Divas, Russians And Salsa...

Still trying to get a rid of that annoying flu! I did sneak out yesterday though to go to the local flea market - ant thank god I did! I picked up loads of excellent CDs for a steal. Example:



This rather fabulous, out of print and impossible to get box set from Lisa Stansfield. It rarely comes up for sale and when it does it goes for silly money (but can be yours now on the Amazon marketplace for just 399 pounds)! My price: 5 pounds!!!



Today I am trying very hard to comprehend the fact that it is, to the day, 25 years since Madonna returned to the music world after taking 1988 off from music with her single "Like A Prayer". I still remember when I heard the song on the radio for the first time - I was blown away by how different it sounded from her previous work, and of course by how utterly fabulous it was!

The song made it's debut via 2 minute Pepsi commercial that was shown all over the world at the very best time slots possible. The rest is history of course - just hours later the actual music video for the single made its debut and all hell broke loose, resulting in Pepsi dropping the whole campaign. Madonna of course walked away with a cool 5 million dollars for her part though ;)



Anyways, in order to cheer me up here are a couple of things that I came across:



This has to be seen to be believed! Ex Army of Lovers gal Michela De La Cour is full on salsa swing, with some weird partners. This really made my weekend ;)

Tracks...

Time for a new batch of tracks that I am loving at the moment. This lot includes the return of two female singers that I adore - Miss Kylie Minogue and Miss Lisa Stansfield, who released her first album in 10 years this week. Seven charted at 13# in both the UK and Germany to excellent reviews - I'm waiting very impatiently for my Amazon order to arrive...

The rest is a mix of pop/dance music from all over the world, as usual. Hopefully there is something in there for everyone. Enjoy!

SOTD...

It's December 1st - which means that Christmas is just around the corner.

To celebrate the start of my favorite month of the year, here is ex-Army Of Lovers diva Michaela De La Cour with a brand new Christmas song for all the boys and girls in the land (or something). Enjoy!



December 1st also means that today is the World Aids Day. The fight is not over!

The War on AIDS is not over! Let's bring the Revolution of Love to people still living with HIV/AIDS and to finding a cure! - Madonna, 01.12.2013

Crucified Again...

Army Of Lovers have released a new version of their biggest hit, "Crucified".

The 2013 version is this years theme for the Copenhagen Pride - and the Army has released a "video" for it. Of course, nothing can top the original though...

Tracks...

More tracks:



More to follow...

EP...

On June 5th Army Of Lovers will release a new EP called the Scandinavian Crime EP. It will contain  the four brand new songs from the Big Battle Of Egos album, but with main focus on the new single "Signed On My Tattoo" (a duet with Gravitonas). The EP also features brand new vocals from La Dominika and Jean-Pierre on "Tragedy" and "Rockin' The Ride". 

The EP is a global release from SoFo Records and will be followed by further new material from Army Of Lovers throughout 2013-14. Here is a fanmade video for the new single:

SOTD...

Ah, La Camilla. After being fired (the first time) from Army Of Lovers, the diva released a solo single in 1992. Complete with lips, boobs, half naked male models and her (actual) man voice, the future saint delivered a song that the Army could have been proud of (in fact, it was included on the first Greatest Hits compilation by the group a few years later when La Camilla rejoined them).

She may have been very much down on her luck in recent years (she spent several years living on the streets in Sweden, among other things), but I still think she's fabulous! Just don't lie to her...

SOTD...

A lovely little number from the fabulous Army Of Lovers - complete with some home footage from our annual Easter party. Enjoy!

Tracks...

Time for some tracks now. I may be busy as hell with studies, but there should always be time for some music, right?

