Warning... this is an adult site. If reading or viewing things about what gay men do sexually with one another bothers you - you should not read this blog. This blog is a reflection of my adventures and thoughts. Some are fun, some not so pretty. I won't name names, or kiss and tell... but I will live to tell. And baby, trust me - I am gonna spill it all over your pretty little party dress. Enjoy!
Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new about something classic.
Today, we take a look at the musical legacy and sexual politics of the highly influential, Romeo Void.
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From Wikipedia:
Romeo Void was an American new wave and post-punk band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. The band primarily consisted of saxophonist Benjamin Bossi, vocalist Debora Iyall, guitarist Peter Woods, and bassist Frank Zincavage. During the course of their history, they went through four drummers, starting with Jay Derrah and ending with Aaron Smith. The band released three albums and one EP, and are best known for the songs Never Say Never and A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing); the latter became a top 40 pop single, peaking at #35 in the US.
The band was started at the San Francisco Art Institute by Iyall and Zincavage. They released a single on the recently formed 415 Records before recording their debut album, which has been deemed a "masterpiece of American post-punk". The success of their second release, a four-song EP titled Never Say Never resulted in a distribution deal with Columbia Records. Iyall has garnered acclaim as a skilled lyricist who explores themes like sexuality and alienation from a female perspective with "searing imagery". The band continued to release music and tour until they broke up in 1985. The members have reunited briefly over the years.
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White Sweater - Romeo Void
Never Say Never - Romeo Void
Chinatown - Romeo Void
A Girl In Trouble (Is A Temporary Thing) - Romeo Void
Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new about something classic.
Today, we take a look at the musical legacy of gender-identity dance pioneers, Book of Love.
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From Wikipedia:
Book of Love was an American synth-pop and electronic band, formed in 1983 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and later based in New York City. Led by vocalist Susan Ottaviano, the band also includes keyboardists Ted Ottaviano, Lauren Roselli and Jade Lee. The band gained its first exposure as the opening act for two Depeche Mode tours in 1985 and 1986. The group has been described by the Houston Press as "forward thinking" for lyrics dealing with sexual orientation and gender roles.
The Book of Love discography consists of four studio albums, three compilation album, fourteen singles, and one promo only single released on Sire Records, or Reprise Records, as well as nine music videos.
Their biggest success came on the US dance charts, placing seven singles in the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart between 1985 and 1993. The group's largest exposure on pop radio was with the song Pretty Boys and Pretty Girls, one of the first songs to openly address the AIDS epidemic. The song, from the album Lullaby, was originally the second half of a medley with the group's version of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, the 1973 instrumental that served as the eerie theme music of the classic horror film The Exorcist. Edited down to single length, Pretty Boys and Pretty Girls became Book of Love's only Hot 100 entry, peaking at no. 90 in 1988.
The band's music has been featured in various films and television over the years. Their song Modigliani (Lost in Your Eyes) was featured in the 1987 John Hughes film Planes, Trains & Automobiles as well as in the Miami Vice episode, God's Work. In 1991, the song Sunny Day was featured in the movie The Silence of the Lambs, in a scene in which band member Lauren Roselli had a cameo with Jodie Foster. Also, the song Enchanted, from the band's Lovebubble album, appeared on the soundtrack to the 1993 film Naked in New York, and the song I Touch Roses, was featured in the 2000 movie American Psycho.
Since their active years, Book of Love's songs Boy and I Touch Roses have been rediscovered by new audiences and remixers. Both songs, in their original versions and subsequent remixes, are heard in dance clubs and on alternative radio stations.
In February, 2001, sixteen years after its first dance chart entry, Book of Love had its first #1 hit on the US dance chart when Boy, a track originally from its debut album, was remixed and re-released as the lead single from their greatest hits collection, I Touch Roses: The Best of Book of Love.
In 2013, the band reunited for a string of club tour dates and has since that time been working on new material, frequently without the input of Jade Lee.
Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.
Today, we take a look at the adventurous musical stylings and history of the collaborative known as Shriekback.
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From Wikipedia:
Shriekback are an English rock band formed in 1981 in Kentish Town by Barry Andrews, formerly of XTC and the League of Gentlemen (keyboards/synthesizers/vocals), and Dave Allen, formerly of Gang of Four (bass guitar), with Carl Marsh, formerly of Out on Blue Six (guitars/vocals) soon added to the line-up. The band's early music was a funk-influenced version of new wave and post-punk, later moving towards art rock and always featuring "insidiously weird vocals".
