Don't You Forget About Me: Cyndi Lauper

"We should all have the same right to live with the same dignity, opportunity & safety. It shouldn't matter what anyone's sexual orientation is." - Cyndi Lauper

We have always had an adoration for Cyndi Lauper. She is to many a legendary icon that has withheld the test of time as an outspoken pop innovator and brilliant singer/songwriter. How can anyone not resist running to the dancefloor when 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' in one of it's many incarnations is played? Whenever we hear 'Change Of Heart' we instantly grab our hairbrush and pretend we are jumping around Leicester Square just like Cyndi did in our high school years. It is with delight today that we bring you our latest post to honour Cyndi Lauper.

Cyndi is getting a lot of press lately as she is taking a stand and fighting for gay equality by headlining the 'True Colors Tour' which will be blazing it's way across America and Canada throughout June in many key cities. Cyndi has brought together an impressive list of supporting gay-friendly artists as well for this tour including Erasure, Debbie Harry, The Dresden Dolls, The Gossip and The Misshapes. All will be hosted as well by our favourite stand-up comedian and personal hero Margaret Cho. Guests on the tour include Rufus Wainwright, Rosie O'Donnell, The Indigo Girls, The Clicks, Jeffree Star, Cazwell, Amanda Lepore and the brilliant Rufus Wainwright.

It means a lot to us that Cyndi Lauper is putting herself and her beliefs for gay equality on the line and in the public eye. A tour like this and of this scale would have never been possible ten years ago - it's truly a sign that the world is changing their belief systems and accepting gays, lesbians and transgendered people into the mainstream. Yes, this change is not happening overnight, but if it wasn't for artists like Cyndi Lauper leading the way, we don't think this long overdue change would ever come.

We urge everyone to dig out their old Cyndi Lauper records and give them a spin. Download some of those Cyndi Lauper tracks ('I Drove All Night' is our favourite Cyndi Lauper song) that you never got around to purchasing and if you can, give 'The Body Acoustic' a whirl...Cyndi's duet with Sarah McLachlan on 'Time After Time' is beautiful and heartwrenching. We get chills everytime we hear this beautiful duet with Cyndi standing for gay rights and Sarah who has done the same in regards to women's rights with the ever-important Lilith Fair behind her.

We wish we could attend the True Colors Tour in America this June, but if any EQ readers get a chance to do so, please email us and let us know of your experience at this special summer event.

The world will never forget this Cyndi Lauper. Truly you are one of the original Electroqueers.

Cyndi Lauper & Sarah McLachlan on 'Time After Time'

More info on the True Colors Tour

Cyndi Lauper's MySpace

Don't You Forget About Me : Jason Downs

Jason Downs is one of those artists that is strangely unique and awkward all at the same time.  He released two very good albums on Jive Records called 'White Boy With A Feather' and 'The Spin' that we played over and over with delight as they managed to get us to enjoy a bit of hip-hop infused with thoughtful country-boy poetry and storytelling.  Yeah - it was weird, but very, very listenable. 

So when we were pondering on what to write about today, we actually had to ask ourselves,

'What the hell happened to Jason Downs?' 

If anyone has any news on Jason Down's whereabouts and what he has been up to lately, please do let us know.  We miss that white boy a lot!  So until we get to the bottom of the 'Case of the Missing JD', here are some of download recommendations and enjoy the little pic of him eating Ben & Jerrys and staring at the cameraman so seductively.

Cherokee : Our favourite Jason Downs song - picture this, a small-town country boy moving to the big, big city and feeling a little lost and confused...oh boy, can we relate to that one.

White Boy With A Feather : Again, said country boy moves to New York, steps off the Greyhound bus and ends up with a tranny who robs him after losing to her in a game of poker.  We can't say that has happened to us.

Shut Up (Let's Hook Up) : Jason gets frustrated with his chick who has a lot of problems (including her sick doggie and her missing watercress) and the only thing on his mind is, well...gettting her in the sack.  Ok - the song is more funny than it sounds...It's like a straight guy anthem - only cooler. 

Cat's In The Cradle : Yes, this is a remake of the Harry Chapin classic with guest hip-hop vocals by Milk.  This was Jason's first single.  Insert weird factoid - Hey did you know Jason was also in the movie Hairspray?  Neither did we until we read about in Wikipedia today!

