On My Turntables, 12/12

Peter Rauhofer

There's a brilliance about Peter Rauhofer's big room anthem mix of "Skyfall" that will immediately draw you to the dancefloor. All I can say is Wow! It's an exciting rework that enhances Adele's James Bond theme song while preserving the integrity of the original version. You can download at http://soundcloud.com/workparties/skyfall-peter-rauhofer-big

Peter does an equally fabulous club mix of "Flavor," bringing Tori Amos back to discoland, where she has been sorely missed. The style of this mix is so similar to that of "Skyfall," it's evident they could easily be mixed together in a set, though it also hints at a kind of cookie-cutter approach on Rauhofer's part, perhaps in an attempt to land another mainstream club hit. (Listen at link below.)

Expose is back with the 2012 remixes of "Shine On." (Expose is Ann Curliss, Jeanette Jurado and Gioia Bruno, if you're not already aware.) This '80s girl group is back in style with a well-written song and a series of powerful mixes by Klubjumpers, Amy Alderman and -- my fave -- the Chris Thomas Light of Love remix.

Dj Buddy B when he twirled in his loin cloth

Almighty Records are amazing! They are one of the most successful indy labels of all time and internationally successful remixers as well. Their new cover of Tarzana's "Tarzan Boy," by Amazonia, is unabashedly hiNRG in the label's inimitable style and I love it! It will make you want to twirl in your loin cloth.

Sweden's Gravitonas always engages us with their nouveau NRG/electronica. The band's new "Incredible" is just that, produced by Alexander Bard, the man who brought us Army of Lovers ("Crucified") in the '80s.

All hail hit-making Dj Lenny B's remix of Kelly Clarkson's "Catch My Breath"! It is a "gotta dance," moving, upbeat experience that mainstream club crowds hunger for. Check it out. The Dj Tristan Jaxx bootleg remix of Cher's "A Woman's World" has, meanwhile, surfaced, and who can resist?  "Hard core dance music," was Cher's description of her forthcoming album that will feature this single. Nice work on this leaked, unofficial club mix.

Kisses out to my blog readers this week for record views from Australia, United Arab Emirates, Poland, Hungary and Italy. And to the US, UK, Indonesia, Canada, France, Brazil, Germany and Mexico for strong, continued support.

Ok, everybody, it's holiday time! Let's Party and Spread the Love into the New Year!

Billboard in Brief with a Beaverhausen Bias

Germany's Zedd (featuring one Matthew Koma) usurps the #1 Billboard dance/club chart spot with the trance-meets-heavy metal "Spectrum," and eternal disco boy Dj Buddy Beaverhausen, for one, is unimpressed. Rather I listen to a thousand Gotyes! But the song has beat Madonna out of the primo position.  Madge, who was on the fast track, just nudged to second place from last week's #3 spot, cooling her hefty bimbo jets till next week's expected big triumph via "Turn Up the Radio." We'll see. Might be just a bit delicious if the #1 spot has a surprise takeover.

Greatest Gainer this week is Scissor Sisters' trendalicious "Let's Have a Kiki," at #4 after a mere four weeks on the top 25 list. As I've said previously,  I love the Almighty remix best. It'll have you up & bouncing, party boys! And there's another song named "Spectrum" within the top 5, if you can believe! This one the hot Florence & the Machine tune. Number five this week, up from #8 when last we raked through the trending dance chart. By the way, might I say I miss Spectrum in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. In the '90s, I'd travel here from Manhattan to see great live performances with the likes of Village People, France Joli and Hazell Dean, to name a few, and to dance on the famed Saturday Night Fever disco floor.

Ah, Adam! Yer Glamberts must be hitting the clubs these days as "Never Close Our Eyes" reaches #6, up just one place from last time, but carried beautifully on your strong vocals and a few good club mixes, my fave again being from those Almighty men of the UK.