The band enjoyed some success on the dance chart on its original Y Records label and had a string of hits on the UK Indie Chart, while its first album, Care (1983), was picked up by Warner in the United States. The band left Y for Arista Records for Jam Science (1984), also recruiting the drummer Martyn Barker. The album reached #85 on the UK Albums Chart and Hand on my Heart managed to hit #52 on the UK singles chart. Marsh left Shriekback during the recording of their next album, Oil and Gold (1985) and was replaced on guitar by Mike Cozzi. At that point, Andrews took over lead vocals. Shriekback then left Arista and signed to Island Records for whom they recorded Big Night Music (1986), after which Allen left to rejoin Gang of Four.
Film director Michael Mann was a fan of the band and used several Shriekback songs in his films Manhunter and Band of the Hand and in his television series Miami Vice, affording the group broader exposure, especially in the United States.
Going forward, Shriekback remained a collaborative centered on Andrews.
After another album in 1988, Go Bang!, the band officially split up. Andrews continued working on other projects before re-forming Shriekback in 1992, although after the single The Bastard Sons of Enoch and album Sacred City, there were no further releases until 2000.
Shriekback are still actively producing music and releasing studio album.
Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.
Today, we take a look at the music and history of Vengaboys.
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From Wikipedia:
Vengaboys is a Dutch Eurodance music group based in Rotterdam consisting of lead and female vocalist Kim Sasabone, female vocalist Denise van Rijswijk and male vocalists Robin Pors and Donny Latupeirissa. Created by Dutch producers Wessel van Diepen (who selected the group members) and Dennis van den Driesschen (known as Danski and Delmundo), the group enjoyed commercial success in the late 1990s. They are best known for their hit singles We Like to Party, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! and We're Going to Ibiza, the latter two of which topped the UK Singles Chart and have sold an estimated 25 million records worldwide.
On May 2, 2000, the World Music Awards gave Vengaboys the award for best-selling dance group of the year. The name 'Vengaboys' was originally the title of the electronic musical project of Dutch producers Danski and Delmundo as DJs in the early 90's. In 1997 they decided to use the name to produce a pop group, choosing the Brazilian-Dutch singer Kim Sasabone as the vocal lead. After some auditions, Denise Post-Van Rijswijk, Roy den Burger and Robin Pors were added to complete the group.
In August of 1997, the group released their debut single, followed by two more singles in December 1997 and February 1998. In April of 1998, the group released their debut album Up & Down - The Party Album in the Netherlands and Belgium. The album was certified gold in the Netherlands. This was followed by We Like to Party! in May, which peaked at #2 on the Dutch charts and at #1 in Belgium in June of 1998.
In October the group released Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! and Greatest Hits! Part 1, the album peaked at #1 on the Dutch chart.
In November of 1998, the Vengaboys entered the UK Singles Chart at #4 with Up and Down. We Like to Party! was released internationally in 1999 and was a Top 10 hit in many European countries, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It reached #26 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In June 1999, The Vengaboys re-released Greatest Hits! Part 1 as The Party Album. The single Boom Boom Boom Boom!! went to #1 in the UK, New Zealand and the Netherlands. The album would spent 30 consecutive weeks on the US Billboard 200, and was certified gold.
We're Going to Ibiza, a reworking of Typically Tropical's 1975 #1 hit Barbados, also reached the top slot in the Netherlands in September 1999. A remix album followed.
The Platinum Album was released in early 2000. Its first three singles Kiss (When the Sun Don't Shine), Shalala Lala and Uncle John from Jamaica all charted in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and Canada, with the first two going on to top the New Zealand charts. Prior to the album's release, Pors left the group to pursue a solo career and was replaced by dolphin trainer Yorick Bakker.
In 2002 Post-Van Rijswijk and Bakker left the group, effectively shuttering the group.
They would return in 2007, with Bakker leaving, again, in 2009.
In 2010, the band released a new single, Rocket To Uranus, a collaboration with singer-songwriter Pete Burns and American celebrity Perez Hilton. An additional single and a holiday album followed. The single Where Did My X-mas Tree Go was released together with a new music video.
The group continues to tour and released a single, 1999 (I Wanna Go Back) in September of 2021.
Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.
Today, we take a look at the brief musical history of the UK's Eighth Wonder, featuring Patsy Kensit.
