposition to anti-gay legislation and an Olympics boycott. 

"When conservative opponents of Madonna and Lady Gaga's support for LGBT rights in Russia failed to convict them on charges of 'homosexual propaganda', they managed to nab them on a visa technicality instead," UK's The Guardian reported. "Russia's prosecutor general's office recently attested that both singers violated the terms of their cultural exchange visas by giving profit-making concerts last year."

In my recent interview with Karin Nagi on my new blog dedicated exclusively for Q&As, Blab It to Beaverhausen, the dance idol snapped: "Snap out of it, Putin! We're living in 2013.... Boycott the Olympics! Let's not go there! No way!" [You can read the entire interview at: http://blabittobeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/09/exclusive-q-with-international-diva-of.html ]

In fact, the only divas who seem to be headed toward Russia as of late are the Miss Universe beauty queen contestants. And who knows? Perhaps the winner, once the tiara is gently placed upon her coiffed hair (for heavy is the head that wears that crown; after all she's Miss Universe ~~ even better than being Queen of Outer Space) this November, will stand tall in her stilettos and, through tears, as she embraces the sentiment of world peace, will blurt out words about human rights as a part of that concept. After all, It's a Woman's World, Prez Putin!

On My Turntables & a Bit of Billboard

The refreshingly retro disco-funk of "Lose Yourself to Dance" by Daft Punk, featuring the vocals of Pharrell Williams and the expert guitar performance by Nile Rodgers, jumped from 31st place on the Billboard club chart last week to this week's #21. Love this song and expect it to keep rising!

Dig the bootleg Matteo Ianescu remix:



Little else of interest on that chart, most good numbers (in my esteem) dropping.  The new remixes of Yoko Ono's "Walking on Thin Ice" rose to #4, however, which is terrific and Lady Gaga's "Applause" is right behind it in 5th place. Kylie's "Skirt" is down at #6 after ruling the roost last go-round at number one. Pet Shop Boys' "Vocal" fading to 10th spot after peaking at #3. Lady Bunny's "Take Me Up High" drops to #25 after peaking at #17.

Promos I received: Not at all impressed with Flashdancerz's 2013 bootleg remix of Blondie's "Call Me." Does the classic disco number no justice at all. I wouldn't spin this at gunpoint! Likewise, Jeremy Gygi's mix of Britney Spears' "Ooh La La" left me cold. Couldn't get me to the floor for this tied to a forklift!

Does Ricky Martin's voice exude sex or is it hot in here? The Craig Welsh mix I received certainly serves the singer well. Strong number. Could be another disco hit.

Mark Picchiotti's mix of Kylie Minogue's "Skirt" really werqs it. Best mix of the crop.  Edson Pride serves up a beauty of a dance treat with expert, driving work on Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble." And the UK's 7th Heaven offers us Leann Rimes'"Spitfire" admirably. The diva returning to club music is always a treat.

Katy Perry's "Roar" is a bore in any mix. Sorry. It just doesn't engage me. More of a purr than a roar.

But for true diva fabulousness, check out my interview with Karin Nagi at Blab It to Beaverhausen!
http://blabittobeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/09/exclusive-q-with-international-diva-of.html

Thanks to all my blog readers. In the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Ukraine, Poland, Serbia, Netherlands, Greece, France, Germany, Italy, China, Brazil. Let's dance for unity, equality and peace!

9/11: My Personal Recollections 12 Years Later

Good Lord, has it really been 12 years since that nightmarish day, September 11th 2001? Not only New Yorkers but, indeed, the world acknowledged the sheer shock and horror of that day and its devastating aftermath.

I flew out of Newark Airport early that clear, blue morning, on a Continental flight bound for Sarasota, Florida where I was to be met by my now-late mother and my stepfather. I was thankful it was such a clear day and remember thinking, I should arrive on time today for a change. Little did I suspect!

