Music News: Cyndi Lauper Creates A Residence For Homeless LGBT Youth, Plus NIN, Jay-Z Vs. Oasis, Pete Burns, Ace Of Base

Robbie Daw presents a weekly pop music update here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own site called Chart Rigger.

Many of you -- yes, that means you, buster --are probably reading this while at work. But while some of us are counting the minutes as the day wears on, as Cyndi Lauper points out in a Q&A with Newsweek, things could always be worse.

The singer discusses some of the odd jobs she had before she became a successful recording artist: "I tried to work in an office. Apparently, my clothes weren't right. I was a Gal Friday the 13th. I would answer phones and people would call up very upset. Then they'd call back screaming and yelling because I had to go to the file room and I would get sidetracked. I used to fall asleep reading the mail. I didn't want to. But it was so boring to me and I hated it."

One job Cyndi might be more happy to do is collaborating with Colleen Jackson and New York's West End Intergenerational Residence to create the True Colors Residence, "a permanent supportive housing program for homeless LGBT youth 18-24 years old."

Lauper notes in an open letter: "In New York City, a very disproportionate number (up to 40%), of homeless youth identify as LGBT. Even more disturbing are reports that these young people often face discrimination and at times physical assault in some of the very places they have to for help. This is shocking an inexcusable... We'll be building from the ground up so our residents will have a brand new, modern building with studio apartments for each resident and both indoor and outdoor community space to socialize or attend education and recreation programs. Each resident will be responsible for paying affordable rent based on their income and will receive ongoing assistance in obtaining employment best suited to their individual interests and skills."

As well, Cyndi Lauper's first studio album of original material in 11 years -- Bring Ya To The Brink -- will be released in two weeks, from Epic. The first single, "Same Ol' Story," was added to iTunes last week.

In 2001, Lauper was set to release an LP called Shine stateside, but plans with the label fell through, and the album eventually only saw the light of day in Japan, while she self-released an EP of some of the tracks domestically a year later.

Props to Towleroad reader Crispy, who in last week's music column commented that I forgot to mention Nine Inch Nails' digital release of new album The Slip, completely free of charge, on the band's website: "[lowercase sic] as a thank you to our fans for your continued support, we are giving away the new nine inch nails album one hundred percent free, exclusively via nin.com. the music is available in a variety of formats including high-quality MP3, FLAC or M4A lossless at CD quality and even higher-than-CD quality 24/96 WAVE. your link will include all options - all free. all downloads include a PDF with artwork and credits. for those of you interested in physical products, fear not. we plan to make a version of this release available on CD and vinyl in july. details coming soon."

As a fellow Western Pennsylvanian who grew up only a county away from him, I hope Trent Reznor can forgive me for not mentioning it sooner!

Can you name three reasons why Dannii is better than Kylie?

It's Jay-Z vs. Noel Gallagher over a "controversial" Glastonbury headlining gig: "We don't play guitars, Noel, but hip-hop has put in its work like any other form of music. This headline show is just a natural progression."

But if jetting off to England to see Oasis and Jay-Z's pissing contest isn't your thing, why not catch this summer's Regeneration Tour, headlined by the Human League and featuring Belinda Carlisle, ABC and Naked Eyes on the bill? Those heading to dates on the West Coast will be lucky enough to catch Pete Burns of Dead Or Alive, who's joining the tour from August 2 - 11.

Finally -- what we've all been waiting for! Gnarls Barkley's Cee Lo Green and Jack Black to cover disco classic "Kung Fu Fighting" for Dreamworks' Kung Fu Panda.

Not content to just give away their music for free, Coldplay now doing two gigs free of charge in New York and London next month.

Has it really been 14 years? Below is the video for the #1 single on Billboard's Hot 100 chart this week in 1994:

Jeez, and they thought life was demanding without understanding in the '90s...! Ace Of Base's "The Sign" initially spent four weeks at #1, beginning in March of '94, before being knocked off by R. Kelly's "Bump N' Grind." After a four-week stretch for the latter, "The Sign" returned to the top for two more weeks that May.

The Swedish quartet's same-titled album would go on to tie with Disney's Lion King soundtrack for the year's best-seller, at 7 million copies moved.

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:

Death Cab For Cutie's Narrow Stairs. (And, hey, how about a new Postal Service album while you're at it, Ben?)

We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things., a collection of three EPs Jason Mraz had released in recent months.

New singles from the reunited New Kids On The Block ("Summertime") and Kaskade & Dedmau5 ("Move For Me").

