Carlton Heights Episode 11
There's only three more episodes of
Carlton Heights left! Can you even friggin' believe it?
EPISODE 11
OPEN ARMS of
Carlton Heights is now online !!!- Click and read the latest episode in Brad's ongoing saga of those nutty cast of characters living on Avenue Sea.
In
"Open Arms", Ruth is hell bent on proving Scott had something to do with Gertie’s missing money while Ronald tries to cover his involvement and Marty finds himself in the middle of it all when he discovers what Ronald’s been doing, Dylan puts his marriage on the line when he gets an interesting prospect, and Larry finds out some unexpected parties may have been involved in his children’s disappearance.
Guest Characters – Stephen Merrick, Older Gentleman, Deputy Benny, Sheriff Mackenzie, Woman Singer. Co-Starring Alice the Teller, Henry my bartending friend, Mailman Mel, Man #1, Man #2, Bar Patrons. DOWNLOAD EPISODE 11. and for you, my special blog readers, I'll let you in on a secret - there's a new character that pops up at the end, and everyone who has ever seen Knots Landing will immediately catch the thrilling twist - so I wonder how many of you can figure out who I would want to play this part!
Labels: Carlton Heights, Gay soap opera, Writing
Swivek Pick Of The Week
It's that time of the week again - when we go through the Swivek vaults and pick out a random song to feature - this week we have one of my more thrilling singles -
"Holly wood" - one of the three new tracks that were recorded for the 2003 album
Mondo Blondo 03:99 which was a collection of our songs from our humble basement beginnings in 1999 though the fall of 2003. At the time of the release for
"Holly wood" it was described as
"the best stuff Brad's done so far..." so take that any way you want and I present to you
"Holly wood" - and remember to always ask yourself, "if Holly would, would you?"
Labels: Pick Of The Week, Swivek
5 Albums That Changed My Life
I've been meaning to make this post for awhile, ever since I got one of those My Space bulletins about it. I thought "what a perfect blog post".. so I hope whoever started this doesn't think I'm a complete thief but I had to add my two cents and so should you.
As for me, my 5 are a bit on the odd side, but considering whose writing this piece it will come as no big shocker. First and foremost I have to say my gamut of music really stretches all across the universe so I thought it might be hard to come up with the music that actually CHANGED my life and had some big effect on me but after a few minutes of deliberation I came up with my list - and they are only in order of release, so I guess they are in order of when they affected me. Also note that these are albums that affected me upon their release, there are plenty of important albums that I wasn't fortunate enough to hear upon their initial release and thus I had already been affected by these 5:
Grease Original Soundtrack (1978; RSO Records) - I know you really lost all your respect but hey I was a tee weeny little boy and the soundtrack and the film were the first real adult type of fare that I came across which actually affected me in any way. The film was so exciting to me I made every relative I had take me to see it claiming I had never seen it before. My Aunt Sarah and I listened to it on my Grandma's big record player in the living room - one of those things that look like a cabinet but actually house a record player and in Grandma Ferlie's case an 8 track player. Then I made my mom buy me the 8-track for myself. I sang every song as if it were my own and as if I knew what half the words meant.
"Summer Nights", "You're The One That I Want", "Greased Lightning" - not to mention the 1,2 punch of sassy pants Rizzo with her teaser
"Look At Me I'm Sandra Dee" and
"There Are Worse Things I Could Do", plus the Sha Na Na whole middle of 50's dance music, and the Cindy Bullens sung
"It's Raining On Prom Night", "Freddy My Love" and
"Mooning" from the original play (which I didn't even know existed at the time). The soundtrack to
Grease made me grow up and to this day I still sucked in to both the flick and the soundtrack and it made me a life long Livvie fan.
Stockard Channing - Look At Me I'm Sandra DeeCindy Bullens - It's Raining On Prom Night
Blondie - Parallel Lines -
(1978; Chrysalis) Anyone who has ever heard this album from start to finish should be affected by it as well. Opening with telephone buzz and breaking into the punky new wave
"Hanging On The Telephone" through 12 songs of neon nuances, organ bounces, sultry cooing and downright new wave genius this is arguably one of the best albums released ever, and that comes from other real critics and not just my blonde head. When I first saw Debbie Harry on TV singing I was transfixed. I had to know who she was, what she was, where she was. Once again Aunt Sarah stepped in by having the
Parallel Lines album since they had done a cheerleading routine to
"Heart Of Glass", I stole that record from her and I've never looked back. The rocking jaunt of
"One Way Or Another", the 60's popness in
"Sunday Girl", the gloomy
"Fade Away And Radiate", "11:59", "Will Anything Happen?", "I'm Gonna Love You Too" - there isn't a bad song on this bunch. In fact, I used to act out the entire album from beginning to end in my room. There was also one of Smokey and Evelyn's neices who bought the album and brought it to the Smokey home where I insisted I knew all the words - they laughed at me until they started following along on the lyric sheet while I sang. That's how cool of a kid I was! Just listen to some of the amazing lyrics and the incredible music and you'll be hooked too -
"Your mouth is permanently entrenched where a molar should be" - how frickin' cool!
Parallel Lines made me want to be a singer, it made me want to write songs, it made me proud to be blonde, and it made such an effect on me I can't go without it for more than a few months without pulling it out and playing it from start to finish all over again.
Pat Benatar - In The Heat Of The Night -
(1979; Chrysalis) Thanks to a different Aunt, I got my little child paws on a copy of this ingenius moody piece of pop/rock when Aunt Carol came over one day to give me an extra copy she had got from Columbia House Records. My cousin Paula and I ran up to my beat up little Robin Hood record player, pulled the
Parallel Lines album off of it and heard the thunderous pulse of
"Heartbreaker" and once again I thought I was in Heaven. From there came the sass of
"I Need A Lover" and the one two mood swings of city runaway life in
"If You Think You Know How To Love Me" and
"In The Heat Of The Night." While Debbie was cool and aloof, full of irony and things above my head, Pat was straight forward and bitchy, she wasn't taking shit from anyone and she was going to warn you before you even tried. I loved it and I loved her. The strange yet alluring
"My Clone Sleeps Alone", the new wavey
"We Live For Love" &
"Rated X" - the romantic overblowing "Don't Let It Show" - straight up balls rock of
"No You Don't" and the closer
"So Sincere" - it has lasted beyond all my dreams; due I'm sure to the fact that Pat can sing the crap out of anything - from one growl to a high octave it all sounds so effortless. Since I got the album sometime in the summer months of 1980, her next release
Crimes Of Passion was right around the corner, and with the one two shot of those, I knew I had to be some kind of singer. I was going to be Pat or Debbie or one of them was going to be my adopted mother, I didn't care how it was going to work. All I knew was they lived through thier lives through my stereo and I lived my life through their songs.
