Dj Buddy Beaverhausen's Book Nook: "Redefining Diva" by Sheryl Lee Ralph

The purported purpose of Sheryl Lee Ralph's prose in her recently published book (Simon & Schuster trade paperback), "Redefining Diva," is exactly as the title propounds. "I am the Ultimate Diva," Ms Ralph writes, spending a great deal of time, early on, to elucidate that statement and illuminate the very nature of divadom to anyone who reads her tome.

Ms Ralph clarifies that she is not a "diva" in the sense of that term being used synonymously with "bitch." Off the record, I've heard otherwise, but I digress. "A Diva is an acronym: Divinely Inspired Victoriously Anointed," our Dreamgirl insists. Well, Babycakes, I'm sure Joan Crawford felt the same way.

Sheryl Lee Ralph, star of stage, screen, television and music, has even been a disco diva, beautifully belting out the dance classic, "In the Evening"-- which, she briefly points out, was a top ten hit --  as well as the equally discolicious "You're So Romantic" and, notably, a hi-NRG cover of The Eurythmics' "Here Comes the Rain Again." Ms Ralph rose to fame when she took Broadway by storm as one of the original Dreamgirls in the 1981 musical. (She had the Deena Jones role, played by Beyonce in the motion picture.)

The ulterior purpose of this memoir, it turns out (and not entirely a shocker), is to settle scores, put Ms Ralph's spin on past events and spread a little gossip. Ok, so here we have the juicy stuff! The reason I buy books of this sort. Regretfully, I must tell you, Her Nibs does this sheepishly. You just know she has so much more mud to fling, and so much dirty laundry she could generously air without things becoming libelous but, rather, Ms Ralph skims over events, skimps on details, deflects animosities towards her arch-nemeses onto others and always puts a happy face on things, as if all conflicts in her life have found closure and she, as a diva, has found inner peace. Yeah, right, Ralph!

There's a sense of disingenuousness to the writing. This isn't a tell-all; it's a tell-some! Just a few teaser bits, some inferences and a gloss of being above it all. Very passive-aggressive if you ask me, not only to her enemies or frienemies, but to her readers. That's not divaesque; that's just being a bitch!

Cast in the notorious Broadway flop, Reggae, 10 days before opening night, Sheryl allows, "...they needed a star leading lady now, as the beauty queen playing Faith had been fired. The word around the show was she'd been hired for her looks and not her acting abilities.... It was obvious she couldn't act to save her life." Well, that's catty! But you see the problem? Name please! The "beauty queen" (pageant queen or model?) isn't mentioned by name and, since she was dismissed during previews, I have no idea who this unnamed individual is. (Yes, I Googled it, but no luck.) So, snarling about one's "acting abilities" is, consequently, a pretty toothless snarl under the circumstances.

Ms Ralph scores brownie points when talking about Nell Carter, to whom she does not give a break. The late Ms Carter was cast in the Effie role (famously portrayed, in the original cast, by Jennifer Holliday, and on-screen by Jennifer Hudson) during the show's previews. Carter's erratic behavior during rehearsals is detailed; for example, when she left the room in the middle of singing "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," ironically.  (Irony that was lost on the author.) Where did she go without telling anybody? Ralph found Nell in the ladies' room, red-eyed and covered in vomit.

"At times a prickly personality, Nell had demons she was fighting," the author would only write. In fact, it's already documented outside this book that Nell had a cocaine habit and an alcohol-abuse problem for many, many years.

Ralph discusses, to some extent, her feuds with Broadway co-star Holliday, "Dreamgirls" director Michael Bennett, Diana Ross and Moesha co-star, Brandy. With that many heads to butt, it's hard to imagine that she's not... oh, shall we just say "a wee bit difficult to get along with."

Although she is especially harsh on Bennett, there are flashes in the book that she pulled the diva act with him, Divinely Inspired Victoriously Anointed as she hoped to be.  She attributes the bad blood between JHol and herself as being stirred up by their director, although she takes a few well-timed digs at Holliday throughout: "As I got smaller, Jennifer seemed to get larger. She'd always struggled with her weight, and she coped with the stress by eating." The Scribe explains how, years after her experiences on Broadway, she met Ms Holliday and they got over themselves and became sisterly. However, might I add, things may not stay so chummy should Holliday read the above quote.

