Fagtastic Too Outta Bay Ridge, NYC

If John Waters thinks Baltimore is offbeat, he should visit Bay Ridge. And let me tell one and all, I'm thrilled to be living here in an apartment five or six times my Village digs in Manhattan. Windows, windows, windows; closets, closets, closets! I'm still stunned by the grandeur of it. An entire "dressing room?" You bet. (And you know I'm feeling all Crawfordy over it!)

But what would Mr Waters (who is doing a Christmas act at BB King NYC on Dec. 19 & 20) think about this area's being the home of the 99cent stores as well as home to the illegal u-turn and 3-point turn, which occur, indiscriminately, every minute it seems? Not to mention the huge, white turkeys stalking about in the florist window display directly across the street from me!

I went over to watch the nonchalant birds Sunday morning as a Brooklynite guidette mama (perfectly made up, coiffed and dressed in a belt-hugging minidress, for churchgoing) of two young ones purred a'la Fran Drescher on The Nanny, "Oooooh, my God, kids! Look! Turrrrkeees! Reeeel turrrkeys! Can ya fuckin' believe it!" (Why am I certain she received holy communion shortly thereafter?) She took a pic with her cell. How could I not fall in love with this burg?

This weekend was very productive. Kitchen bulletin board's up, as is rubber-ducky shower curtain & bath mat. Mainly, I hooked my audio system up and created my first promo cd since September.

April's Fagtastic promo still remains a popularly requested cd-r; so here comes Fagtastic Too in the same spirit. First up is the Betty White version of "I'm Still Hot" by Luciana, which hit #1 on Billboard's dance chart.

I followed that with a club mix of Adele's "Someone Like You," followed by a promo I have of Madonna's new number, "Give Me All Your Love" (Saint Ken mix), bound to reach your dancefloor and radio in December.

Then, another advance preview of Deborah Cox's latest outing,"If It Wasn't for Love."

Kathy Sledge, of Sister Sledge ("We Are Family") follows with her Billboard dance charter, "Give Yourself Up," preceding the unreleased Almighty 2010 remix of Cher's "Believe."

Other highlights include Erasure's "Be with You," already a dance smash in Europe; Selena Gomez's catchy "Love You Like a Love Song," and the divine, hi-nrg "Love SOS" by the stalwart Pepper Mashay.

Bay Ridge inspires me; more space assists my work; I expect the neighb influence will only make me more edgy and adventurous (though upbeat) on future cd-r promos.

I'll hate to see those turkeys go. Maybe they'll bring in elves for the next display. We'll see.

Stalled on Billboard

Some things are just frustrating. Like trying to find the time (and money) to do all the stuff that, in your heart, you want to do. Mostly because I'm moving and need to spend time packing up, deciding what to get rid of and all, I had to forego the opportunity to see a friend make his modeling debut on a runway event at the historic Chelsea Hotel last night. It would have been a fun evening but, sigh, just like Robert Frost, I have promises to keep.

Another frustrating thing was this morning's Billboard Top 25 Dance/Club tunes. Erasure poked their heads in at #25 last week with "When I Start (to Break It All Down)," a song I championed on this blog back in May. It was good to find the tune turn up on the come-lately American chart, but a big disappointment for me to find it stalled at 25 this week.

Taylor Dayne's "Floor on Fire," another favorite, reached a respectable #7, now dropping to the 22nd place, when it really deserved to go all the way to the top.

Adele's "Someone Like You," which is #2 in the Top 100, came in at #24 in the club arena last week and, like Erasure, finds itself stuck in a Billboard rut, spinning its wheels at the #24 spot once again. (I particularly like Joe Gauthreaux (that's a lot of vowels!) & Brian Cua's remix on this number, incidentally.)

Wynter Gordon's sprightly and infectious "Buy My Love" receives a big bounce from 26th place to 21st in more upbeat US dance chart news. Selena Gomez and the Scene soars with the nice "Love You Like a Love Song." And club mixes of Beyonce's "Countdown" lift it to 9th place from #16. The Dj Escape and Tony Collucio remix is the best of the lot.

The great C&C Music Factory is back! Its new incarnation as CnC Music Factory brings us a superb dance floor number. The ingenious Robert Clivilles, who has nothing to prove at this point in his career, was an original C&C producer along with the late David Cole. His new partner is Eric Kupper, who has worked with producers/remixers the likes of David Morales, Frankie Knuckles and the especially legendary Arthur Baker. Featured vocalist is Scarlett Santana. This is the kind of dance song that makes me want to chuck my frustrations, promises-to-keep and problems all aside, and just surrender to its power on the dance floor. (Or even just around the apartment as I pack.) I love the remix done by my Internet friend, Dj Joel Dickinson (nee Thee Werq'n B!tches) and the fabulous (ex-protege to Junior Vasquez) Jerome Farley. Available on Amazon.

Welcome back, CnC Music Factory. People, this number's gonna make you sweat!

US Billboard & Diva Tweets

I love dancing. I think it's better to dance than to march through life. So tweeted Yoko Ono yesterday, and chances are, if you're reading Leave It to Beaverhausen, you love dancing too. So, let's see what's up on the Billboard club music top 25.

How Jennifer Lopez captured the numero uno dance/club spot this week is a mystery. I just don't get "Papi," a mediocre number with a hot title that had me expecting something more exciting. The remixes can only do so much and, number one or not, this JLo tune will not be on my turntables unless by gunpoint.

Selena Gomez' "Love You Like a Love Song" is so infectious that it's positively going viral. And why not? The pop tune has several keen dance mixes to choose from. My fave is the Dj Escape/Tony Collucio remix. "Love You" soared from #24 to #17 this week.

While Lady Gaga fell from grace as last week's #1 ("You & I"), she's at #5 after 7 strong weeks of charting. Taylor Dayne's "Floor on Fire" nudges up from #8 to #7, maybe running out of steam but certainly respectably nestled into the top ten.

The 22nd, 23rd and 24th positions this week are of interest. Kathy Sledge peaked at #20 with "Give Yourself Up", slid to #21 and now she's clawing on to #22. Tenacity! And a good dance number that deserved even better.

Beyonce's "Countdown" counts up from 35th position last week to #23 in a strong show for a solid song that oughtta keep dance floors packed at peak. And the divine Adele shimmies up to #24 from #29 with "Someone Like You," the remixes in the wake of the song's storming up the US pop chart.

By the way, Bette Midler's recent tweet? Justin Bieber has a scent? That's hilarious. It should be called "Someday I'm gonna Shave"....

And now I'm Following Ruth Buzzi! Till next time, keep dancing, keep loving, keep the peace & Occupy Wall Street.