Corne d'abondance

Today is a special one for our Froggie chums - their National Day Le quatorze juillet, or Bastille Day, when the French celebrate all things garlicky, cheesy and wine-y.

Or something.

To mark this auspicious day, I'm feeling like a bit of a bop, so here are a couple of our own upbeat French favourites at Dolores Delargo Towers...

First up, the Gallic answer to Miss Minoque - Dannii, not Kylie - it's the very lovely, and very gay-friendly Mademoiselle Ysa Ferrer. She's a Pom-Pom Girl!

Ysa Ferrer - Pom-Pom Girl

Continuing the particularly French way with starting names with a "Y", here's Yelle and the marvellous A Cause Des Garcons:

Yelle - A Cause Des Garcons

And finally, here introduced by Lady Penelope, is the kitsch-tastic Sheila and Black Devotion with a number that probably I would normally feature in my "Thank Disco It's Friday" slot...

Sheila B Devotion - Love Me Baby

Vive la folie!

Previous Bastille Day posts

Bastille Day on Wikipedia

De nouvelles chansons

Time for another selection of recent choons that have entered my consciousness lately...

Let's open the shebang with a healthy slice of kitsch, courtesy of X-Factor finalists 2 Shoes with their campy take on the Kathy Brown house classic Turn Me On (Turn Me Out). Hilarious! A rather good video too:

2 Shoes - Turn Me On (Turn Me Out)

In complete contrast, here's an ultra-cool new song by London duo Avec Sans. It's called Heartbreak Hi, and I love it:

Avec Sans - Heartbreak Hi

If we ever get a summer here in the UK, I reckon this track - from an old favourite Melody Gardot - would be a contender for "summer anthem". From her current album The Absence, here's the joyful Mira:

Melody Gardot - Mira

Only last week I wished Miss Róisín Murphy a very happy birthday - and now here is her latest collaboration with DJ David Morales, Golden Era - fab video, fab song!

David Morales and Róisín Murphy - Golden Era

As we are still heading for clubland, we celebrate the return of Libya's finest export and former Iio vocalist, the lovely Nadia Ali (partnered with EDX) with the stomping This Is Your Life:

EDX & Nadia Ali - This Is Your Life

Presenting a "look" reminiscent of Klaus Nomi or perhaps Jobriath, here's the Canadian artist known as Diamond Rings with his rather wonderful new single I'm Just Me:

Diamond Rings - I'm Just Me

And finally, saving the very best to last - it's the new single from house favourite here at Dolores Delargo Towers, the fantabulosa Ysa Ferrer! Once again aiming squarely at her core camp gay audience with an outrageous video - here's Pom Pom Girl... J'adore Ysa Ferrer!

Ysa Ferrer - Pom Pom Girl

Enjoy, folks!

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?

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue

One of our fabled "80s album cover" recreations

I thought I'd share a few of the tracks we played at our fab house-warming party at Dolores Delargo Towers last night (an eclectic mix, some might say)...

Something old:

Kylie Minogue - I Should Be So Lucky

Something new:

Ysa Ferrer - French Kiss

Something borrowed:

Hurts - Confide In Me

Something blue:

Diva Avari - Fuckin' Bitch

And we love them all!

Menage a Trois - the musical?

One of my favourite French chanteuses, the beautiful Ysa Ferrer is a versatile lady. I have loved her since my (French) ex introduced me to her fantabulosa single Mes Rêves back in 1997. As well as being a rather quirky singer, her career began as an actress in the French soap Seconde B.



Well-known as a "friend of the gays", it is fitting that Ysa would appear in the 2007 gay comedy musical King Size (a musical about a threesome!), to which I was recently alerted.

I am intrigued now. It certainly looks fab!

Take it away, Mademoiselle Ferrer...



Ysa Ferrer official MySpace page

Coq Gaulois

As today is Le quatorze juillet, better known to non-Frenchies as Bastille Day, in addition to posting a photo of a proud French cock I decided to dig out some Gallic treats for our delectation.

A million years ago, I was in a relationship with a French boy (we're all still friends today). The very first contemporary French artiste he introduced me to was ex-soap actress turned singer Ysa Ferrer, and this brilliant song became something of an anthem at the time:

Ysa Ferrer - Mes Rêves

Next is one of those "must-haves" for anyone (like me) who delights in collecting bizarre and eclectic music - a dance remix of one Edith Piaf's hits La Foule (of course!):

Cassita - La Foule

And speaking of the divine Edith, here's the little sparrow herself:

Edith Piaf - Padam, Padam

Of course, any tribute to French music cannot be complete without that glittering gay icon Dalida - whose costume here (in her own tribute to an earlier Gallic legend Mistinguett) may well provide us with another option for next year's Pride outfits:

Dalida - Comme disait Mistinguett

Nor should I neglect the wonderful Charles Trenet, whose iconic status in France was undented by a gay sex scandal (he was apparently briefly imprisoned for "corrupting minors") in the 1960s. Boum, indeed:

Charles Trenet - Boum

And to end this brief (and incomplete) trawl of music from the land of strong cigarettes, wine, smelly cheese, Napoleon, garlic and air traffic controller strikes, here's their national anthem, brilliantly sung here by opera diva Jessye Norman:

Jessye Norman - La Marseillaise (200 aniversario Revolución Francesa - La mar)

Bastille Day