Pride Song of the Day - Believe - Cher

Cher is one of the gayest divas around! Not that she's gay, of course, but I would say that the overwhelming majority of her fans and followers are also friends of Dorothy. I even saw a t-shirt at Gay Pride the other day with the diva's face emblazoned over that famous photo of Che Guevarra. It gave me the giggles.

So if Cher is the gayest diva, then this one is her gayest song. I remember when it was out and popular and it was being played all over the place. I can just picture all the PLU's with their hands to heaven, singing along, a la Jack on Will and Grace. So take a look and a listen to today's "Pride Song of the Day," Cher's 'Believe.'




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Graduation Day Saturday

It's Monday night and I'm way behind in practically everything. I've had several pieces I'd wanted to post and I'm going to try and get some in tonight before heading to Atlantic City in the morning. I'm going to start with my Saturday:



Graduation Day

Saturday was graduation at the school where I teach and since I had four students graduating. Graduation Day is a special one for teachers, especially ESL teachers, and especially me! I go through a lot with my students and teach many of them for years, and so it's so great to see them march up there in their caps and gowns, deservedly proud of themselves for their big accomplishment.

I'm not the only teacher who attends graduation, either. Quite a few of my fellow teachers go to the ceremony, some even participate, all to pay homage to the students they helped along the way. I only wish the teacher bashers out there could see and know these people as I do.

Anyway, a big congrats goes to my guys (and gals) Asil, Beatriz, Gerber and Jackie. I'm proud of you all and I'm going to miss you!




What was I thinking?

After the graduation, I was looking forward to going out, but I wasn't sure where to go. The weather had been iffy, but the forecast was good, and so I told myself that if it was going to be nice I would go to the Grove and if not, the city. Well, the weather turned out to be gorgeous and of course I picked the wrong place!

I should have known from the moment I got to the ferry that it wasn't going to be good. I actually contemplated getting right back on and coming back so I could make my way into NY, but thought better of it since I was going to Pride on Sunday anyway. For the first time in a long, long time, I didn't know anybody there...well, almost.

On the ferry I saw that girl, Lisa, who knew me from religion class in the second grade...not exactly someone I wanted to hang out with. She's pretty sociable anyway, so I pretty much kept to myself most of the night...and then I saw Matthew, the guy I met over there Memorial Day Weekend. He was with like six or seven people and having a great time, which made me just want to go home. He came over and chatted for a hot minute, and went back to his friends.

That was it! The music absolutely sucked, too, so I wasn't doing much dancing. I decided to hightail it out of there on the 11:30 ferry and headed home for some sleep. Oh well, at least the next day was fun...
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Pride Song of the Day - Supermodel - Rupaul

Once upon a time there was a little black girl
in the Brewster Projects of Detroit, Michigan.
At 15, she was spotted by an Ebony Fashion Fair talent scout,
and her modeling career took off.

YOU BETTER WORK!

Many of you might remember this one from 1993 by drag queen extraordinnaire, singer/songwriter, actor, television host, and a whole lot more, RuPaul. The opening, for those of you who might not know, includes a little nod to Ru's (and my) diva, Ms. Diana Ross, who grew up in those Brewster projects and portrayed a model in the film Mahogany. The rest of the song is as camp as camp can be, with a funky music track and some fabulous lyrics. It's a perfect showcase for a "Pride Song of the Day."

I especially love the little homage interlude towards the end of the song:

Linda, work
Naomi, she is fierce!
Christy, foxy lady other side
Cindy, I can feel it!
Claudia set on the cover
Nicky, work that runway sweetie

Then of course there's the:

sashay, chantee, chantee, chantee, chantee, chantee, chantee...

Can you tell I love this song? LOL Anyway, I became a big fan of RuPaul's music from that time on. She's released several albums of surprisingly good, campy stuff. I own the first two, 'Supermodel' and 'Foxy Lady,' and I can tell you they're both full of catchy, fun songs like 'Back to My Roots,' 'Party Train,' 'A Little Bit of Love,' 'Snapshot,' and more. It's really too bad that none of these are available on YouTube, otherwise you'd get a much bigger (and funner!) post than you're getting. RuPaul's 'Supermodel' is a perfect song for pride and I hope you enjoy...