The time of take-off for my Continental flight put me on the runway about the same time as the ill-fated United flight that crashed in Pennsylvania. (Scary, in retrospect. )

In mid-air, it was announced that we would have to land at the nearest airport because of the US Air Traffic Control request to "clear all airspace." Something had happened; some unprecedented incident, that was for sure! We were going to land in Charlotte, NC. Passengers with laptops began searching the internet and a panicked buzz circulated through the flight that the World Trade Center had been struck by two jets. I pictured two burning 747s stuck in the Twin Towers.

It was a complete shock to arrive at the Charlotte Airport and witness the collapse of the Towers on the tv monitors. Surreal. Science fiction. I tried calling my mom on my cell but couldn't get through. I realized this was not just a flight "delay," and announcements soon proclaimed stranded passengers should contact the Red Cross who would be putting us up on cots in an armory.

Cots? Armory? Why, I wouldn't be caught dead! I immediately went to the Continental desk and asked what they could do for me. They graciously sent me off in a mini-van to a country-club-like Marriott hotel out in the Charlotte suburbs, surrounded by sprawling lawns. The airline even payed for all my meals! I have since been loyal to Continental (except when ticket prices drive me to, say, Virgin or some other competing airline).

I was indeed living and dining out like the little prince that I am. I even got in touch with my understandably quite hysterical mother by phone, finally. "What did those awful people do to you?" she blurted. I think she was ready to take on Al Queda single-handedly! I assured her I was very much safe and sound, ensconced in my first-floor two-room temporary flat as it was.

Mom had been turned away from the airport in Sarasota because of security. That's the town where President George W Bush was reading to school children during the incident, ironically, and he was headed back to his jet at the airport at the time of her (and my stepdad's) arrival.

She got my brother on the phone and he agreed to drive up from South Florida and get me, with his girlfriend in tow. My mother insisted on going with them. ("You can take my car but you're not leaving me here," she insisted in her lioness tone of voice, I assume.)

And so they came. My mom, my brother and his girlfriend. Thus began a very dysfunctional roadtrip back to Venice, FL.... And just in time for a massive hurricane to hit.

But that's another story.

The Girl Group Sound Spectacular

Girls no more, these women still rock out! What a night it was at BB King's NYC!

Nine women took to the stage with a full orchestra (keyboards, guitars, sax, trumpets, percussion), a bevy of back-up girls and, against that full-volume background, belted out their songs as powerfully as ever in an electrifying evening of great music and memories. It wasn't just a night of nostalgia, however, but a reminder of what solid songwriting, arrangements, instrumentation and vibrant vocals are capable of. These women need no auto-tuning to say the very least. And they have long mastered the art of the diva hand gestures!

Barbara Harris of The Toys opened the act, still able to energetically shake a tail feather. She opened with the group's top-ten pop hit, "Attack," followed by "Can't Get Enough of You, Baby." Ms Harris explained this cult phenom was not a '60s hit for The Toys but was later one for ? and the Mysterians. Harris moved on, then, to "May My Heart Be Cast into Stone" before ending her set with The Toys' smash sensation, "Lover's Concerto."



Beverly Warren wonderfully took over lead vocal from the late Ellie Greenwich, whom she praised as "manager, mentor and friend." Her set included classics "What a Guy" and "He's the Kind of Boy You Can't Forget."

Described by the dj/announcer with the words "There's nothing scarier than a Catholic school girl from Brooklyn," Nanette Licari appeared to belt out "Whenever a Teenager Cries." What? No "Captain of the Ship"?! I was hoping Ms Reparata and the Delrons would do a little more.

But, no, we were off with Louise Murray of The Jaynettes, electrifying with "perhaps the first girl-group song," "Lonely Nights" (1955, recorded under the girl-group name The Hearts) before she got to the group's biggest hit in 1963, "Sally Go Round the Roses." This lovely, lanky woman, now age 74, appeared in eyeglasses, a shimmery flapper-style gown, giant daisy in her hair and chandelier earrings! What a voice!

Baby Washington performed "That's How Heartaches Are Made," Toni Wine mesmerized with her rendition of "A Groovy Kind of Love" (which she co-wrote with Carole Bayer Sager; a hit for The Mindbenders). Lillian Walker appeared in a sleek white gown with black-beaded design to deliver The Exciters' "Doo Wah Diddy Diddy," "He's Got the Power" and "Tell him."

