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Showing posts with label Aretha Franklin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aretha Franklin. Show all posts
It was only a matter of time before Aretha Franklin's cover of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" (from her new album, Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics -- her highest charting album since 1985 --http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2014/10/aretha-rolling-in-divas.html) got the club/ dancefloor treatment. At the time of writing, three really good, energetic remixes have emerged of the Clive Davis-created, Babyface-produced track.
Cutmore, Wideboys and Morlando's mixes are available for djs in full club-mix length, all running around the 6-minute mark (including intros and outros), as well as in radio-edit formats. All of these producers/ remixers/ djs are British and have been exceptionally prolific in recent years. Richard Cutmore is a solo artist, while Morlando and Wideboys are teams of two artists combining their talents in each case.
Well, Miss Ree is now rolling in the remixes of the sophisticated and upbeat house-music styles of these popular and vital club-music hotshots. And she's rolling uphill ~~ to the top of the charts.
Wideboys' mix is the one most likely to appeal to US clubgoers because of its tempo and the most protracted use of the "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" back-up chorus from the original Babyface production. At a total 6:05 minutes play time, it has an unusually long outro for dj mixing purposes.
Cutmore's endeavor is the smoothest and most understated, though definitely hiNRG-influenced, like the two others, when it comes to bpms.
And Morlando's mix is surely positioned to be the UK and European fave of the crop.
Any of these remixes would inspire me to get on the dancefloor and boogie on down to one of the world's most enduring divas. Hoping Aretha's "Rolling in the Deep" bubbles to the top on dance charts internationally. It's already # 2 on the US Billboard club listing. Maybe its success will spur the powers that be to follow up with club remixes of the album's cover version of the perpetual disco classic, "I Will Survive."
True disco-diva power and remix bliss in time for the holiday season.
Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics begins with "At Last" and immediately we are struck by how the Queen's inimitable style makes the Etta James classic her own.
Produced by legendary producer Clive Davis, this is a contemporary classic from an absolute icon. Actuallly, make that two icons. I felt thrilled this came together because it's surely a future classic if not an instant one. Certainly, La Franklin's intent on this effort is to show us she's the ultimate diva through the one-upmanship of her interpretations.
And she goes disco! I love that! Obviously, she's aware of her current demographics among fans (or Clive is), defying remixers not to bring her cover of "I Will Survive" to clubs. Her first single off the album, "Rolling in the Deep", was sneaked weeks ago and also seems to beckon dancefloor tweaking. Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman" is pure, wonderful, unadulterated disco certainly meant to capitalize on that revival. "You Keep Me Hanging On," too, gets the full disco treatment.
On Alicia Keyes' "No One," Aretha tackles reggae lite. She even has the chutzpa to cover "People" and "Midnight Train to Georgia." Each song, however, sounds deeply felt and delivered in grand style.
The album closes with "Nothing Compares 2 U" (presumably the diva in mind was Sinead O'Connor, not Prince, but then again who knows). Nicely arranged as a jazz tune and Aretha makes it swing.
Ten tracks and not a bum one in the pack. The cd includes copious liner notes, credits and pics. Snap this one up!
Although our President obviously meant nothing but respect for legendary diva Aretha Franklin, he had a spelling malfunction while introducing her at the White House.
"'What a lineup!' Mr. Obama declared at the outset of a concert that
featured a generations-spanning array of soul singers stretching from
musical legends Aretha Franklin and Patti LaBelle to 20-year-old Ariana
Grande," said CBS News.
"Mr. Obama paid tribute to Franklin for turning her
signature song 'Respect' into 'a rallying cry for African-Americans,
women and then everyone who felt marginalized.'
"The pumped-up audience gave a hearty laugh but was more than willing to forgive the president for spelling it 'R-S-P-E-C-T.'"
Hey, at least he didn't refer to her as Adele Azeem! Of course, the conservative press and, especially, Fox News, jumped on this immediately. "Aretha Franklin may spell out the word 'Respect' several times
throughout her synonymous song, but that doesn’t mean Harvard-educated
President Obama knows how to spell it," Fox barked. Come on, give the President some rspect. And by the way, you misused the word "synonymous," Foxies.
