Afternoon 90's Break - 10,000 Maniacs

Afternoon Dance Break - "The Pressure"

This song was the JAM.

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Afternoon Dance Break: Susan Clark "Deeper"

90's Drag

Check out this Entertainment Tonight segment from the 90's about up-and-coming drag stars. They all look so young! Also, it features a few quick shots of my all-time favorite NYC club - Club USA (R.I.P.)

Source

Patti LaBelle Break: The Right Kinda Lover

Miss Patti rocked the dance floors of the early 90's with this little tune...

 

Afternoon House Break: Happy Mondays - Stinkin Thinkin

OMGOMGOMGOMG ... I think I just peed myself a little. This song was the JAM back in my Sound Factory days...

Afternoon Dance Break: CeCe Peniston - Finally

This song was the first "gay anthem" I encountered after coming out in the early 90's. Back then when the club DJ played Finally, me and my gaggle of gays immediately stopped who what we were doing and proceed directly to the dance floor. Always. It was the law.

Happy Birthday To Lady Miss Kier

Lady Miss Kier - lead singer of the 90's dance music act Dee Lite - turns 48 today. In honor of her birthday, let's enjoy Dee Lite's Runaway - a song I saw them perform live at Wigstock in the early 90's.

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Afternoon (Celebratory) Dance Break - Deep Inside

This is a repost, but Deep Inside is one of my all-time favorite house/dance ditties - so it seems appropriate to post again today. Here's what I said back on March 17, 2010:

Deep Inside, by Masters At Work, is still one of those "I'm feeling FIERCE!" songs which pop into my head when I'm having a particularly good day.

And today IS a good day here in NYC, and this song DID pop into my head - so let's do this...

Afternoon Dance Break - M People - Itchycoo Park

M People (Heather Small + Fierce Beats) + David Morales remix = DANCE FLOOR PERFECTION.

Afternoon Dance Break - Hideaway

I love this short video of the De'lacy track from 1995 - Hideaway - because it shows scenes from the NYC I remember as a newcomer to this city. The music and vocals are slammin' also.

Afternoon Dance Break - Everybody's Free

Everybody's Free was HUGE during my first Gay Pride after moving to NYC.  So much so that my friends and I saw Rozalla perform the song at least three times at various clubs over that weekend.  It seemed as if every time we turned around, Rozalla would appear and start singing.  After so many cocktails we couldn't tell if we were seeing her live or having a flashback from the night before...

Afternoon Dance Break - Makin' Happy

Crystal Waters' 1991 follow-up to Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless).

Gay History Lesson - The Video Bar

Gather round, my gay children - and Mama will tell you a tale of an ancient gathering place that is now almost extinct.  It was called the gay "Video Bar", and these magical places existed in cities all over the United States of America back in the late 80's/early 90's.

The Video Bar was, ultimately, a place for cruising.  What is "cruising", you ask??  It's what you anti-social little bastards now do on the internet.  But back in ancient times we used to have to take a shower, shave, put on gallons of Drakkar Noir and go to the gay bar to do our cruising.  We had it rough - kinda like the Pioneers but with sleeveless t-shirts.

The great thing about Video Bars was that the fact that if the cruising was not particularly good that evening, there was something to do/watch until Mr. Right Now arrived.

The other great thing about Video Bars was the fact that it was the only place to see videos by gay and/or dance artists.  MTV certainly didn't/wouldn't play them.  That's right, my gay children - MTV use to show music videos.  Exclusively.  I know, right?!?  So, sadly, the gay Video Bar was probably the only place where you could see videos by tacky 90's dance artists like Army of Lovers (below), Saint Etienne or The Shamen.

Anybody remember this little ditty?  I think I must have seen this video at Uncle Charlies (on Greenwich Avenue in the West Village) about 5,000 times...

Afternoon Dance Break - Good Vibrations

Before Mark Wahlberg became a 'serious actor', he and his "funky bunch" (see above) was the fantasy of every gay man who ever set foot in Macy's Underwear Department.  And Marky Mark's song, Good Vibrations (which featured vocals by DIVA Loleatta Holloway), played in constant rotation on gay dance floors everywhere...

Afternoon Dance Break - Give It Up

OMG - When I was putting this post together I learned that this song STILL makes me shake what my Mama gave me.  Work!!!!  Give It Up by The Good Men takes me back to a time when one could never have too many drums and/or whistles in one's dance music.

Afternoon Dance Break - Got A Love For You

Ya learn somethin' new every day ... until I did this post, I thought Jomanda was one singular person, not the name of a group.  But I've always loved this song...

Afternoon Dance Break - Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)

I've always loved this Crystal Waters song - and considering what's going on in my life, "She's Homeless" seems like an appropriate mantra right now...

Afternoon Dance Break - WHO'S In This House?!?!?

Back in the early 90's, NYC club DJ's didn't often play this entire song during their sets - but they loved to mix in the chant into various other songs.  One night at the Tunnel, DJ Junior Vasquez played it at least a dozen different times - and each time he did, a huge cheer would erupt on the dance floor.  There were DEFINITELY some Ho's in that house on that particular evening.