The Moesha situation also points to difficulties, if not deeper issues, with our wordsmith. She clearly was out-diva'd on that series' set by Brandy who is described as being "surrounded by 'yes' men." Undeniably, Ms Ralph was envious, even though she realizes, "...the show was called Moesha, not Moesha's Mom."

Unselfconscious or oblivious that she was having a breakdown at the time (obvious to this reader), Ralph substitutes the words "young cast members" when she clearly is writing specifically about Brandy, whose "enjoying herself behind closed door" caused our self-described diva to act out and storm off the set. (Hubby and kids needed to be fed, rationalized Ralph. I assume she didn't have hired help at the time.)

In an age-inappropriate diva debacle reminiscent of Joan Crawford taking over Christina's role on "Secret Storm,"  Ralph explains how she returned for the second season of Moesha wearing Brandy's trademark braids. Wait! Huh? Ralph doesn't see any problem with this and continues along as if she's grounded.

Brandy "wasn't at all happy with my wearing braids," the author writes, as if stunned. "According to her, the braids were her style. Her thing." Talk about cluelessness!

Asked by the director to remove the braids or put on a wig, Ralph quit the show. I'm glad the diva knows how to choose her battles wisely. Braids are worthy of all-out warfare, I have often been known to say.

"I don't have time for petty drama," the diva then adds with no hint of sarcasm.

Now, Diana Ross is a horse of a different color. She felt ripped off by Dreamgirls, felt it was a theatrical roman a clef about The Supremes (Sheryl denies, but of course it was; didn't make Miss Ross entitled to anything) and resented the fact that Sheryl Lee Ralph, as Deena Jones, was parodying her.

Well, wouldn't you know, Diva Ralph had either the lack of judgment -- or the cajones -- to get up from her seat in the Russian Tea Room to greet/confront Miss Ross, who had made an entrance and was posing, finding her light and flashing her grin.

"I stood up and walked right over to her." Uh-oh! "'Miss Ross,' I said." Get ready! "She stopped and turned around dramatically with that gleaming smile of hers." Duck! "I had to speak to her...." No, stop in the name of love! "'I'm Sheryl Lee...."

"'Ralph,' she cut me off instantly. The smile disappeared from her face.... 'I. Know. Who. You. Are.' she hissed, glaring at me.... With that, she turned on her heels, flipped her huge mane of hair and walked away from me."

The happy faces? Many years later, at the urging of Diana's son, Sheryl spoke with Diana about their children. Even Michael Bennett made peace with Sheryl on his death bed, dying of AIDS.

"Forgiveness." So our diva intones. Sheryl Lee Ralph founded The Diva Foundation, now 21 years strong, raising awareness to AIDS/HIV.

"I think that inside every gay man  -- no matter his color -- is a black woman trying to get out," Sheryl Lee hypothesizes. Honey, I got in touch with my inner black diva and it's Moms Mabley. Bless you, Miss Diva!

  

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.

Your Entertainment in Tandem

Just some odds and ends from previous posts.

From my last "On My Turntables" post, the Youtube audio-only link to Jennifer Holliday's Tony Moran-produced, Wayne G/Andy Allder remix of "Magic". Get dancin'!



From "Where the Boys Were," the conclusion of the un-aired, way-gay Bette Davis sitcom pilot rewritten by Mart ("The Boys in the Band") Crowley, in parts 2 and 3 below.





Lastly, Ms Natalie Wood, who figured in both posts, "Where the Boys Were" and "Don't Go Near the Water," is represented with her fab dramatic scene at the end of West Side Story, but I could only get this on YouTube with Polish subtitles. Natalie would probably want it that way.



In any language, no matter how many times I watch this, I always cry.

