Do you remember? Oh, how you brought me down (down, down)

This year, Pride celebrates 40 years since the founding of the Gay Liberation Front.

This year I also celebrate a milestone - twenty-five years since my first Gay Pride, way back in 1985!

I have (obviously) written about it before, but it is worth reflecting on those far less "free" times for gay people (the age of consent was still 21, and Section 28 had just entered the statute books).

Tom Robinson was the headline act:

Tom Robinson - Glad To Be Gay

Divine floated past the crowd at Jubilee Gardens, belting out her hits on a Thames barge:

Divine - Shake It Up

And on that date, this slice of campness was Number One in the charts! Happy memories...

Sister Sledge - Frankie

Pride London

Tell them I'm having the same...

We have a centenary to celebrate today, in the middle of my Gay Pride Countdown! Just as well it is Frank Loesser - composer of more than 700 numbers for a variety of musicals, not least was his own masterpiece Guys'n'Dolls.

I have of course blogged about the fabulous Mr Loesser before, on the occasion of the anniversary of his death last July.

However, I can always manage to find some new and unusual things to celebrate such an anniversary, AND tie it in with the gayness of this countdown week...

Here's a bizarre version of one of Mr Loesser's finest works (with all it's gay connotations - very daring for its time), here performed by an Italian travestito by the name of Quince ["Every time I play a female role, my name (half QU-een, half pr-INCE) will be: QUINCE!"]. Whatever. He/she is fab!

Quince - Boys in the Backroom

Here's a right slapper from the 1940s (well hardly by our standards!) with one of Frank's classically "suggestive" numbers, which, in its many variations, became an early gay classic:

Mary Healy - Kiss the Boys Goodbye

And how about one of Hollywood's "worst kept secrets" Mr Perkins, and his version of the gayest of gay Loesser songs?

Anthony Perkins - Never Will I Marry

Frank Henry Loesser (29th June 1910 – 28th July 1969)

... and let the fun begin!

The countdown to Gay Pride continues, and I always have to play our "anthem" every time.

So this year, I thought I'd feature a version of that very tune, Bring On The Men, as performed by "Miss Burl Esq" at San Fransico's annual "King of Boylesque" pageant. Described as "a no holds barred burlesquing of traditional beauty pageants, bringing together eight of the top male performers from the nation", it sounds like a fantastic event I reckon... Enjoy!

King of Boylesque - Bring On The Men

About Boylesque

Troubles melt like lemon drops

It is the start of Gay Xmas week, otherwise known as the countdown to Gay Pride on Saturday! As ever, this event is the highlight of the social calendar - our gang starts planning it almost a year in advance, and Madame Acarti and I have our costumes all ready to go.

On this Tacky Music Monday I have a suitably kitsch song that links not one, but two, gay icons together to kick us off - what better than the iconic Amanda Lear singing Judy Garland's classic standard?

Amanda Lear - Over The Rainbow

Enjoy!

Any Which Way

I think Miss Minogue needs no excuses - to perform on the Glastonbury stage with the Scissor Sisters! How brilliant is this???

Scissor Sisters featuring Kylie Minogue - Any Which Way (Glastonbury 2010)

Glittering diva

On this scorching hot Sunday, I thought I'd cool things down a bit and enter a world occasionally touched upon here at Dolores Delargo Towers - the world of culture (with a capital "K").

On this date 78 years ago the late, sadly lamented and truly beautiful opera diva Anna Moffo was born. Described by critics as "one of the leading lyric-coloratura sopranos of her generation", Miss Moffo never quite reached the levels of fame and adulation reserved for Maria Callas, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf or Joan Sutherland, yet hers was a beautiful voice, and one to be celebrated.

And she wore glittering frocks, jewels and evening gloves with aplomb! Enjoy...

Anna Moffo - Sempre Libera from La Traviata (Verdi)

Anna Moffo - Obéissons quand leurs voix appelle from Manon (Massenet)

Anna Moffo biography article in Opera News

Now THAT's how it's done!

It's summer at last (with 30 degrees predicted this weekend!), we're off to the magnificence of Kew Gardens, we may have found a house to move to when the landlady sells this one, and it is just one week to Gay Xmas (Pride)!

What better way to celebrate than with a collaboration between two of the most vivacious all-round entertainers ever? Put your hands together for Miss Ball and Miss MacLaine!

Lucille Ball and Shirley MacLaine