Margaret Ross-Williams of The Cookies ("four fabulous girls who rocked the world," this Miss Ross said proudly) performed "I Never Dreamed," "Chains," "Don't Say Nothing Bad About My Baby" and "Baby Baby I Still Love You" (which was recorded by The Cookies under the name The Cinderellas).

The show culminated in the divine performance of the still soulful Ms Maxine Brown, her crimson pants suit as vibrant as her voice. She began with her self-penned classic, "Maybe It's All in My Mind."  She continued with a couple of Carole King tunes, including Brown's hit, "Oh, No, Not My Baby."

For a finale, the other divas joined Maxine for the joyous, Cajun-styled soul-stomper, "Cuz of My Sin."

It was a packed house with an adoring audience. Multitudes of bouqets were handed to the divas whose voices were remarkably undiminished by time. Although many of the recorded versions of the songs ended in the classic pop fade-out, these live performances gave us boffo vocal endings all. It was pure heaven re-living this golden era of music at BB King's.

John Clemente, author of Girl Groups: Fabulous Females Who Rocked the World was in the audience, as pointed out by Margaret Ross-Williams. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Girl-Groups-Fabulous-Females-Rocked/dp/0873418166  It's now on my must-read list. Meanwhile, the nine women performing tonight certainly rocked my world. And more "girl"-power to them!

Checking Up on Our Billboard Dance-Chart Favorites

Kylie Minogue has werqd her "Skirt" into quite  a swirl -- all the way up to #1 this week on the US Billboard Dance/Club chart! Congratulations to the Aussie dance diva!

UK's timeless Pet Shop Boys all the way up at #3 this week with their new hit single, "Vocal," followed by Enrique Iglesias with "Turn the Night Up" at #4.  New remixes of "Walking on Thin Ice," the John Lennon-produced Yoko Ono classic buoys the diva up to the 6th spot on the chart.

Selena Gomez apparently isn't about to "Slow Down," at #8 in just 3 weeks. Krezwalla's "Live for the Night," new numero 12, is rather generic techo-dance. But, "Guess What?" Luciana & Cazwell now at #14. Lady Bunny takes in higher, into the 17th spot this outing, with "Take Me Up High," while Lady Gaga's "Applause" remixes bring her to #19.

And that's it from the Beaverhausen selective Billboard report this week!

Special thanks to Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Romania and Serbia for your views this week. Peace, love, and remember: the dancefloor is a great international way of keeping us united! Thank you for your views.

Meanwhile, everyone, Dj Buddy Beaverhausen is proud to announce the birth of Blab It to Beaverhausen, my brand-new blog, already a runaway success! This will be exclusively for my interviews. Please check it out:
http://blabittobeaverhausen.blogspot.com/

Debuting My New BLAB It to BEAVERHAUSEN Blog!

New companion blog where all my interviews will go! Please visit!

http://blabittobeaverhausen.blogspot.com/

Leave It to Beaverhausen will continue to post the best in LGBT entertainment. But the Q&As now have their own blog. This was largely necessitated by my having over 758 posts here.

Don't miss my first "Blab It" interview with the marvelous Ms Marilyn Michaels!

http://blabittobeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-q-with-funny-lady-marilyn-michaels.html

Dj Buddy Beaverhausen Goes Francais avec Pierre Pascual!

Voulez-vous parler avec moi, ce soir?

There's French smoking, there's French bread, there are French fries, there's French kissing, there's French toast and there are French manicures in the USA. But now there's French Dj Buddy Beaverhausen!

Link to my interview with Pierre Pascual translated into French!

Yes, Dj Buddy B Goes French! And we're not talking just up to Quebec this time, bitches! We're talking Gay Paree! Very gay Paree! Wonderful artist, great interview!!

