THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH Jose & Luis Xtravaganza background vocals MADONNA

Here is another re-post with a refreshed link.  This time with the addition of the Hot Tracks remix.

Jose Guiterez and Luis Camacho first appeared on vinyl on the Sire New Faces compilation in 1993.  My dear friend Risa Morley was the Aand R Director for the project.  She had been working side by side with the illustrious Seymour Stein in her career at Sire. 

So Madonna saw Paris is Burning and felt so inspired that she had to have voguers on her tour and do a song about voguing.  The rest is history for Jose Guiterez and Luis Camacho.  But where exactly do you go after you've been on tour with Madonna?  You can of course get a record deal and then not have your record promoted well enough to become a hit.  Some would say it was a bad record, and what can you do with that?  But I beg to differ.  It was a fun record and those boys had their pulse on the N.Y. ball scene and the downtown trendy scene at the same time.  Their voguing at The Sound Factory among other places remains legendary.  And left Madonna herself in awe.

Clearly had she offered more substantial backing vocals then the song would have been a guaranteed  hit.  Seems like what she offered was like throwing a bone.  But I guess that was a big deal for her because she has never done backing vocals for anyone before or since.  Junior Vasquez the most important DJ in N.Y. at the time produced and co-wrote the song along with the boys.

HOT TRACKS WAV

A QUEENIE ZIP

I heard Queen's English a few times at The Sound Factory but I wouldn't say Junior pumped it so often that he made it a huge hit there.  Not like he did with "X" his ode to the house of Xtravaganza.  Larry Levan used to create hits at The Paradise Garage by forcing his taste on the crowd.  Junior did that too to a certain extent.  But to me it seemed more like he was forcing a particular sound on his crowd and if you didn't really care for it tough luck.

Granted one could say that the boys contributed greatly to the massive success of Vogue and she acknowledged that.  Otherwise she would not have brought them to perform at the 1990 Video Music Awards or used them for her Rock the Vote advertisement or had them featured in the documentary Truth or Dare.

Jose also appeared in the controversial Justify My Love video.  The first video that had to be sold in stores because it was not permitted to air on MTV.  It proved to be one of the all time best selling single video's of all time.  Jose was named father of the House of Xtravaganza in 2002.  Both boys have since been inducted into the Ballroom Hall of Fame and have appeared in the 2006 ballroom documentary How do I Look?  In the fall of 2012 Jose Xtravaganza partnered with filmmaker Jason Last, known for his work in the field of fashion, to create the short film VOGUE(ing).   Both Jose and Luis have taken their talents to Japan on several occasions to represent their house and the art form.

XTRAVAGANZA'S IN GET OUT WEEKLY

How to Vogue for Vogue Japan

Alright, what's this about the Queen's English?

The Queen's English
Do you know the Queen's English?
The Queen's English
Do you know the Queen's English?

Hey Luis
Yeah?
Hey Luis
Yeah?
Introduce yourself
Alright
Introduce yourself
Alright

My name is Luis
I come from downtown
And I get down and I know it

The Queen's English
Do you know the Queen's English?
The Queen's English
Do you know the Queen's English?

Hey Jose
Yeah?
Hey Jose
Yeah?
Introduce yourself
Alright
Introduce yourself
Alright

My name is Jose
I come from downtown
And I get down and I know it

The Queen's English
Do you know the Queen's English?
The Queen's English
Do you know the Queen's English?

Queen's that read are the best
Mmmm
Queen's that read are the best
Tally, tally, tally

Love break, love break, love break, love break
(3x)

Queens that read are the best 
Queens that read are the best
And they can also get a job anywhere

Can you read
Can you read Queen's English
Can you read
Can you read

Can you read
Can you read Queen's English
Can you read
Can you see

The Queen's English
Do you know the Queen's English?
The Queen's English
Do you know the Queen's English?

I'm refreshing this old post and adding a .wav of the Hot Tracks Mix to the comments section

THE DEVIL MADE ME BUY THAT DRESS I.M.T. Octavia St. Laurent

In honor of the fabulous movie Saturday Church and renewed curiosity for ball culture I'm bringing back this post from a few years ago.  I distinctly remember seeing voguing to this madness at The Sound Factory back in 1993.

The Devil

I ordinarily don't honor house music on my blog. But I am going to break my rule for a few reasons. One being that Paris is Burning Jennie Livington's amazing documentary about the New York ball culture is among my favorite films of all time. Another reason is the passing of trans beauty Octavia St. Laurent of A.I.D.S. on May 17, 2009.



Some of her lines are simply the most delightful, repeatable and throw-shade-readable in the film. In fact one line was so particularly legendary that an entire house record was based around the sample.
"$559.00 dollars how's that for a simple dress?"
I.M.T.'s The Devil Made me Buy that Dress was an important moment in Junior Vasquez's Sound Factory legacy. 1993 also happened to be a peak year in the evolution of one of just a couple unforgettable moments in New York City Underground dance scene. The Sound Factory was just about the only club that really mattered for years. So what sounded fierce on that dance floor is just about what sounded fierce period. Junior Vasquez has had rabid fans ever since. Though most would say his moment of supremacy has long since passed.





In 2003 another documentary was released with a similar theme. It was called How Do I Look. By this time Octavia was calling herself Heavenly Angel Octavia St. Laurent Manolo Blahnik, try saying that ten time fast!