The President's blunder was nothing compared to John Travolta's Oscars gaff, introducing Broadway diva headliner Idina Menzel as "Adele Azeem." I saw Ms Mendel in her new Broadway musical, If/Then, that started in previews Wedneday evening. http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2014/03/broadway-beaverhausen-ifthen-notgood.html Her rendition of the theme song from Frozen, which snagged an Academy Award, was definitely one of the many high points of the Awards ceremony last Sunday evening.
Sheila MacRae (nee Stephens) passed away of natural causes two days ago in Elmwood, NJ at the age of 92. The British-born Ms MacRae was married to tall, dark and handsome singer George MacRae (not to be confused with George McCrae who sang the disco hit, "Rock Your Baby"). Sheila and George performed professionally as a vocal duo. The couple divorced in 1967. She co-starred in feature films like Caged and Sex & the Single Girl. She appeared as herself in an episode of I Love Lucy, and replaced Audrey Meadows as Alice Kramden for The Honeymooners episodes on The Jackie Gleason Show. Her daughter, Meredith McRae, played Billie Jo on tv's Petticoat Junction.
Kylie Minogue's gone into the blue with "Into the Blue" at # 11 in a scant 3 weeks. And jet-propelled to # 14 this week, the 2014 remix of "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper. It reached its current position in just 3 weeks, up from #27 on the last chart.
More diva dish next week. Until then, rspect, y'all!
I'm sure Aretha is proud to be the first female Rock & Roll Hall of Fame recipient 26 years ago. Here, fronting C&C Music Factory, she sings their huge club anthem, "A Deeper Love (Pride)," belting out enough Pride for everyone. Aretha has been no stranger to the dance floor over the years. Queen of Soul AND Disco Diva! Franklin initially flopped as a disco queen with her disco-oriented album, "La Diva" in 1979. But she returned to the dance floor in the '80s with "Jump to It" and has been a disco staple through the '90s. We could use a little Aretha these days on the disco round! La Diva, come back! Below, the excellent "Deeper Love" remix by David Morales.
There's nothing like looking through a disc full of pictures of myself, anticipating how eternally young and sexy I'm going to look, to bring me face to face with harsh reality. They say the camera adds an extra five pounds. But, honeys, Dj BB's gotta face facts: It's time to diet and get back to the gym cuz we're not talking five or even 10 pounds any more. And, as far as that disc is concerned, the medium was the fucking message! And the message was: "Bitch, you so fat!"
But working out is hard! I mean, I love the shower/sauna/applying creams and grooming part that follows the exercise; I just don't like exercising in and of itself. If only I could pay someone to do the grunt work for me and I'd receive the physical benefits of it. I don't need a trainer; I need a surrogate! Can you fucking believe it doesn't work like that! This is what puts the hell in health clubs.
I get on the dreaded scale. I'm aghast at the digital figure that appears at my feet in bright red numerals yet! The writing's on the floor! I've got an awful lot of work ahead of me. Better grab a brewski and contemplate where to cut calories.
I've got to diet! I buy a head of iceberg lettuce at the supermarket. I ask my friends in the deli downstairs to shred it on their meat slicer. This will be my only food over the next two days, I tell myself. I later pick up the phone and have Chinese food delivered from Mr Tang, deciding I'm really not all that into lettuce.
I've been through all the diet fads through all the years to varying, yo-yo-like effect. Well, yo, yo, listen up! The nothing-but-fruit diet gave me diabetes; I rather liked the spuds (potato) diet, the all-ice cream diet and the beer diet, though I gained weight on all three. The South Beach Diet was pretty good. Though, at the start, you can barely eat anything. (No carbs, alcohol, dairy... Screw South Beach, man!) My last gay doctor recommended it to me. Said it worked for him. The bitch had three freakin' pounds to lose; of course it worked for him! He was probably on it for a day!
I don't believe Jared lost all that weight by eating Subway sandwiches all the time, no matter their healthier choices. I went on a Blimpie's diet once! Only to discover there's a reason it's named Blimpie.