On My Turntables, New Year's Day 2012, & This Week's Billboard

It's so nice to have Jennifer Holliday back in time for the holidays with a long list of remixers attached to her new, Tony Moran-produced song, "Magic." This is dance music perfection with powerhouse diva pipes ("People come together, feel the magic...!") fronting driving, tribal percussion, strong keyboards and high-hats. The most played tune on my turntables or cd dj station as we enter the new year. The remixers offer lots of quality work to choose from, and to get your crowd going at peak. These mixes are all available for legal download on Beatport, and include Alex Cohen's Tribal Power Mix, Teo Brasil Magic Mix, Wayne G & Andy Allder Anthem Mix (my personal fave), Bryan Reyes Club Mix, Eastenders Mix, Joe Guthreaux/Peter Barona Club Mix, and Tony Moran himself with Warren Rigg & Dave Saronson Club Mix. You can't go too wrong with any of these. Uplifting and absolute divinity; they really pulled a rabbit out of the top-hat with this number!

"Drama's on like Susan Lucci/It's time for hoochie-coochie" with Gloria Estefan and "Hotel Nacional." Sounds like Glo's been studying The Puppini Sisters recently. This is nuevo punk-swing gone disco with a latin flavor and big-band-styled horn work reminiscent of Dr Buzzard's Original Savannah Band. There are two excellent remixes that'll absolutely get everyone up to fill the floor: one by Mike Cruz and the other by Ralphi Rosario. Ok, Puppini Sisters, when are you doing the remix route?

When Ultra Nate joins forces with Destiny Child's Michelle Williams, you know all hell's gonna break loose (but in a good way). Their duet on "Waiting on You" is another staggering masterpiece with diva harmonies soaring over the driving Eurobeat and pianissimo. The original extended mix is fine (especially with its cowbell & guitar intro and lush orchestration -- very disco!), though I also kind of enjoy the upbeat house direction taken by Manny Lehman in his remix of the song, too.

Michele Bachmann promised Fox News she would be the winner in the Iowa straw poll. Unsurprisingly, she finished dead last. But the Tea Party's darling Mad Lady -- whose hubby picks out all her outfits, don'tcha know? -- continues to enthrall us with delusions of grandeur as she threatened to be in the Republican Presidential candidate race "for the long haul." As that party's primaries become more of a bizarre circus daily, President Obama takes to the dance floor. Well, in a sense, as his most famous speech is sampled in Barbara Sheree's "Yes We Can."

"Yes We Can" is another great diva-driven number with a stand-out USA Club Mix by Jerome Farley and my friend, Joel Dickinson. (Joel and I have yet to meet, but we've been internet-connected for a few years now.) You can download the song from Sound Cloud, and you can read all about Joel by cutting and pasting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Dickinson into your browsers.

Tina Charles is a high-echelon, classic disco diva (pictured at top). Why, she -- among others -- spearheaded the genre. Tina was singing disco music before it even had a name! (Johnny Morgan, will you back me on that claim?) Her hits include "I Love to Love," "You Set My Heart on Fire" and "Dance, Little Lady, Dance."

Nice surprise is that she's back with a new number I hope will make its way up the charts in the USA, as I believe it will definitely do well in the UK and in the rest of the global dance-music markets. The song is "Your Love Is My Light" and the second nice surprise is that there's a super mix of this done by classic-era HiNRG producer, Pete Hammond. Hammond has once more become quite prolific, returning to the music scene after a hiatus. He has recently remixed Alphabeat and Wynonna Judd, among others. Tina is in good form with her distinctive voice set to an uptempo mix with an updated, Hammond retro-'80s feel suitable for Kylie Minogue or Hazell Dean. Welcome back, both Tina & Pete!

Briefly, on the latest Billboard Dance/Club Play chart: Katy Perry scores yet another #1 with "The One That Got Away." Wynter Gordon peaked last week, apparently, with "Buy My Love," dropping from the second to third spot. Traci Lords and Erika Kane up to the fourth and fifth club spots, respectively, with "Last Drag" and "Party People," and Lady Gaga up in the #7 spot, as a "Greatest Gainer" with "Marry the Night," up from #15 (big leap)! Other Billboard "Greatest Gainers" include the divine, Janice Robinson-penned "If It wasn't for Love," sung by Deborah Cox, at #10 from 14 just last week; Florence + The Machine's "Shake It Out," up three spots to #13; and the aforementioned, new Gloria Estefan tune at #16 from #23!

