Bronski Beat! "Smalltown Boy" is so apropos.

"Johnny Are You Queer?"

Also apropos.

I think my favorite song for that era and genre was Duran Duran's "Relax".

I think you thinkoed The Reflex due to proximity to Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

You're right!

Humm. I think I'm beginning to like Malcolm Middleton very much.

I may be lying to myself about the Tenth Doctor Scottish accent likeability factor, but meh.

Malcolm Middleton is an awesome name. Because your nickname could be "in the"....

I always confuse Malcolm Middleton (of "Arab Strap") with Ali Roberts (of "Appendix Out"). The common accent is the only way that makes a lick of sense.

This is one of my favourite radio shows ever, Lister Sinclair presents the Masterpieces of Disco: [link]

I don't really know how to explain this to you. CBC took the most erudite, heady broadcaster they had and let him loose on disco, and he did what he did best: brings the high to the low, the low to the high and gets you to listen to things in a whole new way.

That sounds like fun. I didn't appreciate it at the time, but there's a lot that disco owes to jazz, Latino and big band styles (especially Barry White to the latter).

In particular, I've completely changed my mind about B. White, originally I thought he was creepy. Now that I'm about the age he was at the time, he sounds gallant and fun and somebody I'd like to get to know a whole lot better.

In particular, I've completely changed my mind about B. White, originally I thought he was creepy. Now that I'm about the age he was at the time, he sounds gallant and fun and somebody I'd like to get to know a whole lot better.

So, you'd probably be open to the news that he contributed songs to the Banana Splits.

Also, Big Band Disco, cf. Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band. Check it out. (It's where Kid Creole got his start.)

How cool is this? English teacher, post-grad degree disco hipster. And from Montreal.

*********

Thomas August Darnell Browder was born in Montreal, Canada in 1950. Darnell began his musical career in a band named The In-Laws with his half-brother, Stony Browder Jr, in 1965, which disbanded so Darnell could pursue a career as an English teacher. Darnell obtained a masters degree in English, but in 1974 again formed a band with Stony Browder Jr under the name Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band[1]. Their self-titled debut release was a Top 40-charting album which was certified gold.

"Together, the Browder boys defy convention and pillage their passions to invent a new breed. Of convoluted and deliberately obfuscated racial heritage, the brothers decided to promote their pan-genetic Creole Creed: a better, brighter reality that ignores gender and colour restrictions. Unfortunately, claiming their mixed heritage with pride was largely perceived by "radical" American youth as almost heinously passing for white; both Savannah Band and later, Kid Creole & The Coconuts, always fared better in Europe than at home"[2]

Darnell began producing for other artists, such as Don Armando’s Second Avenue Rhumba Band, Machine and Gichy Dan’s Beachwood No.9, before adopting the name Kid Creole (adapted from the Elvis Presley film King Creole) in 1980. The persona of Kid Creole is described as:

"Inspired by Cab Calloway and the Hollywood films of the 30's and 40's, the Kid fills out his colorful zoot suits with style and grace, dancing onstage with his inimitable, relentless and self-proclaimed cool."[3]

I need to get more of their stuff, as well as the Kid Creole band ditto. I haven't heard "Cherchez la Femme" in a dog's age.