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It is sadly the last day of a (short) summer vacation. The only thing I can think of to cheer me up is a little bit of disco, courtesy of the lovely Madleen Kane.

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Brand new from Kylie Minogue - the charity single "Crystallize". Hope she will make it available on CD soon...

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The Eurovision/Gay Olympics final is almost upon us. To celebrate that (and the upcoming weekend), here is one of my favorite Eurovision entries - courtesy of Ukraine's #1 gay diva: Miss Svetlana Loboda!

Loboda represented her home country in 2009 with the fabulous "Anti-Crisis Girl" and finished in 12th place. The way over the top performance may have been too much for some viewers, but I was obviously rooting for her...



The cog system, or as Loboda refers to it "The Hell Machine" was taken back to Ukraine after the competition. Svetlana said that she didn't want it to go to waste - now it's apparently in her father's garage. "The pets play on it" she stated. I sleep better at night knowing this...



Here is Lady Loboda in all her glory - she's SO my anti-crisis girl!

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It is always nice to see a diva throw a bit of a hissy fit, isn't it? While the term "diva" might no be completely appropriate to describe Italian boobie gal Sabrina, here is a footage of her from French TV around 25 years ago. She's there on a very hot day to promote her Euro hit "Gringo", but things don't get off to a great start...

The song itself was a non-album single, released in 1989 (after previous hits like "Boys", "All Of Me" and "My Chico"). It peaked inside the Top 10 in some European countries, including Finland and Italy. But I digress - here is poor Sabrina having a bad day, bless her...

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RuPaul has succeeded against all adds, it seems. He has been in the entertainment business for over 30 years and he is currently enjoying new career highs with his hit show RuPaul's Drag Race and his latest album Born Naked. His albums are much, much better than you'd expect them to be and at the tender age of 53 the queen is far from over.

Today we go back to the 90s. RuPaul was releasing his second album, Foxy Lady in 1996 and the first single from it was "Snapshot". The song peaked at #95 on the US Hot 100 and at #4 on the Billboard Dance Chart. The album however failed to find commercial success and after finishing his contract with Rhino with the best christmas album of all time a year later, there would not be another RuPaul album until 2004.

But I digress - here is "Snapshot":

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To celebrate the release of the new Kylie Minogue album (and her tour announcement), the Song Of The Day is of course by the grand princess of pop herself.

"On A Night Like This" was released in September 2000 as the second single from her FABULOUS comeback album Light Years. Originally recorded by Swedish singer Pandora (and then covered by Greek singer Anna Vissi), Kylie's version became a hit, topping the Australian singles chart at peaking at #2 in the UK. Kylie brings much needed style and sophistication to the song, which remains a big favorite here in the Galaxy. In fact, the album it's taken from is probably her most adored one over here ;)

So, forget about gloomy Monday and pretend it is a glorious Saturday night - and you are of course dressed up, dripping in diamonds and about to take a swim in your prettiest high heels! That's what I always do...

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Hurrah! The weekend is finally here - and what better way to celebrate than with this fabulous little number!

Bette Midler released one of her best albums in 1979. Thighs And Whispers may not have been a success, but it is one of her most solid albums - and it's great fun too!

One of the singles from the album was this very, very camp and tacky number. Sadly there was no music video made for it, but here is Miss Midler working it on German TV show Musikladen. We recently got the 12" of this and the extended version is, well, divine!

Enjoy your weekend - and boogie!

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It's always a little weird to hear again songs that you loved as a kid, but somehow completely forgot about. For me, that is exactly the case with this one.

"Major Tom (Völlig Losgelöst)" by German singer Peter Schilling was originally recorded in German, and released in West Germany on January 3, 1983. It reached #1 in West Germany, Austria and Switzerland. 

The English version, called "Major Tom (Coming Home)" was released in the United States in September 1983. It reached #1 in Canada, #2 in France #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and #4 in South Africa. It also reached number two on the US dance chart. In the UK it just missed out on the Top 40, peaking at #42.

I heard this song again a couple of weeks ago - probably for the first time in almost 30 years. I really liked this as a kid, and I still do. Here is the video for the English version, along with the original German one.

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It's that time again: another candle on the birthday cake (pretty soon the cake will be too small for the candles!). And who else to mark the occasion then the queen herself.

"Live To Tell" was a very important moment in Madonna's career. It represented a turning point, both music and image wise. No one expected that her first release after the hugely successful Like A Virgin album would sound anything like this.

After Madonna finished The Virgin Tour, she asked producers Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray to write some songs with her to and produce her third studio album, True Blue (1986). "Live to Tell" was originally written by Leonard for the soundtrack of Paramount's romantic drama film Fire with Fire. "My managers represented the guy who was directing the film; it was his first film. I saw a little piece of the film, and I had the script. I wrote a theme and I said, 'What if I could get Madonna to write the lyrics for it?'", said Leonard.