WANTED: Have you seen this man?  He was last seen eating unusual amounts of ice cream while rapping with hip-hop artist Milk and making brilliant pop songs.

If you have any information on the whereabouts of Jason Downs, please get in touch with Electroqueer today.

We might even give you a reward.

Don't You Forget About Me : Tommy Page

Before Simon Curtis, before Darren Hayes, before Justin Timberlake, there was Tommy Page. For those of you who haven't heard of Tommy Page before, he was a massive popstar in the late eighties/early nineties due to his collaboration with New Kids On The Block on his US number one Billboard smash single, 'I'll Be Your Everything'.  Electroqueer was a massive fan before his commercial success came to fruition and we have always followed his career very closely.  Let us take you on a trip back to our youth to introduce you to one of the original Electroqueer artists, Tommy Page...

When we were a wee young chap (ok late eighties), we were mesmerized by Tommy's electronic sound on his debut self-titled album 'Tommy Page' which gave us some synth-house anthems like 'Turning Me On' and 'A Zillion Kisses', 'I Love London' and 'Hard To Be Normal'.  Proving that he could not only fill a dancefloor, Tommy also had some poignant ballads in the way of 'Minetta Lane' and our favourite song of all time (yes it truly is), 'A Shoulder To Cry On'.  He had an amazing look, a sense of androgynous club style and the voice of an angel that beckoned us to him as if he were our musical pied-piper. 

Tommy later went on to be a massive superstar in Asia, releasing over 7 albums in that market off the success of working with New Kids On The Block and Tiffany.  We had the chance to meet Tommy backstage at his headline show in Tacoma, Washington with Sweet Sensation and Linear and he was the nicest guy ever.  We practically had to whore ourselves to the Linear roadie to get backstage, but hey -- it's all for the love of music right?  Below is that magical moment for us captured on Kodak - god, we looked so innocent back then and check out the matching hair quiffs!  LOL.

One thing that came from that incredible encounter, was our conversation -- I told Tommy that I loved 'Minetta Lane' immensely and he told me that if I was ever in New York City that I'd have to take a walk down that beautiful street.  It was this moment in life that made me ambitious enough to do actually that and I had it in my mind to one day move to the big city and fulfill this request that was given to me by Tommy Page himself.

Fast forward quite a few years.  I was working in Boston and was partying in New York rather frequently in what we call our 'experimental years'.  On my last weekend in New York city before officially moving to London, myself and a group of friends (Pedro included) decided to have one last jont in the big apple before I moved.  In the middle of the village on a cold winter's night, I stumbled across Minetta Lane (the street) and I turned to my friend Louis (of which knew all about my Tommy Page obsession) and said 'Hey - this is Minetta Lane!'  We squealed with excitement (or at least I did) and really my day was truly made at that point. 

Later that evening, we went to go see Pedro perform at Lips, went to a house party and decided to have one last disco danceup at Splash.  About an hour into the evening, Louis and I were dancing and I noticed Tommy Page sitting at a sofa.  Can you imagine my excitement?!  I went right over to him and we chatted for hours -- once again proving he was the nicest guy in pop.  I told him of the 'Minetta Lane' encounter earlier in the day and we laughed as he revealed that the song is really about his dog!  Again the moment was captured on Kodak above and Tommy later personally sent me his CD 'Ten Til Midnight' in London and we have enjoyed the occasional email back and forth over the years.

I can't explain to you what an inspiration Tommy Page has been in my life and how he is also part of the backbone of the Electroqueer blog.  Today, Tommy has now taken a behind the scenes position in music and is now a Vice President for Warner Bros A&R in which he helps to bring new talent to the world like vocalists Michael Buble, Mis-teeq and Ashley Tisdale (from High School Musical) - whose debut album 'Headstrong' will be out in February of this year.

Visit Tommy Page's official website for more information, music videos and his complete discography.  If you are new to discovering Tommy Page, we highly recommend you download or purchase any of the songs mentioned in this posting as well as 'Ten Til Midnight' as copies can be bought on eBay from time to time.  We hear that there also may be a new album in the works too and if you're reading this Tommy - you can count on Electroqueer to behind it all the way.

Missing You

I'll Be Your Everything