Q's & A's 2012: Looking Back on My Interviews for the Year

Something new was added to my blog in 2012: my interviews with noteworthy people connected to the dance music scene.

My very first Q & A was with producer/remixer Joel Dickinson, and I thought there was a good rapport in that one, plus Mr Dickinson had a lot of interesting things to say about his career as Joel Dickinson, DJJD and Thee Werq'n B!tches.
http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2012/02/dj-buddy-beaverhausens-q-with-dj-joel.html

My second interview of 2012 was with writer Johnny Morgan, who authored the books, Gaga, and DISCO: The Music, The Times, The Era, a lushly illustrated and detailed account that is truly a favorite of mine regarding its subject. I can't recommend this highly enough to anyone interested in disco music; it's both brilliantly explored and insightful. Here was our Q & A. Johnny, who has an encyclopedic knowledge of popular music generally, was clever, extremely articulate and thoughtful throughout:
http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2012/03/dj-buddy-bs-q-with-author-johnny-morgan.html

Debby Holiday was the first dance diva to agree to do an interview with me. I loved our interview as Ms Holiday comes across as being full of positive energy, with a winning personality shining through. This Q&A came together in time for Gay Pride in NYC, where I'm still hoping she will perform someday soon. Ms Holiday, daughter of soul legend Jimmy Holiday, told me, after seeing the Q & A, that the image of her dad that's included was one she'd never seen before, which I found very sweet and touching.

Debby has charted on the Billboard Top 25 Dance/Club Chart a dozen times to date and you can purchase Debby's music at Amazon.com.
http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2012/06/buddy-bs-exclusive-q-with-debby-holiday.html

Amber Dirks, currently fronting the hot electronica of Kopatechnic, has had an illustrious career in dance music, and my interview with her contains several music videos and images. Ms Dirks was very gracious and kind, discussing her work as a singer, what it was like working with Sister Sledge amongst others, and her Donna Summer connection. Amber's album with Kopatechnic has been released since this interview, and you can purchase it at Amazon.com on MP3.
http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2012/07/exclusive-q-with-dance-diva-amber-dirks.html

My last interview of the year was with the divine Carol Hahn, who was just wonderful to talk with. I have been a fan of hers for some time now and have blogged about her since one of my very first Leave It to Beaverhausen posts. Carol is a very bright, sensitive and talented individual. I enjoyed discovering more about her jingles and voice-overs as much as I did discussing her career as a dance diva, who has charted on Billboard's Dance/Club chart several times. This Q & A ended on a very kind, bittersweet and personal note.
http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2012/09/exclusive-q-with-diva-of-dance-music.html

Carol recently recorded "You Have Rescued Me" with Karin Nagi, available now on iTunes.



I once again want to thank this illustrious group of dance-music stars for granting me these interviews and for taking out the time to talk with us. Please support these people and their enormous talents. It was a privilege for me to conduct these Q & A's.

And, in 2013: More Dj Buddy Beaverhausen Q & A's! Just wait till you see what I've got cooking, and with whom! Thanks to my readers, Happy New Year, and I hope you've enjoyed these interviews as much as I enjoyed the interviewing.

Exclusive Q&A with Dance Diva Carol Hahn

I'm proud to say I've been at clubs since the 1980s and that I've loved Carol Hahn since I first heard "Do Your Best" at Danceteria in New York City. Carol has been a diva fave with her powerful vocals, which Phil Spector might have enjoyed working with, because of her driving, strong vocal quality. And then there was a long absence from the scene.

I first talked about Ms Hahn in an early (2009) blog piece, "Notes to Divas" (still one of my most popularly read posts): "Carol Hahn was a delight when she brought her powerful pipes recently to Splash in New York. She is simply a club diva's club diva who came to international attention in the 1980s with a few hiNRG hits."

DJ Buddy B: Hi, Ms Hahn, and thank you for doing a Q&A for my club-savvy blog readers and me. 
 

CH: My pleasure!

DJBB: You've gone both "Into the Light" and "Into the Night." Which was best for you?

CH: Well, they were both totally different songs in all aspects. 

"Into the Night" was a song I co-wrote with a friend, Tristan Vetter (Jeff Sullivan), early on in my career and it was just sort of a fun, sexy dance tune, nothing heavy. We were trying to write a really good follow-up to my first release as we had just come off of the success of "Do Your Best." The response to it was very exciting and it did very well.  

