Wednesday, June 15, 2011 06:07 PM
Disco is definitely not dead! With its core groove originally pulsing transnationally and landing on thousands of dance floors throughout the good old USA, it's taken fringe DJ collective Horse Meat Disco in the UK to bring back the fun of the social commentary-steeped glitter-ball sound. The third installment of party favors, Horse Meat Disco III, is a mixed bag of '80s boogie, electro, fab edits, and, of course, a fine curation of rare disco, showing that the London fierce foursome is not stuck in a '70s time warp. Highlights include tracks by Salsoul Orchestra, First Choice, Dimitri From Paris, Sylvester, and Billie Ray Martin. Available July 4. (via Zeitgeist World)
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Monday, September 27, 2010 05:35 PM
New York City in the '70s would have been just another cesspit had it not been for the sparkle provided by the head queen himself, Monti Rock III. Having scored two top-40 hits, "Get Dancin" and "I Wanna Dance Wit' Choo," under the group name Disco Tex and His Sex-O-Lettes, Monti provided the soundtrack for many flannel-and-Levi's-wearing gay men who were celebrating newly found sexual freedom on the enfranchised dance floors of New York's underground disco scene.
We found Reverend Monti Rock III performing nuptials as an ordained minister in his own little disco chapel in Las Vegas. He gave us a view back to the good ol' days where hi-hats and hip-shakin' were the only party prerequisites – and perhaps a toot or two of amyl nitrate!
"In the late '60s and early '70s, New York was the most innovative. We had Ondine's ['60s private discotheque in NYC]. We were having fun! The subculture, the LSD, the sex, we couldn't have enough of it. We didn't want to sleep because we thought we'd miss something. I'd hang out at the piano bars. I was an eyesore. I looked like the gay Hedy Lamar! I wore fur coats with a monkey on my shoulder and a Yorkshire Terrier in my arms – Mother did not want to hide! It was a time when we lived to be fabulous... and how dare you not recognize me, you old queen! I'm an egomaniac! I became this underground disco Trudy Heller ['70s NYC night club] act and I began to get the power of fame. I performed at the Cheetah with the Chambers Brothers and Halston did my clothes! It was an era when you didn't have to have an act – you were the act! It was an incredible time to be anything, to be Monti Rock, Disco Tex. I realize how lucky I've been to have been in films like Saturday Night Fever, to have been in fashion for 18 years, to be notorious. I believe so much in my legacy. It's never been about the money. It's about the fame!" – Monti Rock III (check out the full interview at Zeitgeist World)
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Monday, August 09, 2010 05:35 PM
They're back!!! It's been a minute since NYC pop/electro trio The Ones' self-titled debut album came and went. Changes in labels and music biz politics made it a bit of a trip from hit single "Flawless" (later covered by George Michael) to refocusing on what made their infectious sound a playlist necessity on both sides of the Atlantic. Last week, Nashom Wooden, Jojo Americo, and Paul Alexander got back on track with a 90-minute, over-the-top event for the release of sophomore album Blast From the Past that was a full-on production directed by Peace Bisquit label head Matthew Dailey ( pictured center), which included no less than five costume changes, video wall projections, and onstage duets with Nomi Ruiz (Hercules and Love Affair), Amanda Lepore, Justin Bond, and ex-porn star Colton Ford. "This album symbolizes a new beginning for us," says Paul. "It's very much a party album that harkens to our youth and every dance floor between here and then." A reworked cover version of Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime" gave a nod to '80s pop culture. "The Pussycat Song," a double entendre jingle that was cleverly directed towards Amanda Lepore seemed sweetly placed among the multimedia display, and dance floor behemoth "Let's Celebrate," featuring Nomi Ruiz, proved that The Ones' bangin bass beats and identifiable lyrics are standouts among the soulless pastiche offered up by froshy gimmick groups. The sold-out show was packed with fans and friends, including photog Aaron Cobbett, DJ Honey Dijon, celebrity make up artist Bobby Butz, nightlife nonagenarian club kid Zelda Kaplan, and Sex and the City stylist Patricia Field! (via Zeitgeist World; photo by Fifibear)
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Tuesday, July 06, 2010 06:10 PM