And who's that girl under Adam, at #7 this time out? None other than the fabulous Ms Cyndi Lauper, up from 11 last outing. "Sex Is in the Heel" is a great club number, a new triumph for gay-fave Cyn, so put on your cha-cha heels and dance her hot mess around. A true club person's delight!

"Dark Side" slides to #8 from last week's top perch, while Jennifer Lopez' "Goin' In" is goin' out at the 10th spot. And Kylie's fantastic "Timebomb" is now fizzling out at #11. Rebecca Ferguson's "Nothing's Real But Love" is currently up five spots, which is good news, and Gossip's "Perfect World" still clinging on in the 25th spot.

Till the next time, you know how much I love me clubhoppers! Love, peace and disco 'round the world, y'all! Dance with love in your hearts for a world without hate. Work it out on the dancefloors, all my blog-watchers here at home in the USA, the U(specia)lK, cool cats in Brazil and Indonesia; Canada, Ukraine; France, Germany, Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Turkey and Spain, I love you; all my friends in Russia and Slovenia, too!  Kisses to the Phillipines! Till the next time, with major thanks for reading my posts, love ~~ Dj Buddy Beaverhausen

I leave you with this video:

Katy Perry Vs. Lady Gaga on the Year-End 2011 Dance/Club Billboard Charts

Well, I was certainly surprised, disappointed, occasionally impressed but certainly not blase about the results of Billboard's annual wrap-up of the dance/club charts for the year 2011.

It was Katy Perry who held the #1 spot on the Dance/ Club Play list with "E.T." Did you say, "Really?" That's what I said! Katy was also in the #6 spot, singing about girls gone wild ("Last Friday Night"), which I'm sure was a fave at sorority parties everywhere but not something I'd care to hear at a club particularly. The best song from the Teenage Dream album is "Firework," in my opinion, charting on the Club Play list at 19. This derivative but infectious ditty surprisingly was not mashed up with Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors," with which it shares a common theme, the way Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" was mashed with Madonna's "Express Yourself," with which it shares a melodic structure.

A little incidental trivia: Did you know Katy is the great-niece of director Frank Perry, the director of "Mommie Dearest?" (Perhaps we should start playing Six Degrees of Mommie Dearest.)

Second place sees Rihanna all settled in with the "whips and chains" of "S&M," a little bracing coming from a victim of date violence. Exploit much and possibly not a well woman at large here, though very pretty when her face isn't battered by Chris Brown.

Kylie nicely sits atop both the tenth and eleventh spots. The big surprise here is that "Put Your Hands Up" is the 11th spot and "Better Than Today" is one entry up at #10.

Cher's back on the annual Billboard dance hits list with "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me." Dance remixes (notably by Almighty) lifted this one upward on Billboard from the soundtrack of Burlesque. Always a good year when Cher charts for the dance floor.

The shocker on this chart is the fact that Lady Gaga's biggest hit on it is #23, and that's the anthemic "Born This Way," which I thought received endless club play earlier this year. So, excuse me here, but "E.T." phoning home at #1 and "Born This Way" at 23? Doesn't add up! I'd love to see a breakdown of gay club play vs straight club play because results might be quite different, I think. God, I miss the old DMA (Dance Music Authority) magazine!

But Gaga has four hits on the 2011 top 50 whereas Perry has three. Our Lady of Gaga also charts at 37 with "The Edge of Glory;" 41 with "Judas" and 45 with "You & I."

On the Dance/Electronic Albums chart, however, Gaga rules. Born This Way is #1 on that list and The Fame album is #3.

The Fame Monster is #8, while The Remix -- just recently released -- is #9. Ranking four out of the top 10? A simply dazzling feat for any artist.

Ultimately, on the Dance/Club Artists chart, Billboard has Miss Perry in the numero uno spot and La Gaga at numero dos.