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Pride Song of the Day - Born This Way

"There's nothing wrong with loving who you are"
She said, "'Cause he made you perfect, babe"

Happy Gay Pride Day in New York! It looks to be a picture perfect day today, a great day for a parade, festival and celebration. This will be my second year going to join my fellow PLU's for some out and proud joyousness. God seems to be pleased about what happened on Friday because he's smiling down on us this fine day.

I'm beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way

Don't hide yourself in regret
Just love yourself and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way

I really wanted to find a song that would capture what today was all about. I perused my iTunes library to try and find something of an anthem that spoke to gay people everywhere. At first I was going to feature Gloria Gaynor's 'I Am What I Am,' but it's a little outdated and played out. Then all of a sudden it hit me: 'Born This Way' is the perfect song for today. I think that maybe it replaces Gaynor's anthem just like Jay Z replaced Old Blue Eyes with his 'Empire State of Mind.'

Don't be a drag, just be a queen
Whether you're broke or evergreen
You're black, white, beige, chola descent
You're Lebanese, you're orient
Whether life's disabilities
Left you outcast, bullied, or teased
Rejoice and love yourself today
'cause baby you were born this way

What makes this song so special is that it's not just an anthemm for gays, but for everyone who's ever found themselves objects of scorn, hate, ridicule, whatever. I know a lot of people out there dislike Lady Gaga, especially my fellow Madonna brethren. Even though I believe Gaga doesn't hold a candle to Madge, I still thinkk she's pretty good and this song is pretty good too. Yes, it sounds a little like 'Express Yourself,' but so what? It's happy, it's fun, and it makes you want to put your hands up in the air and dance. Isn't that what good music should do?

No matter gay, straight, or bi,
lesbian, transgendered life,
I'm on the right track baby,
I was born to survive.
No matter black, white or beige
Chola or orient made,
I'm on the right track baby,
I was born to be brave.

So today we celebrate what we all know to be true in the hopes that others who don't might just get it. Yes, whether any of you out there believe it or not, I know, my fellow LGBT's know, and Lady Gaga knows that we were born this way. Happyy Pride everybody!





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Pride Song(s) of the Day - Chains of Love/A Little Respect - Erasure

It's Pride Weekend in New York City and if you read my last post you know that this year we have a lot more to celebrate than just our pride in who we are. In recognition of this historical moment in time, I'll be featuring special "Pride Songs of the Day," with great songs by LGBT artists.

First up is an openly gay duo that got their start in the 80's New Wave movement, but these guys are so good they're still going strong even today. I featured one of their songs in my last post, a beautiful one called 'In My Arms,' and since I couldn't decide between two others, I'm celebrating them both here.

Chains of Love

'Chains of Love' is an up tempo ditty from 1988 that's catchy and melodic, uplifting and fun. It was the group's first big breakthrough in the US and no one who was around back then could not know this one. Enjoy...





A Little Respect

Next up is an irresistably melodic tune that became one of the group's signature songs. It showcases the tender side of lyric writing by the group's members Vince Clarke and Andy Bell. Great tune!







I hope you've enjoyed these songs as much as I did. Stay tuned tomorrow for some more great songs from LGBT artists. Happy Pride!
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Walls Come Tumbling Down...

And walls come tumbling down
We'll be forever calm

I was listening to these words late this afternoon when I first heard that the New York State Senate was finally going to vote on the Marriage Equality Act, which would have legalized gay marriage finally in the great state of New York. Though I'm not a big believer in marriage as an institution, I do believe strongly that all people, including people like us, should have the same right to marry that straight people do.

The words are from a song by Erasure called 'In My Arms,' and the "walls" referred to in the song symbolize tonight the wall that's stood between gay people and the legal institution of marriage for years and years. When I saw the announcement of the vote on Twitter via my iPhone, I had a good feeling. Yes, this time it would pass. I turned up the volume and sang the words to this beautiful song at the top of my lungs, and this time with a whole new meaning...

