In case some of you missed it, I wanted to call attention to a special segment of my October OutRadio show, one that was quite fun to research and assemble: Gay Porn Stars Who Sing. It was actually kind of...er, hard to find enough folks to fill the segment, at one song each. It's Part 4 of the October show.
Jeff Stryker got to close the segment, though not with the song "Wild Buck." I chose for him the one folks love to make fun of: "Pop You in the Pooper." And below is a collage of the other singers featured.
There was one "star" who I learned of too late to include in my special segment, Chris Crocker. Remember the viral "Leave Brittany Alone!" Well, he's five years older now, with a new look, and just completed his first film, called "Fuck It." I have however already played his music, a couple songs on my Feb 2012 show, and I think he sings well...haven't seen his acting.
Now, I don't think I need to give much introduction to
Liberace (1919 - 1987). For decades he was a hugely successful entertainer,
with recordings, television and performances. And he was hugely flamboyant and
that he could joke about his outfits during his act made him all the more beloved
with his mostly female audiences. His showmanship was as much of his act as his
actual playing. I definitely recall that when growing up in the late 1950's
even deep in my closet I recognized him as gay, and the kind of gay I wanted no
part of. But at that time there was almost no other celebrity perceived to be
homosexual, no role models whatsoever.
But this blog's main focus is on songs about Liberace, and my
research found many more than expected. It seems the ball got rolling in 1953,
with three recordings. Probably attracting the most attention was the one on
Columbia Records by Charlie Adams & the Lone Star Playboys. If you think
that name sounds like a sort of hillbilly act, you would be correct, as you can hear in the YouTube clip below of the song "Hey, Liberace."
Another act recorded the same song that year, Jody Levins
& His Boys. Looking at the labels (and this is likely much more detail than
you care about) I notice the writing credits on Levins' recording is F. Adams,
and on the Adams disc, on a much larger label, the name Matassa is added. That
is very likely Cosimo Matassa, a well-known New Orleans recording engineer and studio owner
with ties to many labels, including the Fats Domino sessions on Imperial
Records. So my theory is that when the Jody Levins recording started to get
attention, it was "covered" by Charlie Adams, and part of the
licensing deal at Columbia was to add Matassa's name for a cut of the writing
royalties. And my point is, I think the Levins disc was first.
Now, Liberace (when you weren't saying in print that he was
homosexual) was certainly a good sport, and even performed the song himself on
television in 1955.
Back to the Ruth Wallis record I mentioned at the start. Wallis
died in 2007 and I'm so impressed with her that she is likely the only straight
artist to have a tribute page on my website. A number of years ago record
collecting magazine Goldmine ran an interview with her, and it covered
her song, "Dear Liberace." She indicated she had an earlier song,
"Dear Arthur Godrey," and she decided to update it. She said, "I
started to write a song for Liberace, he was a wonderful person. He was going
to get married at the time, and I couldn't fathom it. So I started
writing what was going to be a takeoff on 'Dear Mr. Godfrey,' it was going to
go something like, 'Dear Liberace, don't marry that darn girl. I could
understand that now - Lee couldn't have married that girl anyway. But Lee was a
lovely person."
Above, probably a quick read. Below, "Why Liberace's Theme Song Should Be "Mad About the Boy!"
I am kind of surprised (disappointed) that no one seems
to have recorded a song about the palimony lawsuit taken against Liberace in
1982 by his then 22-year old live-in chauffer Scott Thorson. That was settled
out of court a few years later for a mere $95,000. Maybe folks feared the litigious
Liberace would not hesitate sue them as well, as he did many others over the
decades.
While my research found at least two dozen songs
referencing Liberace, many are fleeting or just plain awful, including two or three that
are hardcore punk...not sure what those lyrics were. So, I'm jumping to 1995
and the Sparks, who included "The Ghost of Liberace" on their 1995
album, "Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins."
