Today’s Sparkle Video starts and ends a bit choppy, but all that really matters is what’s in between anyway. This classic disco medley is from a 70’s variety show featuring The Carpenters and guests surrounded by dancers clad in dazzling outfits embellished with mirror tiles. I think this was supposed to be a take on outer space or possibly a futuristic concept judging by the addition of the two “white” guys grooving at tables in the back. An interesting touch I might add.
What could be more disco that today’s Sparkle video featuring Patsy Gallant in a shimmering metallic gold outfit, rocking a supreme flip “do” and singing sweetly about her “Sugar Daddy”?’ In fact, I think if you Google “disco”, this clip is what sprouts up as the official definition- especially at 2:00. That’s when the lusciousness really kicks as the backup dancers, both male and female, enter the stage and it goes disco light crazy! Now I don’t speak French, but it was 1977, so I’m guessing it’s something like, “‘Oh Sugar Daddy, enough furs, enough diamonds! Please, truly all I want is to dazzle on the dance floor with you tonight- and lots, lots of champagne… and you’ll pay for it all, my darling lover!”. Something like that.
Today the Sparkle Army wishes a dazzling Happy Birthday to one of my all time heroes- Charo! Not only is she a sexy bombshell with big hair and curves to die for, but she’s charming, lovable and funny too. Her famous “Cuchi Cuchi” career has spanned over 40 years making appearances on all the TV shoes that ever mattered including the Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Pee Wee’s Playhouse, the Tonight Show and most recently, RuPaul’s Drag Race. This Spanish songstress is equally known and celebrated for her guitar playing talents and I’m sure this will come as no shock to you Soldiers, but her hits “Dance A Little Bit Closer” and “You’re Just The Right Size” are in heavy rotation at Da General’s living room disco. With an endless supply of sparkle outfits and a big heart of gold that fights for the rights of animals, Charo will always be a hero and today we honor her with a grand Sparkle Army Birthday Salute!
Let the celebrations begin! Well, actually the parties started on December 1st really, however now it’s officially Christmas Eve. That means it’s time to crack open the champagne, fire up the fire, get the disco ball spinning and put some Flashback Christmas Medleys on the stereo. These are some of the best holiday disco arrangements I’ve heard and they’re so sparkly sounding that they’ve inspired me to wear full sequins tonight (like I wasn’t going to anyway!). Wishing all the fabulous Sparkle Soldiers everywhere a dazzlingly magical Holiday!
Today’s Sparkle Video from the Village People employs some of the oldest disco tricks in the book, and no, I’m not talking about the guys in the group! I’m talking about a steady disco beat accented by a non stop spinning disco ball. It was also shot on film which adds the loving embrace of a softened resolution which tends to make everyone look fabulous. Then, add the fact that the boys are looking tip top hot and singing with dazzling passion about that legendary city of “gaydom”, San Francisco. All of these magical elements are truly the stuff that disco classics are made of!
Today’s sparkle video features disco legend Celi Bee and her back up dancers performing “Hold Your Horses” in a fierce spandex explosion. Celi is one of my style icons with her slicked hair, disco-tastic makeup and fabulous fashion sense. She’s like a living, breathing Fiorucci illustration that twists, moves and poses on a stage of flashing lights that makes her rhinestone accents blink and sparkle madly. It’s perfection as it should be, especially in 1979, the year of disco!
Today’s Sparkle Video is a classic among classics and easily one of the most legendary dance tracks of all time. It’s also a very special song to yours truly and brings back many dazzling memories, but I won’t bore you with the sparkling details. Let’s just sum it up by saying it was after hours, they had a jukebox and I had a lot of coins. Which means “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life” got played a lot and it was a magical soundtrack to a magical morning! Yes, that bar was filled with gobs of happy dancing people, because who could resist that trance-like bass line that moves in motion just like Indeep‘s glorious 80’s disco chic? No one!
Today’s Sparkle Video is one of the sexiest and most hypnotic disco songs ever. It’s the kind you want to be playing while you dazzle on the dance floor to a never ending extended mix because everything about this track is on point. Starting with the steady beat of the intro, the kick-in of melodically haunting background vocals and then, of course, Sylvester’s legendary falsetto yearning for the man he loves. He is competing for his lover with a woman who can buy him diamonds and all kinds of fancy gifts, while he has nothing to offer but his love. Intense, right? So intense that while there are many so many other Sylvester videos where he is dripping in sequins, this clip was chosen even though here he sits in a proper man’s suit with only the smallest accents of fabulous. His clever addition of a sparkling silver tie and a coat worn over his shoulders in “cape style” fashion lets you know that he is no ordinary man hanging out in a bar, but that he is the better choice and he knows it. Sure- do I wish he was in a bedazzled catsuit? Yes. Does it matter? NO.
I had a dream last night- and in my dream, “Open Sesame” by Kool and the Gang was today’s Sparkle Video. Since I’m one to always listen to my dreams, I got up this morning and went to my computer straight away for “the search”. It took a bit of time, lots of coffee and boundless sparkling determination, but I found it. Hidden away because of a wayward spelling (Cool instead of Kool), this clip rivals the one in my dream for fabulosity. It truly gives a proper visual display to not only one of their best songs, but also one of the best on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Check it: flashing lights, gobs of billowing smoke, almost the entire band wearing silver capes and the lead singer as one bad-ass metallic genie from head to toe. Always listen to your dreams Soldiers!
Odyssey’s “Native New Yorker” is one of the classics from the soundtrack of our lives.
R.I.P. Lillian Lopez.
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