It may have stolen your innocence
But not, no-not your soul" - Boy Blue, Cyndi Lauper
I'm just going to leave this here. It's Pride Month, Saturday June 7th 2025.
Liberation!
Marsha P. Johnsons on Wikipedia -
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Photo by: Albert Sanchez - Design by: John Stapleton
Belinda Carlisle, beloved solo artist, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and voice of the Go-Go’s, returns to her roots with the release of a new studio album Once Upon a Time in California, slated for release on 29 August 2025 by the Demon Music label.
Featuring ten new studio tracks including the lead track, “The Air That I Breathe” were recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Gabe Lopez, who worked with Belinda on her 2017 studio album Wilder Shores. Once Upon a Time in California will be available on CD, vinyl and digital formats and available for pre-order HERE
Following the success of Belinda’s 2023 EP Kismet, and the single “Big Big Love” HERE Once Upon a Time in California sees Belinda Carlisle take a deeply personal journey through the golden sounds of her youth with this ten-track collection. Steeped in the spirit of her Californian upbringing, the album is a heartfelt tribute to the vintage pop culture that shaped her musical identity.
What sets this album apart is that it’s a celebration of Californian culture that stretches its canvas beyond the familiar evocation of the Laurel Canyon sound. It’s a carefully curated and beautifully realised salute to Belinda’s personal education in pop music, and the magical sounds that arrived in her life from near and far, on the radio and on cherished 45s.
With the assured and distinctive vocal delivery of someone who herself has become one of the Golden State’s greatest exports - initially as frontwoman for the Go-Go’s, who enjoyed Top 10 hits with Our Lips Are Sealed, Vacation and We Got The Beat and as a solo performer with a multitude of hits including Mad About You, Heaven Is A Place on Earth, Circle In the Sand and I Get Weak amongst others, Belinda Carlisle completes this sentimental journey back to her youth with timeless style.
Once Upon a Time in California opens with a stirring remake of the Burt Bacharach & Hal David gem written for Dionne Warwick, Anyone Who Had A Heart. Belinda then pays her respects to such timeless artists as the Carpenters (Superstar), Gordon Lightfoot (If You Could Read My Mind) and Jim Croce (Time In A Bottle) and to songs for the ages including The Air That I Breathe (The Hollies), Everybody’s Talking (Harry Nilsson) and Reflections Of My Life (Marmalade). The result is an entirely different kind of Californian dreaming for a new generation. Although this marks the first time all ten tracks have been available on one album, three of them – Superstar, If You Could Read My Mind and Get Together have been available on previous Belinda Carlisle collections.
Commenting on the album Belinda says, “I was born and raised in California at a time when music was an important part of Californian culture. I lived and breathed music, it was my great escape - a refuge of fantasy and imagination. Every day after school and when it was summer vacation, I would listen and sing along to the music on the radio for the entire day. Always fantasizing about being a singer myself, one day.
This collection of songs is the best representation of what I loved back then that I could think of - listening to it brings back so many memories of a time and a California that doesn't really exist anymore. That’s not meant to sound like a bad thing, it's just different - there was an innocence and energy back then that was unique and magical. Things I doubt will ever be felt in quite the same way again. Here's to the California of my dreams.”
With Once Upon a Time in California, Belinda Carlisle invites fans old and new to join her on a journey through the melodies that defined a generation.
FOLLOW BELINDA CARLISLE
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE
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| "Come Alive!" Michael Shinafelt |
"Come alive, Bones and flesh right before your eyes, I come alive" Come Alive, Traci Lords
Thought these lyrics from friend and LGBTQ+ ally Traci Lords were fitting for Pride Month. Now is not the time to be afraid and sit in silence. It's a time to celebrate and Come Alive!
That is exactly what we are going to do, right here, right now.
TRUTH: Trans people are not the threat. But right now, they are the scapegoat
Wishing all homophobes a super uncomfortable month
Hey, train wreck, this isn't your station. The more you know...
PS I love plotting the gay agenda with you. That's all.
JK Rowling announces she is no longer Transphobic after attending Cincinnati Pride and winning a free cell phone charger from a Bisexual Realtor's booth. Discuss.
You missed me a little, more than I missed you. Think about it, but not too much.
Donald Trump says Pride Month will now be celebrated as "IX Month"...AS IF!
Loving the latest Miley Cyrus album "Something Beautiful" there's that
Woman Crush Of The Week - Bisexual, Pansexual, Non-Binary artist Janelle Monae. Because being free is everything!
Is anyone looking forward to Season 2 of Wednesday? I am, the first one was kind of tepid. Rumor has it they lean into the horror of it all this go...can't wait!
Rest In Power Loretta Swit aka "Hot Lips" Houlihan on the TV series M*A*S*H
Bring Her Back is an amazing film about the horrors of grief
Congratulations to Taylor Swift for now owning all her original masters, Slay Queen!
Oh, look there's some photos of Tom Hardy uncensored on my computer screen. Time to start my day
Keep up with me here -
https://www.instagram.com/michaelshinafelt/?hl=en
Hey it's Pride Month and being that it is I thought we would Hump Day & Chill to out hunk Ricky Martin.
"Yes" this a a completely prurient HD&C post pandering to the animal in us all.
Ricky is looking sexy and sassy in this shirtless selfie (say that three times fast) wagging his tongue at us. Yum!!!
That's all...
Hump Day & Chill all day long!
Ricky on IG -
Dekkoo Announces TVOD Release of Throuple
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| Chappell Roan |
Hello Monday...now go back to where you came from! Ha ha ha ha!
I woke today feeling irreverent and provocative thus this image of Chappell Roan dressed to the nines as a Blow Up Doll captures my Current Mood heading in to the latest incarnation of what we call "The Week"
Ms. Roan donned this off the wall creation for RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 10 on which she will be a guest judge.
"Yes" Chappell will be judging you and so will I!
Chappell Roan is a Current Mood, bend it like her today.
Chappell on IG -