Other gay-favorite divas who charted are: Jennifer Lopez with "On the Floor," "I'm Into You" and "Papi" (numbers 15, 16 and 18, respectively); Wynter Gordon's "Til Death" made #20; ageless wonder Yoko Ono came in at nos. 21 and 28 with "Move On Fast" and "Talking to the Universe," respectively. Erika Jayne is in the 22nd spot with "One Hot Pleasure" as the always divine Kritine W charts a respectable 23 with this year's "Fade." Gloria Estefan's "Wepa" is #38, which is nice considering it was released in the fall and tallied alot of play in a relatively short period. The ubiquitous Betty White and Luciana got their "I'm Still Hot" hot enough to be this year's number 48 dance/club hit. You got it goin' on, Perfect Betty!

But it's our Britney who's kind of bottom-heavy on the Dance/Club list this year.

Though "Til the World Ends" did a smashing #17 on this year's round-up, Britney holds the numbers 34 and 39 places down with "Hold It Against Me" followed with "I Wanna Go."

For any of the above-mentioned full chart listings, go to Billboard.com.

Perennials

The world of dance music is full of performers, djs and labels that burned brightly and then went out of existence in what seemed like a flash. It's not unusual in the entertainment world but it's especially applicable to the trendy, flavor-of-the-moment dance-music microcosm. So, it's always heartening to look at perennials of the industry who seem to be around forever and without whom the dance-music world would be the poorer. Take for example, Almighty Records in the U.K.

Almighty is a true phenomenon not only of dance music labels but of indy labels generally. This London-based, hiNRG organization has been going strong since 1990 with their remixes and NRGized cover-versions for the dance floor. They've famously remixed Cher, Diana Ross, Elton John, Liza Minnelli, Pet Shop Boys, Wynonna Judd, Pamala Stanley, Katy Perry and countless more. Almighty have produced singles by Hannah Jones, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Gloria Gaynor, Donna Summer, Freda Payne, and have gone platinum internationally with their Abbacadabra (NRG covers of you-know-who) project.

Martyn Norris is head producer and CEO of Almighty Records and monitors and runs everything, from creating new projects to creating the music to searching for vocalists for Almighty's in-house productions like Almighty Gaga Girls and Obsession. Martyn is the head of Almighty Associates and a member of the Almighty remix team. Since the '80s, he has been something of a hiNRG wunderkind and, apparently, savvy businessman. Congratulations to Almighty for such fantastic, make-you-wanna-dance music for 21 years so far.

The ageless Tony Moran is a one-man producer/remixer who evolved from freestyle (he remixed "Show Me" by The Cover Girls) to a fusion of freestyle, house and NRG. Tony is, along with Junior Vasquez, one of the USA's most influential producers/remixers over the past two decades and is still going strong. He has a new compilation, the continuously mixed Mix Magic Music on his current Sugarhouse label. It includes his work with powerhouse divas the likes of Nicki Richards, Frenchie Davis, Ultra Nate, Deborah Cox and Jennifer Holliday. (Wow!) Highly recommended, currently available for download or, in NYC, at Rainbows and Triangles in Chelsea (8th Ave., 19th-20th Streets)and Rebel Rebel on Bleecker, off Christopher.

This week on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart, Ricky Martin moving up to #11 with "Freak of Nature" (to hit the top 10 by next week), "I Wanna Go" by Britney Spears is the new Power Pick as it leaps to 23 from its debut, last week, at 45. Yoko's "Talking to the Universe" captures the 17th spot from last week's 25 and Kylie's "Put Your Hands Up" hits #10. Gaga's "Edge of Glory" (with Clarence Clemons on sax) is up at #5 while her Judas makes its way down the chart at 43 after a solid 12 weeks.

On the Dance Airplay chart, the fab Kim Sozzi rises, now at 16, with "Little Bird," her cover of the Annie Lennox number. I recently mixed the intro to the extended version with dialogue and loops from Hitchcock's "The Birds" featuring Tippi Hedren. Hopefully, this track will find its way to the club chart.