Lisa Hartman - Letterock (1982; RCA) - This was a tough one to include, not because I knew so many people would make fun of me but I had to find a way to describe how exactly this album did have its effect on me. For most of the people in the world, at the time and now, no one even knew this album existed but I did. But with the album and Lisa's appearance on the album I became a fan, but with her also appearing on
Knots Landing every week, she became something more to me. It seemed like you could put all of your talents into your work, if you wanted to do TV, you could, if you wanted to sing, well go ahead and make a record. It all seemed so easy because of Lisa Hartman. Plus she seemed like a damn nice person. She didn't appear to be trying to be anything other than herself. She had a bit of the Benatar-esque attitude on some of her songs but then would turn into a Linda Ronstadt crooner. The album is the opitome of 1982 pop music with just a hint of Urban Cowboy-ness coming through on one or two of the songs. Letterock was certainly a product of its time but unlike the later 80's where the processed drum machine makes everything so dated, this album still sounds refreshing - at least to me. Plus I sing along with everything on here, she made everything so easy for me as a kid. I loved looking at that insane cover of her in the lingerie and listening to song after song and then playing it over again. I used to put Letterock on the player before going to sleep. I would dream of living somewhere else and being a big time singer - you realize of course it all reverts back to the TV show she was singing her songs on -
Knots Landing. I first saw Lisa while my mother had the TV on for background noise, and I sat watching the show. Suddenly there she was singing a Rick Springfield song
"Hole In My Heart" and wearing a small mini dress, I thought she was the coolest thing in the world. When I found out there really was a Lisa Hartman record out there, I made my mother run me up to Camelot Music. Lisa Hartman and Letterock (she sang songs off the album on most of her time on the show including "If Love Must Go", "Games", "Hole In My Heart" and the most popular "New Romance (It's A Mystery))In fact if it weren't for her singing on the show, I probably never would've watched it to begin with. Today, I still listen to
Letterock all the time, I still watch Knots Landing with my pal Jen, and I still love Lisa Hartman and have followed her career through out these years and without
Knots Landing I don't know how boring all those Thursday nights would've been in my youth and would I have ever really written
Carlton Heights - or anything else for that matter had I not first seen Lisa and started playing her record? Without
Letterock, I would've had no Lisa Hartman, no
Knots Landing and then no
Carlton Heights - Now think about that for a minute!
Nirvana - Nevermind (1991; Geffen) - It's hard to believe a record didn't affect me again for over ten years but in all fairness there wasn't all that much greatness after the beginning of the 80's - by the time I had worn out most of my vinyl from the early 80's I was mulletized, wearing name brand acid washed jeans and trying to hang with the cool kids of the Def Leppard crowd. Of course I never fit in with them but that's probably because I'd run home, watch the Aqua Net out of my hair and put on my Lisa Hartman album. But by 1991 we had all had enough of hair bands and constant sexual innuendo. Sure, Lita Ford got me through some fits but come on I needed more, so along came a new Messiah and his name was Kurt. He didn't care if you liked him, looked at him or hit him, just as long as you heard him. And we did. But this goes beyond just affecting me with the thrilling moments of angst found on the album, Nirvana brought about a whole movement - I tore those labels off my jeans, I put on the thrift store cords and boots, the flannel and the big ratty sweaters, I let my hair grow. I have to admit though I never went so far as to only bathe by Pachouli but come on I was raised right. In essence, Nevermind became a voice for people of my inner angst - my age, my outsider status, everything I thought was on the sidelines was suddenly there in front of me. The music had anger, the music had depth, the passion was there in the lyrics and in the performances, and it changed my whole life. I was finally in a place I wanted to be. My own style changed, my writing, my poetry and stories, my lyrics all took on new meaning and I was no longer afraid to write how I really felt - warts and all. It made me an artist - an unpaid artist sure but if you create art and no one's there to pay attention you're still an artist aren't you? Sure you are and so am I - thanks to the life altering album Nevermind.
And there's my list how about you guys - and just in case you can't really believe what you just read - yes the 5 albums that changed my life are the Grease Soundtrack, Blondie's Parallel Lines, Pat Benatar's In The Heat Of The Night, Lisa Hartman's Letterock and Nirvana's Nevermind. Now what are the 5 albums that changed your life?
(P.S. for the youngsters out there - an album is a CD as well just not a single - I don't care how important the CD single of "My Humps" is to you - unless a whole Fergie album affected you I don't think it counts)
Labels: Blondie, Grease, Lisa Hartman, Music Life Pat Benatar, Nirvana, Olivia Newton-John
Monday - Random Photo 6
Monday Random Photo -
West Hollywood Llama
Labels: Random Photo
Carlton Heights Episode 10
We are almost at the season finale so things are really heating up on
Carlton Heights. Here we are at
Episode 10 He Could Be The One, and who could be the one? Could Johnny be the one for Haley? Could Stephen be the one for Marty? Could Johnny be the one who stole the twins? Could Dylan be the one to solve the case? You'll have to read our latest episode to find out.
EPISODE 10 HE COULD BE THE ONE of Carlton Heights is now online - Click the episode title and read the latest episode in Brad's ongoing saga of those nutty cast of characters living on Avenue Sea. IN THE LATEST EPISODE - Dylan gets helpful information from Widow Hollingsworth and an interesting proposition from a stranger, Marty and Stephen become closer when they begin to investigate the twins’ kidnapping together, Larry’s moods continue to push Zimmy away, and Johnny’s arrest has Haley up in arms.
