RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Céline Dion's inability to sing properly due to a rare neurological disorder is absolutely one of the great tragedies for pop music. A fascinating yet heartbreaking new documentary (now streaming on Amazon Prime), "I Am: Celine Dion" from filmmaker Irene Taylor has Dion going into great detail about this secret she had kept from the public and her fans for many years. The film not only looks back on her illustrious career but Dion allows the camera to capture her struggles with this illness and her valiant attempt to rehabilitate enough to possibly make a triumphant return to the stage 

The film is broken down into sections: from explaining what her body goes through with Stiff Person Syndrome; her loving yet challenging childhood of being one of fourteen children; having her three sons with the love of her life, René Angélil who began as her manager then her husband before passing away in 2016 and the harrowing moment when Dion goes through a severe seizure. Open, vulnerable and very charming, Dion holds nothing back, revealing herself to be a determined, fierce fighter. There is a soundtrack for the film which highlights her career in song and six music scores by Redi and Ekland Hasa. A new remix of the ballad, "Love Again" also appears on the record which was the title track from the romantic-comedy released last year where Dion made her acting debut playing a heightened version of herself.

Here is a round-up of some new music that has caught my attention: "Aright", the new single from Victoria Monét's debut album, "Jaguar II" with a music video that shows off her incredible dance moves while paying a little visual tribute to Janet Jackson; Mette, a rising actor, dancer and musician, has released a dance-pop single, "Bet"; Another actor/musician is Moses Sumney who has dropped his latest project, an alt-r&b track, "Vintage"; the second album from Omar Apollo, "God Said No" is out now with an interesting video for the recent single, "Done With You" and Bronze Avery has a sexy new video out for his perfect summer song, "Heatwave":











Ariana Grande has a single called, "The Boy is Mine" off her album, "Eternal Sunshine". That title brings to mind to some people the classic '90's r&b duet that featured Brandy and Monica. Grande was very aware of that and cleverly had these two make a brief appearance in the music video for her song. And she has gone one step further by having Brandy and Monica performing on the remix of "The Boy is Mine". Also let's take a look back at "The Boy Is Mine" with Brandy and Monica from 1998:

Françoise Hardy, the French chanteuse and style icon, passed away on June 11th at the age of eighty. Hardy came to fame as a singer of the yé-yé musical wave that emerged in the 1960's. She didn't have a major impact here in America but in France, Hardy was an important and influential figure in pop music and fashion. She recorded over thirty albums during her career, singing not only in her native French but also in English, Italian and German. One of her most popular songs was "Comment te dire adieu (How To Say Goddbye To You)" which was released in 1968. Originally recorded by Margaret Whiting in English two years earlier as "It Hurts To Say Goodbye", Hardy heard an instrumental version of the song and had Serge Gainsbourg write French lyrics. Hardy made a few films, usually playing a singer, which includes cameos in the comedy, "What's New, Pussycat?", Jean-Luc Godard's "Masculin Féminin" and the Hollywood racing drama, "Grand Prix".

ANGELA BOFILL (1954 - 2024)

It is sad to report the passing of Angela Bofill, the gifted jazz and r&b vocalist/songwriter, on June 13th at the age of seventy. Bofill had suffered two strokes in 2006 and 2007, leaving her mobility and speech impaired. But through extensive physical therapy, she regained some speech and movement which allowed her to participate in "The Angela Bofill Experience" in 2011, a stage show where she recounted her life and career while singers, Phil Perry and Melba Moore performed many of Bofill's beloved songs. 

The Cuban-Puerto Rican singer began her professional career after meeting Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen, both musicians, producers and owners of the jazz label, GRP Records. They produced her 1978 debut, "Angie" which properly put on display her incredible vocal prowess as well as her songwriting abilities where she wrote four of the eight tracks. The single, "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" became Bofill's first hit, reaching number twenty-three on the Billboard Hot R&B chart. Her follow-up album, "Angel of the Night" became an even bigger success, reaching the top-ten on the jazz and r&b charts as well as cracking the top-forty on the pop album chart.

Bofill moved over to Clive Davis' label, Arista Records in 1981 with an agenda to help her gain more crossover appeal. She recorded a total of five studio albums over five years during her time with Arista, which featured more dance-pop and soul. While Bofill continued to achieve moderate success on the r&b chart, she was unable to become a considerable presence on the pop chart. 

After taking some time off to raise her daughter, Shauna, Bofill returned to music in 1988, releasing "Intuition" on a new label, Capitol Records and getting back to her musical roots of jazz and blues. Her final studio album was "Love in Slow Motion", released in 1996.

NEW MUSIC FILMS

LADY GAGA

Lady Gaga had released her sixth studio album, "Chromatica" in May 2020, which also happened to be right in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. At the time, it didn't seem like a great plan since she was unable to properly promote or tour for the album. But this record proved to be very helpful during this stressful period of time, offering pulsating dance grooves with the song lyrics providing some much needed themes of unshakable optimism and a pursuit of healing. Gaga was finally able to hit the road two years later with the Chromatica Ball, a twenty-date, all-stadium concert tour that took her across the globe.

Now "Gaga Chromatica Ball", the concert recorded during the stop in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium, has premiered on HBO and MAX on May 25th. This filmed live show covers the entire two hour concert with visual interludes directed by Nick Knight. I have to say I'm surprised that "Chromatica Ball" bypassed the possibility of a theatrical release, especially since Gaga has just of a rabid fan base like Swift and Beyoncé who I'm certain would have turned out to pay to see this performance on the big screen. Anyway at the end of the program, there is a plug announcing that new music from Gaga is on the way.