Check it out -- now unedited and en Francais!

http://pierrepascual.tumblr.com/

Exclusive Q&A with Pierre Pascual

Pierre Pascual is a presence on the current dance-music scene unlike any other. After being introduced to his stage persona via the Deneuve Danse video, I had to know more about this richly creative and fascinating new artist. Thanks to Barbara Sobel and Sobel Promotions, I was able to arrange this interview through Pierre's management in France. He is thoughful, brilliant in ways, an accomplished musician, a cinephile with directoral aspirations, highly intelligent and, above all, a true artist who puts his work above commerce. A rare breed in this day and age. To learn more about Pierre: http://pierrepascual.fr/
https://www.facebook.com/pierrepascualmusic
http://www.youtube.com/pierrepascualmusic


Dj Buddy Beaverhausen: Bonjour, Pierre, and thank you so much for doing this interview with me. I adore, on Pierre Pascual: Le Site (http://pierrepascual.fr/secrets), where you write: "Pierre Pascual is the dream of Pierre Pascual." We'd be very happy if you'd expand on that for us, please. 
 Pierre Pascual: Hello. First of all, thank you for inviting me to answer to your questions. About this sentence, my message is that who we are is a very important thing. Every human being is unique, with his own dreams and particularities. I don’t think we can just be labeled so simply in this world with genders, colors, ages.... The societies we live in force us to reduce our personalities and dreams, we always have to choose. I try to encourage people to find their own way and to be happy, to dream their lives and make the dreams come true, to abandon nothing. I’m working on identity and it shows. I’m sometimes using my real name as a generic name. What's important is not me, but what I do as a human being.

DBB: You arrived in Paris in 2003. How old were you, might I ask? Where were you born and raised, and where had you lived before Paris?
PP:  I arrived in Paris in 2003, so ten years ago and I was 26. I tried to come when I was 17, to follow classes in a cinema school. I wanted to be a director. I passed the exam but finally I had to decline, regarding all the money costs, the school and living in this big city; it was already very expensive. Before 2003, I was living in Bordeaux, my city of birth. I studied there (cinema, dramatic art) and that is where I wrote my first songs. I also lived in the south-east of France and in Africa when I was a young child. My father was a geologist and I had the chance to see different countries with different cultures, an incredible wealth.

DBB: You have a new single, "Deneuve Danse." We love Catherine Deneuve! Thanks for dedicating a dance song to her. [Original music video posted at end. Don't miss it.] I love the song and the video presentation of it. What inspired you?

PP: Catherine Deneuve is so French! She represents France in its chic but also old-fashioned aspects. The unchanging and unchangeable art. A very classic and glamourous icon, she represents, I guess, the chic à la française. I wanted to write a song about an actress dancing alone, with no one watching, and Catherine came to me. Deneuve Danse. I love alliterations, they are everywhere in my work. The song is about those paradoxes: when you are a personality, what is private, what is not. I think we all have our Deneuve side and our Catherine side. Ok, they love Deneuve, but all that, this cinema, this drama, was it Catherine’s dreams ?

DBB: Pierre, who are your influences -- not only in music, but in cinema and the arts generally?
PP: I have been very influenced by cinema and images in general. I am from this first generation who ate television and cinema very early. I experienced my love for directing in some of my music videos. I love treating music and visuals, that is a very complete way to express deep feelings even if that is dangerous because visuals are always more powerful than sounds. My favorite director when I was a teenager was David Lynch, some of his films are masterpieces for me. I am also a big fan of Jean Eustache (masterpiece : The Mother and the Whore, 1973), Gregg Araki, Gus Van Sant, Leos Carax (The wonderful Holy Motors!) I also love documentaries. The most beautiful documentary I’ve seen is called Nostalgie de la Lumière (nostalgia for the light) directed by Patricio Guzman. I wish I would be able to create such a beautiful movie. It can be seen now in a very little cinema in Paris where it has screened for several years now ! 