Guest Characters – Johnny Belducci, Stephen Merrick, Toddy Tudrow, Sheriff Mackenzie, Margaret Mackenzie. Co-Starring Philip Barton, Jed Bachlovich, Widow Hollingsworth, Talia Lee, Lita, Director, Cameraman, Moving men, townspeople. DOWNLOAD EPISODE 10.In the words of our creative consultant extraordinaire -
"Hot cliffhanger, you bastard….now I’m on the edge of my seat. Excellent episode. 9 & 10 are the best yet!" And don't forget to leave your own comments at our
Official My Space Group, and you can read all the episodes online at the
Official Carlton Heights Website.Labels: Carlton Heights, Gay soap opera, My Space Groups, Writing
Blah Blah Blah
I'm sure you all think I just sit around on my lazy ass and watch TV all night long with the Leivas, and for the most part you'd be correct, but every now and then I get a splurge of creative robust and I end up trying to go overboard getting a million projects started, put on hold, restarted and eventually finished. Well, after a few weeks of feeling kind of, well blah! I am in the beginning states of my take charge creative forces and with that I have a whole bunch of crap I am doing and want to do - this is where we break into bullet points - I know that's how crazy I am!
First - A
new Swivek music collection is being tapped as we speak. I promised a single this summer and I plan on delivering it. The finishing touches are working well on
"Flirt" though I'm still mixing up the arrangement a bit, but it's punky, bratty and fun, so I think you will all enjoy it. As for the b-side, that's an ongoing process; I have a few contenders but figure I still have a few weeks left. As for a complete album expect that sometime in the fall. So far there are about 12 songs started though only 4 are really grabbing me, but you never know how far a long week of Captain & Cokes and a microphone can do. So far titles include the aforementioned
"Flirt", plus a cool new one I started working on last night called
"Heartbeat", then there's
"Love Me To The Bone", "Cruel", "Not A Love Song", "Deep Inside" and
"It's Not That Easy" - all which are coming together to work perfectly for the title which is
Into The Blue - expect a promo shot sometime soon
Swivek is on the Radio - In fact "Radio" is on the radio - internet radio that is. We submitted a few songs to Jack Kitty Records for their online radio show hosted by Sense In Common. We contacted the very talented Tyler Adam (check him out here) and he has included our songs on his rotation stating, "I'm feeling this music". So check out Jack Kitty Radio on Friday nights and listen for Swivek's "Radio", "Garboesque" and "You're Not The One."Gee, I think I wanna be an actress part 1 - there is a new NBC show coming out that is basically a karaoke game where you have to finish singing the lyrics to the song. I have decided though I may end up looking like an ass, I'd kick myself if I didn't audition, so I took down their phone number and I'm going to give them a call. I could be on TV finally! Plus if all goes well, I could a) win money b) promote Swivek c) sell my scripts. I'm going to try and convince my pal Julie to go with me - though I don't think it's going to take all that much coaxing. To see what the show is all about or to even audition yourself here's their website: www.nbc.com/CastingGee, I think I wanna be an actress part 2 - I've always wanted to do improv, not be a stand up comic mind you but be in super hilarious little skits with other people and just wing it. When I was in college I was in a number of plays and one of them involved an actor who had different parts in the play, so while my character gave a speech he went off stage to change clothes, I was on stage with one other actor and had to adjust times for how long it took the guy to change clothes and reappear - so I learned how to improv and let me tell you by the end of the second night my little improvs were hilarious and probably got a bigger laugh than most of the play. So anyhoos, while watching Outfest - a stand up comic show on Logo (that follows the hilarious - usually hilarious - Big Gay Sketch Show), I saw the Gay Mafia. They did this great little rap song plus a few other tricks and skits, so I went to their website to see if they had anything of interest to me - you know like open auditions and the like and found out they do an improv workshop. I shot them an email and am now wringing my hands hoping to break into the biz of improv comedy. I mean I could end up a) earning some money b) getting on TV c) selling my scripts. No matter what I am pretty sure I'd be great. To check out the Gay Mafia here's their website http://www.thegaymafia.net/Speaking of my scripts, we were weren't we? Tomorrow is episode 10 of Carlton Heights and the show is getting better and better, but with tomorrow's episode there are only 4 more episodes until the season is over. I know you're all just itching with anticipation and because of that, it has come to my attention a number of you think it would be a great idea to turn Carlton Heights into a radio show. Well, I have to agree so I am putting together a cast and we are going to start recording Carlton Heights as an internet radio show. Any takers? For a list of characters you can check out the Characters list on the website. You can also download all of the episodes so far, just to know what you're getting into. My hope is to have everyone together in a big room (my spare room) around a microphone (my computer microphone) just like in the olden days. Carlton Heights wouldn't be the first one to do this as there is a radio soap opera out there called Scripts and Scruples you should check out. Either way, I think it would be a lot of fun, but for those of you who want to play Dylan I think I'm already taking that part - after all as a would be actor, I really like to play against type and Dylan is so far removed from me, it would be a real stretch.And finally in case you think I may have forgotten - today is Swivek's Pick of the Week - and this time around we are staying rather current by throwing a song from our last album onto the web. Darkness + Light was released last September and it's my favorite Swivek album to date, in fact I'm a tad nervous that I won't be able to improve upon it with my new release, but what can you do? So with the greatness that is Darkness + Light, I give you one of the first songs I wrote for the album, the gritty rock of "Power and Passion", a little backbeat of LA life and the powers that try to keep you down. I hope you enjoy it! Swivek - Power and Passion and don't forget you can buy the whole Darkness + Light album at CD Baby! Just click the CD Baby link anywhere you see CD Baby. I mean Bradley has a new nephew to take care of, I could use some cash!Labels: Big Gay Sketch Show, Carlton Heights, Game Shows, Gay Mafia, Gay soap opera, Gee I Think I Wanna Be An Actress, Karaoke, Radio Show, Scripts and Scruples, Swivek, The Singing Bee
Say Uncle
Finally, the boy who needed a name has entered the world - this morning at 7:15 my baby sister gave birth to her baby boy. Though all of the help from you guys in naming the child was great, she ended up going with her initial instinct and named him Evan Matthew. Though I'm going to call him Dez Dexter Noah Drake Hunter cuz that's how I am.
Evan Dez Dexter Noah Drake Matthew was 6 lbs 13 1/2 ounces and 18" long, with a little bit of brown fuzzy hair and brown eyes (though we're fairly certain he'll end up being blonde because the Jacobson blonde genes are strangely strong) and though I haven't any pix yet, his mother says he's the cutest baby in the world, which is relatively close. I mean when I go home in September I'll show her the baby books of me when I was a baby and of course then she'll realize her son is the SECOND cutest baby ever.
