So yesterday, DazPanic and I hauled ass to London to go and see a new musical called Daddy Cool, starring Javine, Harvey from So Solid and Cindy Beale from Eastenders...
For those that don't know, Daddy Cool is based on the music of Boney M (and a little bit of Milli Vanilli, No Mercy and La Bouche) so how much you will like it depends on how much you like Boney M. As with most of this musicals (Mama Mia, We Will Rock You) the story is wafer thin, linking the songs with almost embarrassing seagueways ("hey I want to know - where did you go" leads into No Mercy's Where Do You Go!). The first act is a lot of fun however - it's almost like being at a Boney M tribute concert with colourful stage sets, great choreography and a real sing a long atmosphere. Unfortunately, it falls apart somewhat in the second half when it turns into a mawkish drama about gang wars (the "rap off" music contest between gangs was cringeworthy!) but pulls it back together somehow for the audience participation sing a long finale...
All in all, its an enjoyable musical - not a great piece of art, but a fun afternoon out. Javine and Harvey get top billing but definitely do not have the starring roles - they belong to Sunny and Rose whose Romeo and Juliet style love story dominates the musical. And the actors in those roles were both incredibly good...
OK! Enough about things I have been to see - onto some other stuff...
HOT LINKS:
It's great to see Switch 22 getting more publicity, particularly at the popular Arjanwrites site - I love this fun band and am excited that they finally have a release over here in blighty. They seem super nice guys who really want to have some fun making music and entertaining people. My favourite song Sweet Dreaming - a sort of mash up between Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) and A Little Respect isn't on the EP they have released, which is ok - I know they have more great songs ahead of them. I really want these boys to be HUGE! Now go purchase their EP!
MP3: Switch 22 - Sweet Dreaming
New blogger on the block, Pinkie Dust, (whose idea for a site i love) was first to alert me to the fact that my second favourite Disney film of all time, The Little Mermaid, is currently preparing to open on broadway. I think the DVD gets released this autumn too, so exciting times ahead for out little Ariel. Check out a demo of one of the upcoming broadway tunes... (ps - i just reread Pinkie's comments on my History Boys review~ did he call me an English Auden queen?!?! lol!)
MP3: Disney on Broadway - Part Of Your World (demo)
I was somewhat surprised that Infernal won't be releasing any of the great tracks from their current album (Loved Like A Maniac, Cheap Trick Kinda Girl, Keen On Disco et al...) but a new song which is a cover of a Laura Brannigan "classic"... you can check it out over at Will's blog or listen to one of the remixes below...
MP3: Infernal - Self Control (radio remix)
Make sure you head on over to XO's palace to read some fun bitchy extracts from Rupert Everett's tell all biography...
As far as I'm concerned Poppostergirl can do no wrong (except when it comes to Clay Aiken!) so when she writes about those loveable little scamps McFly, you know you just got to pay attention. So check out her posts and their music if you haven't done so already. Allegedly, their new single will be hitting Myspace on monday, but i got sent a little clip of one of their new songs that you can check out below (its v low quality)... let me know what you think...
Might do another post later today, wrapping up some of the things i said i was going to write about earlier in the week. be sure to check out chartrigger later today to see how the scissters and robbie have done in the UK charts...
I wish I could have commented on The History Boys, alas I'm not that knowledgeable on le stage... (does High School Musical count??)
That said, strangely my last two freelance assigments have been to interview a Broadway actor and the artistic director of a theater company. At any rate, the Pinkster did a great, well thought out analysis of the show
Okay, on to what's really important: What?? No original song for the next Infernal single? Golly, they're playing it safe, no? The "Self Control" cover is 'okay.' Certainly nothing new added to it by the Infernal kids. Oh well.
And weren't you promising two posts today? Or will it just be this one with a bonus disc later today?
Glad you liked The Little Mermaid demos. I'm especially adoring the new versions of Poor Unfortunate Souls. I love the rude lyrics of Ursula. How great is the line "STARTING NOW YOU BET YOUR PIPPI!! SHES REALLY IN THE HOLE!!!" Knowing Disney it will be all cleaned up.
As for Infernal,just looking at amazon you can tell that the album has been out for a very long time. They are probably just tired with the same old material. They did release more singles in Europe didnt they? You can check out the videos on YouTube. The video for A To The B is so funny.
I originally misheard the lyric as
"Oh jews begin to lose their glow"
But its actually "Oh jewels begin to lose their glow".
But hey its a brilliant song...that even talks about impotence:
"Beauty queens get old & fat, wrinkle up and that is that. And no one bucks the trend. Every handsome Romeo gets bald on top and soft below!"
Impotency! In a disney song. Excellent!
This could be the musical of the year.
As for the Auden queen comment, i was talking more about the manipulation/English apple strategy deployed by some English writers in their attempt of pathos(see all of the Working Title films such as Love, Actually and Notting Hill). In other words, its a typical expression of Englishness that has remained with us since Auden wrote that damn Stop All the Clocks poem!
i utterly adore Little Mermaid demos - i have listened to them several times today and will probably have them on again tomorrow on the way to work. Expect a bigger post about it soon...(i think i posted that version of Kiss The Girl a little while back too)
as i said before, i respect your opinion on The History Boys - i did and still love it though and am eager for the film...i guess i'm a sucker for the simpler stereotypical british stuff :)
(It's so difficult to judge these low-quality audio clips, though)