DBB: You truly are someone so very fresh and essential, I feel, on the dance-music scene. You bring performance art back to stage and video, along with the music; an art maybe lost since the '80s. How would you describe your aesthetic and your approach to your work? How much did punk-rock influence you?
PP: I always practiced a lot of arts, since i was young. I began writing poetry at 7 years old and music at 12. I began filming myself and acting at around 15, so at some moment in my life, I thought it would be cool to do all that at the same time. Directing my own music videos was great for that. I would love to direct a movie with more money and time, to go further in that way. What I tried to bring to my art those past years is real life that is, perhaps, close to performance. Yes, I am a real person with real intentions and dreams, I try to be honest. Pierre Pascual exists, that is my real name and I am who I am. Everything I show is true. I'll explain: if my body has lived what I am showing, that is not a lie, then that is a real emotion. Emotions and freedom of action are important for me. We have to allow our bodies to follow our dreams, to respect what is good for them. And we are all changing, every time, if we listen to what we are learning from this earth, from us. A human being is always a progression, more freedom, more beauty, more dreams, more pleasure. Nothing has to be stopped.

DBB: I read you were recently gay bashed on a Facebook site and your abuser was actually, most shockingly, someone who works in the dance-music field. What do you make of all that?
PP: I stopped reading all the messages under my videos for months now, it was sometimes too upsetting. On MySpace, some years ago, I had several death threats and tons of homophobic private or public messages, that is why I decided to not allow private messages anymore. Even if the hate will never stop me from doing what I want to do, I have to preserve myself and the closest persons in my life. Happiness is the more important thing, I always have that balance in my head. I am not a masochistic person, nor a superhero. One of my messages is "respect yourself;" that is also applicable to myself. I have to always adapt my ways of doing this job to be able to have happiness in my life because if I am not happy to do it, I will give bad things to the public and that is not what I want to do. 
To be more political, I hope this world one day will allow some boys to be singing and sexy divas, and some girls to be Barack Obama. Our patriarchal world has shown its limits, we need a more feminine world. More women in politics. I am a convinced feminist. And my feminine attributes are a symbolic tribute to women, to ring a bell, hey there are men with you, don’t lose the liberties you gained in the past. Fight ! That is the poetic way I found to express my love to women. Fuck Eve, fuck Adam and Viva Lilith ! Boy or girl, we are all Lilith (to use some religious images I am fighting against). And I am sometimes sad to be always labeled as a "gay artist." It is not that I am not proud of who I am. I love gay people as I love straight people but i just hate categories. I am not a gay artist talking just to gays or representing gays, of course, I talk about problems and violence we experience as gay people, that is sometimes so hard. 
I want to fight hard for gay rights, we have to talk about that but, first of all, we are all humans and we have first to fight for human rights in general; if we do not, it would be like wanting to save all the cherries but not the cherry-trees, absurd. My message is not "do what I do or live what I’m living" but, rather, it's just: "be yourself !" The saddest thing for me are those homophobic homosexuals or misogynist women, the kind who are saying things like, "Hey, you made wrong things for feminism or the gay community." The gay community doesn’t exist, that is a term invented by homophobic people; there are only one human being + one + another.... I truly believe what a person does is representing only himself or herself. The most important thing is freedom. The only things all people of the world have in common and that are important are our bodies and sensations. We are not bodies and separated souls. We are entire living bodies. That is what i wanted to show in my video, "Mi Novio es un zombi" Hey, dead zombie, you can live too, you can move, like you are ! You are free to do it, don’t be a zombie of this society ! When you have the zombie in the beginning in the shopping cart, I wanted to say: hey, stop this consumerist society! Go outside ! And the dance, the body is what is waking the zombie, the present, not the promise of an hypothetic future ! I treated this video, my first attempt as a director and editor, to talk about this over-consumering society. This video cost zero euro. And this look of a homeless person I have at the end, that is my message. You don’t need money to be free. Like the dancers wearing craft paper bags. And the little white hat I wear in the beginning was the chinese lamp of my flat I just took from there some hours before the shooting. I always did that, I take what I have around me and it becomes my world, and imagination costs nothing. I am not for creating so many new things, like a ton of new clothes in the shops, I go to flea markets and find all that I need. Everything can have a second life, everyone can have a second life and a third and a fourth... 