Labels: Baby names, Uncle Bradley
Monday - Random Photo 5
Monday Random Photo -
DISCO PINTO
Labels: Random Photo
Carlton Heights 9 - Burning With Fun
EPISODE 9 of
Carlton Heights is now online - Click the title and read the latest episode in Brad's ongoing saga of those nutty characters living on Avenue Sea. In our latest installment,
ASHES TO ASHES - Marty enlists Ruth’s help in getting Aidan out of Ronald’s bed and out of town, Dylan and Toddy make an unlikely bond when Toddy comes through with a secret box of files, Larry finds solace in both booze and cleaning supplies while Haley nurses her broken heart.
Guest Characters – Johnny Belducci, Stephen Merrick, Gertie Winston, Gladys Tudrow, Margaret Mackenzie, Toddy Tudrow, Sheriff Mackenzie, Old Gentleman, Verna Palmer, Chip Chandelor. Co-Starring Priest, Mrs. Hollingsworth, Donna Demarco (voice over), Various mourners, Customer at Marty’s Mayhem. DOWNLOAD EPISODE 9.And don't forget to join our
My Space Group! Where you can discuss all about our show, and after this episode I'm sure you'll have plenty to say; after all (completely unbiased) I think it's the best episode yet!
Labels: Carlton Heights, Gay soap opera, Writing
So You Think / Swivek Pick
My favorite summer series and the only Reality show I really watch -
So You Think You Can Dance returned a few weeks ago and as of last night we are officially out of the auditions and the top 20 have been picked. Not too many dancers stand out as much as they did last year but it is pretty early in the competition and it's hard to get to know them this early. But that doesn't mean I don't already have some favorites.
My two favorites came from two reasons, 1. The boy
Cameron is hot with his punk hair (the picture doesn't do justice) and because 2. Last night his partner
Lacey (who happens to be last year's winner Benji (the homo) little sister) did an awesome
Mia Michaels choreographed contemporary piece that was definitely the highlight so they totally have my vote. The whole routine was incredible and beautiful done to a fairly cool ballad
"Dancing" by Elisa which I have to track down...
Though in second place were two interesting characters Jesus and B-Girl Sara who took a super cool Broadway type of dance style and told this whole vagabond story that had me loving every single second.. You guys have got to watch this... Tonight, two of the dancers are getting booted and based on last night's performances it's really a crap shoot as to who will go - first off, the lowest rated dancers are signalled out - that is the viewing audience calls in and votes for dancers in pairs then the dancers with the lowest votes have to dance for their lives and then the judges have final call eliminating one boy and one girl from there - everyone was so good last night, I can't even imagine who will get the boot... though I'm thinking lowest calls might be for Fania, a Russian dancer who is the sister of someone booted off last year and comes off kind of pretentious but as for the boy, I'm not sure... don't worry I'll keep you posted...
And in other news, it's time for
Thursday's Swivek Pick Of The Week - this week we have one of my favorite
Swivek songs -
"What Do You Think About That" from the 2005 album
Army Fatigue, which was my rocky attempt at being political and pissed off, most of the songs had some theme of war, guns, politics and government and though it didn't seem to raise as much interest as I had originally planned I think it's a great album.
The song's lyrics were actually written in 1994 and it was a sort of coming out song if you will and I finally got to make it ten years later, that's right world I'm gay! Plus it's got a cool little rocking vibe to it. So without further ado:
Swivek - What Do You Think About That
You can also still download the entire
Army Fatigue album for FREE! That's right it's free at
Flexible Records. You'll love it.
What Do You Think About That lyrics:
Hey little world
What you wanna tell me
Who you wanna sell me
Is this in the best interest for you or me?
Hey little world
Telling me who to be, what to see
How to feed, I need to breed
Oh no, oh no
Sugar coated lies and a politician's eyes
On a rampage for the American dream
I'll cut out the eyes and I'll break all the ties
I'm gonna be me
What Do You Think About That?
Hey little man
You gonna tell your mother
You gonna tell your father
Maybe your life is best confided to a brother
Hey little man
You gonna tell them who you are,
You gonna tell them what you are
They know you go fast but do they know how far
Keep it safe and play it straight
And let your lazy head spin
You cannot wait and it's so very late
And this is how you're gonna live
What Do You Think About That?
Not everyone will be
What the majority wants to see
Vagrant, stagnant, human magnet
It's all the same
Deviant, malevolent
Taking the core right out of it
The American way….
Hey mom and dad,
What you gonna tell the family?
What do you think about society?
How did your world fit in for me?
Hey mom and dad,
Tell who I ought to be
Tell what I ought to see
Tell me not to be me
Oh no, oh no
Federal laws and barroom brawls
And worlds of people you don't understand
Half a city sleeps while half a city weeps
And the world jerks off the dick in its hand
What Do You Think About That?
Copyright © 2005 Bradley Jacobson/
Buzzee Bee Bop Tunes (ASCAP) Labels: Mia Michaels, Pick Of The Week, So You Think You Can Dance, Swivek
Those Crazy Government Scientists
Here's an interesting little story from Gay.com all about our government and a strange little gas they tried to develop to turn our enemies gay! It's tragic, hilarious, absolutely insulting and worst of all still not available as a spray to spritz around my boudoirs...The Pentagon confirmed Friday that they had considered developing a "gay bomb."
Oddly enough, the U.S. military in 1994 sought to create a hormone bomb that might turn enemy soldiers into rampant homosexuals, leading to an orgiastic gang bang.
Edward Hammond of the Sunshine Project in Berkeley, Calif., used the federal Freedom of Information Act to obtain a copy of the proposal from the Air Force's Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio.
As part of a military effort to create nonlethal weapons, the proposal suggested, "One distasteful but completely nonlethal example would be strong aphrodisiacs, especially if the chemical also caused homosexual behavior."
The documents indicate the Air Force lab asked for $7.5 million to develop such a chemical weapon.
"The Ohio Air Force lab proposed that a bomb be developed that contained a chemical that would cause enemy soldiers to become gay, and to have their units break down because all their soldiers became irresistibly attractive to one another," Hammond said after reviewing the documents.
"The notion was that a chemical that would probably be pleasant in the human body in low quantities could be identified, and by virtue of either breathing or having their skin exposed to this chemical, the notion was that soldiers would become gay," Hammond said.