This batch includes some surprises (a rather good track from Nelly Furtado but a little disappointing one from Lana Del Rey - what is happening?), some campness (Melodifestivalen for example) and of course the new one from Army Of Lovers, who seem to be rather hated by their fans right now after their lovely letter to La Camilla (just witness her entrance in the clip below!). Then there is a surprise track by Khaled, which I can' get out of my head and reaaaaaally makes me long for summer. But the best of the bunch are the last two: a fabulous David Bowie cover by the wonderful Claudia Brucken and a trio of drag queens who make a song by Alicia Keys actually listenable!

Now, wich me luck on my next test this Thursday - and hopefully you will find something here to enjoy!

Sainthood...

Erm, OK. Army Of Lovers have published an open letter to group member La Camilla, thanking her for her services through the years and announcing that she will no longer be a part of the comeback, which started with their performance at Melodifestivalen last weekend. She will be replaced by Dominika, who is of course well known to fans of the group. Here is the letter:

"Army Of Lovers declare Sainthood for Santa Camilla - and welcome La Dominika to center stage!

Our Dearest Beloved Sister Camilla, Our Hundreds of Thousands of Fabulous Loyal Fans, and The Chosen Few of the Rest of You Out There in This Cold Cold World who dare to care

Please accept our sincerest and most heartfelt gratitude for the hilarious months of joy and happiness we have shared with You, Our Beloved Sister, during studio recordings, rehearsals, therapy sessions, interviews, and performances in connection to The Original Army Of Lovers’ participation at Melodifestivalen 2013. You are dearest to our hearts, You are forever Our Beloved Sister, You are the undisputed People’s Queen of Army Of Lovers. For all this, we are to You forever grateful.

Your performance at Melodifestivalen in Malmö - from Your fabulous entrance to Your royally ignorant attitude towards even hitting the lipsynching right - make Yours quite possibly the ultimate Army Of Lovers performance ever. Who cares about rehearsing properly in advance, or hitting the right notes, when the world really revolves around the Art of Entries and Exits? And since You practice this Art with the ultimate superiority, how could Your performance possibly be improved upon in any way whatsoever? It was flawless. You are flawless.

Our Beloved Sister, what was Your Melodifestivalen performance if not the quintessential celebration of the Talented Untalented, the Victory of Charisma over Substance, the Glamorous Amateur set against the Boring Professional, the Good Bad Taste against the Bad Good Taste, the Ethic of Anybody with an Attitude is born to be a Star? You personify all these qualities better than anybody else on this planet. You are the proudest Ambassador of the Heritage of Milli Vanilli, and for this we herald You as Our Eternal Queen of Punk!

However, the show must go on! There are wars to battle and win. Army Of Lovers have a huge task ahead of them, fighting hatred and intolerance everywhere until everybody on the planet can have sex with everybody else all of the time. In this year of The Reformation of Army Of Lovers - in all its various incarnations - it is time to take the next step. Just as generously as Dominika stepped aside to let You, La Camilla, and the boys reunite as The Original Army Of Lovers for Melodifestivalen, we now thank You for stepping aside to let Dominika take center stage in the next reincarnation of Army Of Lovers in this Golden Year of 2013.

We therefore today proudly declare Dominika to be La Dominika, and in return we award You the Ascension from La Camilla to Santa Camilla, The Enlightened Global Consciousness of Femme Fatale Hysteria, Our Living Saint! We will always kneel before Your Altar on every stage we enter. You will always be with us in our hearts. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, for Everything!

The Committee for The Continuation of The Reformation of Army Of Lovers"

Alexander Bard

Jean-Pierre Barda

Dominika Peczynski

Michaela Dornonville de la Cour

Camilla Thulin

Army Of Lovers will release a new compilation CD on March 27th, entitled Big Battle Of Egos. Here is the tracklist:

Rockin’ The Ride

Crashing Down

Signed On My Tattoo

Give My Life

Crucified

Sexual Revolution

My Army Of Lovers

Lit De Parade (Feat. Big Money)

Obsession

Israelism

Ride The Bullet

I Am

King Midas

La Plage De Saint Tropez

Let The Sunshine In

Tragedy

"Signed On My Tattoo" will be the 2nd single, following the current one ("Rockin' The Ride").