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From Wikipedia and other sources:
Propaganda is a German synth-pop band formed in Düsseldorf in 1982 by Ralf Dörper. As a trio, with artist Andreas Thein and vocalist Susanne Freytag, the group began recording in Germany. These tracks were destined for future release in the UK, where Ralf Dörper's early, pre-Propaganda experimental recordings had received critical acclaim by radio DJ John Peel and journalist Chris Bohn. With the inclusion of classically trained musician and composer, Michael Mertens and singer Claudia Brücken, music journalist Paul Morley signed the band to Trevor Horn's newly formed ZTT label in 1983.
The group relocated to the United Kingdom and released the single Dr. Mabuse, named after the fictional character made famous by filmmaker Fritz Lang. The single reached the Top 30 in the UK Singles Chart, and the Top 10 in Germany. To promote the single and themselves, the group appeared on various TV shows in the UK.
Before the year was out, Thein was asked to leave the band due to musical differences. With Mertens now filling the gap left by his departure, the band forged ahead with recording its follow-up single and debut album. However both of these were to be delayed as a result of the unexpectedly huge success of ZTT's Frankie Goes to Hollywood. As the label was still in its infancy, ZTT was forced to spend all its limited resources promoting and marketing Frankie Goes to Hollywood. This meant that Trevor Horn was not available to produce Propaganda's album. Stephen Lipson, one of Horn's established studio engineers, took his place. With the addition of Andy Richards playing keyboards and Lipson behind the board, Propaganda's second single, the more pop-oriented Duel, did not surface until April 1985. Perhaps the band's most recognizable release, it was also their highest-charting single in the UK, reaching #21. The band made its an appearance on Top of the Pops in June of that year.
The first week of July in 1985 finally saw the release of the band's debut album, A Secret Wish which was written by Mertens and Dörper. After receiving considerable critical acclaim and some commercial success, it climbed to #16 on the UK Albums Chart. The album was followed by another single, p:Machinery, that August. While it only reached #50 in the UK, it became a much a bigger hit in Italy, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. In addition, it was used as part of the soundtrack for an episode of the hit US TV show Miami Vice. The 12-inch version caused controversy (even within the group) as Paul Morley thought it a good idea to have the sleeve feature a quote by writer J. G. Ballard, praising the activities of the German extremist group Red Army Faction. Ariola, who distributed ZTT's releases in Germany, refused to carry the 12" as a result, so the quote was changed on the German release.
The group spent the rest of the year on their Outside World tour, taking in Europe and America. They were joined by three former members of Simple Minds - Derek Forbes on bass, Brian McGee on drums, and Kevin Armstrong on guitar - all accompanied with backing tapes used for most of the keyboard parts. In the meantime a remix album, Wishful Thinking, was released in November of 1985. Originally intended for the American club market, the album was also released in Europe, but against the wishes of the group. The album peaked at #82 in the UK. A remixed version of p:Machinery was re-released as a single, but failed to make an impact in the UK, but was, again, more successful in France, Spain, and Germany.
The year 1986 started positively with the single p:Machinery going #1 in Spain and entering the Top 10 in France, but ended in disaster. By late 1985, the band's management team had introduced them to the London-based music lawyer Brian Carr of Compton Carr, who had helped win the case between John Lydon (Sex Pistols/Public Image Ltd) and his management.Carr explained to the group members that under their current contracts with ZTT, they could go on making records for the rest of their lives and never make any money. Based on this information the band asked ZTT to renegotiate their contract, which the company declined.
Soon afterwards, Claudia Brücken - who was married to ZTT's Paul Morley - left Propaganda to pursue a solo career, signed to ZTT. After a protracted legal battle, which saw the remaining members of Propaganda under an injunction by ZTT for fourteen months, they were finally released from their contract in a hurried out-of-court settlement in the summer of 1987.
In 1988, the band, now reduced to Ralf Dörper, Michael Mertens and Susanne Freytag, signed to Virgin, and began recording new material. The new line-up included American vocalist Betsi Miller, and members of their touring group, ex-Simple Minds bassist Derek Forbes and drummer Brian McGee (who had both actually joined the band following their split with ZTT in 1986). The result was a new album, released in 1990 called 1234, produced by former Tears for Fears' associates Ian Stanley and Chris Hughes. Dörper and Freytag's contributions to the album were quite limited with, Freytag only singing on the title track and Dörper contributing lyrics for three three tracks - Only One Word (which featured David Gilmour of Pink Floyd on guitar),Wound in My Heart, and Vicious Circle.