Re-recording it a few years back was fun too, I initially did not want to put out a new version out but kept getting requests and suggestions from people to release it again. My hip and happening 20-something niece kept telling me it would be great to put out again, so I finally decided let's do it. I was a bit embarrassed to sing some of the lyrics at this stage in my life, so Tristan changed a few of them to make them more comfortable for me to sing.

"Into the Light" was a song I wrote out of a deep personal experience from a love relationship. It was a very cathartic experience for me, the song came very quickly lyrically and musically, (which is always a wonderful thing), and I was able to see the problem I was having in a much different light. Kind of an ah-hah moment.
 

DJBB: Ah-hah! 

Now, I'm fairly uninformed about the jingles and voice-overs you've done, outside your dance-music career. What do you think most readers and I might best recognize?

CH: I did a lot of work for Cable One IVR, (interactive voice response system) for a few years, you know the idiotic person you have to listen to and keep pressing buttons until you hopefully get a real person. 

DJBB: So, that was you!

CH: I often find myself yelling at the IVR voice when I call big companies. My job was to speak in a friendly and calm voice. Most of the VO's and jingles I did in the U.S. were regional or local markets. I've sung about the wonders of blueberries and plumbers and baseball teams and many other things.  I've done jingles and VO's for clients from Russia, Australia, Sweden, U.K., Dubai etc. I enjoy doing character voices the most, it's very fun.

I actually do an English Queen character; she's a cross between British royalty and Julia Child; she's very loud but very sexy in a big-bossomed kind of way....

I also did an interesting one for a British museum exhibit. They wanted the voice of a white-winged duck.  I just had to figure out how a white-winged duck would talk, which I did, and they liked it.

DJBB: I'd love to hear those! 

You first burst onto the dance scene in '82 with the album, Portraits.  How did that all come together?  
 

And, in '83, you had a smash hit with "Into the Night." At what point after that did you decide to put your music career aside and return to college? And what was your motivation for that? Seems like a bold move.

CH: I took my band into a local studio to record a promo demo to help us get club and wedding gigs. The studio owner, Jack Stang liked my voice and asked if I wanted to do some originals. Jack was recording with a very talented guy named Rahni Harris, from the band Dayton, and Rahni had written some very good originals.   

The album is mostly songs Rahni wrote, including "Do Your Best." The songs were actually written as Christian songs but we did them as love songs. "Do your Best" did very well charting on Billboard and getting lots of play in the clubs and some radio. One of the coolest things I heard about just a few years ago is that it got played regularly by Larry Levan at the Paradise Garage.

After "Into the Night," I signed with a label out of Minneapolis called Wide Angle Records and they released a couple of songs I co-wrote with Tristan and John Bauers (who was in my band) called "Reach Out" and "Your Love is All I Need." It did well in the clubs and charts. We released another 12" after that but, by that time, I was feeling very burnt-out by the music industry. I continued to sing steadily with my band but I sort of gave up on the recording end of it. I also went through a divorce and became a single mom, so I needed to get a more stable career.

DJBB: What an un-disco-diva-like thing to do! 

But you're back big time, better than ever really, with a Billboard hit after 23 years with the terrific "I Can Stop the Rain." What an incredible thing for any artist's career! What do you make of this achievement?

CH: At the time it was very exciting but a few years out it feels very different. I was really out of touch with the protocol for getting the music out there as it had changed quite a bit since the 80's. I went through a learning curve and made some expensive mistakes but it was the only way to learn it, I guess. I do think "I Can Stop the Rain" is a very good song.... and I'm happy it made Billboard. However, other than giving you some bragging rights, it doesn't translate to sales or getting you on the radio or in front of the people that matter most, the fans, because they don't read Billboard. 

DJBB: Your songs express such a sense of strength and self empowerment. Do you feel this way when you are writing your songs? And can you ever imagine yourself creating and singing anything demurely?

CH: A lot of my songs come from experiences in my relationships. I am constantly working on my writing and try to use the emotions or passions I'm feeling to fuel it. While I don't always feel empowered or strong in real life, it's a goal I work toward. Writing a song that I feel is good does make me feel empowered and strong. It's an incredible high for me to write a song that I feel in my heart.

I'm sure I've never been described as demure but I can sing with softness and tenderness.

DJBB: *laughs* Well, "demure" may not be all it's cracked up to be.