CYNDI LAUPER

With her thrift store attire and neon colored hair with one side of her scalp shaved off, most people didn't know what to make of Cyndi Lauper when she first appeared in the music scene. But once she revealed that formidable voice with her 1983 debut album, "Girls Just want To Have Fun", Lauper would become greatly admired for her style and talent.

Since the success of the dance-punk title track (which has since gone on to become a girl-power anthem) and the follow-up single, "Time After Time", a moving ballad that became her first number one hit, Lauper has continued to astonish with not only her music but even some acting appearances, winning an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series in 1995 and a Tony Award for writing the original score for the musical, "Kinky Boots".

The now seventy year old artist is the focus of a new documentary, "Let the Canary Sing" from filmmaker, Alison Ellwood that began airing on Paramount+ on June 4th. The film explores her emerging from a scrappy New York performer to a quirky pop music star to an outspoken activist who has been a long-time ally to the LGBTQ+ communities, aggressively pushing for greater inclusion and acceptance.

Lauper has just announced she's about to embark on The Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour to begin this fall, stating she wanted to properly thank her fans for sticking by her all these years while still in good shape.

KYLIE MINOGUE

Kylie Minogue has been a major worldwide pop star since the late '80's who has gone on to sell well over eighty million records. But it's taken until last year with her dance hit, "Padam Padam" for Minogue to be truly appreciated here in the US with the Australian singer winning her first Grammy Award for the song. To help celebrate Pride month, you will be able to catch the live concert special, "An Audience With Kylie" on Hulu beginning on June 5th. This show was performed at the legendary Royal Albert Hall in London back in December, with an audience that included some star-studded attendees, where she performed her greatest hits and songs from her latest album, "Tension". Here is a clip of Minogue performing live from the program one of my all-time favorites from her, "Love At First Sight".

And Minogue is also featured on the just released single from the masked country artist, Orville Peck. Slightly changing musical directions, Peck has also brought in dance music DJ, Diplo on the track, "Midnight Ride" a dance song that still has some twang, which will be featured on his upcoming duets album, "Stampede". The single made it's premiere live by Peck and Minogue during her set at Outloud Festival at WeHo Pride last weekend.

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

I can't believe it's been forty years since the release of Bronski Beat's "Smalltown Boy", a distressing lament of a young man looking back on having to leave home because he's gay. This openly queer British band named after keyboard player, Steve Bronski also featured Larry Steinbachek on percussion and vocalist, Jimmy Sommerville released this 1984 single at a time when gay themes were beginning to appear in mainstream music and films although largely in Europe as the US was still many years behind seriously engaging in such discourse in pop culture. In between their songs of heartbreak, Bronski Beat also offered some much needed queer pride and political defiance to the music scene. 

When I first heard "Smalltown Boy", I was shocked and ecstatic to hear something I could connect with expressed so vividly and direct. While I personally didn't have this experience, I could fully understand and actually knew people who were having to go through this trauma. And while we have made some great advances since this song's release, sadly "Smalltown Boy" still resonates with gay people who feel forced to leave their homes in order to be their authentic selves.

Their first album, "The Age of Consent" (which also featured another hit, "Why?") was their only album together with Sommerville leaving in 1985 to join another band, The Communards before going on to have a solo career. But Bronski Beat continued on with a couple of new lead singers over the years and a popular 1985 dance track, "Hit That Perfect Beat" before coming to an official end in 2018. Here are Bronski Beat's first two singles, with both reaching the top ten on the UK pop chart:





To celebrate Pride month, here is some new music by gay musicians: Adam Lambert has a sexy new single, "Lube" from his upcoming EP which will feature an exploration of queer sexuality and liberation as well as providing vocals to a special dance track from Vincint, "Another Lover" that will appear on his upcoming EP; an up-and-coming artist, Benjamin Elgar with his new single, "Shameless"; Ben Platt, who first found fame on the Broadway stage with his Tony Award winning role in "Dear Evan Hansen", has released his third studio album, "Honeymind" with the romantic video for the single, "Cherry on Top" features his fiancé, fellow actor, Noah Galvin And "A New Bohemia", the third single from Pet Shop Boys' latest album, "Nonetheless" which is a lovely ballad with the video directed by filmmaker, Andrew Haigh ("Weekend", "All of Us Strangers") and features actor, Russell Tovey:

And a new biopic, "Back to Black" is out in theaters now on the brief yet tumultuous life and career of the electrifying British vocalist, Amy Winehouse. Named after her breakthrough, international hit 2006 album and directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, the film tends to fall into the standard beats of a contemporary cinematic biography yet it remains thoroughly entertaining with star, Marisa Abela convincingly portraying the complicated pop singer. But in the film, I discovered why Winehouse's 2003 debut album, "Frank" never reached these shores until after her follow-up became a mega success including winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

While "Frank" had generated interest and awards in Britain and throughout Europe, the label still didn't feel it was just enough to warrant an expanded release, leaving Winehouse pissed and frustrated. Having loved "Black", I quickly got my hands on the album (which the title is indeed a reference to Sinatra who was one of Winehouse's early musical influences) as soon as I could, really enjoying it's singular blend of jazz, neo-soul and hip-hop. Yet I do tend to agree that the overall album was not nearly as cohesive and persuasive as "Back to Black". There are definitely some standout tracks with my favorites being "Stronger Than Me" and "Fuck Me Pumps":