Rosabel featuring Tamara Wallace declare "Let Me Be Myself," and it charts nicely at #17, up a spot. Gravitonas featuring Roma Kenga, sitting nicely now at #21 with "Everybody Dance," though I was featuring it on a promo early last year when it was a hit in Europe. So, a little delayed reaction-American retardation there.

Finally, on Billboard, "Waiting On You," the Ultra Nate/Michelle Williams number I discussed above, now at #23 from 30 last week. You go, girrrls!

Just a quick mention on last night's "New Year's Rockin' Eve" on ABC. Basically, it sucked, with more commercial time, it seemed, than actual show. However, it glowed for just a little while once Lady Gaga arrived in an outlandish octopussy getup, then black glamour in a tight, sparkly outfit and hair styled just like Julie Newmar's Catwoman, as she energetically launched into "Marry the Night" and "Born This Way," complete with dynamic choreography and hot dancers. She has brought disco energy back the way Madonna did in the '80s, and is one of the all-time magnificent performers! Gaga later switched to a glittering white Versace masque & gown to drop Time Square's gigantic crystal ball with Mayor Bloomberg. Fabulous! Earnestly overwhelmed, she was our breathless NYC Marilyn when Ryan Seacrest spoke with her.

Buddy B's Best Club Songs of 2011

2011 was a good year for dance music, showcasing some fine vocal talent and a slate of equally impressive remixers attached to their songs. The UK ruled with the 4-to-the-floor sound freshly reloaded by Bimbo Jones, Moto Blanco, Almighty, 7th Heaven and Digital Dog, to name a few. All are actually indebted, to one degree or another, to the classic Almighty style, while Almighty has stayed relevant by refreshing its formula and bringing in new remixer talent. This sound has enjoyed a true worldwide renaissance over the past few years, originating as the beat of classic disco and continuing as Europe's hiNRG sound. It's subversively re-uniting the world.

England's classic HiNRG producer/remixer Pete Hammond came back prominently this year, and American stalwarts like Tony Moran, Ralphi Rosario, Eddie Baez and Jonathan Peters held their ground in the brave new disco world before them.

Note my opinions are just that and, as such, highly subjective, but these are the songs that I enjoyed playing the most, and that inspired me to get up and dance and to party on down. Now, let's get to that list! Shall we?

My top-15 artists are in alphabetical order, starting with the ubiquitous Adele, who was felled only recently by throat surgery (from which I understand she's recovering quite nicely). Adele has had a few of her pop songs translated for the dance floor, both legitimately and not. Dance remixers did quite well by this talent regarding "Set Fire to the Rain," "Rolling in the Deep," and "Someone Like You" (my personal favorite, even if it didn't fare as well as the previous two).

Pattie Brooks is disco-diva royalty best known for her 1978 sensation, "After Dark." She garnered positive notice this year with "All About the Music." Pattie started her professional career in the chorus on The Smother Brothers Comedy Hour, and toured with people like Bobby Darin and Ann-Margret before signing as a solo artist for the Casablanca record label. "All About the Music" was mixed by a slew of remixers domestically, in England, and in Australia. It was originally produced by legend Paul Gianatos. An energetic tune that'll rouse you to the floor, it's nice to have Pattie back to dance to after dark. And nice to have Charo on the scene again, too, with the latter's "Sexy, Sexy."

"Sexy Sexy" showcases the Cuchi-Cuchi Queen in fine form, still with the laughable broken English (a put-on, surely, considering how long she's been speaking English) and camp lyrics. "Feel on me, dance on me, touch on me, creep on me," Charo emplores to a disco beat. Below, she performs the song (after her bawdy, knowingly self-depracating, drag queen-like patter, dubbing herself, "The Spanish Puta". "Viva La Puta!" one of the boys shouts back from the crowd). The show was filmed earlier this year at Splash, NYC. Charo is one hot mess, but an intentional one (I think)! And she's looking simply stunning, sweeties! Here's the video for your enjoyment (and wait till the posse of go-go boys arrives):


Two women who are always a pleasure to have back on the disco scene returned this year with top-notch numbers to showcase their voices: Deborah Cox, at the end of the calendar year with the Janice Robinson-penned, "If It Wasn't for Love," and Taylor Dayne, this past summer with "Floor on Fire." Two strong, solidly written and produced tracks for two great, distinctive deliveries.

