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

Belgian Synth Wonders Telex

Telex were a Belgian band formed in 1978. They even participated in EuroVision one year.

Their single Moscow Discow was a seminal synth disco hit. It was played in all the best clubs like The Paradise Garage and Studio 54.

Seymour Stein ever the innovator picked it up For Sire records and that for sure was a big break for Telex. A few other cuts managed to get some attention but none as much as Moscow Discow.

A clip of Heather Parisi the Italian American showgirl who was all over Italian t.v. in the late 70's and 80's and even had a few of her own hits has gone viral. She's dancing to the track and it really shows how the track sounds great even now over 40 years later. Look for the link in the message section below.

Laid Back

Danish group Laid Back from Copenhagen were formed in 1979 and had many releases.

But really it was all about the double A side single from 1983.  Sunshine Reggae which was a perfect light summer anthem that year.  It made it to #3 in Italy, #1 in Germany and Austria and did quite well in other countries too.

But to me it was all about White Horse their electro masterpiece which couldn't have been more different then Sunshine Reggae.  The edits were masterfully done by my buddy Bobby Shaw who is a legend in the New York dance music field.  He's worked for many labels and knows everyone.  His ability at hit picking once showed itself in a very interesting way.  He won a Porsche from Billboard magazine for his predicting abilities in a competition!

LAID BACK

And if you were in any cool club in 1983 you were shaking your tail to White Horse.  In fact Sire picked up the record and it even made it to #1 on the U.S. dance charts and even #5 on the R and B charts certainly quite a feat for a pair of white Danish men!  My zip includes the original of both hits and all sorts of remixes.  Some better then others.

By the way though a solid dance record White Horse actually had a strong message.  It was about not fucking around with heroin.  Which in Europe in the early 80's was definitely a chronic problem.

In 1985 they had another dance hit in the U.S. with One Life which peaked at #10 but that was their last appearnace on the U.S. charts.

Paris Latino

Que bueno que rico que lindo
Paris Latino
Que bueno que rico que lindo
Paris Latino
Bandolero rock
Bandolero shock
Bandolero rock
Bandolero shock

Paris Latino was just one of those hits that you had to sing along to.  In 1983 in Europe it was everywhere.  In Italy it was the 11th biggest record of the year peaking at #2.

In the U.S. it was picked up by Sire, Seymour Stein's seminal synth-pop and new wave label. 

Bandolero a French act featured a pair of brothers and another guy.  They were basically one-hit wonders.  But like Disco Duck it's one of those one hit wonder songs that are absolutely unforgettable.

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