However, Paramount rejected the song, believing that Leonard was incapable of creating the score for the film. It was then that Leonard presented the song to Madonna. She decided to use it for At Close Range, the new film of her then-husband, actor Sean Penn. Madonna wrote the lyrics of the song on the spot, and made recorded the song alone in a studio in one take (which is the one used on the record). She presented the song to the film's director James Foley, who after hearing the track, decided to enlist Leonard as the person to write the score for the film, as per suggestions by Madonna.

Leonard later recalled that "it was so innocent and so shy. It's as naive, as raw, as raw can be and that's part of what gave it all its charm. Madonna has a special fondness for the song and years later said it was probably the best thing she had ever done.

The song became a big success, and so did Madonna's new image. She said at the time:

"After a while I got sick of wearing tons of jewelry—I wanted to clean myself off. I see my new look as very innocent and feminine and unadorned. It makes me feel good. Growing up, I admired the kind of beautiful glamorous woman—from Brigitte Bardot to Grace Kelly—who doesn't seem to be around much anymore. I think it's time for that kind of glamor to come back. In pop music generally, people have one image. You get pigeonholed. I'm lucky enough to be able to change and still be accepted. If you think about it, that's what they do in the movies; play a part, change characters, looks and attitudes. I guess I do it to entertain myself."

The song went to #1 in the US and topped the European singles chart while peaking at #2 in the UK. It remains one of Madonna's best (and most personal) songs to date.

I have a tale to tell

Sometimes it gets so hard to hide it well

I was not ready for the fall

Too blind to see the writing on the wall

A man can tell a thousand lies

I've learned my lesson well

Hope I live to tell

The secret I have learned, 'till then

It will burn inside of me

I know where beauty lives

I've seen it once, I know the warm she gives

The light that you could never see

It shines inside, you can't take that from me

A man can tell a thousand lies

I've learned my lesson well

Hope I live to tell

The secret I have learned, 'till then

It will burn inside of me

The truth is never far behind

You kept it hidden well

If I live to tell

The secret I knew then

Will I ever have the chance again

If I ran away, I'd never have the strength

To go very far

How would they hear the beating of my heart

Will it grow cold

The secret that I hide, will I grow old

How will they hear

When will they learn

How will they know

A man can tell a thousand lies

I've learned my lesson well

Hope I live to tell

The secret I have learned, 'till then

It will burn inside of me

The truth is never far behind

You kept it hidden well

If I live to tell

The secret I knew then

Will I ever have the chance again

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The SOTD is one of my favorite 90s dance songs - "Your Loving Arms" by German singer Billie Ray Martin.

Miss Martin was signed to East West Records, a subsidiary of Warner Music. In the US, Martin was signed to Seymour Stein’s Sire Records. The first release on her contract was "Your Loving Arms" (with Dave Ball and Richard Norris of The Grid producing). The track gave her the title of 'the Marlene Dietrich of techno' from Select.

The single reached #38 on the UK charts in November 1994 , but continued for months to be a club hit. On subsequent re-release the song peaked at No. 6 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1995. In the US, a Junior Vasquez mix helped the song strike the Billboard Hot 100 twice, peaking at No. 87 in 1995 and at No. 46 a year later. Further mixes by Todd Terry and Brothers in Rhythm helped the song become a success across Europe, for example reaching #1 in Italy. It also topped the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart and is now considered by many one of the all-time classics of dance music. It remains Miss Martin's biggest hit single to date.

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The Weather Girls’ 1980s classic, "It’s Raining Men", looks set to re-enter the UK Top 20 on Sunday. The track has been propelled back into the Official Singles Chart thanks to a social media campaign in response to derogatory comments made by a UKIP councillor about marriage equality.

In an open letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron, which was published in The Henley Standard newspaper earlier this month, then UKIP councillor David Silvester claimed that the UK’s recent spate of bad weather was a direct reaction to last year’s Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act.

"Since the passage of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act, the nation has been beset by serious storms and floods,” Silvester wrote. “This is not new. This happened in the Old Testament – they were warned if they turned against God there would be pestilence, there would be war, there would be disasters."

While Silvester has since been suspended from the party for his comments, the public have nevertheless rallied round to register their distain in a very British way – by setting up a social media campaign to try to get "It’s Raining Men" back into the Official Singles Chart!

“We believe that the show of strength to get a song to Number 1 will create a huge spotlight on our campaign for equality as a whole,” Darren Pop, one of the campaign’s organisers told OfficialCharts.com. “The song, if you like, is our catalyst and part of the bigger message. For decades now, this song has been used as a gay anthem. We thought it fitted all the better based on the UKIP councillor's comments.”