The first single from the album, Heaven Give Me Words, was co-written with 1980s synth-pop star Howard Jones and reached the UK Top 40. However, the album was not as successful, stalling at #46 in the UK. The second single, Only One Word, met a similar fate, stalling at #71 in the UK. This led to the group taking a hiatus.
In 1998, Mertens, Brücken, and Freytag reunited, signing an options deal with East West, and began working on new material. Several tracks were completed, including one produced by Tim Simenon and featuring Depeche Mode's Martin Gore on guitar. A video for one song, the prophetically-titled No Return, was produced in Morocco in December of 1998. Two minute clips of it, along with photos of the shoot, were released via the band's official website in early 2000. However, no album materialized and, in January 2002, Brücken announced, "The reunion was worth a try, but did not work out."
However a real reunion of the four original band members took place in November 2004, when Brücken, Dörper, Freytag and Mertens - but without Thein - performed Dr. Mabuse at a concert for the Prince's Trust which took place at Wembley Arena, celebrating 25 years of Trevor Horn's career as a successful producer.
Since that time, various configurations of former members have gotten together for special appearances and the occasional recording, including an album in 2024, featuring Dörper and Mertens.
Captain Jack is an American-German Eurodance and dance-rock project formed in Darmstadt in 1995. The project is best known for its single Captain Jack, which reached the top 10 in many countries in Europe. During their initial years, they managed to rack up six Top 40 hits in Germany and the Netherlands and nine in Austria.
Captain Jack's music was stylized as a form of military training mixed with Europop, dance-rock and dance pop music. They were musically influenced by the eurodance genre that was popular in Europe, Oceania, and South America in the 1990s. The style of eurodance was dance music with a female singer and a male rapper to follow a traditional verse-chorus structure.
The original group consisted of Sharky Durban and Liza da Costa. They recorded the songs Dam, Dam, Dam and Captain Jack, which snagged the #1 spot in the Netherlands, the #2 spot in Belgium, the #3 spot in Germany, #5 in Norway and #6 in both Switzerland and Austria.
After their debut album, Sharky left the group and was replaced by Francisco Gutierrez AKA: Franky Gee. Gutierrez and Liza da Costa released the albums The Mission and Operation Dance and the singles Drill Instructor and Holiday before Liza da Costa left in December of 1998. Drill Instructor matched Captain Jack's success on the charts, while making inroads to Finland, where they would enjoy a string of five Top 40 hits.
Liza da Costa was replaced by the singer Maria Lucia Lozanes AKA: Maloy. The duo released one album, called The Captain's Revenge, and three singles: Dream a Dream, Get Up with the Gipsy Kings, and Only You, before Maloy left in November of 2000.
Ilka Anna Antonia Traue, alias Illi Love, joined and stayed until 2005 - releasing five albums and numerous singles. Love was replaced by Sabine Repas and soon after, Franky suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. Doctors predicted that the damage was fatal, and Franky Gee died at the age of 43 on Saturday 22 October 2005, after spending five days in a coma, bringing to an end the group's initial period.
The producers, with new talent on board, revived the group in 2008 and have been active since, releasing new material sporadically while making the occasional festival or club appearance.
Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.
Today, we take a look at the techno-billy pop of Denmark's Cartoons.
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Cartoons started out as the Scooters in the late 1980s, playing rockabilly music from the 50s and 60s, releasing one album. In 1997, they changed their name to Cartoons and their musical style switched from rockabilly to 'technobilly' - a mix of rock and roll and Eurodance. Many of their songs were remakes of old rockabilly hits which they covered when they were the Scooters. The group first signed to FLEX Records, moving later to EMI Denmark.
Original members included: Toonie (Martin Østengaard), Sponge (Jesper Dukholt), Shooter (Erling Jensen), Buzz (Dave Stevens), Puddy (Natasja Skov) and Boop (Karina Jensen).
Their cover version of Ross Bagdasarian's novelty song Witch Doctor reached #2 in the UK, and charted equally well throughout Europe (#2 in Ireland, #9 in Belgium, #12 in the Netherlands, #13 in Sweden, etc.) The group enjoyed further success in the UK with the Top 10 hit DooDah, which also proved popular throughout Europe (#3 in Belgium, #5 in Denmark, #9 in Italy, #10 in Sweden, etc.)
Their debut album, Toonage sold incredibly well, peaking at #2 in Denmark, #6 in Italy, #8 in Spain, #10 in Portugal, #12 in Sweden, #14 in Norway and #17 In the UK.