DBB: In 2006-07, you were in the band Cartel Couture. Could you talk a little about that period?
PP: That was a very crazy and funny period. The time I discovered stages, stilettos, make-up. I did my first music videos, I was also discovering social networks. Yes, we knew about the MySpace revolution when we were really free and not killed by publicity, money and censorship! We had two amazing years on MySpace, it was a great revolution ! I was a crazy and tall thing on stilettos, I wanted to do everything and go everywhere. We had a lot of fun. I had more energy than now, I have been spent and worn out by all this craziness, fighting against all of the windmills of this show business. I still love that song, "Still Seeking Susan" I wrote and produced for the band. And the video "Paupiette" is very representative of what was my idea of this period: mixing dance music, queer attitudes and butchery stuff, sausages necklaces, performances with meat. I began playing with the idea of pop artist as a product, all the dead meat thing. This was in 2006. 
DJBB: You influenced Lady Gaga, obviously.
PP: Oh, and we had giant human poodles on stillettos dancing on stage with us! I was afraid of nothing. I miss Héloise and Jérôme; I hope one day we will do something all together again. A gay, a bisexual and a straight, that was a cool, open band! When I was saying that, everyone wanted to know, who is the bisexual?? who’s the straight ??? It was, I don’t know why, very obvious that I was the gay member ! [Grins.]

DBB: In 2011, you released an album from which came the single, "J'aime Sentir Ta Bouche Glisser." It was remixed by Chew Fu. What did you think of the remix, the promotion of that single, and the way that album turned out?
PP: I released the album in 2012, and the single, " J’aime sentir ta bouche glisser" was in 2011. Yes, I was very proud to have this Chew Fu remix, I love it. For the promotion, we had the best team in France, the one who is in charge regularly of the singles of artists like Black Eyed Peas, Britney Spears...  A lot of promo CDs had been sent, but no big radio airplayed it; too "weird" they said. Perhaps, if a lady sang it.... Anyway, I love this single, I have no regrets. There have been many times in my career when people told me, "No, you cannot do that that way! It will be a disaster." An economic disaster they mean. But I cannot do something for fame or money, I am really not interested in that.
The album, I am very proud of it too, it’s like I dreamed it. We had some cool reactions from some press, blogs and fans, of course, but I didn’t succeed in finding a distribution for it nor a place for doing my show. To be honest, I lost a lot of money. But the dream exists! I was very proud and sometimes surprised to read in some articles the production of my album was compared to big artists from majors, as I produced the album almost alone and 95% of the tracks has been produced at home, that prooves that I worked correctly. So, yes, I was proud but I remain a craftsman, alone in my flat with my production, poor but free and happy. The important thing now is that all this music belongs to people who like it.

DBB: The music industry is such a difficult one for artists in so many ways. What have been your disappointments? Your triumphs?

PP: My triumph is to be still alive and with some new dreams coming to me. I have no time for being disappointed. I still have a life to enjoy, more people to love, more art to make. That is the only important thing. I don’t understand this business, the media and this crazy agitation all around. You know, I am a very quiet person, I just love to read, dream and create. All the rest is too complicated for me.
Our societies always see professional success in terms of money, exposition and competition. You have to be number one, or be rich; if not, you’re nothing. We have to redefine all that. The most important thing is happiness and freedom. We have to encourage everybody to be n°1 in terms of happiness. So many artists sacrifice everything and are zombies and sad people, so crazy and inhuman. I want to say no to this masquerade. Only if I am happy, can I share true and deep things.

