Cher on My Christmas Countdown 2012

A wonderful song about peace, love & understanding, originally written and performed by Amber, then covered by Cher on her Living Proof album. Here's the Eddie Baez club version, my favorite remix, for your weekend (and to get you in the holiday spirit), on this year's Christmas Countdown.

Sharing the Cher Results on Dj Buddy Beaverhausen's Poll

This blog's Cher poll is now closed. You were asked to vote for your Favorite Cher Dance Song. The  Bob Esty-produced disco classic, "Take Me Home," was far and away the winner with 7 votes. "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" (remixes of the Diane Warren-penned song from the movie, Burlesque) received 4 votes. There were three votes for each of "Believe," "Different Kind of Love Song," and "One By One"; 2 votes each for "Strong Enough" and the cover of Amber's "Love One Another;" and 1 vote for "Song for the Lonely."  There were a total of 19 votes and participants could select more than one song in casting their vote(s). Hence, 23 votes cast, 19 viewers voting. Thanks to everyone who took part in this poll; new poll to come soon! Be on the lookout.

Divas Rising

Amber Dirks

Glad to work my way out of the imbroglio on Facebook with diva Friends Amber Dirks and Amber today, so it's now on with the Billboard divas & where they stand, USA. (Both Ambers, I expect right now, to do Q&As on this blog in the near future, and Debby Holiday in time for NYC Pride. Stay tuned.)

Toni Braxton's "I Heart You" hit #1 this week! Big woo for Ms Braxton, lifted strongly by the mixes of Mark Picchiotti and Peter Rauhofer.

"I Don't Like You" by Eva Simons is #4, but then, I don't like her either. Rihanna's "Where Have You Been" drops to numero 6. But Kathareine McPhee and Carly Rae Jepsen rise nicely, to numbers 7 and 8, with "Touch Me" and "Call Me Maybe," respectively.

"Menergy" may have hit its high at #8 last week, as it's now at #16. Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend" got to #21 and JLo hangs in at #24 with "Dance Again," and again and again.

Thanks out this week to the USA, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Philippines, Turkey and United Arab Emigrates. Love back at ya! It's one world; get into the universal love of it all.

Below, the original pop version (not remixed) of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe;" pretty hot video.

Donna Summer & Amber, "I Feel Sexual Love" Remix

Clubland superstar Amber & disco legend 

Donna Summer, passing the torch

Tonight, do you feel love? Do you feel sexual? Maybe both? Well, let's celebrate with this mash-up of two of my all-time favorite dance divas, the late Donna Summer, and Amber, both of who will have new albums released later in the year.

I found a fan's mash-up on YouTube and thought I'd share it in this post so you can get your party on at home tonight.  Ooo, it's so good, Li Da Di!

Both Amber's "Sexual" & Donna's "I Feel Love" went #1 on the US Billboard dance chart. Here they are, joined at the shaking hip. 

This Is Your Night: Amber Wants You!

Good news: Amber has a new single! Better news: You could be in it! Just go to Amber's link from YouTube to hear the diva's instructions and specs on how to qualify.

"And, yes," Amber says, "All my drag queens can go all out! Glitter! Color! Cuz you all know you're the queens of the night now...." Why we love her.

Very excited about this new single (title unknown at this point); will keep you posted. (Don't miss second video at end of post.)



Love this video, Amber's 2008 version of her very first huge dance hit. (God, everybody on the planet knows this one!)

Kelly Clarkson Bursts onto the Billboard Dance/Club Chart + the Return of Amber and Doris Day!

The dance artist simply known as Amber, a consistent and supportive friend of the LGBT community as well, announced this week that she has returned to the studio to work on a new album. This is big news in dance-music circles, as Amber has inspired us to get up and move it since the '90s, with hits like "This Is Your Night," "Sexual," "Melt with the Sun" and "Above the Clouds."