According to the Official Charts Company latest sales data, "It’s Raining Men" is currently at Number 21 on this morning’s Official Singles Chart sales flash, and is less than 40 copies off the Number 20 spot. It is likely to continue to climb up the Top 40 as the week continues, and the campaign gathers momentum. So while the UK will experience highs of seven degrees this weekend, on the Official Singles Chart Top 20, it will be raining men. (Hallelujah!)

As much as I despise those "social media campaigns" that try to manipulate the charts, I do think it is a fun way to bring the focus on the issue - and how great to see the girls back in the charts!

 

The Weather Girls’ "It’s Raining Men" was originally released in the UK in 1983. The track peaked at Number 73 on the Official Singles Chart, before being re-released the following year where it reached Number 2. The song reached the #1 spot on the US Dance Club Play charts.

Martha Wash from the group teamed up with RuPaul in 1998 and took a re-recorded version of the hit, dubbed "It’s Raining Men… The Sequel", to Number 21. There was also the best forgotten cover by Geri Halliwell...

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After Diana Ross left Motown in the early 80s, the queen signed a massive new record deal with RCA.
In 1980, shortly after the release of her massive album Diana, Miss Ross was leaving Motown Records. She had discovered that despite helping Motown to earn millions of dollars with her recordings in the twenty years she had been signed to the label, she only had around to $150,000 in her name. Despite doing most of the work in The Supremes, she had been paid the same as the other girls but after almost 20 years of success she thought she had made a lot more then what the label had been paying her.

When the news got out that she was leaving Motown, the offers started coming in from other labels. Eventually, Ross would settle on a $20 million deal with RCA Records. Before signing, however, head of Motown (and former boyfriend) Berry Gordy called her begging her to not leave Motown. Ross asked if Gordy could match the $20 million that RCA had offered her. When Gordy told her that he could not match it, Ross told him she was planning to leave the company. Ross signed with RCA on May 20, 1981, and her $20 million deal became then the most lucrative contract of any recording artist at the time. Her farewell at Motown was the massive number-one hit "Endless Love" with Lionel Richie.

Over at RCA Ross established her own production company, which she named Anaid Productions ("Diana" backwards) and got much more artistic control then she had previously had over at Motown. She started producing her music and doing just exactly what she wanted. While her RCA years did not result in as many hit singles (or albums) as her years at Motown, her work at the label is still an excellent (if somewhat uneven) body of work.

The first single from her second RCA album, Silk Electric, was released in September 1982. The song was written and produced by her good friend Michael Jackson and became hit, peaking at #10 in the US and #15 in the UK. The song earned Miss Ross her 12th Grammy nomination.

The music video does it's best to match the campness of the song - enjoy!

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During the 90's was in many ways not the best time to be a fan of Miss Kylie Minogue. She did release a couple of excellent but somewhat unnoticed albums on Deconstruction and after she left the label in the late 90s a lot of people were writing her her career off.

Over here she was not well known to begin with. In fact, a lot of people had no idea who she was but some did manage to place her in Neighbours or knew her from "Where The Wild Roses Grow", which was a big hit over here. I was a school DJ (and later club DJ) in the 90s and used every opportunity to educate the poor public by playing everything from "I Should Be So Lucky" to "Better The Devil You Know" to "Step Back In Time" to "Confide In Me" to "Where's The Feeling" to "Limbo" to "German Bold Italic"! But it seemed that by the late 90s even the people around me that liked her were convinced that her career was over. Not me, however. I loved her albums but I felt that all she needed to be back on top was a change in musical direction. And that's exactly what she did!



2000 was the year of Madonna (who released her massive Music album) and Kylie, who made a Cher-like comeback with her album Light Years. I remember hearing the first few notes of "Spinning Around", thinking: "OMG, this is EXACTLY what she needed to do"! It instantly became one of my Kylie favorites - and more importantly, it became a huge hit for her. The song (co-written by Paula Abdul) became her first UK#1 since "Tears On My Pillow" back in 1990 and her first Australian #1 since "Confide In Me" back in 1994.

The song and the following singles from the album set the scene nicely for her follow up album Fever, which of course shot her to super stardom. Light Years remains one of my favorite Kylie albums and it's associated with the memory of finally seeing her live the year after, when she was doing the On A Night Like This tour.




The princess is gearing up for yet another comeback - her new single "Into The Blue" will have it's radio premiere on Jan 27th and new album is coming out later this year. But for now, let's celebrate the weekend by grabbing a drink or two, putting on our tightest hotpants and spin around!

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It's Friday, thank god! And yet another trip back to the 90s is in order, me thinks.

We go to the spring of 1994. Ray & Anita of 2 Unlimited were gearing up for releasing their third (and last to date) studio album, Real Things. I was a huge fan and had been listening to Dutch radio station Radio 538 for days, waiting for the world premiere of their new single. "The Real Thing" did not disappoint!