The Pentagon told CBS 5 News that the proposal was made by the Air Force in 1994.
"The Department of Defense is committed to identifying, researching and developing nonlethal weapons that will support our men and women in uniform," said a DOD spokesperson, who suggested that the "gay bomb" idea was quickly shelved.
Hammond said the government records he obtained indicate the military was keener on the idea than it is now suggesting.
"The truth of the matter is, it would have never come to my attention if it was dismissed at the time it was proposed," he said. "In fact, the Pentagon has used it repeatedly and subsequently in an effort to promote nonlethal weapons, and in fact they submitted it to the highest scientific review body in the country for them to consider."
Gay community leaders in California said Friday that they found the idea of a "gay bomb" both offensive and ridiculous.
"Throughout history we have had so many brave men and women who are gay and lesbian serving the military with distinction," said Geoff Kors of Equality California.
"So, it's just offensive that they think by turning people gay that the other military would be incapable of doing their job. And it's absurd because there's so much medical data that shows that sexual orientation is immutable and cannot be changed."Labels: Gays gays gays, Government, Life
BubbaTUNESday
Today's bubbatunes are two rare gems of soundtracks - they are related in the fact they both require lacing up some skates and doing a roller skating boogie to the tunes of 70's and 80's classic cuts. Our first delve into the roller skating craze comes with the CD release of the soundtrack to 1979's Roller Boogie starring Linda Blair and a feather mopped hottie known as Jim Bray who got the job only because he was hired as the roller skating stunt man but was well just too hot to pass up and our second is a brand new version of an old favorite - we have gone back to the neon drawing board and came up with an all new Xanadu Soundtrack - the Mount Olympus Edition, so strap up your laces and let's hit the roller skating floor...
bub92 Roller Boogie - Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack (1979; June 12, 2007)
If you like your disco thumping and your rock in that 70's vein than this soundtrack is for you. Personally I love both the movie and the soundtrack, having even seen the film at the movie theater when it came out in late 1979. The plot of a rich Beverly Hills girl who just wants to leave her stifling role as a musician genius and head to Venice Beach to skate her cares away and her unlikely pairing with the hottie poor boy who lives on the beach, rents skates for a living and gets the whole town of Venice into a roller skating congo line is really something everyone should see, and when I get around to my top 100 Films According to Bradley you can bet your sweet skates this one is on there.
As for the soundtrack, anything that opens with Cher's throaty vibrato talking about being hell on wheels, well you've got me sucked in. Cher's 1979 single and actually almost everything on the Roller Boogie is co-written and produced by Bob Esty who had his hands in a lot of that 70's disco/rock hybrids running amock on the radio including working on a number of Donna Summer's excellant 70's output.
"Hell On Wheels" is no exception in the forumla he perfected with
Cher declaring if there's something she wants you better know she's gonna get it.
Bob Esty himself does vocals for what I think may be the one and only time as he contributes a number of songs on the soundtrack - the ballad
"Summer Love" is the quisessential ballad all these film soundtracks have to have, the somewhat electronica induced
"Elektronix (Roller Dancin')" and the goofy yet alluring
"The Roller Boogie" (I used to hate to skate/ now I can't wait), "Rollin' Up The Storm" is one of the rare instances on the album that goes more into rock than actually dance disco music, while the excellant
"Love Fire" is a duet with his writing partner
Michele Aller. He also does the instrumental
"Cunga" which is exactly what you would think it would be - a congo line of roller skating heaven.
A few other unknowns pop up on the Bob Esty written songs including a man named
Johnnie Coolrock who gives us the one and only real rocker
"Good Girls" which is an excellant song of the 1979/80 rock vibe, Ron Green offers up two songs and Cheeks gives us the duet with Bob on
"Elektronix" and
"Top Jammer" another great little dance disco song while
Mavis Vegas Davis gives you the disco triumph
"All For One, One For All" and the equally impressive
"Evil Man", Bob returns for an awesome ballad, the Supertramp cover
"Lord Is It Mine", we also get the bonus cut "
Night Dancer" by the Donna Summer sound alike
Jeanne Shy which was released as a 12" single on its own accord and hit the dance club charts, it appears in the film
Roller Boogie but never actually made it onto the original double soundtrack album.
Somehow
Roller Boogie also got the rights and the use of
"Boogie Wonderland" by
Earth Wind & Fire and The Emotions which in turn actually gives listeners some sense of familiarity with the music. But believe me for a taste of the unknown almost underground disco
Roller Boogie soundtrack is really amazing... and kudos and thanx have to go out to the ultimate
Roller Boogie fan who runs
http://www.rollerboogie.net/ and got me to thinking about adding this gem to my catalog of rare CDRs.
Roller Boogie - Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack (bub92)Track List: 01. Hell on Wheels (Cher) 02. Good Girls (Johnnie Coolrock) 03. All For One, One For All (Mavis Vegas Davis) 04. Boogie Wonderland (Earth Wind & Fire and The Emotions) 05. We Got The Power (Ron Green) 06. Top Jammer (Cheeks) 07. Summer Love (Bob Esty) 08. Takin' Life In My Own Hands (Ron Green) 09. Elektronix (Roller Dancin') (Bob Esty & Cheeks) 10. Cunga (Bob Esty) 11. Evil Man (Mavis Vegas Davis) 12. Lord Is It Mine (Bob Esty) 13. Rollin' Up A Storm (The Eye Of The Hurricane) (Bob Esty) 14. The Roller Boogie (Bob Esty) 15. Love Fire (Bob Esty & Michele Aller)
Bonus Track: 16. Night Dancer (Jeanne Shy)
download Roller Boogie Soundtrack (bub92)
http://rapidshare.com/files/122559090/bub92_Roller_Boogie_Soundtrack.zip.html
bub33R Xanadu Soundtrack - The Mount Olympus Special Edition (1980; June 12, 2007)Way back years ago, around the time of bub33, our 33rd CD, I decided I wanted a special version of the
Xanadu Soundtrack. The original album is available on CD and in fact it was even remastered in a special import edition, however neither of those releases contained the songs that weren't included in the original soundtrack. Most highly missed was Olivia Newton-John's
"Fool Country" a rock/country hybrid that she sings at the end of the flick, the song was released as a B-side to the single
"Magic" in the US and the single
"Xanadu" in the UK and it finally made it onto a remastered Olivia collection a few years ago but it's never been offered on the
Xanadu soundtrack. So I added it back in 2004 when I did the original bubbatunes version, also on that version were too completely lame remixes of the title track sung not by Olivia but by some wanna be disco diva.