View the Sparks Video
I've got just three more song for you. In 2005 Paul Thorn
included the curious song "Fabio & Liberace" on his CD
"Ain't Love Strange." And 2008 brought an act going by Kitten on the
Keys (real name: Suzanne Ramsey) . On her "Salty Meat Girl" CD she
sang "I Want To Be Like Liberace." That song, interestingly, takes a
biographic angle. It's perhaps the most true song of them all.
I've had this video on my site for a while, but recent changes in Firefox & IE settings (at least on my pc) just doesn't enable it to work. So I moved it to my YouTube channel. I think this is too good to be hidden away.
Today I'm sharing the music of Austin artist/musician Ginger Doss. I'm way overdue as I got to see her perform last fall at the Houston Women's Music Festival, but her latest album, from this Spring, "From Love to Love," really clinched it. Yeah, I have my faves from it, "Thankful" and "Run Little One," but it's very solid throughout, and well-produced. I'm impressed..:) But you need not take my word for it, as you can get a great introduction to her in this promo video. What a smart way to let you know a Lot of information about her many talents and projects.
Now, when I visit an artist's website, as a media-type, in addition to the music, I want information and organization, and I commend her on a great job. Easy to find the songs, hear them, buy them, read the lyrics, watch some videos...exactly what I want.
Below, I took this at the Houston Women's Music Festival, Oct 22, 2011. That's Ginger on the right, with Bekah Kelso. They often perform together as GBmojo, and Bekah also has released her own music, which you may want to check out.
On September 25, 2012, Billy Barnes passed away. According to the L.A. Times, he earned a reputation as "The Revue Master of Hollywood" after hitting his stride in 1958 with "The Billy Barnes Revue." And many more revues followed. He also was a master of "special material," contributing to "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In," the Oscar Awards, and various television shows such as Cher's variety show. He is survived by his partner of nearly 30 years, Richard T. Jordan. Most of his recordings were that of the casts of his various shows, which helped launch the careers of Bert Convy, Ken Berry and Jo Anne Worley. But I happen to have in my collection the LP shown above, from 1976, which I gleefully grabbed from a bin at Amoeba Records in Los Angeles a few years back. It's Barnes on his own, with the help on piano by Marvin Laird. You can hear it on my website's tribute page, and view many of his other recordings.
I happened upon Sean Wood on another blog, and what a treat. On some of tracks I thought of the more mellow Beach Boys songs, but with modern production. I was immediately attracted to the most "out" song, "Slow." It starts out with meeting a boy, hey, there's immediate mutual attraction, but let's take it...slow. And the song "Ok, Stupid" is at the opposite end, opening with an infectious beat. But, you can sample his music for yourself...right now he just wants to get his music out there, so his bandcamp page says: "Download SUDDEN LOVE at any price you like. BUY IT, BURN IT, SHARE IT, LEAK IT, SPREAD IT, LOVE IT."
I'm very pleased add to my blog entries a brand new CD by
Canadian Jeff Straker. His albums are always an event with me, and the new one
is called "Vagabond." This album, like a lot of his, seem to be
complete works of art, so it almost seems wrong to just pick single songs to
hear, but you can hear a bunch of them on his site. The ones that stick out for
me so far are "Birchbark Canoe" and "Botanic Garden."
And, I confess, I've been a fan of his music since 2006,
when he released "Songs from Highway 15." I got to interview him in 2010 when "Step Right Up" came out. That was the one that really
solidified my fandom. He told me at the time that CD got a lot of comparisons
to early Elton John meets Rufus Wainwright, with a dash of Mika. Well, I think
in that CD's case, more than a dash...there's a bunch of theatrical pop on it, with infectious energy and fun. But I don't mean to slight 2011's
"Under the Soles of My Shoes." I saw him sing just a few songs in a
showcase in 2006, so I know I would love to see a whole concert. Next time he
gets down from Canada I sure hope he comes my way.