My cousin, Sherry, is a nurse. She sent me a hospital diet menu that was largely composed of eating hot dogs (no rolls), ice cream, peanut butter and grapefruit. Still don't know what the fuck that was about. I was in the hospital on a restricted diabetic's diet once. They fed me Wonder Bread! No wonder St Vincent's went out of business.
Dr Atkins' diet was a little too protein-rave with little balance or parameters. Then he died of his own diet and I became a complete disbeliever. And Jean Harris shot the Scarsdale Diet doctor. So much death to the dieticians! Kind of a turn-off regarding their diet theories, wouldn't ya think.
People who become vegans lose weight for the most part. Not the late Laura Nyro, however, but I think that's because she gave up heroin and started drinking a lot of booze to get herself high. Didn't hurt her career; didn't help either. When I was in my early to mid twenties, I was 118 pounds (at 5'5"). I had a size 28 waistline; I sometimes shopped in the Boys departments! But then Karen Carpenter croaked and I decided to eat again. Plus, I gave up blow. (God, it was so wonderful to rub on my gums; gave me that extra-special smile!)
The best diet, by far -- it is my belief -- is Weight Watcher's. They gave me a little scale to weigh food quantities at the start. At one point, I slavishly weighed everything (except myself), even when vacationing on The Pines, much to my hosts' annoyance. You can eat, actually, quite a bit regarding WW's portion and calorie controls. And you can eat just about everything. Plus I love their low-fat mayo! I was so competitive at Weight Watchers meetings, I ate only string beans and yogurt just to win the badge every week. WW brought out my inner bitch. (Ok, so maybe not so "inner"!) Now, an average-guy spokesperson for Weight Watchers Men Online, says he didn't have to give up burgers and beer. Maybe I'll sign up. I did lose a lot of weight on WW. Whattaya think?
Making an iTunes playlist for returning to Crunch tomorrow (or at least this week sometime). Won't include Martha Wash and Aretha, or I'll be inspired to chow down on a Junior's cheesecake while on the treadmill. Tell you all about my return to the gym tomorrow (or sometime soon). Chow! Err..., I meant, ciao, bambinos!
You learn a lot when you read National Enquirer, like how Adele dissed Jennifer Hudson when the latter diva offered the former her Weight Watchers weight-loss tips backstage at the Grammys. "Jennifer congratulated Adele on her six trophies," the Enquirer said. J-Hud added: "'I used to be heavy JUST LIKE YOU [emphasis added] and, gosh, Weight Watchers saved my life!'" Adele was reportedly outwardly gracious but privately annoyed. "'The nerve of that woman!'" Adele huffed to friends shortly afterwards. Well, it was cheeky if well intended!
But Whitney is the tabloid's main meal, starting with its outrageous, controversial cover picture of Ms Houston laid out in her coffin at what was to be a very private ceremony.
The first article on Whitney I came across in this horrifyingly informative rag was "WHITNEY FUNERAL SHOCKER as Aretha Stays Away: Queen of soul in a WAR OF WORDS with Houston Family." Yep, bad blood! Seems Miss Thing, who has claimed to be an "honorary aunt" and godmother to Whitney is neither! (Whitney's true godmother being Darlene Love.)
Dionne Warwick was stunned when she introduced Miss Ree only to look "about dumbfounded, waiting for her to appear." Well, it seems Aretha had appeared on Today with Al Roker just the day before. Although the frank Franklin spoke well of Whitney, the immediate family became furious about her comments that Whitney may not have gotten the family advice needed. Here's the interview (what's with that wig?):
Aretha's p.r. people said the diva cited "leg spasms" as the reason she couldn't make the church service. But, a few hours later, she went on as scheduled, at her Radio City Music Hall show.
The centerpiece of the Enquirer repeats and enlarges the Whitney-in-a-box photo for bad-taste value with a gratuitous write-up. Not one, but two, articles discuss Whitney's marriage and later relationship with Bobby Brown. "If it hadn't been for you, she'd be alive today," Cissy Houston is said to have accused the singer.
Well, Dj Buddy Beaverhausen confesses he doesn't know what to make of all this, though he was entertained. At least there was no mention, respectfully, of her medication/drug/alcohol abuse.
