LGBTQ news and entertainment
Some news stories you might have missed: • OUT: CNN’s New Year’s Eve telecast featured a gay, interracial couple kissing during the official countdown to 2024. Jake Eriksson and Corin Christian chat with Out about how they met and reflect on the response they’ve gotten to their now-iconic New Year’s Eve kiss on CNN. Continue reading “NYE Kiss Couple Talk About Internet Reaction + More News”
The honorees for the 46th annual Kennedy Center Honors (image via Kennedy Center)
My dear friend Alex Rybeck, (uber-talented composer, music director, arranger) reminded me of the artful yet melancholy “Theme from Valley of the Dolls” recorded by a wistful Dionne Warwick back in 1968.
The spare, haunting arrangement coupled with Warwick’s elegantly pensive vocal has always struck me as a special kind of pop song.
Hitting #1 on the Record World Chart in March 1968, the song was the “B” side of Dionne’s million selling “I Say a Little Prayer”, which also became another million-seller for Dionne.
What I didn’t know was that the song was originally intended for Judy Garland, who was initially cast in the film Valley of the Dolls but subsequently fired.
I can definitely see Judy bringing her unmistakable vulnerability and poignancy to the tune.
They say the mark of a great song is how future generations can connect to it. In this Trumpian day and age, who hasn’t thought:
“Gotta get off,
Gonna get,
Have to get off from this ride.”