A further UK Top 20 hit, a remake of Jim Davidson's Generation Game's Aisy Waisy followed.
However, the group's second album, Toontastic, failed to match the success of its predecessor, charting only in Denmark (#7). And the string of singles which followed - Diddley-Dee, Little Red Ridinghood, Big Coconuts, Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep and a reworked cover of Les Humphries Singers' Mama Loo - met a similar fate. It seemed the writing was on the wall.
In 2001, Cartoons suddenly disbanded for unknown reasons. It was later revealed, during a Danish TV interview, that the group was set to tour the US, but these plans were cancelled due to the September 11th attacks. In 2005, the group came back together to promote their Greatest Toons album which included a new single, Day Oh. In addition, they performed a number of shows throughout Europe, including at Bonbonland and the Jelling Musikfestival.
In July 2016, Karina Jensen died of cancer, which she was originally diagnosed with in 2012. And in April 2019, Erling Jensen died of lymphoma at the age of 50. Since that time Jesper Dukholt, the sole original member, has soldiered on with a new cast of players, occasionally appearing at festivals and on package tours.
In 2020, they returned to the studio with original producer Kenneth Bager to record a new single, Shots, which was released in 2023, and, later that year, collaborated with Marnage to produce a faster version of DooDah.
Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.
Today, we take a look at the zany turbo-pop of Denmark's Daze.
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Daze is a Danish Eurodance band, best known for their singles Superhero, Toy Boy and Together Forever (The Cyber Pet Song). The group's members are Trine Bix, Jesper Tønnov and Lucas Sieber.
Daze started out as Systematixx in 1994, with Trine Bix, Jesper Tønnov, Lucas Sieber and Steen Bay Hansen. But by 1997, Bix, Tønnov and Sieber decided to form a new band, and chose the name Daze, which was a brainchild of RnB producer Karlin.
The group's debut album, Super Heroes, was released in Scandinavia by Sony Music, and sold 31,000 copies. That got the attention of Columbia Records, who released the album in the US and Epic Records, who distributed it in non-Nordic global territories. All in all, it became a double platinum international hit and the group won the Danish Grammy Award for Best Dance Album of 1997.
The lead single, 15 Minutes Of Fame, of their second album, They Came To Rule, seemed to signal that the group was aware their time in the spotlight might be brief. And the clock was, indeed ticking, as it failed to chart anywhere but Sweden, where it peaked at #54. When their second single from the album, prophetically titled, 2nd Chance failed to chart at all, the group's pop tenure was over.
Since that time, a pair one-off singles followed in 2012 and 2013, but neither resurrected the band's prospects. The song in 2013, We Own The Universe, was part of the 2013 Dansk Melodi Grand Prix competition in Denmark and their bid for a place in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.
Today, we take a look at the whacky, cartoon pop of the Danish duo known as Toy-Box.
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From Wikipedia and other sources:
(Given the season, I thought it only fitting we take a look at Toy-Box.)
Toy-Box is a Danish bubblegum pop band, best known for their hit singles Tarzan & Jane, Best Friend, Superstar, and The Sailor Song. The group's members are vocalists Amir El-Falaki and Anila Mirza.
Toy-Box was founded by Amir El-Falaki and Anila Mirza in 1996, after they had met each other at a New Year's Eve party.
The group's debut single, Tarzan & Jane, was championed by Smash Hits magazine in the UK in 1999, but their label, Edel, decided to hold back the release until later on in the year, to coincide with the release of Disney's Tarzan. Instead, they elected to release Best Friend first, and though it received a lot of rotation on the television channel The Box, it only reached number #41 on the UK Singles Chart. Due to that failure, plans to release Tarzan & Jane in the UK were cancelled.
Elsewhere in Europe, the group did quite well, scoring a number of Top 40, and in some case Top Ten singles. They did well in Sweden, Germany, Denmark, and Norway, and while finding their biggest success in the Netherlands.
The group's debut album, FanTastic, was released in September of 1999 and was followed in 2001 by a second album, ToyRide.
After the group broke up, El-Falaki worked as a dance teacher, music video choreographer and trainer to F.C. Copenhagen's cheerleading team, while Mirza released a solo album.
When asked about another Toy-Box release in 2007, Mirza said, "I don't know, anything's possible."
Since that time, they've gotten back together to make a few special appearances and to tour with other groups of their time (Venga Boys, Aqua, etc.) with no plans for new material.