Rockin' And Leaving...

Well, we sadly won't see Army Of Lovers anywhere near the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest, as they did not get through to the Melodifestivalen finals (they finished in 6th place on Saturdays semifinal). But I don't think anyone really expected them to be loved by the general public...

Here is their performance:



The always fabulous Alcazar also gave the show some additional campness with a medley of some of their hits:

SOTD...

Time now for La Camilla and her festive, happy hoes!

Sexual Revolution...

With the fabulous news about the return of Army Of Lovers, here is a quick look back at one of the most controversial and FUN groups of the 90s!

Army Of Lovers were founded in 1987 in Sweden. The founding members, who had all worked together in a band called Barbie, were Alexander Bard, Jean-Pierre Barda and Camilla Henemark (aka La Camilla).

Army of Lovers scored several Top 10 hits in Europe, the biggest being "Crucified", which was one of the biggest selling European singles of 1991, and stayed at #1 on the Eurochart for eight consecutive weeks. Their total album sales were seven million copies worldwide.

While Alexander Bard was the "brain" behind the band, Jean-Pierre Barda was the lead vocalist on hits such as "Crucified" and "Israelism". Bard and Barda were the only two band members who were present throughout all of the band's various line-ups. When La Camilla left the band in 1991, she was replaced by Michaela Dornonville de la Cour. In 1993, Dominika Peczynski joined, making the band a four-piece. In 1995, Dornoville de la Cour left and Henemark returned.

Third album, The Gods of Earth and Heaven was never published in the US due to its suggestive lyrical content. Record company Giant wanted the group to make a clean American version for US markets but they refused to make any modifications to the album. Giant reacted by abolishing their recording contact. Both the album and the single "La plage de Saint-Tropez" became highly successful in China and Japan and the single single received a plenty of radio play also in several European countries. The controversial single "Israelism" topped charts in Israel despite of being subject for criticism and the video being banned on MTV. 

During their time together, Army Of Lovers became famous for their outlandish visual appearance and music videos that were both hilarious and controversial.

Although both "Obsession" and "Sexual Revolution" reached the top spot of the Eurocharts, their presence in the US and the UK was limited to club chart successes (though "Crucified" reached the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1992). They released four studio albums, made over twenty music videos, and became successful across Eastern Europe before Bard disbanded the group to concentrate on his new group Vacuum in 1996. The band reformed briefly in 2001.

They also joined forces again in 2007 for two shows, one at G-A-Y in London and one in Moscow. Bard, Peczyniski and Barda were present, but Henemark was replaced by an inflatable doll. The original lineup are now back together to perform at the 2013 Melodifestivalen and to release a new greatest hits compilation.

The albums:




Some of the singles:









The compilations:



The funniest collection of music videos you will ever see, released in DVD in 2005:



And last but not least: some of the clips:




And a short look into the demented minds of this lovely group:



Can't wait to see what they have in store next year!

The Army Is Back!!!...

All the artists performing the songs in the 2013 Melodifestivalen have been announced.

Sadly there are not a lot of big names included in the line-up. But there is one name that comes as a massive and a very welcomed surprise: Army Of Lovers!

The original lineup of the group will perform their forthcoming single “Rockin’ The Ride” during the fourth semifinal in Malmö, which is scheduled for February 23. The song was written by Alexander Bard and Henrik Wikström ( Gravitonas). When they were asked to describe the song, they said: "Swedish House Mafia Meets Gangnam Style, takes a ton of crack and jumps into the laundry machine".  OK then :)

New about the reunion are all over the Swedish press and I must say I am very happy about their comeback! The group released their last material in 2001 when they released two singles from a Greatest Hits compilation.

Army Of Lovers are releasing another hits compilation soon with a couple of new tracks. Welcome back!