I am a lifelong New Yorker. It's the place where I was born, the place I was raised, and the place I call my home. I've always been proud of being a New Yorker and I'm even prouder tonight.



Though I've been meaning lately to post links to some of the pieces I've written lately, I've been remiss, and I'm going to change that now for tonight's historic action by my state government moved me into action to share and to reiterate what I believe with all my heart. Here are links to what I wrote earlier tonight and some related material from the past. Check it out:

Some NY Pride as Gay Marriage Bill Finally Passes

Why Same Sex Marriage is a Civil Rights Issue

The Lovings and Today's Gay Marriage Debate

Gay Marriage Shot Down Again: When Will the Hate Stop?

Gay Marriage and the Traditional Family

As always, thanks for reading!


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Song of the Day - Schools Out - Alice Cooper

I knew early on that this had to be my "Song of the Day" for today. It's been a long school year and even though I don't even really like this song, it speaks of the euphoria that students feel on that last day of school...well, sometimes teachers feel that way, too!




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June 23, 2011 - Mission Organization/First Weekend

It’s Thursday night, the night before the last day of school. I’ve already got a busy week ahead of me, starting with tomorrow so I’m not really too excited yet. Once I get to start sleeping late and being a night owl again I know I’ll feel much better. Life has been so busy lately that it’s been hard for me to get here, though I’ve had a lot of things to share. It’s already a little late, so I don’t know how far I’ll get, so for what it’s worth, here goes…

Mission Organization

Testing at school finally ended today, thank goodness. For some reason, all of the Regents Examinations were extra hard this spring and my students took forever to take them. The shortest test was Geometry, which clocked in at a little over four hours, and the longest was US History, which took three of my students a whopping nine and a half hours to finish! Most of them passed, so I guess all the effort was worth it, but it’s certainly been a grueling week.

I’m a little disappointed in things as far as work is concerned. I haven’t written a “Crossroads” piece because there are none to be found. Everything is at a dead standstill and it’s very frustrating. Ever since I made the decision to go for a job first (which is still the right one, I believe), it seems like nothing’s gone right. In all, so far I’ve applied for seven job openings and haven’t gotten a single call. I had hoped to be packing a lot of my school stuff up just in case, but instead all I did was some much needed organizing of my classroom and teaching stuff. For now, it looks like I’m at a standstill and I’ll be back where I am in September…

In the meantime it’s time to get organized at home. Once the next week settles down it’s time to hunker down and start getting really organized with my home and my writing especially. I need to take the time while I’ve got it to start unloading junk so that when I do move eventually it’ll be easier, and as for my writing…since I’m off for the summer, I need to get a rolling in a more organized and efficient way. We’ll have to see where this takes me because I may just have to give up a writing gig or two so that I can streamline what I do and be more productive with it.
The past few weeks have been frustrating, as I have so little time to write and I feel a little overwhelmed with pressure to get more done. I only hope I find a way…

First Weekend

Well, my first weekend is already jam packed with stuff. After tomorrow’s school day is out, there are lots of errands to be done and then Saturday is Graduation Day. After graduation comes the rest of Gay Pride weekend… I haven’t decided what I’m doing on Saturday night yet, but on Sunday I’ll be partaking in the City’s Pride Fest with my two buddies, Blanche and Dita. I kind of feel like I’m dragging them along, but I’m hoping it’ll be fun. Stay tuned…

Well, that’s all for now. It’s already late and I have no time for more, so thanks for reading and here’s hoping I’ll have something more substantial and entertaining to say next time.

Here's a couple of cool shots of bridges, which I find fascinating...



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Song of the Day - P is for 'Please Don't Go', by Nayobe

Unfortunately, there's no video for this song, at least the original version of it. The song was recorded back in 1984 and I don't think I discovered it until the late eighties/early nineties. It's one of those classic dance/club songs with a great dance track, nice vocals and equally cool lyrics. It was the only hit for this Afro-Cuban singer called Nayobe, and it's a really good one!