The recording studio is "[o]bviously one of the places on Earth, where I am happiest...," she recently expressed to friends. So I'm anticipating great things. Amber was a Grammy nominee as the writer of "Love One Another" for Cher's cover version (Amber originally recorded the song) and also wrote "Bless You Child" for Bette Midler, which deserved to have remixers on board for a maxi-single of 12" club mixes. Never happened, though the tune is dancetastic even on the album version.

Amber's last club hit was a cover of "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)." Zelma Davis, of C&C Music Factory fame, collaborated on the duet.

The forthcoming album is produced by longtime collaborator Wolfram Dettki, whom she's worked with since the beginning of her recording career, Amber explained to me. However, her first two albums were produced by the Berman Brothers. Amber then began to assert control over her career and, when she did Sexual, her third album, Dettki was producer and has been to this day. (Ummm, the Thunderpuss remix of "Sexual" is so awesome, still!)

So, welcome back, Amber! We eagerly await your newest work and hope it will make its way up the Billboard Dance/Club chart to #1. Which is where we're going next... but after the official 1999 video for Amber's song, "Sexual" (album version) which, on Billboard's club chart that year, made it all the way to #1. She's going to do it again, folks, I just know it!



Now, first, some amazing news from Billboard's pop chart before we go on to dance music. Says Billboard:

Beloved actress and singer Doris Day returns to the Billboard 200 after a 47-year absence, as "My Heart" debuts at No. 135.

First released in England, the set began at No. 9 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart in September, marking Day's first top 10 on the list. With the bow, Day, 87, became the senior-most female artist to notch a U.K. top 10 with a collection of newly-released material.

On the Billboard 200, Day appears for the first time since 1964, when "Love Him!" spent eight weeks on the chart, peaking at No. 102.

"Heart" features recordings produced by Day's son, Terry Melcher, before his death in 2004....

I have to admit that Doris Day, as both an actress and singer, has been a lifelong guilty pleasure of mine. Kudos, Doris! Any thoughts of co-starring in anything with Betty White? She's an animal rights activist, too. Could she, maybe, coax you out of retirement with the idea of proceeds going to PETA?

So, now, the dance chart, Top 25 update: Gloria Estefan usurps the #1 spot this week, as the divine Deborah Cox tumbles to ten with the Janice Robinson-penned "If It Wasn't for Love," which is fantastic. Estefan's "Hotel Nacional" is swing-gone-disco, Dr Buzzard-style; so, hey, Puppini Sisters, get some remixes together, girls!

Lady Gaga's "Marry the Night," also a numero uno, beds down at #8 after a strong 7 weeks on the Dance Chart. Florence + the Machine's "Shake It Out" stalls at #4 but could rev up next week. Let's see.

Rosabel's "Let Me Be Myself" hits 11 after snagging #7 last week, but the great Ultra Nate & Michelle Williams' "Waiting on You" rises, after a slow start, to #12 from 17 last week. I hope this one goes to the bitchin' top!

Erika Jayne's "Party People" and Traci Lords' "Last Drag" are clinging in there, currently at 13 and 19, respectively. Plumb's dreamy "Drifting" drifts up to 14 from last week's 20 (good going!) and "Be with You" by Britain's Erasure soars from #22 to 17.

Now, Kelly! Kelly Clarkson, after all that advice I bestowed on you, sweety, in that infamous blog piece... Honey baby child lamb, you got your ass in the #24 nitch with "Stronger" (and I guess you are)! And, last week, you were #40! Bitch: all's I got to say! Except, I do like the song. Really.

Finally, Gravitonas holds on, against the gravitational pull, but at numero 25. And that rounds out the Billboard Dance/Club Chart Top 25 for the week!

Ok, love you all! Kisses, bitches, all over this fucking globe! Thanks for your support! Blog's going through the stratosphere. Thanks to everyone around the planet, and welcome aboard, Iceland!

Year of the Dragon: know it's gonna be hot (I'm a dragon)! Best to everyone, and much universal love!

Love One Another this Christmas

Christmas is about love, peace and happiness. So it's only right to include this song by club diva Amber.