Two new singles from The Cure (The Only One"" and "NY Trip"), who plan to release songs on the 13th of each month until the August release of their as-yet-untitled 13th album.

Brit blue-eyed soul singer Duffy's debut LP, Rockferry, which contains her current hit, "Mercy."

11, the appropriately-titled 11th studio album from Bryan Adams.

Hot Chip's four-song EP for single "One Pure Thought."

A remix EP for American Idol runner-up Blake Lewis' woefully overlooked "How Many Words."

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'Dead or Alive' Singer Pete Burns: Gays too Predatory for Marriage

Former Dead or Alive singer Pete Burns has split with his partner Michael Simpson 10 months after entering into a civil partnership, and he's bitter, very bitter.

Burns slams gay relationships and civil partnerships to The Daily Mail, lamenting that heterosexual marriages are more genuine and longing for his former wife of 28 years, stylist Lynne Corlett.

According to the Mail, "he had been 'optimistic' about his civil partnership, but now he says: 'I learned the hard way. It's a total joke.' Burns accused Simpson, 40, of being unfaithful and admitted he felt disillusioned. Burns added that some gay couples had 'open marriages' where the partners could be unfaithful. He said: 'There's a lot of promiscuity in the gay community. I don't understand why they take that union. How low is their self-esteem? One's on Hampstead Heath meeting men, the other one's hiring rent boys. 'Surely marriage is throwing anchor and saying, 'This is where I'm staying, I've made my choice and this is all I want because I've been on the up and down escalator, through the revolving door and I want to stand still.' That's what I expected."

Added Burns: "I view marriage as a sacred institution. I think two men naturally are predators. Gay relationships are a commercial break, not a whole movie. The relationships I'm aware of, apart from one ... it's as though there's some kind of emotional inadequacy or narcissism, where they feel emotionally inadequate and need more validation, from either a father figure or a mirror image of themselves. "I'm not condemning it, I think it needs researching and help...Would I get married again? If somebody knocked me on the head with a nine-inch nail-studded plank or drugged me with benzodiazepine ... No, no, no."

Previously
'Dead or Alive' singer Pete Burns Sues After Disfiguring Lip Job [tr]
A Jack and Jill Party [tr]

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News: Raymond Burr, Flowers, Mychal Judge, Ross Bleckner

Vigil held for Father Mychal Judge on eve of Pope's Ground Zero visit: "He had a heart as big as New York. There was room for everybody. We wish that our church had room for everybody, and that was one of our prayers tonight, that our church would be welcoming, especially those who feel excluded, especially gays and lesbians."

Jesse Metcalfe shows off new tuff n hairy shots.

Enrique Iglesias says people are pleasantly surprised when they pull down his pants.

David Zippel (lyricist and co-librettist), Joe Leonardo (co-librettist) and Jonathan Sheffer (composer) team up for musical version of George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's 1930 Broadway comedy, Once in a Lifetime to star Christine Ebersole. The show, which is having a reading next month, is to be directed by Jerry Mitchell.

Singapore restricts videogames with gay themes: "People Like Us considers this new rule unjustifiably strict. Children should not have to be kept ignorant about the presence of gay people in society anymore than they should be shielded from people of other faiths and ethnicities. The path to acceptance of gay people is through teaching children about diversity from a young age. It is pejorative to lump gay sexual orientation with crime and drug use as the MDA’s new guidelines do, as if gay orientation is some kind of social threat."

Hillary Clinton slams MoveOn.org at private fundraiser. Clinton strategist Geoff Garin responds...

Gay men being "liberated from a narrow place" at New York Jewish seminary.

Dead or Alive's Pete Burns has reportedly leaked his own sex tape.

BOOK: Perry Mason's Raymond Burr led a secret gay life.

Britney Spears to return to How I Met your Mother because "she had so much fun the first time around."

Gay bookstore in Vancouver that challenged Canadian Customs is up for sale: "Only two years after the store opened in 1983, the owners took on a fight that bolstered and exhausted them, lasting until just last year and challenging Canada's censorship laws. After 23 years of fighting Canada Customs' seizures of books bound for the gay and lesbian bookshop, the partners have put Little Sister's up for sale. It's time to do something else, Deva says as he plans to get a choir booked for the store's 25th anniversary celebrations. 'It's probably time to pass on the torch hopefully to some younger, energetic people who are willing to work with our store,' he says. 'I'm not in a rush. We're going to take our time.' The fight against Customs put the store at the forefront of the battle against censorship in Canada. Among books seized were Jean Genet's Querelle, Quentin Crisp's The Naked Civil Servant, Joe Orton's Prick Up Your Ears, The Joy of Gay Sex and The Joy of Lesbian Sex."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: the tarot cards!