It's funny, but the backdrop for the video of the song is the label from the 12" record of the original, which I used to own. I remember lots of great records with the label "The Fever...Catch It!" Ah, those were the days! Take a listen here to Nayobe's great 'Please Don't Go':





Please Don't Go

Sweet, sweet love,
Dark empty nights
Begged you to stay
Now you're far, far away...

There's something scary about the look that's in your eyes
There's hidden anger in your face
There had been trouble and it comes as no surprise
You say tonight someone has taken someone else's life
Not much will come from out of anger and revenge
But tell me when we'll ---
I'm begging you please
I'm on my hands and knees
Don't do something crazy, I'm begging you

Chorus:
Please don't go, please don't go
Don't go there tonight
It just isn't right
You may not come back to me
Our future you'll never see
Your throwing my life plans away
Please don't go

The only thing we have that we can call our own
Is this sweet love that we share
But if you leave tonight you may not come home
And thats just one thought I can't bear
Lets run away from here, to some place far away
Cause if we stay our love won't last another day
Don't throw my love aside
Because of your foolish pride

Chorus

I wanted you to stay
But still you went away
Together we can run
Now look what they had done
I'll never feel your touch again
I'm left to see this tragic end
Your throwing our love life away

Please don't go, please don't
Please don't go, I'm begging you
Repeat (4x)
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Song of the Day - Superstar - Jamelia

Since I did the blog post on the music of "Queer as Folk" yesterday, I began perusing stuff I've got in my "gay tunes" folder on my iPod and I came across this wonderful song. It's by British R&B singer Jamelia and it comes off of the "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" soundtrack (yes, they had one!). The song is very catchy and perfect for a nice summer day. Enjoy!




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Q is for Queer as Folk (Music!)

Warning: This content may not be suitable for all viewers.

Queer as Folk was a groundbreaking hit series on the Showtime Network that aired from 2000 to 2005. The show was the first of its kind here in the U.S., based on the British series of the same name. The show centered around the lives of a group of gay friends in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and tackled all sorts of issues that surround the gay community.

At first, most of the hype around the show focused on the racy, never before seen scenes of male on male nudity, but eventually the shock wore off and the show became taken more seriously for its superb acting and its mesmerizing storylines. The cast of the show was a talented group of actors, featuring Gale Harold as the show's central figure Brian Kinney, Hal Sparks as his best friend Michael Novotny, Randy Harrison as Justin, Brian's on again-off again love interest, and two time Emmy Award winning Sharon Gless as Debbie Novotny, Michael's proud and outspoken mother.

Since this Z-A Blogger's Challenge is all about music, I'm going to focus on some of the fabulous music that accompanied the adventures of Brian and Justin, Michael, Emmett, Ted and the rest of the folks at Club Babylon, Pittsburgh's resident fictional hotspot in the show. But before I get to some of that stuff, I'd like to start off with the theme song to the original British series, a fun, island-sounding tune with spoken overlays that set-up that series, as well as the American one. Check it out...




Then of course there's fast-moving theme to the American version of the show:



The next one is from the first season. Justin, who's falling quickly for promiscuous playboy Brian, tries to stir up his jealousies by performing in an amateur strip tease performance at Babylon. Though Justin was a big hit, his little trick ultimately failed. After all, it was only the first season.

High School Confidential



The next one came at a tender moment of the first season, after Brian's college sweetheart, Lindsay, gave birth to his son, along with her lover and Brian's newfound nemesis Melanie. The song is one of my all time favorites, a tender and inspirational tune sung by M People's Heather Small.

Proud



'Dive in the Pool,' by Barry Harris and featuring the vocals of Pepper Mashay, was a bona fide club hit even before it appeared on QAF's Season 1 Soundtrack. The video accompanying this song is a typical Club Babylon sequence that was shown throughout the series and is pretty much waht you might see in any big gay nightclub.

Dive in the Pool



Sexy Boy

Though this vid depicts scenes from the American version of Queer as Folk, the song is actually from the UK series. Sultry, sexy...sexy boy!



