Kathy Griffin & Cher on Mitt Romney

Two cutie pies!

OMG, I love this ad! It's as hilarious as it is dead serious. Come election day, we can put this country on a forward path or "turn back time" to a Tea Party Stone Age. Here, Cher & Kathy Griffin discuss the debacle of a possible Mitt Romney presidency. Watch this; you'll love it, too!

Billboard's Diva Race

For those of you following the diva race on Billboard's dance chart, this week Mariah Carey snags the #1 spot, victorious with "Triumphant," probably her best club tune ever. I'd call her a "Winner," but that song, by Pet Shop Boys has currently reached the12th spot on the chart, upwardly mobile, and expected to get into the current Top 10.

Mariah's American Idol rival, Nicki Minaj, slides to seventh place with "Pound the Alarm" (exactly what I'd like to do when it goes off in the mornings). Last week's #1, "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)," by Pink, is back down at #5.

Kristine W's "Everything That I Got" makes a nice show this week at #8. Offering a fantastic production by Bimbo Jones and boasting several expert mixes, it'll have you up and dancing before its intro is done.

The perennial Yoko Ono, club diva at 79 years of age, leaps into the top 25 club hits, at #20, with "I'm Moving On." And we're glad she is. Love most of the remixes for this one.

And "I'll Say It" by Kathy Griffin cracks the top 25 this week as well! #24 with a bullet to the comedian/diva's remixed tv theme. I adore it!  Hear it at link.  http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2012/09/kathy-griffin-ill-sing-it.html

Thanks to all my blog readers! Love you guys (and gals) from Italy to Indonesia, Ukraine to United Kingdom, Russia to Rwanda. (Actually, I don't think I have any readers in Rwanda.) And, to my fellow Americans, I was psyched by this week's Presidential debate; hope you were, too.

Peace and happiness for all! ~~ Disco kisses xxx Dj Buddy B

Kathy Griffin: I'll Sing It

"We all say things we regret. America's Kathy Griffin regrets nothing," The Sydney Morning Herald said. Ain't that the truth? The charming and famously fearless comedian has now become a disco diva too! Thank God for autotuning!

"Holy shitballs!" Kathy herself exclaimed with her inimitable tact on Facebook. "The 'I'll Say It' Remix is the #4 breakout for Hot Dance Club Play. Check out my latest club appearance [at Club Atlantis in the Bahamas]! You never know what club I might show up at!" Holy shitballs! Can't wait for her to come back to NYC! You can download the remixes from Amazon.com, incidentally.

Below, the original version of the song, via YouTube:

It's the intro to KG's outrageous Bravo talk show, as coy and cute as the theme from "Friends." Yet, just as upbeat and undeniably catchy.

Here's one of the great club mixes, however, to give it the cojones we know the bitch has:

One of my favorite moments from Kathy's old "D-List" show, featuring Toni Basil & Bette Midler is below. Luv huh!

 

On My Turntables Tonight: August 21, 2012

Often ~~ according to my aesthetics ~~ when it comes to dance music, the less pretentious, the more shallow and the triumph of style over substance and emotion over thought, the better.

For example, I'm a sucker for Kathy Griffin's "I'll Say It," remixes by Razor & Guido and Gustavo Scorpio among others, though I like Majik Boys' work on this best. Catchy, little sing-songy title tune from her Bravo talk show. Bravo! I think of Kathy as wild and edgy but this is surprisingly sweet.

Luvin' up the Almighty remixes of Scissor Sisters' kicky "Let's Have a Kiki," delivered NRG-style from the UK. "So so oui oui, no no kiki" is the bridge that goes on forever in this playful and joyful mix, and it makes me smile. And dance! "Lock the doors!" Absolute style over substance and wallowing in it.

"Celebrate," as remixed by Joel Dickinson, has me wanting to celebrate -- and dance -- the night away, even if it is only Tuesday. Song is from the current remake of Sparkle starring Jordan Sparks and the late Whitney Houston.  (Cine Beaverhausen film review to come very soon.)

Mariah Carey may be furious with American Idol for their announcement. earlier in the day, that Nicki Minaj has been signed as another judge on the same panel for the upcoming season. It could be a dramatic one for the celebrity judges alone, never mind the contestants. But Mariah is undeniably "Triumphant" and in true diva style (when is she not?) on her new club number of that name. I'm siding toward the Danny Verde mix on this one. Solid and exhilarating.

Wideboys' remix of "Winner," the new Pet Shop Boys song featured at the Olympics, begins with a drum machine groove John Philip Sousa would envy before it finally breaks into song. Neal Tennant's voice has become comfortably familiar and the tune, while on the catchy side, is just a mediocre toss-off for the dynamic duo with sub-par lyrics to boot. Sorry. Not one of PSB's best.

"We Got Pride," from Swishcraft featuring Diane Charlemagne, is a much less pretentious effort that truly delivers -- certainly to its target audience.  Anthemic disco, big diva vocals and the repetition of that Pride hook makes this one just pure fun, perfect for losing your inhibitions on the dancefloor. So, shake your booty to any of the mixes available:  Matt Consola & LFB; MG original; DJ Pornstar Club Mix. The melody and lyrics may seem a derivative amalgamation of songs you've heard before, but I think originality is not the goal here; it's production, strong vocals and the admittedly Pavlovian way it manipulates us to move our booties and put our hands up in the air. Woof woof!

Sometimes, less is more (substance). And, sometimes, more is more (style). And that's the way I see -- and feel -- it for dance music tonight. Till we meet again ~~ love, peace & disco! ~~ Dj Buddy Beaverhausen

Sandra Bernhard Takes on Sarah Jessica Parker, "Sex in the City," Joan Rivers, Kathy Griffin

Sandra Berhard shoots from the hip. She isn't afraid to tell it like she sees it, that's for sure! But, sometimes, there may be a sense of bitterness in her attacks. Judge for yourself in her appearance today on Howard Stern.



Michael Musto commented: "On Howard Stern's show, mouthy comic Sandra Bernhard admitted that she turned down the role of Miranda on Sex and the City.

Batshit crazy?

No, hold on people, hear out her reasons.

For one thing, she says, the script was absolutely horrible.

Secondly, they were only paying $7,500 a week.

And what's more, 'To play third or fourth fiddle to Sarah Jessica Parker and put up with her shit?'

Nyah-uh.

But Cynthia Nixon decided it would be a good move, famously enough.

I guess she considered it a choice."

Only $30K/mo.? I should have auditioned!

Below, she disses other divas in her painfully honest, no-holds-barred manner.

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!