The song became a Top 5 hit all over Europe and peaked at #6 in the UK. I was 16 years old and finishing high school that spring. My whole class took a trip to celebrate the end of school, going to several European countries that summer. We went to Germany when the album had just been released and I think pretty much everyone in our group picked up either the album or the single - or both! The album, including this Song Of The Day, became the soundtrack of the summer of 1994. My boyfriend just got all three 2 Unlimited albums on vinyl and it's been fun to give them all a spin (although of course we had them all on CD's as well).

Anyways, here it is: the sound of summer 1994!

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"The Sign" by Ace of Base was released in October 1993. The single served as the intro for the "US Version" of their debut album Happy Nation.

It became a big international hit, reaching number two in the United Kingdom and the top spot in Australia, Germany, Canada, Italy and New Zealand. In the US the song spent six weeks as number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was the No. 1 song of 1994, according to Billboard magazine's year-end charts.

I have always had a soft spot for Ace Of Base and this song remains one of my favorites. I just can't believe it's been 20 years since I was obsessed with it!

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British singer Tina Cousins got her first big break in the music industry was when she sang vocals on the Sash! single "Mysterious Times" in 1998. Before that, Cousins had released the singles "Killin' Time" and "Angel" in March and June 1997 respectively but they didn't do much.

Following the success of "Mysterious Times", "Killin' Time" was re-issued and it made the Top 20 in the UK, as did the follow-up "Pray" which also achieved success in the US and is the Song Of The Day.

The song  became a top 10 hit in Australia and was one of the most played songs of the year on Australian radio. It became her second gold single in the country.

Follow-up singles "Forever" and the reissued "Angel" only reached the Top 50 (despite both being pretty good). Cousins turned her attention to Australia where the song, "Forever" achieved gold sales. She then collaborated again with Sash! on the Top 10 hit "Just Around The Hill" in 2000.

In 2005, she issued a new single "Wonderful Life", which reached #17 in Australia and spent four months in the Top 50, becoming her biggest radio hit. The follow-up, "Come to Me", barely cracked the Top 40, as did her second album Mastermind. The third single to be taken from the album, "Pretty Young Thing" (previously recorded by Lene from Aqua), became Cousin's sixth Top 20 hit in Australia and the ninth to chart overall.

Since then things have been rather quiet. She has released three solo singles (including a cover of the Kings Of Leon track "Sex On Fire", which charted at #25 in Australia), as well as some collaborations. Time will tell if she will find chart success again, but for now here is "Pray".

Merry Christmas!...

Christmas time is here! And here is one of my all time favorite Christmas songs. 



"December Song (I Dreamed Of Christmas)" by George Michael was released four times between 2008-2011, peaking at #14 in the UK. One of Mr Michael's finest moments, me thinks.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

May your every New Year dream come true

Sweet December song

The melody that saved me

On those less than silent nights

When snow would fall upon my bed

White sugar from Jesus

And take me to the day

She could always smile

The Virgin Child would always show, you see

Just to save me

(Just to save me)

There was always Christmas time

To wipe the year away

I guess that morning they'd decided

That the war would have to wait

There was always Christmas time

Jesus came to stay

I could believe in peace on Earth

And I could watch TV all day

So I dreamed of Christmas

Maybe since you've gone

I went a little crazy

God knows they can see the child

But the snow that falls upon my bed

That loving that I needed

Falls every single day

For each and every child

The Virgin smiles for all to see

But you kept her from me

There was always Christmas time

To wipe the year away

I guess that morning they'd decided

That the war would have to wait

There was always Christmas time

Jesus came to stay

I could believe in peace on Earth

And I could watch TV all day

So I dreamed of Christmas, yes, I dreamed like you

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

May your every New Year dream come true

Merry Christmas to all my readers and I hope you all have a wonderful time over the holidays. Thanks for visiting the Galaxy this year. See you in 2014!

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Over here it's Christmas tomorrow! It's snowing outside and today is all about putting finishing touches, last minute shopping and enjoying the season.

Hopefully you guys have been good but not been too good this year, or you might find yourself in the same dilemma as Miss Eartha Kitt...

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Here is another track from the absolutely wonderful Kim Wilde album Wilde Winter Songs, which came out a few weeks ago.

Kimmy has been making videos for every song on the album - a fun treat for fans. Here is "Hope":

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Diana Ross is my queen of Christmas. Not only is her 1965 Christmas album with The Supremes (although the other two girls had very little to do with it) sheer perfection, but she also released a few holiday projects in the mid-90s that I very much enjoy (her version of "Amazing Grace" is THE version). For me, Christmas without Miss Ross just wouldn't be Christmas at all...




Here is the diva with what I consider to be the definitive version of "Silver Bells", along with her rather stunning live performance of "Amazing Grace".