Well, today my husband and I are leaving for New York City for our honeymoon. Even though we were married on April 30th, we decided to wait until the weather had completely broken. So, I am looking forawrd to seeing my friends and being back on my old stomping ground. We will be there until June 18th. So, that means I will not be at Crews and Tangos for my MILK Sundays for the next two weeks. I will return on June 20th with the hottest mixes from NYC.

The last time I was in  New York, I had an interesting revelation. I discovered why I am enjoying Toronto so much. As a vistor to the Big Apple and part-time resident , I realized that the stress of living in the city kept me from enjoying New York City. When I lived there, I would meet people who had lived their entire lives in the city and had never seen a Broadway Show or been to the museums. I would ask how is that possible?  How could you not soak up the culture of this beautiful town?

Well, now that I am out of the rat race, I can appreciate the city again. And how great is it that I am going to be able to share it with my new husband. It’s going to be nice to just walk around the city and take it all in. No schedules. No rushing off to work. Just time to enjoy as many of the sights, shows and culture as our wallets will allow.

Continue on for the  The RELENT-LIST (The Top Ten  from MILK Sundays 5-31-10)

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The RELENT-LIST (The Top Ten  from MILK Sundays 5-31-10)

1) Hey Hey (Deepah Ones Remix)-Dennis Ferrer

2) Acapella (Daver Aude Club Mix)-Kelis

3) Rockstar 101 (Loose Cannons Black Guitar R-Licks Remix)-Rihanna

4) It’s On (Ralph Falcon Vocal)-Jasper James

5) Bitch You Look Fierce (Chip Chop’s Jungle Feedback Vocal Dub)-Jade Elektra

6) Boys Boys Boys (Manhattan Clique Club Mix)-Lady GaGa

7) Carry Out (Soundpusher & Rock City Remix)-Timbaland featuring Justin Timberlake

8) Commander (Ralphi Rosario Club Mix)-Kelly Rowland

9) Woohoo (Album Version)-Christina Aguilera featuring Nicki Minaj

10) Love You To Life (Steve Pitron & Max Sanna Club Mix)-Grace Jones

And this week’s Flashback Track is “Kiss” (Roger Sanchez Bootleg House Mix) by Prince.

Rating System:

No * means horrible
* means you better get used to it
** means there is something to like about it
*** means I like it alot
**** means I love it

I guess everyone is rushing to get their tracks out before Pride. We have some ol' gyrls doing a comeback. We have old collaborations trying something new. And we have some folks who shouldn't have tried it at all. But I must say that my digital record pool is really keeping on top of all the new releases.

"Commander" Kelly Rowland (Columbia Records) So, after last summer's anthem with David Guetta, "When Love Takes Over", I guess Kelly has decided that she has found her nitch. No more living in the shadow of Mrs. Jay Z. She has found her audience.....all the circuit queens. Yay! (Do you smell the sarcasm?)

I still haven't forgotten the first time I heard Kelly sing live without Destiny's Child. It was in London on the "Top Of The Pops" with Nelly as they butchered their duet "Dilemma". So, no matter how many effects they put on her voice, I can only image how horrible she is going to sound live doing this track. But look at the good side. Most of the guys who will be in the White Party are going to be so tweeked out on drugs that they won't notice or care. And it will probably be in heavy rotation on the radio, so most will be programed to like it. Thank goodness I don't listen to the radio. *

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"Alejandro" (The Remixes) Lady GaGa (Interscope Records) First I would like to say that when I heard the original version of this song, I thought Ace of Base had decided to make a comeback with their classic 90's downtempo sound. And believe it or not, I actually like the original. It's the remixes that lost me.

Bimbo Jones (who I never like his remixes), Afrojack, Dark Intensity, Dave Aude, Daddy Sans and Ruskos Papuserla all left me flat with their interpretations of Ms. GaGa's latest efford. Only the Kim Fai Club Mix impressed me. It has a good driving tribal feel with a nice kick to get the floor going. This was the only saving grace for this CD single. ***

"OMG" (The Remixes) Usher featuring Will.I.Am (La Face Records) Okay....I hate it when artists who ruled the charts just completely lose their appeal. Now, I can remember when I heard "Milkshake" by Kelis. I completely dismissed the track and wondered what happened to the girl who gave us "Caught Out There". But boy was I wrong. That damn thing took off and there was no stopping it.

