Maxi-CD cover
Archbishop Carl Bean Hosts "Disco Ball"
Bash Benefits The Minority AIDS Project
Carl Bean's "I Was Born This Way" Anthem Celebrated in Dance, Broadway-Style!
Get on down and pah-tay! Join Minority AIDS Project (MAP) founder, the Archbishop Carl Bean, at the Los Angeles nightclub Arena on Monday, December 5, 2005, 7:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. for the star-studded Back to the '70s: Disco Ball. All proceeds benefit Minority AIDS Project, a 501(c)(3) organization celebrating its 20th year of giving aid and assistance to those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Click here to see the flyer.
"The Disco Ball is a major fundraiser to help support the ongoing work of Minority AIDS Project. While there continues to be a disproportionate number of African Americans and Latinos who are infected and affected with HIV/AIDS, funding for these services continue to be drastically cut! MAP, in South Los Angeles, has been and continues to be at the forefront of providing quality services for its clients. Due to services being cut by 50%, it becomes increasingly difficult to meet the needs of people living with AIDS in our community. Our food shelves are bare and the request for food is constant! Other services that have been cut include transportation vouchers to meet doctor's appointments, housing, HIV prevention, care services and HIV counseling and testing." — Archbishop Carl Bean, founder Minority AIDS Project
Headlining the Disco Ball are disco divas Thelma Houston ("Don't Leave Me This Way"), Freda Payne ("Band Of Gold"), Evelyn "Champagne" King ("Shame") and former Supreme, Sherrie Payne ("Let Yourself Go"). Also "appearing" will be Cher, Patti LaBelle, Diana Ross, Donna Summer, Tina Turner and the Weather Girls via a celebrity illusionists revue hosted by Mahogany. Personal appearances by the Archbishop Carl Bean, Pattie Brooks ("After Dark"), Tata Vega ("I Just Keep Thinking About You Baby") and many more.
One of the evenings many highlights is the special dance performance of Carl Bean's gay anthem, "I Was Born This Way," choreographed by fab Broadway choreographer, Stephen Semien and the Stephen Semien Dancers.
What: Disco Ball benefiting the Minority AIDS Project
Where: Arena, 6655 Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood.
When: Monday, December 5, 2005, 7:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Tickets: $25. Available through: www.ticketweb.com or www.map-usa.org
Queer Awareness Month Opens with Lerner Reception
New York University professor and author Jason King spoke last night in the Lerner Party Space in the opening reception for Queer Awareness Month 2005, organized jointly by Columbia's Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Columbia Queer Alliance.
King, the associate chair of the Recorded Music Department at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and a contributing writer for magazines such as Vibe and The Village Voice, spoke about Carl Bean's 1979 disco anthem, "I Was Born This Way," now recognized as a landmark in the black queer movement.
King traced the history of this obscure gay protest song in the context of disco, which he called the "genre of music that had brought blacks, women, and gays to the forefront of our cultural imagination." Despite progress in the area of gay rights, he noted, challenges remain for gay artists of color.
"Record companies feel that marketing an openly gay singer is a risky venture," King said. "There hasn't been a groundswell of community support ... we, as a community, have to come together to support this work."
The reception was the first in a month of activities designed to raise awareness of queer issues. A free kickoff party will take place on Saturday, Oct. 6, at 10 p.m. in the basement of Lerner. — Lydia DePillis, "Columbia Spectator", October 7, 2005
QUOTES ABOUT "I WAS BORN THIS WAY"
"I chose 'I Was Born This Way' by Carl Bean for my 'Back to Mine' CD in order to give strength and hope to gays and lesbians around the world who may be living in countries less tolerant of homosexuality than the country in which I live. The song has the same emotional impact on me as 'Ain't No Stopping Us Now' by McFadden and Whitehead. Both songs are joyous celebrations of the triumph of love and humanity over hate and bigotry. The song is more important now than ever." — Chris Lowe of The Pet Shop Boys (who answered our request for a quote.)
OMG! OMG! OMG! Thee original gay disco anthem finally on domestic CD! At the risk of getting longwinded...A little bit of history for you young'ins... When this song made it's debut on the Motown label back in 1977, Carl Bean's confident vocals and the exhilarating melody inspired many ay men and women coming out in the "sexual revolution 70's". Of course, it kept many a sweaty dancer on the floor. Remix duties originally done by the legendary Tom Moulton made this song one of disco's classics. Later in the mid 80's, top remixer Shep Pettibone gave it his spin. While the "Better Days" mix sounds less powerful than the original, it did incorporate the a capella into a new interpretation. The Gomi version updates this classic without veering too far from it's disco roots - hopefully introducing it to a new generation. And the inclusion of the very rare Levan version is just the icing on the cake! The only thing that could have made this release better would have been the inclusion of the a capella. A must have! (B.K., 09/29/2005) — Perfect Beat (perfectbeat.com) customer, Los Angeles.
I agree with B.K., this is an AWESOME release. I was lucky enough to get the original Tom Moulton mix on a long discontinued import CD a couple years ago. I think Gomi did an excellent job maintaining the integrity of the original on this new mix. This is one of the truly great disco classics with a great message that should be heard by a new generation. Carl Bean displays amazing emotion in these words that unfortunately still are applicable to our generation. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. DJ Mark Bisson (M.B., 09/29/2005) — Perfect Beat (perfectbeat.com) customer, Los Angeles.
