Every place I've ever been, every place I'm going to...

As the countdown continues to World Pride on Saturday - and the stupid stories and mud-slinging occupy gay news sites - I thought I'd take us on another trip down memory lane...

It is forty years since the first Gay Pride rally was held in the centre of London - but what were the significant Number 1 songs through the decades at this Gay Xmas time of year?

1972 - Take Me Bak 'Ome by Slade [in an exceptionally odd clip from Spanish TV - wtf are those girl dancers doing?]:

Slade - Take Me Bak 'Ome

1977 - So You Win Again by Hot Chocolate [featuring the very "proud" Mr Errol Brown and his incredible performing trousers again]:

Hot Chocolate - So You Win Again

1982 - Happy Talk by Captain Sensible:

Captain Sensible - Happy Talk

1987 - It's A Sin by Pet Shop Boys [Highly appropriate, methinks!]:

Pet Shop Boys - It's A Sin (Live in Rio, 1994)

1992 - Abba-esque (EP) by Erasure [You really can't get much more camp than this!]:

Erasure - Take a Chance on Me

1997 - Ecuador by Sash! [actually at #2, held off the top slot by that pompous twat Puff Daddy, but I'll never play I'll Be Missing You on this blog.] [I remember dancing my tits off to this one, in a dance tent in Clapham, no less...]:



2002 - A Little Less Conversation by JXL [Possibly the very first song featuring Elvis I ever liked]:

Elvis vs JXL - A Little Less Conversation

2007 - The Girls by Calvin Harris [It was actually bloody Rihanna and her Umbrella at #1, but I can't stand that.] [I am not much of a fan of Mr Harris's song tbh, so instead here's the much more "gay-friendly" cover version by Dragonette]:

And today? Bloody Will.i.am (and I most certainly am not playing him!). In fact, I cannot see anything in today's chart that I would even want to listen to, let alone feature here. How sad...

Ny popmusikk

It's cold, it's grey, it's depressing - it has to be a Bank Holiday weekend! Time to cheer ourselves up by playing some of my more recent musical divertissements...

When divas collide, #486 in a series... With a nod to Barbra and Donna here, and to the "funky happy house" sounds of the 90s there, the singer-turned-UK TV regular Michelle Williams (of Destiny's Child fame) has teamed up with one of our fave dance divas here at Dolores Delargo Towers, the powerhouse that is Ultra Naté! The result? The rather fabulous Waiting On You:

Michelle Williams & Ultra Naté - Waiting On You

On the last miserable Bank Holiday weekend (Easter), I recommended the Laidback Luke remix of the ever-wonderful Dragonette's new single Let it Go. Now it has an official release, here is the excellent video:

Dragonette - Let It Go

The peculiarly-named Mr Little Jeans (actually a Norwegian girl by the name of Monica Birkenes) has a corker of an electro-retro new single out, and I love it. Here's Runaway:

Mr Little Jeans - Runaway

Speaking of electropop - with its thumping Human League/Goldfrapp sound, strident Goth vocals and a healthy slab of Divine decadence, the new single Love Machine by Mollyhaus has a little bit of just about everything I love thrown together! The accompanying video featuring vintage smut is just perfect...

Mollyhaus - Love Machine

Just because I love it, here's the Offer Nissim remix of Queen Madge's brilliant current single Girl Gone Wild [Thanks, Henry!]:

Madonna - Girl Gone Wild (Offer Nissim mix)

And finally, eternal thanks to Mike over at Pop Trash Addicts, who introduced me to the supremely talented Valerio Pino - most famous for fucking Ricky Martin - and his brilliantly trashy new single GogoStar! I'm impressed (even if Mike is not):

Valerio Pino - GogoStar

As ever, enjoy - and let me know your thoughts...

Music and Lights

In a further attempt to cheer us up as the rain pisses down on another Bank Holiday, it's time again for another selection of newer choons I have picked up on lately...