The first time I wore a singlet in public, I had this kinda duel feeling of freedom and restriction. Being butt naked and encased like a bratwurst at the same time should only be attempted by the truly masochistic. Ladyfag is definitely one of the anointed ones who can pull off the ultimate snatch-and-separate without contracting some serious skin burns. The export from Toronto has become one of NYC's top party girls, doing dips at the discos and pulling reimagined looks that even Rudi Gernreich would have gagged over. Hanging out at her new weekly party, Family Function, this weekend in NYC must be what a luminous ball of Absinthe Bomb energy hurling through space feels like just before stellification. And it's the celestial Lady herself who keeps a tight gravitational pull on her cluster of loyal, twinkly followers. "We keep it all very East Village here. It's a no bullshit party...everybody's welcome!" said the surprisingly lucid host at around 2AM, just before she started twirling towards the Lite Brite dance floor to a genius sample of the Sugarhill Gang's "Jump On It," laid down by resident DJ Michael Magnan. And everybody was there, from the massive number of stylists, draped in Balenciaga sample sale pieces, to an overly enthusiastic hairstylist from Bumble and bumble who chatted me up about the importance of referencing '90s house music and how he lived through and for it. Just when it was my turn to clue him in on the fact that I was not a die-hard fan of the four-on-the- floor beat (even though being Black and from Detroit does qualify me), he dumped me for a shirtless buff boy from Barcelona wearing drop crotch capris and a mini spear through his left nipple. Guess that's what "keeping it East Village" means. (via Zeitgeist World; photo by Jason Rodgers)
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Monday, June 21, 2010 05:23 PM
Last week in NYC, the iconic British mannequin company Rootstein finally launched its controversial new line of skinny male mannys that have been causing a little ruckus among girth lovers. Recently, New York magazine did a stitch-up piece about the stiffs, alluding that their 27-inch waists and 35-inch chests are too tiny and could indirectly support the current rise in male eating disorders, fashionably known as manorexia. The new androgynous collection Homme Nouveau is just the latest in a long history of homages by the innovative retailer to slender catwalkers, which has included ladies like Twiggy in the '60s, Pat Cleveland, Yasmin Lebon, and Jodie Kid. Rootstein says, "Mr Kevin Arpino (creative director of Rootstein) was inspired by the legions of fashion forward men and models who wear the clothing and grace the runways of Dior, Rick Owens, and Raf Simons." And with that kind of inspiration on display, out came New York's finest to a packed, steamy showroom, including legendary model Pat Cleveland and daughter Anna Cleveland (who took turns posing with Anna's own doll), Dawn Leak, hot stuff fashion design duo Phillipe and David Blond, New York Fashion Week front-row dandy Patrick McDonald, Roger and Mao Padilha, stylist Geraldine Laiz, Malik So Chic, Kenny Kenny, Bec Stupak, and David Bowie's personal photog Leee Black Childers. (via Zeitgeist World; photo by Chris Jepson)
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Tuesday, June 15, 2010 08:23 PM
After eons of being the flawless eye candy for other people's parties around the world, "America's #1 transsexual with a fully functional vag" (that's what she says on her VM) Amanda Lepore has finally snatched her own weekly packed-out party! Before bottle service and wannabe Sex and the City girl gangs took over, NYC served up the most iconoclastic parties on the planet. Amanda Lepore's Big Top, presented by original club kid Kenny Kenny and Joey Israel, is a return to DIY dress-up looks vs Cody Critcheloe's SSION videos, set inside Carnival nightclub's seriously twisted circus-themed interior, replete with carnies, cotton candy, diamond LED-lit hula hoopers, and a juggling drag queen. And since the David LaChapelle muse/recording artist's fav soundtrack is disco, she's enlisted the übexy rapper/producer Cazwell and tech gadgeteer Paisley Dalton (that's me, armed with a laptop and a German drum machine) for a mega mashup reworking of '70s-'90s classics, stuffed with new wave breaks and beats, plus hosts Ladyfag, Malik So Chic, Paul Cupo, photog Marco Ovando, and Michael Magnan and DJ Will Automagic spinning sonic electro house in a soundproof funhouse. At other parties and clubs, everything is really black. I love the colorful, themed interior on a rooftop! It reminds me of '90s New York clubs like Club USA. Pure fun and joy, corked simultaneously into the perfect party package! (via Zeitgeist World; photo: Andrew Werner)
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