So far, my interviews with club divas have been with women whose powerful voices need no auto-tuning (Debby Holiday, Amber Dirks). You are most certainly one, as well, indeed. Who have been your vocal influences in music?

CH: Barbara Streisand, her control and tone -- amazing! Ella Fitzgerald, Bonnie Raitt, Sade, Aretha, Gladys Knight and Cindy Lauper are others. There are many more.

DJBB: I was, long ago, shocked to discover you're American and your first album was recorded in the USA. Your hiNRG style convinced me you were British. Am I odd or have you heard this before?

CH: No, never heard that before. [So I am odd. ~~ DJBB] I do want to have high tea at the Royal Palace with the Queen though at some point.

DJBB: Whom of the crop of today's dance divas do you enjoy?

CH: I like Pink. I like some of Katy Perry's and Lady Gaga's music. Adele, although not really a dance diva.
 

DJBB: There's a gripping intensity, musically and lyrically, to all your songs ("Reach Out," "Take Me & Dance," "Do Your Best"). This also includes your new song, "Where Is the Passion?" What would you like readers and club-goers to know about it as it hits the clubs? And is it being released on Beagle Boy Records?

CH: Yes, we're releasing on Beagle Boy, should be out any day on iTunes, Amazon etc. It's a song that very personal for me as I want people to hear the song and feel passionate about their ability to make a change in the world through their kindness, compassion, honesty, and quest for truth. If we could just "pay it forward" a few times a week imagine the powerful good energy that would create. It would be amazing.
 

DJBB: Thank you so much, Ms Hahn for your answers and for taking the time to do this. Hoping "Where Is the Passion" is heard around the world like all your songs, and that you hit Billboard heights once more, as you deserve.

CH:Thanks so much for asking me!

I also want to take this opportunity to thank all you wonderful DJ's who have supported my music. I do hope "Passion" gets out there and people hear it and are moved by it.

DJBB: I would just like to add, personally, what a wonderful and special individual you are, never forgetting your kind words of support when my mother passed away last autumn. Thank you once more, Carol Hahn.

CH: I lost my mom not too long before that so I knew what you were going through. It's a life altering experience.


Disconet remix with images:



Check out Carol Hahn @ iTunes & Amazon.com. "Where Is the Passion" is exceptional. Put it on your playlist, people!

Divas, Djs, Buddy & Billboard

By and large, the Billboard dance chart and I frequently part company when it comes to top tunes, though there are some things on my turntables that also make it on that chart.

Hey, I'm a populist! Give the people what they want, I concur. But, also, I believe a dj's set should expose people to new music, to help shape tastes and mix things up. Contemporary chart music, underexposed club productions and disco classics can all live in harmony. I think it excites a crowd to hear the unexpected, the fresh, the new and exciting when they're out to dance. Nobody hits the dance floor if he or she is uninspired (unless pleasing a date; Buddy B knows all too well) or gagging on a Billboard hit for the umpteenth time. Throw in a little retro, embellish with some camp, include plenty of uplift in the melody and the messages, give good diva drama, et voila!

So let's begin with a peek at Billboard's top club hits. Billboard says it's "compiled from reports from a national sample of club DJs." But does anyone know who these dj's are exactly?  I'm just going to address the songs from the chart that I, as a dj, like and play. It will prove painlessly brief:

Despite Madonna's record drop in album sales of MDNA, her club-friendly "Girl Gone Wild" is sitting pretty in first place as "Give Me All Your Luvin'" drops, still comfortably entrenched in the 10th spot. That song already ascended to #1 two weeks ago and has made a meteoric rise and fall in just eight weeks.

Melanie Amaro's cover of "Respect" is at 3; Katy Perry's "Part of Me" is one of this week's Greatest Gainers at #6, followed by "Love on Top" by Beyonce, having already topped the chart.

The always welcome Debby Holiday's new one, "Never Give Up," floats like a butterfly to #16; Yoko Ono gets down to #18 with "She Gets Down on Her Knees." And, beyond that, I'm afraid, is where Billboard and I part company.

My divas, oh my divas! I do love my divas. They are almost everything to me in terms of putting across the emotional elements of a song that help make it be exciting. So against diva-wannabe drama in real life, I say save drama for the stage, movie, tv or the disco, where it belongs.