Straight to Number One

This is the Showtime series' answer to 'Sexy Boy.'

Ten, kiss me on the lips...
Nine, run your fingers through my hair...
Eight, touch me...slowly...slowly
Seven, hold it! Let's go straight to number one...



The last onse is one of my favorites from the entire series. The video was filmed as a promo for the third season. Beautiful and deep voiced singer Kristine W is joined by the cast for what looked like a really fun video to make. It's got a great hook and is danceable as all heck. Check it out...

Some Lovin'



Well, I hope you've enjoyed these clips from the great Showtime series 'Queer as Folk.' All of this listening and I'm ready to watch the whole series all over again. I miss it and the great music that came with it. If you'd like to purchase any of the songs presented here, I highly recommend the Season One Soundtrack for starters. You can get it below:


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Song(s) of the Day - Shake That Body/Move This - Robi Rob's Clubworld/Technotronic, feat. Ya Kid K

Today's "Song of the Day" is another double dose. Does anybody remember a female rapper called Ya Kid K? She rapped with a group called Technotronic back in the day and she had an unmistakable rapper's voice. The group had a couple of hits, including 'Pump Up the Jam,' 'Get Up (Before the Night is Over),' and this one, the catchy, soothing 'Move This.' Most of you who were around back in 1992 might remember this from a cosmetics commercial featuring then hot model Cindy Crawford. It was very hot!

What made me decide to feature 'Move This' was another song that also featured Ya Kid K singing some of the lyrics to this song in a whole new way. Robbie Rob was one half of the C&C Music Factory's Clivilles and Cole and he made an album called 'Robi-Rob's Clubworld' that was full of slammin' dance tunes that were out of sight! The most memorable song from that album was the still very popular in clubs and at parties 'Boriqua Anthem,' but to me this one's just as fun...a little Technotronic with some Latin flava made for a very jamming song. Check this one out first before you relive 'Move This'...and try to stay in your seat if you can!








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Lesbian Matchmaker

It’s Monday night, the last Monday of a work week for me until September…I should be in a great mood, but I’m not really that excited yet. I guess it’s just the thought of waking up at 5AM for four more days, lol. Today was a rough one, as I started it off with a funeral, but at least the weekend was interesting, to say the least…

Lesbian Matchmaker

I don’t really know why I always go to the Grove. I should be going to the Pines, where the men are, but instead I always find myself at Cherry’s On the Bay even though there’s not usually a chance in hell that I’ll ever meet anyone there. I guess I’m just used to going there and besides, I’ve heard the Pines doesn’t get started until really late and I have to work myself up to staying out there all night long. It’s one of my goals for the summer!

This week was Cherry’s “New Year’s Eve” party…I really have no idea what that was. I got there around 9ish and I was at first happy to see there was a crowd already. Unfortunately when I got up close, I saw that it was mostly women. Oh, there were some guys, yes, a couple of cute ones, too, but it definitely wasn’t Splash on a Saturday night if you know what I mean. I immediately ran into my friend Michael and we chatted by the dance floor. Within a few minutes one of my songs, ‘Let Me Think About It,’ came on and I was off and dancing as Michael checked his phone messages.

Within seconds, I was dancing with this really beautiful girl who was immediately drawn to me and the way I was dancing. She was with someone, clearly the butcher of the two, and I at first thought they were lovers. The three of us played off of each other for a long time on the dance floor and ended up dancing together on and off again the rest of the night.

I then ran into an old friend of mine, Laurie. You might remember me talking about her. She’s the one I ran into at the Bunkhouse a couple of weeks back that left me with her chatty menstrual friend. She was there sans friend and she was in a much better mood than she was that night.

Laurie and I have known each other for years, but we’ve never gone out together. We usually just run into one another at this place or that, chat a little and that’s it. Since she had come alone Saturday like me, we hung out more than we usually do. She had met two friends there, two guys who I’ve met before. One of them went out briefly with another acquaintance of mine and the other asked me out quite a few times last summer. He looks like Kevin James from that TV show “King of Queens” and so I wasn’t really interested. Needless to say, he wasn’t too happy to see me when Laurie introduced us.