Then something surprising happened, actually two surprising things happened. 1. They, they being the powers that be decided to turn the great cheez fest known as
Xanadu the film into a Broadway play and 2. One of the all time
Xanadu fans on a my space group I belong to made his version of the
Ultimate Xanadu Soundtrack which not only included "Fool Country" but also included
"Drum Dreams" by
ELO which is the song that has all the hand claps and the
"Xanadu" chants in it, he also found a different version of ELO tracks "
Don't Walk Away" and
"The Fall" and a Jeff Lynne sung version of the title track. He also included dialogue from the film into his soundtrack. The most impressive thing he did was take the whole 11 minute segment from the end of the film and put it on the soundtrack - that segment begins with the 'drum dreams' before breaking into
"Xanadu" then a tap dance by Olivia, which moves into
"Fool Country" then another rousing ending version of
"Xanadu" before Olivia as Kira the Muse disappears into a neon glow back up into the Heavens. It's awesome and I wanted it. So I went to his limited download sight and got the songs I didn't have including another Olivia song that never made it to the soundtrack, her version of
"You Made Me Love You" which she sings in a flashback part the Danny (Gene Kelly) character is having.
I decided to put together my own version of an ultimate
Xanadu soundtrack using cues from this big fan. I included those rare songs that weren't included, put together my own version of the
Xanadu Montage (by using the remastered versions of the original songs rather than the somewhat sketchy sound from the film) and voila! we came up with the new edition of the
Xanadu soundtrack. To make it even more appealing, I took the songs that are put together with dialogue and the
Xanadu Montage and put them in their original individual parts as bonus tracks, plus the whole thing actually goes in order as the movie presents them so by the ending credits
(Closing Fanfare) you feel like you just watched the flcik. So with all that crap in your head and under your roller skates, I give you the track list to bub33R
Xanadu - The Mount Olympus Special Edition.
Xanadu Soundtrack - The Mount Olympus Special Edition (bub33R)
Track List: 01. Opening Fanfare/I'm Alive (Barry DeVorzon/ELO) 02. dialogue - 'hey it's that crazy girl' 03. Magic (Olivia) 04. dialogue - 'hey clarinet' 05. You Made Me Love You (Olivia)06. Whenever You're Away From Me (Gene Kelly & Olivia) 07. Suddenly (Cliff Richard & Olivia) 08. Dancin' (Olivia & The Tubes) 09. dialogue - 'a little pizzazz' 10. All Over The World (ELO) 11. Don't Walk Away (ELO) 12. dialogue - 'kissed by a muse'/ The Fall (ELO) 13. Suspended In Time (Olivia) 14. Xanadu Montage: I - dialogue 'maybe just one moment' II - Drum Dreams (ELO) III - Xanadu (Olivia & ELO) IV - Tap Dance Interlude V - Fool Country (Olivia) VI - Xanadu (Reprise) (Olivia & ELO)/ Kira's Ascent 15. dialogue - 'oh miss' / Closing Fanfare (Barry DeVorzon)
Bonus Tracks: 16. I'm Alive (ELO) 17. Don't Walk Away (Alternate) (ELO) 18. The Fall (Demo) (ELO) 19. Xanadu (Jeff Lynne) 20. Fool Country (Olivia) 21. Drum Dreams (ELO) 22. Xanadu (Olivia & ELO)
and for a limited time:
Olivia Newton-John - Fool CountryXanadu MontageLabels: Bubbtunes, Electric Light Orchestra, Jim Bray, Linda Blair, Olivia Newton-John, Roller Boogie, Roller Boogie soundtrack, Xanadu
Monday - Random Photo 4
Monday Random Photo -
The new cast of Madame's Place
Labels: Random Photo
Carlton Heights is BACK!!!
We are back for another visit to everyone's favorite new cul-de-sac Avenue Sea and the nutty folks that live there.
Carlton Heights is back with
episode 8 -
Make A Move On Me.In our latest installment, Marty's fear that his marriage is falling apart becomes reality when Aidan and Ronald begin flaunting their affair, Ruth plots to keep Haley and Johnny apart while Haley tries to get closer to the mysterious man, Larry tries a variety of activities to keep his mind off of his children and Dylan runs into obstacles trying to write the book his editor has requested.
Guest Characters – Johnny Belducci, Stephen Merrick, Gertie Winston, Gladys Tudrow, Toddy Tudrow, Margaret Mackenzie, Construction Workers. DOWNLOAD EPISODE 8.Or go to the
OFFICIAL CARLTON HEIGHTS WEBSITE and read all of the episodes so far! And don't forget to check out our
Carlton Heights group at
My Space!
Labels: Bradley Jacobson, Carlton Heights, Gay soap opera, Writing
Swivek Pick Of The Week
This weekend is
LA Gay Pride and I couldn't be more gay, I mean happy, or do I mean gay? Either way, it's going to be a heck of a hoot with a bunch of 80's ladies set to perform, and I will be there swigging beer if I have to be pushed down the hill on a gurney (I'm still a little sick), so for today's Swivek Pick Of The Week, I thought my 2005 single, a cover of the uber fab
Lisa Hartman's
"Where The Boys Are" was the perfect kick off to the gay pride season. So I give you Swivek's
"Where The Boys Are (Single Mix)" - it's one of my more popular singles (yes I have popular singles you beatch), and incidentally it was my boss at the time, who came up with the idea to do the dancey trance version you hear, I had originally wanted to do a full kitsch ballad a la the original but he heard it differently and he was so right.
Swivek - Where The Boys Are (Single Mix)
And if you want to get your own copy of the single, it's still available for FREE download at
Flexible Records. Along with the single mix, you get the album version, another remix by Blonde Buddha, a super killer remix by Orange Television and an exclusive b-side that isn't available anywhere else.
Just click here!and in ever more faboo news, I have been laying down tracks on a couple of new Swivek ditties - so far two are going very very well and should be ready soon, while four others are looking promising as well - so a new Swivek album is in the works and a single may even show up mid summer after all - so keep your ears and eyes peeled.
