Oh, baby, when you talk like that

"Is that a cricket bat in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me?" The Boy With a Bat by Walter Hawkesworth Fawkes

It's St George's Day again, dear reader - although I doubt there'll be much in the way of mummery or Morris dancing going on.

In the true spirit of recycling [well, it was the "hippie Xmas" Earth Day yesterday], here's a blog post I made (much) earlier...

On this, the feast of Saint George - patron saint of England (and of Portugal, Bulgaria, Malta, Georgia and - um - Lebanon) - what could be more English than to have a load of Oxford college boys camping it up on acapella versions of popular diva tunes?

Here's a double-bill of such cavorting, courtesy of the faboo Out of the Blue, starting with Lady Marmalade:

Out of the Blue - Lady Marmalade

Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?, indeed!

And, of course, here's their classic - Shakira's Hips Don't Lie:

Out of the Blue - Hips Don't Lie

Comprising students from Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University, Out of the Blue has performed on the West End and on Broadway, reached the semifinals of Britain's Got Talent, and toured around the world to places including Switzerland, Canada, India, Hong Kong, and Japan. Their principal aim is fundraising, and donate their annual profits to Helen & Douglas House Hospice for Children and Young Adults.

Out of the Blue

Singing houseboys?!

Perfect.

Saint George and Shakira

"Is that a cricket bat, or are you just pleased to see me?" The Boy With a Bat by Walter Hawkesworth Fawkes

On this, the feast of Saint George - patron saint of England (and of Portugal, Bulgaria, Malta, Georgia and - um - Lebanon) - what could be more English than to have a load of Oxford college boys camping it up on acapella versions of popular diva tunes?

Here's a double-bill of such cavorting, courtesy of the faboo Out of the Blue, starting with Lady Marmalade:

Out of the Blue - Lady Marmalade

Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?, indeed!

And, of course, here's their classic - Shakira's Hips Don't Lie:

Out of the Blue - Hips Don't Lie

Comprising students from Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University, Out of the Blue has performed on the West End and on Broadway, reached the semifinals of Britain's Got Talent, and toured around the world to places including Switzerland, Canada, India, Hong Kong, and Japan. Their principal aim is fundraising, and donate their annual profits to Helen & Douglas House Hospice for Children and Young Adults.

Out of the Blue

Pop-tart-tastic-ness

There has been another shockingly long gap between my posts showcasing the "newer music" that has caught my ear. For that, I apologise (as if anyone is champing at the bit - I wish I had that many fans...)

Enough of the bullshit, on with the show.

Fist up, inevitably, are a couple of stalwarts. Madonna's Ghosttown is a remarkably beautiful song - her voice hasn't sounded better in years, in my opinion. The video, too, is excellent. She is the renowned mistress of promotion. So why was this not a smash hit? It never even reached inside the Top 100 in the UK...

Madonna - Ghosttown

"Our Willy" - Will Young - is another brilliant artist who has never really managed to recapture the brief, heady days of his initial success, despite releasing several utterly fabulous singles in recent years. He is a trillion times better than such current world-beating dross as Sam Smith or Ed Sheeran! I was chuffed to bits when his latest album 85 Percent [read a fab interview in The Guardian with Will about the album] overtook both those whiners to hit the top of the charts a couple of weeks ago - and from it, this:

Will Young - Like a River

Speaking of comebacks, whoever thought these two would ever dare show their faces again? All "grown up" now, the former-irritating-yoof-chanters Daphne And Celeste have made a surprise return (in a collaboration with a hipster art-pop weirdo by the name of Max Tundra) - and it is surprisingly good!

Daphne & Celeste - And I Alone

A discovery of the faboo Henry (again) at Barbarella's Galaxy (he who scours the underbelly of (mainly) European pop, so you don't have to), here's a lady by the name of Therese and her ever-so-camp Missing Disco. Love this!

Therese - Missing Disco

Our favourite houseboys Kazaky are in demand (not only by my lustful groin), it seems - they've teamed up with top Ukrainian band The Hardkiss on this rather magnificent number:

The HardKiss ft. Kazaky - Strange Moves

Speaking of team-ups, house fave Welsh wannabee-pop-sensation Bright Light Bright Light has as a very special guest on his new single... none other than the diva-goddess herself, Miss Ana Matronic!

Bright Light Bright Light & Ana Matronic - Good Luck

Another familiar artist with a new choon out is the complete oddball Garek - with a sleazy'n'kinky video, to boot:

Garek - My Animal

Those sexy harmonising gay students from Oxford Out of the Blue have released another saucy promo for one of their fundraising efforts (remember Hips Don't Lie last year?). [To donate to their cause, Helen & Douglas House hospice, visit their website]. This time around, they've decided to wiggle their tushes to Lady Marmalade. "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?" Yes please...

Out of the Blue - Lady Marmalade

Another underrated fave artist here at Dolores Delargo Towers is the lovely Miss Róisín Murphy (she of the original extraordinary dressing-up ideas that gradually, bit-by-bit, were subsumed - like Grace Jones' before her - by the Mother Monster GaGa who claimed them as her own invention). After her brief experimentation with the wonders of Italian torch songs, she's back in her own little world again, we're pleased to say:

Róisín Murphy - Exploitation

And finally...Thank Heavens! Uriel Yekutiel is back - continuing his sterling work in adding a load of much-needed camp to the benighted Middle East, he's popped up in yet another promo for Tel Aviv nightspot ARISA, "performing" Sarit Hadad's Circus:

ARISA feat. Sarit Hadad

As ever, enjoy! And let me know what you think...

Hips Don't Lie

"It is true that the ancient and noble city of Oxford is, of all the towns of England, the likeliest progenitor of unlikely events and persons. But there are limits.” - Edmund Crispin.

Out of the Blue - Hips Don't Lie (Shakira)

Apparently: "Founded in 2000, Out of the Blue is made up of students from Oxford and Oxford Brookes Universities. Each year brings a fresh batch of faces, voices and arrangements."

Indeed.

This Shakira cover [much more attractive than the original, I'd say!] is a charity single for Helen & Douglas House Hospice for Children and Young Adults. To buy your copy of the single to raise funds, or just to donate, visit the boys' website.