The two of them caught an early ferry and then it was just Laurie and I. The deejay got into some oldies: Prince’s ‘1999,’ Aretha Franklin’s ‘Respect,’ and even some old Michael Jackson. It’s not often you hear that type of music in bars nowadays so we were getting into it. As we danced, Laurie leaned over to ask me if that girl I had been dancing with was with the other girl. She was interested!

“You want me to give you a hand?” I asked, feeling a little excited and confident at the proposition.

“Nah,” she quipped, but I already had my mind set. Even when I was away from the girl, she had been constantly looking over towards me and we kept going back to one another to dance some more all night. I wasn’t sure if Laurie had a chance with her. It seemed to me that the girl she was with might’ve been her lover, and besides, I didn’t know if she’d be attracted to my friend.

For the next hour or so we all danced around, me trying to get the two of them close enough to each other for Laurie to make her move. Finally, a song came on that I just couldn’t dance to…’Last Night,’ by P Diddy, I think, and I left the two of them on the dance floor. My job was done. Laurie and Katherine were dancing and talking up a storm, and I walked away happy.

As things happen over there, I floated off on my own, venturing over to the Ice Palace for a bit and then back to Cherry’s for some more dancing. I was having a good time. Finally, around 12:15 or so, I decided to get my favorite slice of Cherry Grove pizza (I don’t know why, but it’s the best!). I walked over to order a couple of slices and Katherine’s friend, yes she was just a friend, I believe her name was Jaqueline, came to ask me to join the two of them at a table. They had already been eating pizza.

Laurie was still at Cherry’s, but the time soon came for the last ferry and we all met up with her at the dock and rode back to Sayville chatting up a storm like we were all old friends. I have no idea if Laurie ever got her number or if they’ll ever see each other again, but I sure had a good time!




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Song of the Day - Satellites - September

Even an angel can end up falling
Don't you cry, because you're crawling
Start again, it's a beautiful morning
For satellites

The chorus is what makes this song so irresistable. It's so catchy and melodic, and the words are inspiring. It's all about being afraid of the unknown, taking chances and believing in yourself and your dreams. It's about being confident! It truly is a great song and just one listen will make you a fan...I promise!





Here are the wonderful lyrics to 'Satellites':

Even an angel can end up falling
Don't you cry, because you're crawling
Start again, it's a beautiful morning
For satellites

Well, they said it was time for changing
Rise and shine
Everybody's making it, but you
And they told you to trust your dreaming
But it's hard to believe a feeling
That you just don't know

Even an angel can end up falling
Don't you cry, because you're crawling
Start again, it's a beautiful morning
For satellites
Even an angel can end up falling
Don't you cry, because you're crawling
Start again, it's a beautiful morning
For satellites

You've been trying to walk on water
In the end everybody
Walked all over you
Now, you don't like the sight of mirrors
Cause you're scared that the face
You'll see, will look just like before

Even an angel can end up falling
Don't you cry, because you're crawling
Start again, it's a beautiful morning
For satellites
Even an angel can end up falling
Don't you cry, because you're crawling
Start again, it's a beautiful morning
For satellites

All I want is you
Let me take you back
Where you once belonged
All I want is you
It will be alright if you come along
You were never gone

Even an angel can end up falling
Don't you cry, because you're crawling
Start again, it's a beautiful morning
For satellites
Even an angel can end up falling
Don't you cry, because you're crawling
Start again, it's a beautiful morning
For satellites

Even an angel can end up falling
Don't you cry, because you're crawling
Start again, it's a beautiful morning
For satellites
Satellites


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Song of the Day - Hey Ya! - Outkast

Today's song is one of the funnest songs I know. Back in 2003, OutKast was at the top of their game with their hit double album, 'Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.' This was the first of three top ten hits off of the album for Andre 3000 and Antwan 'Big Boi' Patton, followed by the classis 'I Like the Way You Move' and 'Roses.'