Labels: Flexible Records, Gay Pride, Lisa Hartman, Pick Of The Week, Swivek, Where The Boys Are
Listen Up
This week has been a real crapper, first I am sick, I hardly ever get sick so when it happens (and when it happens twice in about 6 months) it occurs to me that this just might be it - I could be dead any day now.. so before I go I thought I'd share tunage with both of you, my adoring readers, so today we have some British take over, two gals with hard to spell names but excellant vocal chops and two new Bubbatunes - I know I'm just so giving even in my time of dying...
Here are three CDs that you should run out and grab as soon as you can:
DOLORES O'RIORDAN - Are You Listening? (Sanctuary Records 2007)The lead singer from The Cranberries, a band which captured all of my mid 90's angst and love has finally come out of a self induced real life to record a brilliant solo album. Now I have always loved Dolores and her acrobatic vocal take with her ever so prominent Irish yodle just warbling beneath the surface, and though by the end of The Cranberries recoroding career, I myself had tired a tad of Dolores' take on music but with
Are You Listening? she comes full circle. Some of my all time fav Cranberries songs are the hard rock edges ones like
"Zombie", "Salvation" and
"Promises" and though a lot of the slower ballads were incredible
("Linger", "Pretty") I've always been a bit of a rocker. Luckily, Dolores has come through on this, not that she made a rock album per se but she didn't rely only on ballads and she didn't go all
"Zombie"-esque alterna punk either, instead she is right down the middle and every single song on here is great. I'm through 6 songs singing along with Miss O before I even realize the album is half over. Of my recent purchases (and there have been a number of them since my birthday you know) this has been on contant rotation. The opening single
"Ordinary Day" kicks it from the beginning and the fun and fierceness just keeps getting better, with songs like
"Human Spirit", the rocking and bitchy
"Loser" and my all time favorite (this week)
"October". You can visit
Dolores' website here or you can hear some of the songs - the first single and an album track at
Dolores' My Space web page.
JOHNETTE NAPILOTANO - Scarred (Hybrid Recordings 2007)When I wasn't listening to The Cranberries in the 90's I was blasting Concrete Blonde in my tiny apartment - both bands were led by women who have hard to spell last names, both have extremely passionate voices and both women rock my world. After releasing a few internet only albums the lead singer of Concrete Blonde has finally made a full solo release with
Scarred. Now I was more than excited to get this album and have been badgering everyone for weeks until its release, so I was a tad sad to actually get it and not fall immediately in love with it. At least four of Concrete Blonde's numerous albums make up my favorite albums of all time so I was expecting to immediately wet myself when I put
Scarred into the player. The opening track is by far my favorite -
"Amazing" has all the appeal of any Concrete Blonde song before it, with a slowly starting intro before Johnette pulls out her stops and out comes that voice harrowing, magical, spine tingling, and it doesn't stop there. For all the songs feature Johnette in any number of her amazing vocal acrobats. She has the Jim Morrisson poetry mode going on in
"Poem For The Native" and a number of great vocal and synth effects in
"My Dianne", and did I mention that voice?? After giving the album a few more spins it is working its way into my psyche, perhaps the pain and anguish established through out the album was a little off putting for me at first, I don't know why since most of my music is in fact a little on the pissy side, but as the dust begins to settle in my excitement, I'm realizing the album is very good, and with each new spin I find another interesting piece of the puzzle that is Johnette.
MIKA - Life In Cartoon Motion (Casablanca, 2007)
Mika is a huge deal across the pond and he's slowly making his way over to our side of the world, based mostly on the hit single
"Grace Kelly" with its clever use of keyboards, and minimal music tones, and Mika's falsetto, it is the perfect supplement in the world of Scissor Sisters type pop, and the album itself just goes on from there including my new all time favorite song ever,
"Lollipop" which is so sugary and poppy it almost rots your teeth threw the stereo - I want to do music like this. With each subsequent song Mika just reels in more pseudo love problems and rambling gambling beats. Even his attempts at heart felt ballads have a sort of ironic sense to them, is he really serious? is he just having fun? it's all so fun and undaunting it's hard to turn off even after going through the entire CD. He's a little bit Freddie Mercury, a little bit Elton John, so basically he's a little bit Scissor Sisters, but there's so much happening here it's infectious. We'll see how his journey stateside treats him, perhaps he'll keep the UK in stitches while having the practically nill effect as Robbie Williams does here, or he'll rise the ranks to a more Scissor Sisters level, either way if he doesn't come out of the closet soon, I think his big gay following may leave him behind - but we're so nilly willy we'll be back at his feet after one big club hit. You can hear the songs at
Mika's My Space site.
and should you think I only listen to premade actual releases, it's time for two new Bubbatunes additions:
bub90 Michelle Phillips - Victim Of Romance (1977; June 5, 2007)
Thanks to an ultimate internet pal of mine, I got this solo album by Miss Michelle. It's been released on CD and in fact contains more songs as bonus tracks than our little Bubbatunes mix but it's expensive and imported and frankly a little too hard to find. But after my pal gave me some songs, it occured to me it would be an injustice not to slap some artwork on here and come up with the Bubbatunes version after all this is Mama Michelle we are talking about, not to even touch on the fact that she was also Mama Anne Matheson to Paige on
Knots Landing - the ultimate in television viewing.
So what does a 60's icon do when the late 70's are approaching and she feels the need to dust off her lung pipes - well I can tell you she doesn't hit the dance floor. In fact Michelle's one and only solo album (can you even believe it?) has a number of things in common with the music she did with The Mamas & Papas including having John Phillips write a few of the songs.
Victim Of Romance has a whole late 60's vibe to it, more than a late 70's vibe, which is perhaps why it didn't make much of a dent on the music world when it was released. But let me tell you everyone was missing out on some pretty fun and clever little songs.
The best cut by far is the title cut which is a complete 60's homage to the girl group song, but her mellower sweet ballads are also worth noting,
"Let The Music Begin" is beatiful as is
"Paid The Price" and
"Baby As You Turn Away" -
"Aching Kind" is a bit more upbeat and just as fun as the title cut. Michelle even does a cover of
"Just One Look" to add that late 60's motiff into full glory.
The bonus cuts are the absolute best including a non released single version of
"There She Goes" from the
Victim Of Romance album (not to be confused with the La's song by the way), and a hilarious ode to record mogul Lou Adler called "Aloha Louie" and the single "No Love Today" which was featured in the 1976 movie Mother Jugs & Speed.