Though I don't personally know Amber at all, she is among my Facebook Friends, and I have found her to be very politically aware, funny, intelligent and sensitive. Besides that, she has great pipes, is a fabulous songwriter (she wrote "Bless You, Child" for Bette Midler, for example) and has taken control of her own career; bravo!

Amber started her career with the Berman Bros.-produced "This Is Your Night," a huge club hit in the mid-'90s. Other club smashes include "Sexual (La-di-la)," "Above the Clouds" and "Melt with the Sun."

"Love One Another" was covered by Cher, on her Living Proof album. I love the Cher version but, even more, I love Amber's original. Here is my favorite remix of that song and an exciting VJ video to accompany it.

So, enjoy and add this to your Christmas Party list. Support our independent and LGBT community supportive artists by legally downloading their music.

My Divas, the Recording Booth and Me

Kathy Griffin Tweeted on Halloween, in light of the hasty Kardashian/Humphries divorce: "Ok, so how many of u r changing ur Halloween costumes NOW 2 'Kim & Kris'? I'm running out 2 get stilts & an inflatable ass." Also: "Ugh! gay couples like Kim K & Kris H ruining the sanctity of marriage is the problem w the radical homosexual agend--- oh wait, oops:)" (We knew they were incompatible from the starting gate. But who wouldn't want to marry an 8-foot hunk? Take it from Buddy, though: body parts don't always measure up. Honestly, I expect the kalculating Kim knew, before her nups, what she was getting into -- and what was getting into her, as well.)

On Facebook, dancefloor divas can be truly divine and accessible when Friended. The great Carol Hahn sent me inspiring words when my Mom became seriously ill; Inaya Day thanked me for commenting on her rendition of the Gershwins' "Summertime," from a concert in Germany, on Youtube; and Amber Dirks asked us to consider casting a vote for her, as a contestant, for tv's Wives of Favor. I did just that, and she sent me such a sweet, personal thanks. She is now a finalist. (Go, Amber!)

Ah, my divas, my divas! Where would I be without them? I was raised on divas (not robbery)! Singers like Patti Page & Peggy Lee (before I moved on to Patti Smith and Kiki Dee), but movie divas, too. My grandmother practically insisted I watch films, along with her, on the tv, that starred every movie with Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck, Claudette Colbert, et al. She even took me to the movies to see "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" I remember she sadly sighed during that film, "They used to look so beautiful!" But I watched these films and I learned. It was quite a cool education, Gran.

I have a recording of myself as a kid (around age 7), with my grandfather, in a recording booth in the Jersey shore town of Keansburg, NJ. He introduced me and I burst into a show tune; a favorite of mine at the time, punching across every line. I knew every single word! The song was "Hey, Look Me Over" from the Broadway flop, Wildcat, starring Lucille Ball. Now, if you heard Lucy sing in the movie version of Mame, perhaps you can figure out what closed the show.

Lucy was a tv diva. America's cathode-ray sweetheart but one tough broad who was so intimidating, she even frightened Joan Crawford to death when she guested on The Lucy Show. (Or was it Here's Lucy?)

But I digress as usual. Because my recording booth experience in Keansburg, NJ reminds me of the cd album I listened to last night: Don Rosler's Recording Booth. Lawrence Ferlinghetti's "A Coney Island of the Mind" might also be an apt title for this astounding concept album, with a slew of amazing vocalists. There are genuinely antique recording-booth moments nostalgically, poignantly laced throughout the songs. It's the aural version of earlier Fellini films, American-style, and it's ingenious and a total original.

Rosler's songs wistfully evoked, for me, moments of the music of Jacques Brel, Paul Simon, George Harrison, Nino Rota, Jimmy Webb; yet the songs also seem fresh in their ways; not merely nostalgic or homages to their collective influences. Available to download on Amazon, and available on cd (nicely packaged with liner notes; recommended format) from CD Baby, it has received rave reviews. Particular attention has been graced upon the lovely song, "Doris from Rego Park," posted below.

The only thing missing from Rosler's Recording Booth is my Live from Keansburg rendition of "Hey, Look Me Over!" Get with it, Don!