Let's open with the return of an old favourite. Produced by Calvin Harris, it's the Scissor Sisters' new single, Only The Horses (released on 16th April from the album Magic Hour, due in May). This will probably take a few more listens before it can in any way compare to their brilliant back catalogue, but it is rather catchy - at least it's better than their last effort, Shady Love (which I really did not like!). See what you think:

Scissor Sisters - Only The Horses (lyric video)

Speaking of blasts from the past, who remembers Martika? Yes indeed, the Toy Soldier popstress has broken her twenty year silence with a corker of a comeback! Looking rather fab for a woman of almost 43, here's the dance-tastic Flow With The Go (from her forthcoming album Mirror Ball):

Martika - Flow With The Go

It seems hardly a week goes by without another 80s-influenced floppy-haired electro duo arriving on the scene - and here for your delectation are Tenerife's finest Glasherz with one track called Cellophane Sea from their forthcoming album. Shades of Ultravox and The Hurts here, methinks - and no bad thing for that:

Glasherz - The Cellophane Sea

Possibly the only Estonian act I have ever featured, here's the exotic creature known as Kerli - with a hundred costume changes in one video - and her rather addictive Zero Gravity:

Kerli - Zero Gravity

Mr Martin Solveig's fave band (before he went off to do the bidding of Queen Madge) Dragonette also have a new single out. The original is OK, but the remix of Let it Go by Laidback Luke is simply phantasmagorical!

Dragonette - Let It Go (Laidback Luke Remix)

And to close, here's a boppy Garage-influenced little number from the Welsh artist known as Bright Light Bright Light (whose Disco Moment I raved about last July) - it's his catchy new single Waiting for the Feeling:

Bright Light Bright Light - Waiting for the Feeling

As ever, enjoy - and I look forward to hearing your views!

The great musical round-up 2011

OK, It's that time of year when all thoughts turn to trying to remember what music "rocked our boats" during the last twelve months.

To that end, here are (in no particular order) the Dolores Delargo Towers Top Twenty Songs of 2011!

Let us open with the very cool Eastman ft Neve - Greedy Eyes, from July:

Eastman featuring Neve - Greedy Eyes

Even cooler, Jessica 6 - White Horse, from March:

Jessica 6 - White Horse

Herr Styler - Snow in Paris was toast of the town here at the Towers in January:

Herr Styler - Snow In Paris

The beautiful Sound of Arrows - Nova, first featured here in April:

Sound of Arrows - Nova

A very welcome return for a gay pioneer, Darren Hayes - Black Out The Sun (here in its remixed form), from September:



Speaking of gay, gay, gay - the anthem that never was, Sir Ari Gold featuring LaBelle's Sarah Dash - Sparkle, featured here in September:

Sir Ari featuring Sarah Dash - Sparkle

Duran Duran - Girl Panic was a fantabulosa return to form for a long-standing favourite group in November:

Duran Duran - Girl Panic!

Continuing the theme of "welcome returns", Mari Wilson - O.I.C, released earlier in the year, was a discovery here in December:

Mari Wilson - O.I.C.

Not something I am proud of, but I still love Selena Gomez - Love You Like A Love Song, from September:

Selena Gomez & The Scene - Love You Like A Love Song

The sleaze-tastic Traci Lords - Last Drag, from November:

Traci Lords - Last Drag

A song that was shockingly ignored by everyone, Beth Ditto - I Wrote the Book, from February:

Beth Ditto - I Wrote the Book

For once my taste and that of the great unwashed collided, as Example - Changed the Way You Kiss Me became the big chart-topper of the summer, featured here first in March:

Example - Changed the Way You Kiss Me

A chart could not really be a chart without at least one from the UK's "great white hope": Adele - Rolling in the Deep, as featured here way back in January:

Adele - Rolling in the Deep

One of my fave discoveries of the year, The Young Professionals ft Uriel Yekutiel - D.I.S.C.O, from July:

The Young Professionals - D.I.S.C.O

The magnificent Will Young - Jealousy, returned to our arms in style in August:

Will Young - Jealousy

A song (and an artist) that is indeed very popular round here, Eric Saade - Popular, who wuz robbed at Eurovision in May:

Eric Saade - Popular

Speaking of "we wuz robbed", our own Euro-contender Blue - I Can, was first revealed here in March:

Blue - I Can

A close contender, and thus in the Top Three, is Martin Solveig ft Dragonette - Hello, featured here in January:

Martin Solveig and Dragonette - Hello

Snapping at the heels of the top slot is the anthem of our last holiday in Spain: Luciana - I'm Still Hot, which I first played on our return in February but seems to have been around for the whole year (including the infamous Betty White version):

Luciana - I'm Still Hot

And finally, there has to be a winner, and so at Number 1 is (of course) the irresistible Sak Noel - Loca People, which first featured here in September, and has been buzzing round our eardrums ever since:

Sak Noel - Loca People

There will be plenty of omissions, and songs that have completely slipped the memory no doubt, but that is the nature of any Top Twenty.