DBB: You've toured internationally. My blog has an international, club-loving, large LGBT audience. Any shout-outs to your dance fans? Any plans to perform any time soon in NYC?
PP: Yes, I did a lot of shows all around Europe those past years and to be honest, I’ve been tired, not of the public cause that was the amazing part of it, but that was often and regularly such bad conditions, bad lights, bad sound system, so I was upset for me and for the public. It was also very hard for me to perform some nights so late in some clubs, my way of doing my job was to never drink before a show, I don’t like that and i never took drugs and I had to deal with drunk people backstage or people on drugs, and that was very violent to me. I don’t like noise and agitation. There was this confusion, people were thinking, he does such crazy things, he must be a crazy person. Sorry to disappoint some of them, but I am not.
I was drinking too much alcohol after the shows, to stand for the after parties, I sometimes wished I would have been able to be this punk star they thought I was, with a rock and roll attitude. I pretended a bit, I tried but that is not me....
Now, I prefer waiting, as [performing] doesn’t make me dream anymore.... Perhaps I will have the occasion to do a cool show in the future. I will think of it again if I record a new album. It took me 20 years to produce the album of my dreams, perhaps I will do a real show in 20 years. I would be older than Madonna! I used YouTube as a big show. I did so many videos those past years, I wanted to touch the world, and the youngest, the poorest people, to be seen by everybody. A live show is expensive to create and also expensive for the fans to go to, it excludes so many people. Now, I will give my best somewhere else, but I'm sure I will have occasions to meet my fans some day. I am less obsessed by this idea of sharing at any costs, and being heard and seen. Time is the key. I decided not to direct myself new music videos for the moment, I said goodbye to this period in my "Secrets" video, that it's too complicated now to create the images I dream of with the little material I used, my Mac is too old and slow now, but if some young genius directors want to use me for directing a music video of one of my song, that is still possible, because I always liked to share art and emotions. What I learned from life is that tomorrow is a new day. With new dreams. Never say never.

DBB: When you read the news about the USA and its Tea Party crazies, what do you think of us Americans? 

PP: American people have a lot of qualities. First they have a beautiful [use of the English] langage, so musical and friendly for songs! They also have a beautiful country that allows people to live most of their dreams. We have that impression here in Europe that you can be nobody in America and go far if you are the best or if you work a lot. Sometimes in France, if you don’t know the right people or if you don’t have social connections or a name, you’re dead.
But, in the USA, it's so sad to see how religious lobbies can have a so big an influence there! Anyone can have his convictions, ok! But I saw so many crazy religious images, like the Jesus camps, it frightens me a lot. I don’t believe in God, or in Satan, I don’t believe in a life after death. I believe in humans, in all humans and in the present, that we have to live now! We won’t have a second chance. We have to love each other now and not a hypothetical god who tells us: that is ok for you but that is not. We know what is ok for us. Love and respect. That’s all. I also hate the way American social networks like MySpace first, and then YouTube and Facebook, began imposing their morals by controlling censorship all over the world. My work has been banned a lot, following rules created by American people, and they say that is to protect children! We had that in France in the '50s and that is horrible to face that again, and sorry to say, but that is the bad influence of religions on people. The image of a man on stillettos doesn’t kill children; hate kills children!  Ignorance kills children ! Homophobia, racism kill children! Wars kill children! But all that, you can find on social networks....

DBB: My blog audience includes friends in Russia and its territories. Could you share your feelings and thoughts about what's going on there right now?

PP:  Very sad about what happened and still happens in Russia, for LGBT people, for artists, for women, for freedom and equality. For that, internet is great, it allows people to see what we can do in other countries (when governments don’t ban some websites or all the internet). I believe in freedom, and wish everyone could experience, one day, the sensation of being free. To do what you want, to be who you want! I am sending all my love to LGBT people in Russia, go on fighting for your rights, we are with you. Putin, instead of showing himself like a super hero with the biggest weapons, the biggest fishes, should show himself with a bigger heart and a clever government ! There are so many countries and continents suffering and fighting right now: Iran; in Africa...so many people sent to prison for what they are or believe in. And, right now, I feel very concerned by all that's happening in Syria. I don’t know how we can close our eyes on the rest of the world. A lot of governments are so selfish.

DBB: On a personal note, love your legs! What's your work-out like? Does performing in heels help shape your gams?
PP: Ah, thank you, I am very proud of my legs! And, as I always say, what is beautiful has to be shown! Seriously, I love bodies, I wish we could allow more nudity everywhere, for men and women, we don’t have to be ashamed of our bodies, a body is always superb, it allows us to have joys, different kind of joys, pleasure and great sensations ! We have to respect our bodies and take care of them. And yes, high heels are great for legs ! Can you believe I was hop-scotching on high heels on-stage? Men should put on high heels instead of playing football; that is more athletic!