The divas known as Erasure (Vince Clark and Andy Bell) made a wonderful and welcome comeback with "When I Start to Break It All Down" in the fall while Lady Gaga ruled dance floors with a new anthem. "Born This Way" had a great beat, positive and empowering lyrics you can dance to, and melodic structure that reminded many of Madonna's "Express Yourself." But that's not such a bad thing, is it? I mean, she could do worse in terms of a model to clone from. Call it an homage and it isn't a problem any more; call it plagiarism only if you care to be ugly about it. Recent remixes of "Marry the Night" (my favorite song off the album) also score big on this year-end tally.

Jennifer Holliday has been away from dance music for too long, so it's a warm welcome back to that belting voice as she re-emerges for the club crowd with "Magic." The Tony Moran-produced track from his album, Mix Magic Music is truly a stunner worthy of this great diva. Remixes have started to emerge in just the past month or so. It is a powerhouse club threat, and I am telling you I'm not going to have this off my turntables for some time!

While Laura LaRue has a current Billboard dance charter with "Un Deux Trois," her Gay Pride-timed hit, "San Francisco Is My Disco," made me smile... and dance, and won a place in my heart, and is consequently on this list as a dance fave of the year. Here's the original, non-remixed version, already designed for the clubs.

Two Martins make my chart for the year: Billie Ray and Ricky. Ms Martin (by which I mean Billie Ray) started as vocalist for the '90s electropop group, Electribe, then had her first international solo hit with "Lovin' Arms," famously remixed by Junior Vasquez in 1995. This German diva is freely inventive with a style I can only call "disco avant-garde," and when she gets it right, the results are amazing as in this year's "Sweet Suburban Disco."

"Deep grooves are overlaid with layers of sparse, cold, synths which are expertly counterpointed by Billie’s huge warm vocals and the best lyrical content we’ve heard in dance music for a while," raved electronicrumors.com. Just keep 'em comin', honey! Love ya!

Martin, Ricky, on the other hand, had a hit on the Billboard Dance chart with "Freak of Nature" (originally entitled "Mas"), going all the way to #7, propelled by the brilliant Ralphi Rosario remix. This really was one of the very best dance songs of the year, and I was championing it since back in the spring (check my blog archive for evidence). (It shoulda gone to #1, I tell ya!) Try not to dance when you put this on. Muy caliente!

Michele McCain, whose dynamic vocals are like a cross between Loleatta Holloway and Izora Whitehead, has never gone beyond cult status, unfortunately, despite a history of well-produced but definitely diva-driven club numbers. This year's "Make a Friend" made a friend of me and was easily one of my faves.

Kylie Minogue's "Put Your Hands Up" charted on Billboard's 2011 top-50 dance listing, ascending to #1, and certainly was adored by moi! Viva La Minogue! And Viva La Ono, as Yoko, at 88 years of age, scored not one, but two Billboard dance charters for the year: the brilliant "Move on Fast" and the even better "Talking to the Universe." She's the new Betty White, people, so look out! (Betty's duet with Luciana, "I'm Still Hot" was a fun dance track, even if it fell short of my fave list.)

And, rounding out my list is Kristine W. This girl has really lasted, thank God, and what a shame it is her name isn't a household word.

She's been a beacon in the world of dance music since the 1990s; one of the most reliably stalwart vocalists, and a great lyricist to boot, frequently taking dance music to a level of human emotion and thoughtfulness consistently paralleled only, perhaps, by the Pet Shop Boys.

So, there you have it, my favorite club songs of the year and the 15 artists who lifted me to new levels of pure joy throughout the four seasons. Wishing everyone a happy New Year, and even bigger and brighter diva-fueled hits for the 2012 dance floor.