Unlikely, at this point, to make it onto Billboard's top 25 club songs, is Gladys Knight's return to dance floors with her cover of "I Who Have Nothing." This classic tune was composed by Carlo Donida with English lyrics written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and originally recorded by Ben E. King in 1963. Sylvester previously did a disco version of it, and now it's Gladys whose distinctive voice helps make this newly exciting to club-goers. Best remix is by Tony Moran/Warren Rigg. And, truly, Nicki Minaj's pathetic "Starships" beat this on the US dance/club chart? Pshaw!

It was Tony Moran, also, who produced a number that is an instant club classic, in my estimation, though it didn't chart the way I thought it would. "Magic," a true diva thrill-ride sung by none other than Jennifer Holliday, was indeed club magic. Released at the beginning of the year, it was certainly a hit in the gay clubs. So who, exactly, are these Nielsen-family djs? That's what I'd like to know!

Of the latest crop of promos, I am enjoying the 2012 club mix of Rich B's "Revolution" featuring Marcella Puppini (of Puppini Sisters fame, and already discussed in a recent post). "Tonight" is the new dance offering from St Etienne, the original extended mix preferred. I love Sarah Cracknell's voice; it's somewhere between Kylie and Deborah Harry, floating beautifully above her band's dreamy instrumentals.

Again, it's the original extended mix to go with when it comes to the trancey "Sunshine in My Life" by FunkySober with true diva vocals by one Sharlene Hector. Beautifully dancetastic despite simplistic lyrics. (Not always a drawback when you just need to work it out on the disco floor.)

From the tv series, Smash, it's Katherine McPhee who's lifted to disco-diva status at last, just like she was lifted on the show during that number by chorus boys. The original tv episode's version was clearly meant as a club tune. Right now, I'm digging the original extended club mix. Let's hope for brilliant remixes and that this will be a Smash.

Every Carol Hahn song's worthy of a celebration. Her newest release is no exception. "If This Is Love" is a great, contemporary hi-NRG number. Talk about uplift in message and melody, this is brilliant! I like the Julian Marsh mix best, fyi.

"Dance Again," Jennifer Lopez' newest, is a guilty pleasure and sure to pleasure the Billboard crowd. Adam Lambert offers "Better Than I Know Myself," of which I'm loving the Mike Rizzo club mix best. And beloved club divas Toni Braxton and Suzanne Palmer are back, people! And that is good news indeed!

Mark Picchiotti is always brilliant and his re-working  of "I Heart You" by Ms Braxton is no exception. May he guide her to the top where she belongs, at least for the club crowd. Suzanne's soulful "Keep on Keepin' On" is a dance delight with a few good remixes on hand to enhance. Right now, I like Gustavo Scorpio's work the most.

May I add that dancing is not only fun, it unites? Peace and happiness to all! Haters are losers. Clubs are where the happy people go. Thanks to all my viewers around the world. Love to all! Shout outs to Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Singapore, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates and everyone else! It's one world. Love each other, love the music, dance, peace and out. It's all about the 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!

The Always Fabulous Carol Hahn Does Her Best

In my post "Notes to Divas...," I wrote about Ms Hahn, calling her "a club diva's club diva," to which someone commented, "Carol is more than diva; she's a disco goddess!" In other words, "a club diva's club diva" doesn't nearly cover it. Well, Amen to that! And here's her most recent effort for 2011, a remake of her '80s hit, "Do Your Best," remixed wonderfully by Paul Goodyear. This is the radio edit of Paul's "Big Room" mix. You can download the full set of available remixes (including the extended Paul Goodyear Big Room mix) at iTunes, amazon.com and amazon.co.uk. The original 1980s version is on the "Disco Classics volume 3" cd (available at Perfect Beat).



Goodyear's extended Big Room version will appear as part of the mix on my next dj-promo-only cd, "Beach Party 2011," for club/bar/lounge play.

Buddy Beaverhausen's Notes to Divas and other musings on music

Carol Hahn was a delight when she brought her powerful pipes recently to Splash in New York. She is simply a club diva's club diva who came to international attention in the 1980s with a few hiNRG hits. After taking time off reputedly to continue college (for something like 25 years?), she made a comeback a couple of years ago with her songs "Reach Out" and "Come Be My Lover". This year, she recorded and released two more well-crafted songs, full of energy and passion: "I Can Stop the Rain" and "Take Me and Dance," both of which made it up the Billboard Club chart. Buy/download her songs and move and groove to her; in short, take her and dance.