DBB: You recently caught the eye of a US promoter who has been getting you played all over the radio and you are now hitting charts. You have also developed a huge new fan base of die hard fans. How are you feeling about all of this?

PP: First, I love my fans. I feel very lucky and so grateful. Even if I don’t like this term, "fan base." I don’t own my fans, I see them more like friends to whom and with whom I share my creations. If my music can be played, listened to and loved, that brings me a lot of joy and pride! When I write songs, those songs are like gifts I want to give. If there is no one to open the gift, there is no gift. I would like to give so many things to my fans, they are sometimes so nice to me. I am afraid to disappoint them if I don’t have the success they want for me or if I don't do shows, but I also know they can understand more than I think. I have very clever fans ! [Smiles.] 
I want to progress as an artist and also as a person, that is the same thing. I hate competition and this kind of communication overdose, full-time work of artists now is communication on social networks, which is why I've decided to be more discreet there. I don’t want to participate in that craziness and it would not have been honest to go on with that. I finally authorized my music to remain on Deezer, because I know some of my fans love it, even if i don’t like the way they work with little artists, they made mistakes on some of my albums and do not care.... I prefer Spotify, they are more regular, even if I hate all those middlemen, intermediaries, they are making money on people they don’t know and they don’t care of us, they see us like a big mass without faces. 
Actually, all the intermediaries earn money from the little artists but those little artists are dying. I can tell you what I earned from streaming platforms if you want to have an idea: a lot less than 100 euros for more than 15,000 listenings in those streaming platforms (and you have to put away 30% taken by Believe, the society which put my digital music on internet, another intermediary). I think that not much was paid for those horrible ads they put every 3 minutes, and Sacem paid me zero euros for the 300.000 videos seen on YouTube, even the ones with publicity put first. They just told me I didn’t fit in their "barema," the barema means you have to have 50,000 views per video in a short period, blah bla... so all my money went to bigger artists, as always with Sacem. But I’m used to that, they never gave me one euro for a show I did, and never one euro when I asked for an help for a production. When you are a little artist, they are just here to take your money. This is why I opened my little internet shop, to sell some copies of my CD on my own and survive, to sell directly from producer to consumer is the only chance for me not to just lose money, like in agriculture, intermediaries kill everything! I’m like a farmer! I would really like to give my digital music for free, to the poorest or youngest people who cannot use all those streaming things and create more physical objetcs directly from me to my fans. When you buy something in my website’s shop, all the money goes to me and allow me to produce new releases
Even for the show I made for television last February, Sacem told me i have to wait for a whole year to have the money from it ! I cannot wait for a year, I am not rich enough for that, this system is made for artists who are making money. But all those bad vibes don't have to contaminate everything....  I really want to concentrate on positive things that happened to me. I had a lot of joy, that is the most important, from what I shared with people. I wish i could just offer my art, everything, leave this idea of selling. I would like to put everything for free, free releases (and real ones, not fake like streaming platforms) because to use Spotify, you know, you cannot have too old a computer or Mac. It happened to me this year: Spotify told me your system is too old, you cannot listen, it was impossible for me to access my own music. So absurd! 

I hate to be forced to listen to those crap ads when I listen to music. I never watch television, all the programs are just the children of publicity, and this society where money is the only god. That is incompatible with my message. I don’t like this system, all that does not make me dream, we are like oil and vinegar, not made to mix, even if sometimes we can make a good salad with it. I am not sad about it, I’m beginning to make some choices to go on in a new way that can respect my ideals. We have to be positive, all our lives are still front of us. I still have that impression I did nothing. I am always a new born, with new dreams, new sensations. Every single day, I am telling to myself when I wake up, that is a new life. That is a new me. What universe will bring me today? I don’t know but I’m open. I'm going to take the time to listen and receive. I have no prejudices about the world, about me. All is possible.
 

DBB: My readers and I thank you so much! We'll be following and supporting you.  
PP:  Thanks to you for this interview. Thanks also to Barbara Sobel/Sobel Promotions for all the great work and to all my fans. Be free, be happy!