'Hey Ya' is as fun to watch as it is to dance to, with multiple Andre's giving a Motown-style revue in front of hundreds of screaming girls. Check it out and
"shake it like a Polaroid picture!"




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R is for Rock and Roll

By now most of you already know that I'm a club queen (not really a queen!). That is, club/dance music is by far my thing and it's what I listen to the most. But I wasn't always that way. Back when I was in my teens I used to love rock and roll and every now and again I still enjoy a good old fashioned rock song. Since we're on the letter "R," I figured I'd take this opportunity to share a few of my favorite rock tunes,, you know, the kind that make you wanna move with hard rocking guitars and shout it out lyrics. Check it out...

R is for Rock n' Roll



Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet

This one is one rockin', good time fun!


Jet - Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Warner-Music



Are You Gonna Go My Way - Lenny Kravitz



This one's got a great hook. Pure rock n roll!


Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way by hushhush112



Life is a Highway - Tom Cochrane




This one hit wonder is always fun to listen to...


Tom Cochrane - Life Is A Highway by EMI_Music



The Stroke - Billy Squier



Billy was "da man" back in the 80's...cute, too! This one was definitely one of his rockin' best!


Billy Squier - The Stroke by jpdc11



I Love Rock and Roll - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts



I couldn't do a post on Rock and roll without this one. Joan Jett is one of the rockingest chicks to ever hit the stage and this one's a classic! I used to have a big crush on her guitarist with the pouty lips....

I saw him dancin there by the record machine...


Joan Jett - I Love Rock And Roll by Dan_of_the_Land


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Double Dose Song of the Day - Stand Up/There But For the Grace of God Go I

Throw your hands in the air

Throw your hands in the air

Throw your hands in the air

Throw your hands in the air

This is one funky, fast moving, hip shaking song! The tune is an most excellent, updated version of another awesome tune from the disco era, a little funky ditty called 'There But for the Grace of God Go I.' The newer track samples the original's music, only faster and funkier and the words to the new version are completely different, whereas the original tells a story, this one's all about shaking it up on the dance floor.

I'm talking bout' bodies movin'
Non stop groovin'
Asses shakin', floors are breakin'...

Stand up put your hands to the sky!

When I was a deejay, I used to mix the two together, beginning with the earlier version, by a group called Machine, and then speeding it up even more with this one. Both songs are so good that I'm including both, as they are both deserving of a listen on this fine day. Be sure to check em both out!

*There is no original video for either song, but the 'Stand Up' track is a fun, homemade one by a fellow on YouTube called tonydivine. Machine's version is simply an audio, but the quality is good.










Here's the story of 'There But For the Grace of God Go I':

Carlos and Carmen Vidal just had a child
A lovely girl with a crooked smile
Now they gotta split 'cause the Bronx ain't fit
For a kid to grow up in
Let's find a place they say, somewhere far away
With no blacks, no Jews and no gays

There but for the grace of God, there go I
There but for the grace of God, there go I, I, I, I, I, I, I

Poppy and the family left the dirty streets
To find a quiet place overseas
And year after year the kid has to hear
The do's and don'ts and the dears
And when she's ten years old she digs that rock'n'roll
But Poppy bans it from the home

There but for the grace of God, there go I
There but for the grace of God, oh go I (could be me, could be you)
There but for the grace of God, oh go I, I, I, I, I, I, I

Baby, she turns out to be a natural freak
Getting rest and losing sleep
And when she's sweet sixteen, she packs her things and leaves
With a man she met on the street
Carmen starts to bawl, bangs her head to the wall
Too much love is worse than none at all

There but for the grace of God, there go I
There but for the grace of God, there go I
There but for the grace of God, oh go I
There but for the grace of God, oh go I, I, I, I, I, I, I

(Solo)

Carlos and Carmen Vidal just had a child
A lovely girl with a crooked smile
Now they gotta split 'cause the Bronx ain't fit
For a kid to grow up in
Let's find a place they say, somewhere far away
With no blacks, no Jews and no gays

There but for the grace of God, there go I
There but for the grace of God, oh go I, I, I, I, I, I, I.
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