Dance Beat - 2680 - Gay Lesbian Bi Trans News

I miss Morrissey. I miss the sound of his voice. I want to hear him sing again. Alas, Morrissey doesn't care what I want. He'd rather listen to other people's music. I'm not surprised in the least that he has great taste in tunes, music that is both accessible and familiar, vintage and peculiar, and altogether exciting as you can hear on his mix disc Morrissey: Under The Influence (DMC). I can just picture Morrissey, dancing around in front of the turntable to the spicy Cajun beats of 'Saturday Nite Special' by The Sundown Players. Is that lipstick on Morrissey's pouty mouth or has he been kissing The New York Dolls as they sing 'Trash'? Like his fellow countrymen, Morrissey appears to have a fondness for the rock and roll music of the '50s and early '60s, so his inclusion of Nat Couty's 'Woodpecker Rock,' 'One Hand Loose' by Charlie Feathers, Jimmy Radcliff's '(There Goes) The Forgotten Man' and 'So Little Time' by Diana Dors comes as no surprise. However, what is most revealing about the man who once sang 'hang the DJ,' are the selections he spun from his adolescence and young adulthood. From the formative early '70s glam and underground sounds of Tyrannosaurus Rex, Sparks and Nico on 'Great Horse,' 'Arts & Crafts Spectacular' and 'All That Is My Own' to the later punk rock statements of the Ramones ('Judy Is A Punk') and Patti Smith ('Hey Joe'). A queer ear may also be cocked toward the late Klaus Nomi ('Death') and Ludus's 'Breaking The Rules,' in which female lead vocalist Linder sings the praises of sexual variations and combinations.

In an attempt to 'accurately capture' DJ/producer/musician Peter Rauhoffer's 'most recent sets at his now legendary Saturday night residency' at NYC's Roxy, he has released the double disc compilation Live @ Roxy 2 (*69). Rauhoffer's distinctive fingerprints are all over this set, from the selection of the opening cut, 'Dance With Me' by openly gay dance artist Ron Perkov, to the tribal beats of Dark Clark's 'If You Want Me' and the current, camp, lipstick-kissed disco bitch tune 'Bucci Bag' by Andrea Doria. Sheila Brody's diva declaration on 'Appreciate Me' by Amuka deserves mention, as does Rauhoffer's nod to fellow DJ and remixer Hex Hector with the inclusion of 'The Light.' Rauhoffer shines 'the light' on himself on two other tracks on disc one, his remix of Praise Cats' 'Shined On Me' and his own 'Unique.' The 'unique' centerpieces of disc two are Rauhoffer's remix of Yoko Ono's 'Walking On Thin Ice' and Robbie Rivera's NYC Dub of Candi Staton's 'Young Hearts Run Free.' Both songs are surrounded by relevant Rauhoffer choices such as Serial Smokers' cloudy 'Liberata' and 'I Try' by Made By Monkeys. Still, a compilation such as this only preaches to the converted. We already know that Rauhoffer is a skilled DJ. I'm still looking forward to the day that Rauhoffer steps out from behind the turntables and releases an album of all original tunes, under his own name, along the lines of the aforementioned 'Unique' and disc two's closing track 'This Is My House.'

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985