I zip by the index of the remixes like a good dance freak and low and behold, I saw the name of Shep Pettibone!! After the fourth retake glance, I got the warm fuzzies that Lord Pettibone had gotten a true "reprazent". Pettibone became of a forefather of House/Dance before...yep, Todd Terry. Of course he was so hip. He's Queer! As The ActUp organization says, "We dictate your style" (M.L., 09/29/2005) — Perfect Beat (perfectbeat.com) customer, Los Angeles.
"By the time I started to go out dancing at gay clubs, Carl Bean's "I Was Born This Way" had come and gone. Still it remains an essential track not only in the history of disco, but also in the canon of queer-themed music. Newly reissued as a CD single with six mixes, I Was Born This Way (West End) deserves to be heard by all generations of the LGBT community. " — Gregg Shapiro, Bay Area Reporter
"Carl Bean's adopted gay anthem will need little by way of introduction to those that sport the rainbow flag, but to a whole new generation it's even more relevant today than it was back in the late '70's. The ultimate feel-good song of defiance and self-respect, sticking two fingers [in the US it would be, ahem, 'the finger'] up to those who continue to pass judgment on other's sexual persuasion." — Lewis Dene, Blues & Soul magazine (UK)
"This song is about Gay Pride every day! If we are serious about wanting equal rights, then we need to spread the word that we were "born this way" on a daily basis and not wait until the last week in June. This is an every day thing, not just something we pull out of the closet for gay pride!" — Mel Cheren, CEO of West End Records.
"You can tell when a producer respects a classic because it sounds like the production was made for the song" Great job Gomi. — Deli-G, host The Touch with Deli-G on Vibe 101-FM (UK).
Hey!!! I looooove this song. This one is one of my all-time faves. And Gomi's re-mix is FIERCE AND JOYOUS! I'm loving it, spinning around my office in a caftan as if I were at Low Tea already!!!! It's gorgeous, and it's about time this legendary tune resurfaced! — John Polly, Managing Editor, Genre Magazine.
"Got the vinyl from mel...it was a huge hit on the boat cruise Sat.!" — Jeannie Hopper, host Liquid Sound Lounge on WBAI-FM (NYC)
As a straight guy, what would you say to other straight guys who ask why you like this and wanted to remix it so much? I have lots of gay friends. For me, they just have a different sexuality — it's nothing special. Everybody is different but we are all human beings, and not that different. What matters is that this song has a great message. — Gomi, Remixer of "I Was Born This Way" (West End Records)
"I knew that night, as I stood at the mic in Mo-West studios in Los Angeles ready to record 'I Was Born This Way,' that something far bigger than a regular session was taking place." Almost thirty years later, West End CEO Mel Cheren feels likewise: that this gay anthem is far bigger than that just another dance single. "The lyrics to 'I Was Born This Way,'" he says, "are as relevant today — perhaps even more so in the current political and social climate — than they were when this record was first released back in 1977." — Carl Bean, singer, "I Was Born This Way."
"I feel that most if not all of the so-called 'Gay Anthems' have no right to that title, as they are sung by straight people and actually make no mention of anything gay. A prime example is 'We Are Family' — don't get me started. It's long overdue that we claim for our own a song that is truly gay and truly proud, and Carl Bean's 'I Was Born This Way' definitely has the history and musical chops to fill that bill." — J.D. Doyle, queermusicheritage.com, Co-Producer, "Audiofile," aired nationally via "This Way Out."
"Being one of the guys who mixed it; ) I can tell a cool story about this. I was DJ at Better Days at the time and I was given a copy of the original. Got a pretty good reaction. One day, Eddie O'Laughlin of Next Plateau asked me if I had ever heard of the record. Trying to remain calm I said..."uh, yeah." He said, "Well I got a big box of half inch tapes of the masters. Wanna play with them?" Already hyperventilating into a paper bag I again tried to calmly say "uh, yeah." Elapsed time: 3 seconds on the phone to Shep "OMFG Eddie has the master half inches to Carl Bean, I'm going there now, call Arthur (Baker) and get us some free time at Shakedown." Click. I get to Next Plateau and Eddie hands me the box and says take it. If the edit comes out good, maybe we'll put it out." I'm digging through the box and almost pass out when I find the REAL master...the 24-track. Paper bag time again. Next day, Shep and I start at like 9AM (an unheard of hour for a DJ) cause we had to be out by 9 and I had to be at Better Days by 10. We literally ran tape all day, and hacked together what became the "Better Days Mix" which I brought to work that night to play off quarter inch.
Need I describe the reaction? The packed floor literally stopped in its tracks hearing Carl a capella at the beginning and then the place went absolutely PSYCHO. I think I played it like five times that night. It took us another month to finish the other mixes (only one of which came out) because we edited it at Shep's apt, and both of us had very little spare time. But that BD mix was second only to Let No Man Put Asunder in reaction at my club, for all 8 years I was there. Still sounds amazing, even after Ten City ripped it off. LOL.
Kudos to Timmy and Boyd for another great mix on it. — Bruce Forest, producer/remixer extraordinaire and remixer of the 1986 Next Plateau-issued Better Days and Club mix (along with Shep Pettibone) of Carl Bean's "I Was Born This Way." (Mixes available on the West End re-issue maxi-CD and 12" vinyl.)