Michelle Phillips - Victim Of Romance (bub90)
Track List: 01. Aching Kind 02. Let The Music Begin 03. Victim Of Romance 04. Trashy Rumors 05. There She Goes 06. Paid The Price 07. Baby As You Turn Away 08. Lady Of Fantasy 09. Just One Look 10. Where's Mine
Bonus Tracks -
11. Aloha Louie 12. No Love Today 13. There She Goes (Unreleased single version)
bub 91 Buckingham Nicks - Buckingham Nicks (1973; 2007) Another famous solo (ish) type of album and another album that was delivered to me by an internet pal, this is the album that Lindsay Buckinham and Stevie Nicks recorded prior to joining Fleetwood Mac and changing the sound of 70's music. For anyone who loves the
Buckingham Nicks contributions to the Mac will surely love this album as well. Rumors have circulated for years that the album would get a re-release officially but so far nothing has come of it, though a number of different bootlegs exist all over the web. Now I love me my Stevie Nicks and though I don't follow Lindsay's work so much as a solo artist, he is always remarkable on the songs he does with Fleetwood Mac, practically changing a whole genre of rock music single handedly, or kind of anyway. The
Buckingham Nicks album consists of 10 little rock ditties written and performed by Stevie and Lindsay, who take turns singing or give us just an instrumental here and there. The music is very reflective of the sound they would bring to Fleetwood Mac two years later, and the song
"Crystal" would even end up being re-recording fo Lindsay and Stevie's debut as members of Fleetwood Mac.
"Long Distance Runner" is a song some Stevie fans will recognize as well from her
Enchanted Boxset. It's all a lot of fun and as I've said if you like the old Fleetwood Mac 70's sound this is just as good as anything they did.
"Crying In The Night" is the opening Stevie sung cut and with Lindsay's backing track, it's superb, and then even better is the Lindsay sung
"Don't Let Me Down Again" which is just as bitter, cutting and great as anything he did with the Mac. For bonus tracks I tracked myself down some solo stuff the two worked on together, including the live version of
"Landslide" from the Fleetwood Mac album The Dance which had Stevie singing to Lindsay's acoustic guitar, and
"Twisted" which was a song the two did for the Twister soundtrack in the 90's and then there's
"Without You" which was a song the duo did around the time of the Buckingham Nicks sessions but didn't make it to the album.
Buckingham Nicks - Buckingham Nicks (bub91)
Track List:
01. Crying In The Night 02. Stephanie 03. Without A Leg To Stand On 04. Crystal 05. Long Distance Runner 06. Don't Let Me Down Again 07. Django 08. Races Are Run 09. Lola (My Love) 10. Frozen Love Bonus Tracks:
11. Without You 12. Twisted 13. Landslide (live)
Labels: 80's music, Bubbatunes, Dolores O'Riordon, Johnette Napolitano, Mika, New Music Releases
Carlton Heights Again
What people are saying about Carlton Heights so far:"I am hooked on this! Please keep them coming!""I just wanted to say how much I love the show you are doing."
"Hot..great story.""Seaview Circle should be so lucky to have such vivacious neighbors."
"You set up one juicy scenario after another, including the unhappiest couple since Laura and Richard.""I can't wait for the next episode. I love Carlton Heights. I want to live there.. I love, love, love it!"
"How do I get to live in a neighborhood like this? I would love to have neighbors like these people - they are faboo."CARLTON HEIGHTS RETURNS NEXT WEEK WITH ALL NEW EPISODES UNTIL THE FINALE!Until then, you have the perfect opportunity to catch up with the residents of Carlton Heights as all 7 episodes are now online at our official
Carlton Heights website.
See how it all began, reread your favorite episodes or if you're really jonesing for some fun, go back and count all the
Knots Landing references made... and you can join our official
Carlton Heights My Space Group and chat it up with other fans and foes - and come back on June 8th when we unleash the final 6 episodes without any interruption.
THE STORY:
Welcome to
Carlton Heights, the ongoing serial set in the small coastal town where the main residents are married gay couples with the typical problems of every soap icon including infidelity, dark secrets, oversexed sluts living next door and one raving homophobe lunatic who wishes they would all pack up and leave her town.
Writer Bradley Jacobson has created a hybrid of
Knots Landing, Desperate Housewives and
Queer As Folk, which begins when Dylan and Scott Irving arrive in Carlton Heights. As the Irvings move into a friendly cul-de-sac, they meet their new neighbors - Larry and Zimmy Bustamante, the happy couple with the newborn twins, the Mitchells - sarcastic and unhappy Marty and his sleazy husband Ronald who happens to be Scott's new boss. Then there's sexy and very single Aidan Palmer whose oversexed shenanigans involve both Marty and Larry's husbands.
But suburban drama isn't all that
Carlton Heights has to offer, for up on the hillside standing over her town is Ruth Carlton, Aidan's homophobic, foul mouthed grandmother. Ruth watches everyone and everything in the town her husband created with one goal in mind - to rid her beloved haven of the filth she believes is taking over. To help and taunt her all at once is Haley Osbourne - Ruth's nursemaid who also works as the very under talented singer at Marty's coffee shop.
But in this small haven lies a ton of secrets just waiting to be dug up. As Dylan begins to mix with the residents, it becomes clear to him that everyone is hiding something. From the origin of the Bustamante twins and Larry's obsession in creating the perfect image, to Marty's disintegrating marriage and Aidan's strained relationship with his grandmother; Dylan is on a quest to expose everyone but he may just end up finding he holds one of the biggest secrets of the town.
You'll be laughing, crying and rooting for the residents of Carlton Heights as they deal with the day to day drama that is small town life.
Download
CARLTON HEIGHTS Episodes:
Episode 1 - I KNOW THERE'S SOMETHING GOING ONEpisode 2 - PLAYING WITH THE QUEEN OF HEARTSEpisode 3 - OUR LIPS ARE SEALEDEpisode 4 - BAD TO THE BONEEpisode 5 - PROMISES IN THE DARKEpisode 6 - MONEY FOR NOTHINGEpisode 7 - WHEN DOVES CRY
Labels: Bradley Jacobson, Carlton Heights, Gay soap opera
There's only three more episodes of Carlton Heights left! Can you even friggin' believe it?