You're Going to be Gay: New book looks at childhood pictures that foretell a gay future.

Gay UK airport security guard could be awarded up to £30,000 in sexual harassment claim over female co-worker who came on to him.

Artist Ross Bleckner penning a memoir: "'It's based on the journals he has kept for years,' says a pal. 'And he is writing it as if he is giving advice to his younger self.' The New York painter is expected to include recollections about famous friends including Calvin Klein, Diane von Furstenberg and former Mrs. Ron Perelman, Claudia Cohen."

Flowers appear to be losing their scent and experts are worried: "The potentially hugely significant research – funded by the blue-chip US National Science Foundation – has found that gases mainly formed from the emissions of car exhausts prevent flowers from attracting bees and other insects in order to pollinate them. And the scientists who have conducted the study fear that insects' ability to repel enemies and attract mates may also be impeded."

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News: Pete Burns, John McCain, Cherry Grove, Bill Richardson

John McCain's campaign manager and chief strategist exit: "In statements, Terry Nelson, a veteran of President Bush's successful 2004 re-election effort, said he resigned as campaign manager effective immediately and John Weaver said he stepped down from his post of chief strategist on Tuesday. But other officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid discussing private conversations, said Nelson was fired."

Capturing the cherry at Cherry Grove, Fire Island.

Former Dead or Alive singer Pete Burns got hitched: "This is the second marriage for Burns, who was married for twenty-five years to his wife Lynne. During Burns' stint on Celebrity Big Brother on live television, he announced the couple's wedding engagement. One break-up and reconciliation later, the two scooted themselves down the aisle."

Bill Richardson apologizes for using "maricón" slur after being goaded by Don Imus in 2006: "Almost exactly one year before Imus was to lose his show for using a slur to describe the Rutger’s women’s basketball team, the shock jock used the Spanish word 'maricón' in an on-air exchange with Richardson. 'Bernard on the staff here has been claiming you’re not really Hispanic so-- that you're just claiming that for some sort of advantage or something,' Imus said to Richardson, tongue clearly in cheek. 'You can just answer this yes or no and this will answer that question. Would you agree that Bernard is a maricón?' Without missing a beat, Richardson replied in Spanish, 'Yo creo que Bernardo, sí — es un maricón si él piensa que yo no soy hispano. [General laughter] Was that good enough or what? [General laughter]' 'That’s good enough for me,' Imus replied."

Groove Armada's Andy Cato says they'll lead Kylie Minogue back to the top of the charts: "Ours is the best tune. The track we've done is a killer. It's sort of Blondie pop with a stripped-back sound. I'm quietly confident about it."

Desperately Seeking Susan coming to the London stage.

Victoria Beckham reality show to air July 16th: "It's funny. People really get to see what I'm really like. I have quite a dry sense of humor, which I hope is going to translate to Americans. I'm incredibly blessed and I wanted to show that to everybody."

Former communications director at 10 Downing Street reveals in diary entry that Tony Blair laughed when he learned of the gay mugging of then Welsh Secretary Ron Davies: "We took him (Blair) into the dining room and told him what we knew. "He looked surprised but not shocked and then, as I had, laughed. 'Bloody hell' he said."

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News: Gene Robinson, Criss Angel, Summer of Love, RuPaul

Proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage volleys around the North Carolina House in effort to kill it: "The House Rules Committee moved the bill to the full House moments after the panel narrowly rejected an effort to send it to another committee, a tactic aimed at keeping the proposal from coming to a vote. Two Democrats joined the Republicans on the committee to keep the measure alive. But [House Speaker] Hackney, D-Orange, said later Tuesday he would use his power as speaker to refer the bill to another committee. Unless a vote is taken by the full House before Thursday's so-called crossover deadline, the amendment will die for the remainder of the two-year session. 'I said at the beginning of the session that we will control the agenda, and that's what we will do,' Hackney said. 'The reference of bills to committee is always one of the ways the agenda is controlled.'"

RuPaul back with new film Starrbooty: "Laughter is my most favorite spell to cast. It's gotten me through the most difficult times and taught me to not take the illusion of the material world too seriously."

Dawson Creek's Kevin Williamson is also back, with Hidden Palms.

Victoria Beckham gets more plastic-looking every day.

Inside the UK Big Brother house, where gay couple James Joell and Stephen Ireland may be pranking around.