However, as always, enjoy!!

Das Musik

Time for another of my semi-regular forays into some of the newer music that I have picked up on lately...

Let's open proceedings with dear, eccentric, Kate Bush with her new single Wild Man from her forthcoming album 50 Words for Snow. Very strange indeed...

Kate Bush - Wild Man

We always have time for a bit of "Gay Pirate Action" here at Dolores Delargo Towers, and this fits the bill just nicely. It's Aussie gaysters Garçon Garçon with their boppy little single Stay In Touch:

Garçon Garçon - Stay In Touch

Our icon Miss Amanda Lear is back again, with another new album I Don't Like Disco, and from it this single La Bete et la Belle. Now that's what I call style...

Amanda Lear - La Bête et la Belle

Also making a welcome return - thanks to Gaydar Radio, of all places - is Mr George Michael! As far as I was aware, the last time I heard about Georgie he was on tour with a full orchestra and splitting up with his boyfriend. When did he find the time to become a full-on club hitster? Here is DJ Marc Vedo's superb remix of Every Other Lover In The World (a favourite of Boy George, apparently; he plays it at all his DJ sets):

George Michael ft DJ Marc Vedo - Every Other Lover In The World

To finish on a jolly note, it's the wonderfully weird Mr Martin Solveig, teamed once more with the mad Canadians Dragonette plus Tokyo's finest 100-strong girly group Idoling!!! [sic] Here's his fabulous new single Big In Japan...

Martin Solveig & Dragonette feat Idoling!!! - Big In Japan

Happy listening!

Talk about, pop music

Even if I am in full Sunday mode, listening to back-to-back showtunes, nostalgia and MOR courtesy of Radio 2, there is room methinks for another Pick of the Pops - some recent music that has caught my attention:

First up, the return of a firm favourite here at Dolores Delargo Towers, the magnificently mad Martin Solveig collaborating once more with Canadian purveyors of excess Dragonette!

Martin Solveig and Dragonette - Hello

Next up, a remarkable choice for me. For despite the fact that the boys from McFly perpetually delight in taking their clothes off (a very good thing in my opinion), this is the very first time I have actually liked one of their songs...

McFly - Party Girl

Always welcome is a new single by the eternally lovely chanteuse Ysa Ferrer!

Ysa Ferrer feat. Perez Hilton - Hands Up

And finally, a recent discovery from the land of tackiness, Spain (where we will be in two weeks!). Here's a very gay little video, courtesy of a group of sporty Spaniard bears...

Barb@zul - I Don't Care

Thoughts?

Haute Couture can be fun!

For our delectation today, I thought I would share this latest obsession of mine - a brand new collaboration between that most wonderful of French DJs Mr Martin Solveig and those Canadian weirdos Dragonette (whose Take It Like A Man last year was a similar obsession)...

The video was shot in the Paris boutique of the legendary Jean-Paul Gaultier. It's the campest thing under the sun - I love it!

Martin Solveig feat. Dragonette - Boys & Girls

I get a little bit vicious, that's why you love me

A sublime treat for Monday morning...



I get a little bit vicious
That’s why you love me
Because you can’t resist it
You’d do anything for me

You want out but we’re off the ground
So pick up your parachute
‘Cause I’m not gonna let you down
No, I won’t let you get away
Not that easy anyway

I know what I want
And I want you for the cause
How does anybody get anything done
You depend on us
But you’ll never get to heaven as a radical son
Just keep it up soldier

You want out
I can’t help
I’ve got to make you understand
You’ve got to take it like a man

Do you need a dozen roses
Would you like a box of chocolate
Is it really such a deep cut
That I have to come and stitch it up

Yeah I get a little crazy with the razorblades
Go on and call your Momma if you need a band-aid
But everything worth it hurts a little bit
You don’t want to run away
And I won’t let you anyway

Brilliant song, brilliant lyrics (and a great dance remix too):

Dragonette - Take It Like A Man (Alan Braxe & Fred Falke Remix)