Of course, you've heard that Cyndi Lauper and Lady Gaga are the new faces of MAC Viva Glam, which benefits the MAC AIDS Fund. Ads will appear in February 2010 and Gaga and Cyndi lipsticks will be available a month later. Can't wait! And have you heard? Cyn met President Obama and he actually told her he thought Gaga was the new her. Well, certainly Gaga has the edginess but, I mean... Cyndi's the Ethel Merman of rock, right? Gaga's voice is pleasant enough in a Gwen Stefani way, but she can't belt it out like our Cyn. But don't get me wrong; I love Lady Gaga and am all set to buy her new "The Fame Monster" cd.

Madonna's latest single -- currently hosting a slew of white label mixes, the best attributed to Mike Danavan -- is "It's So Cool", which isn't. The beat is pumpin' but Madge is in preaching mode again imparting her banalities upon us. "It's so cool to be uncool/It's so right to be unright...." "Unright"? But that's so wrong! (Note to Madonna: run spell check.) Now, the theme of universal love is not such a bad thing, but, frankly, I could do without the holier-than-thou attitude it comes wrapped in.

Note to divas: Enunciate! I love Mia J's electropoppy "Headlights" but, I swear, when she gets to the chorus, it sounds like she's singing "caught in the head lice." Isn't she British? Why does her English sound like Agnetha Faltskog on a bad day? But it's ok; when I first heard Janet Jackson's "Feedback", I thought she was singing, "feed bag." Then, I thought it was "meat rack." No kidding. Enunciate.

Talking about Janet, club mixes of the extremely catchy "Make Me" are out to coincide with the release of her "Number Ones" album. She benefits from top-drawer remixes by Ralphi Rosario, Craig J, Bimbo Jones and Moto Blanco.

Whitney & Britney: Aesthetically diminishing returns from Whitney Houston, guys. She started on a relative high with "I Didn't Know My Own Strength". (Is anyone else feeling Junior Vasquez's sturm und drang mixes are getting a little played out by now? Wake up, Junior, the 90s are ovah! Really.) "Million Dollar Bill" was far less interesting and further showcased how deteriorated Miss Whitney's voice is. The current Johnny Vicious and Giuseppe D mixes of "I Look to You" do just about everything humanly possible to make it relevant but it is, sadly, a rather undistinguished effort. Nonetheless, her fans will love it and I expect it will be her third chart-buster on Billboard.

Far more interesting, surprisingly, is the latest comeback bid by Britney Spears. "3", as mixed by Groove Police, Lenny Bertoldo and (my fave) Rafael Lellis, is a spunky dancefloor tune that'll make you wanna twirl. I'm not sure what Brit's carrying on about (must have written the lyrics all by her lonesome) but she's claiming she's "caught in between" something. (Legs? I can relate.)

One of my favorite Swedish groups is back with a new dance hit that ought to be big internationally with the exception of the United States (a very boring, though huge, dance-music market). Alcazar (now back from a foursome to the original 3 -- oh, maybe this is what Britney's gurgling about!) returns with the snazzy "Burnin'" (and enunciating quite well, mind you, Mia J). Best mix award for this one goes to the stalwart team at Almighty.

Almighty, by the way, has just hired new management, MWR. Expect to see Almighty remixing more high-profile names, names, names as MWR are the folks who represent Jason Nevins, Wideboys, Cahill, Stonebridge and the omnipresent Moto Blanco.

And remixer Pete Hammond ("100 years old", as he claims on his My Space page) has another Billboard dance remix with Plumb's "Hang On" (Pete certainly has hung on in there, baby), which sounds grafted onto the beats and cowbells of his Dead or Alive "You Spin Me Round" production of some generations back. Pass the poppers and the Geritol! Barry Harris, meanwhile -- best remembered as half of Thunderpuss (keep the poppers and Geritol coming) -- resurrects himself with the camp "Drama Queen" featuring the always-welcome voice of Canada's Simone Denny ("All Things Keep Getting Better". The theme for "Queer Eye"? Remember them? So 2003!)

Finally, another note to divas from Buddy Beaverhausen: If you're going to cover a pop classic, you better have something new to bring to it. Hear that, Mariah Carey? I Want to Know What Love Is, that's all I'm saying. Except that, when in Chelsea, make sure you check out Rainbows & Triangles on 8th Ave. between 19th & 20th Sts. for a very choice selection of dance cds. All I'm saying.