Rhode Island High Court takes on gay divorce case: "Cassandra Ormiston and Margaret Chambers wed in Massachusetts in 2004 after same-sex marriage became legal in that state. The couple last year filed for divorce in Rhode Island, where they live, citing irreconcilable differences. Lawyers for both parties say the divorce case won't decide whether gay couples can get married in Rhode Island, where the law is silent on whether such unions are valid. But it does affect whether the state will recognize same-sex couples who are wed in Massachusetts."

Watch your back David Blaine. Magician Criss Angel to encase himself in concrete cube over Times Square and must escape in 24 hours.

Open Closet is a new greeting card company, when you care enough to send the very gayest.

Former Dead or Alive frontman Pete Burns is looking for a personal assistant: "Would you love to work for a celebrity? This role is not for the faint hearted! Are you highly efficient, motivated, organised, flexible, and thick skinned?!"

Summer of Love remembered, 40 years later.

Gay Bishop Gene Robinson not invited to Anglican Lambeth confab: "Bishop Robinson said he was extremely disappointed at his exclusion and asked in a statement, 'At a time when the Anglican Communion is calling for a ‘listening process’ on the issue of homosexuality, how does it make sense to exclude gay and lesbian people from the discussion?' The archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, who has expressed liberal views on homosexuality in the past, has been determined to keep the communion intact. In his invitation letter, Archbishop Williams wrote, 'I have to reserve the right to withhold or withdraw invitations from bishops whose appointment, actions or manner of life have caused exceptionally serious division or scandal within the communion.'"

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'Dead or Alive' singer Pete Burns Sues After Disfiguring Lip Job

Former Dead or Alive frontman Pete Burns is suing a plastic surgeon for £1 million after a botched lip transplant that he says left him unable to leave the house for months, forced him to eat through a straw, and destroyed his life and career, according to the Daily Mail:

"Burns said he looked like he had been 'mutilated with a Stanley knife' after surgery to correct the original problems left his top lip hanging off."

Burns, whose obsession with cosmetic surgery is well-known, had his career refreshed in 2006 after appearing on Britain's Celebrity Big Brother. He came in fifth on the show but his verbal attacks on the other housemates gave him renewed notoriety.

Said Burns of the recent surgery: It has taken away my life and my career. I saw doctors in London who said the only option was to amputate my lips. I was suicidal. Eventually I found a doctor in Italy who knew the product and said he could remove it. I had 17 months of procedures and now I am back again having more...What happened to me after a series of injections was far worse than any nightmare I could have envisaged. Not only was it agonisingly painful but it was physically repulsive in the extreme. It was impossible to lead any life whatsoever. I was unable to leave my house as I was so distorted with swelling. At times it leaves me seriously suicidal and depressed and I could have problems for the rest of my life."

Burns claims that the lip surgery forced him to cut off recording sessions with the Pet Shop Boys (his most recent effort with them — "Jack and Jill Party" — was well received), and curtail solo projects as well as a Greatest Hits album.

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A Jack and Jill Party [tr]

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A Jack and Jill Party

The Pet Shop Boys have participated in some wildly successful collaborations with singers like Dusty Springfield and Liza Minnelli. Their new collaboration with androgynous and visually flamboyant Dead or Alive frontman Pete Burns, "Jack and Jill Party", should rank as one of their best ever. Burns' instantly recognizable voice combines the mechanical precision of a welded factory part with the dark snarl of Billy Idol and is familiar to most from Dead or Alive's '84 smash "You Spin Me Round". The PSB arrangement is "retro-electro", harking back to the early 80's twisted dark synthetic disco sounds

Best of all, the lyrics to the single are brash, defiant, and laced with the kind of dark energy only Burns can deliver. The conceit of the song is that Burns is going to a "Jack and Jill Party", a slang term from the late 80's which describes a masturbatory sexual get-together in which both gay men and lesbians are invited to participate. Other definitions include both gay and straight men and women but in either case a Jack and Jill Party is about exhibitionism and performing sexual acts in the presence of others.

Sexual honesty, openness, and rebellion seem to be the core messages of the song, conveyed in a driving series of verses, including this visual of two men walking hand in hand in order to shock the public:

I'm going to America / A very big subject in America
We'll walk down the avenue hand in hand / Cameras flashing on command
Possessed of a power to fascinate / It's almost like I'm almost straight
And that's such a great substantial way / To deflect hate in the USA

Aside from the lyrics, the single has an amazing mood and energy. I was turned on to it by a reader of this site, so thanks.. Two electronic music legends on one song — doesn't happen too often.

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