Audio Beaverhausen: Annie Lennox Gets Sloppy with Nostalgia

Two of the season's most eagerly awaited albums from two of our most cherished divas go on sale tomorrow: Aretha Franklin's diva-worship cd and Annie Lennox's collection of standards. I'll review Annie tonight. (Aretha on Wednesday.)

Lennox, unfortunately, may come off a lummox in the land of standards on the album Nostalgia. Remember when nostalgia was fresh and new? An almost revolutionary genre in the '70s that Bette Midler, Manhattan Transfer, The Pointer Sisters and others built careers on? It was a delicate balance between camp and cheap sentiment, and the haters called it "decadent." Like that's a bad thing.

How much you'll enjoy Nostalgia depends on how much you think you'd love to hear Annie sing in her shower. Or at a karaoke bar. For me, this was a cringe-inducing embarrassment; almost masochistic in that sense. Though sadistic when you consider we listeners.

"Georgia on My Mind," "I Cover the Waterfront" (a song that always reminds me about my gaining weight), "Mood Indigo," "Summertime" and more are merely opportunities to hear Ms Lennox remind us why some great, iconic rock voices should not do standards. If Annie's musical choices on this album are songs she just adores, it's lost in translation. They sound cold and mechanical. Perhaps people out in the Scottish highlands will find these renditions soulful. I, for one, do not.

Even early rock numbers like "You Belong to Me" and "I Put a Spell on You" didn't click for me. That Lennox ripped off a page from the Billie Holiday songbook is not a cause for celebration. I still have to get the bad taste of "Strange Fruit" from my ears!

Play any of these songs on your bar's jukebox only if very drunk and just as depressed. Perfect downer music, just like her last album. And that was a Christmas one!

Nostalgia didn't leave me feeling nostalgic. It didn't leave me impressed. It did leave me flat, much like many of the notes Annie Lennox's voice hits herein..

Sweet Dreams: The Eurythmics Cover The Beatles

Photo courtesy of BBC tv

Sweet dreams are made of this, Eurythmic fans! Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox will perform together at a Grammy special on tv in February.

The duo will get back together for "a televised special commemorating the Fab Four's legendary U.S. debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, the Recording Academy announced today. The synth-pop duo will be performing a Beatles song later this month during The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles," according to Rolling Stone.

The Beatles tribute will also feature Maroon 5, a duet by Alicia Keys and John Legend, and one by John Mayer and Keith Urban.

This will be the first time Stewart and Lennox will perform together in seven years.

Writes Rolling Stone: "The Night That Changed America will tape at the Los Angeles Convention Center on January 27th, the day after the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, and will be broadcast on CBS on February 9th – exactly 50 years after the Beatles made their historic Ed Sullivan appearance."

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!

Halloween Countdown 2012: Annie Lennox v. Dracula

Here's a remix by stevers62 on Youtube of Annie Lennox singing "Love Song for a Vampire" with sound... er, dare I say... bites of Bela Lugosi. Halloween is coming. Just 29 more days.

Annie Lennox's Universal Child (dance remix)

Last year, Annie Lennox released her Christmas album,Cornucopia. Though it generally gathered positive reviews, I found it a bit glum, and Kevin Scott Hall seemed to agree when he said, in his column in Edge New York: "The Eurythmics diva brings majesty to the religious hymns and the spare arrangements are gorgeous, but otherwise sounds a bleak midwinter tone ("God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" sounds like a war march). Annie supports many charitable causes but, geez, lighten up for the holidays, Annie!"

(In that same column, Kevin discussed my dj-promo cd, "Merry Happy," of which he wrote: DJ Buddy Beaverhausen has been a follower of this column for quite some time, so I have been fortunate enough to receive some of his promo compilations. This time of year always yields a new holiday collection of mixes. Last year I wrote: "Meanwhile, for something completely different, if you can get your hands on DJ Buddy Beaverhausen’s promo Hark!, snap it up!"

This year’s disc is "Merry Happy" and selections range from the sublime (Diana Ross & The Supremes’ "My Favorite Things"―Thee Worq’n Bitches remix) to the ridiculous (The Raindolls’ 1978 "Disco Santa Claus") . . . but then, that is the point, isn’t it?

We also get reworkings of Julie Andrews’ "Do Re Mi", Madonna’s "Holiday" (what a great idea to promote this as a seasonal favorite!), Dolly Parton’s "Peace Train" and―believe it or not―the Carpenters’ "Merry Christmas Darling." Throw in Charo, Mariah and Kristine W for good (merry) measure, and you have enough to please any gay fan. And why shouldn’t we dance to Kelly Clarkson’s "Oh Holy Night"?

I asked the mysterious deejay (his promos are everywhere but he has yet to surface much on "the scene") where he finds these rare gems. (I mean, "There’s Frost on the Moon" by the Artie Shaw Orchestra featuring Peg La Centra? To die for!)

"I have an extensive collection myself and I do a lot of shopping through old vinyl and the Internet," Buddy told me. "The fun part is actually choosing because I start off with more tracks than I can actually use." Keep your eyes peeled for Buddy Beaverhausen this Christmas and, in fact, all year round..)

But back to Annie. (Ahem!) Below is the beautiful, trance-like and upbeat dance remix of the song, "Universal Child," which was a single off the album. The song was written by Ms Lennox, though most tracks from that album offered the ex-Eurythmic's rendition of traditional carols.

So, here's an international dancefloor song for Christmas as we wish for peace and strive for universal co-existence. Happy holidays, move your feet to this beat, and Sweet Dreams from our Annie!