I'm afraid this might be the case with the new Usher duet with Will.I.Am. I personally hate the song and I'm feeling the Dirty Freqs Remix or the Ripper Club Mix. I will probably have to program the Tedsmooth Remix because he used the rhythm track to the 80's classic, "Planet Rock". I guess I can work with that. *

"Rapture" (from the soundtrack "Sex And The City 2") Alicia Keys This is an interesting cover of the Blondie's attempt at Hip Hop. This track will be great to tie in a retro set. She didn't stray very far from the original except for updating the rap to fit the plot of the sequel. It's an okay cover. Nothing to write home about, but it gives me the perfect platform to campaign for Alicia Keys to play the late Lena Horne in the bio pic if they ever make one about her. She is a dead ringer for her and I believe it could be her ticket to an Oscar nomination if she pulls it off. **

"Tonight's The Night" (The Remixes) Mark De Clive-Lowe featuring Jody Watley (Strictly Rhythm Records) I love it when one of the 80's divas make a new track and it rocks my world! This is one of the hottest tracks I have heard in a while. The original mix is good, but the MDCL Remix has that ballroom kick to it that I think the kids would battle to and the Ralvero Remix has that big room sound to work a huge crowd. I highly recommend this one. And it's good to see one of the great labels from the 90's still servin' the DJ's with fresh beats. ****

"Circles" Quentin Harris featuring Jason Walker (Sacrifice CD Single) When Quentin and Jason teamed up to cover After 7's classic R&B hit, "Can't Stop" I couldn't get enough of it. I had heard Jason perform a few times and was thoroughly impressed with his voice. But when I heard this track, it reminded me that not every singer should cover every song.

Here is my Top Ten Songs for this week’s MILK at Crews & Tangos

 

 

1) Not Myself Tonight (Chus & Ceballos Club Vocal)-Christina Aguilera

 

2) Empire State of Mind (Relentless’ “From Manhattan to Brooklyn” Mix)-Jay Z featuring Alicia Keys

 

3) Sexy Bitch (B-More Bootleg Mix)-David Guetta featuring Akon

 

4) Why Don’t You Love Me (DJ Escape & Tony Coluccio Vocal)-Beyonce

 

5) You’re A Jerk (Remix)-The New Boyz featuring DJ Webstar

 

6) The Jody Den Broeder & Warren Riggs’ Megamix-Whitney Houston

 

7) Gettin’ Over (Remix)-David Guetta featuring Fergie, Chris & LMFAO

 

8) Acapella (Extended Mix)-Kelis

 

9) OMG (Ted Smooth’s THrowback Remix)-Usher

 

10) Tik Tok (Breno Barreto Private Remix)-Kesha

 

And this week’s Throwback Track is “Groove Is In The Heart” (Deviant Remix) by Deee-Lite

There’s a moment in the documentary “Paris Is Burning” where Dorian Corey says something to the effect of “We were trying to emulate Marilyn Monroe.....I didn’t realize I shoulda been trying to be Lena Horne.” while describing who the queens would do as showgirls on the original Ballroom scene in the ‘70’s. I was very sad to hear the news of Lena Horne’s death on Mother’s Day. She being a mother not only to her own children, but also to so many young black actress and performers.

If you really want to get to know her, you have to listen to the Broadway recording of her one-woman-show “The Lady & Her Music”. She shares with her audience the story of her amazing career and the problems her skin color presented in Hollywood. One of my favorite stories is of how she just knew she was going to be cast in the 1949 movie about a bi-racial girl passing for white called “Pinky”. Although she and Dorothy Dandridge were both considered, a white actress by the name of Jeanne Crain got the role.

 

Although I was not able to bring all my vinyl with me when I moved to Toronto, I was lucky enough to get a copy of this double album on CD when my cousin Charles passed away back in 2003. A friend of Charles was nice enough to transfer his vinyl to disc. I’m not sure if the album was ever released on CD since the album has been out of print since the 80’s.

 

It is in my opinion that no drag collection is complete without this gem.

"Would it be rude todedicate Jade Elektra's "R.I.F (Reading Is Fundamental)" to those who are not smart enough to figure out what to do when invited to a virtual wedding?"

Because most of my friends and family are back in the United States, John and I decided to create a virtual wedding event on facebook so they could feel like they were a part of our special day. We thought that everyone would have read the invitation and figured out that they were not actually attending a real wedding.

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We were wrong. It has really amazed me to see how many people have declined to attend the event and that they would actually write excuses for not attending in the comment box.

Really?!!

Recently, my alter-ego, Jade Elektra recorded a new bitch track called "R.I.F. (Reading Is Fundamental)". Now for my new friends in Canada, the phrase "Reading Is Fundamental" was a program back in the 70's that was designed to get elementary school kids to read more. A big bus would pull up to the school with free books for the entire school. Well, I decided to use it in the gay dictionary term for "reading" or insulting someone.