Here is the final lineup of the 2013 Melodifestivalen:

Heat 1, Karslkrona 2 Feb 2013: 

1.                  Cookies and Beanz - Burning flags  (Fredrik Kempe)

2.                  Mary N’diaye - Gosa (Johan Åsgärde, Mattias Frändå, Mary N’diaye)

3.                  Yohio - Heartbreak hotel (Johan Fransson, Tobias Lundgren, Tim Larsson, Henrik Göranson, YOHIO)

4.                  Jay-Jay Johanson - Paris (Jay-Jay Johansson)

5.                  Anna Järvinen - Porslin (Björn Olsson, Martin Elisson)

6.                  David Lindgren - Skyline (Fernando Fuentes, Henrik Nordenback, Christian Fast)

7.                  Eric Gadd - Vi kommer aldrig att förlora (Eric Gadd, Thomas Stenström, Jacob Olofsson)

8.                  Michael Feiner & Caisa - We’re still kids (Michael Feiner, Caisa Ahlroth)

Heat 2,  Gothenburg 9 Feb 2013: 

1.                  Anton Ewald - Begging (Fredrik Kempe, Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad)

2.                  Joacim Cans - Annelie (Joacim Cans)

3.                  Sean Banan - Copacabana (Sean Banan, Ola Lindholm, Hans Blomberg, Joakim Larsson)

4.                  Rikard Wolff - En förlorad sommar (Tomas Andersson Wij)

5.                  Eric Segerstedt and Tone Damli - Hello goodbye (Robin Fredriksson, Mattias Larsson, Måns Zelmerlöw)

6.                  Felicia Olsson - Make me no 1 (Amir Aly, Henrik Wikström, Ingela Pling Forsman, Maria Haukaas Mittet)

7.                  Pernilla Wahlgren, Jenny Silver and Hanna Hedlund - On top of the world (Peter Boström, Thomas G:son)

8.                  Louise Hoffsten - Only the dead fish follow the stream (Louise Hoffsten, Sandra Bjurman, Stefan Örn)

Heat 3, Skellefteå 16 Feb 2013:

• Eddie Razaz – Alibi (Peter Bostrom, Thomas G:son)
• Amanda Fondell - Dumb (Freja Blomberg, Fredrik Samsson)
• Körberg, Rabaeus, Malmberg & Ronander – En riktig jävla schlager (Kjell Jennstig, Leif Goldkuhl, Henrik Dorsin)
• State of Drama – Falling (Göran Werner, Sebastian Hallifax, Emil Gullhamn, James Hallifax)
• Janet Leon - Heartstrings (Fredrik Kempe, Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad)
• Caroline af Ugglas – Hon har inte (Heinz Liljedahl, Caroline af Ugglas)
• Martin Rolinski - In and out of love (Thomas G:son, Andreas Rickstrand)
•  Elin Petersson – Island (Elin Petersson)

Heat 4, Malmö 23 Feb 2013: 

• Ralf Gyllenhammar – Bed on fire (Ralf Gyllenhammar, David Wilhelmsson)
• Therese Fredenwall – Breaking the silence (Terese Fredenwall, Simon Petrén)
• Behrang Miri - Jalla dansa salwa (Behrang Miri, Anderz Wrethov, Firas Razak Tuma, Tacfarinas Yamoun)
• Lucia Piñera – Must be love (Peter Kvint, Jonas Myrin)
• Army of Lovers - Rockin’ the ride (Alexander Bard, Henrik Wikström, Per QX, Andreas Öhrn, Jean-Pierre Barda)
• Ulrik Munther - Tell the world I’m here (Peter Boström, Thomas G:son, Ulrik Munther)
• Sylvia Vrethammar - Trivialiter (Thomas G:son, Calle Kindbom, Mats Tärnfors)
• Robin Stjernberg – You (Robin Stjernberg, Linnea Deb, Joy Deb, Joakim Harestad Haukaas)

Second chance round, 2 March 2013 Karlskrona

Final, 9 March 2013, Friends Arena, Solna