What's On

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Devon takes a look at an overlooked compact sedan (Used)


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The Mitsubishi Lancer EVO has a strong cult following with it's rally bred heritage and amazing all-wheel-drive system. But for those who can't afford the premium of an EVO can choose from the more mainstream Lancer. But with more heavy hitters in the compact sedan segment can Mitsubishi still provide a valid reason to consider the aging Lancer?


Performance: There are four trim levels and three engines to choose from. Standard ES comes with a 2-liter four-cylinder producing 148hp. GT and SE AWC comes equipped with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder producing 168hp. Top of the range Ralliart comes with a 2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder producing 237hp. Pick of the range is the GT which makes the most sense. It has all the features you'll want and has the sporty looks that are hard to ignore.

On the road: The Lancer is very entertaining to drive as long as you stick with the GT trim or Ralliart. Both make the Lancer feel as engaging to drive as it's keen rivals the Ford Focus and Mazda3. However it isn't as sharp or poshed as both. Steering feel is decent and overall response of the 2.4 makes it well worth spending the extra cash for. While those who couldn't afford the EVO will be satisfied with the Ralliart. The CVT transmission feels like it saps the engine power leaving you cold when you need it most and overpowering when you don't need it. Thus the manual gearbox we feel is the safest way to go. Disappointingly the Ralliart does not offer a manual transmission. Wind and road noise are at acceptable levels.

Behind the wheel: There's plenty of adjustments for the driver's seat but sadly the steering wheel doesn't adjust for reach. Interior quality doesn't feel up to par with it's competition. The touch screen display feels dated and not as refined as we would like. Passenger space all round is decent and the boot offers enough space to satisfy most buyers needs.

Equipment: Standard ES trim offers keyless entry with anti-theft security system, cd-player power windows and an AUX input for your MP3 player. SE AWC offers heated front seats, digital HD radio and electronically controlled all-wheel-drive system. GT trim adds 18 inch alloy wheels, rear spoiler and Bluetooth connectivity for your mobile phone. Range topping Ralliart offers a sportier exterior trim, full time all-wheel-drive system and a twin-clutch auto gearbox.

Buying & Owning: The standard Lancer seems like a good deal but we highly suggest going for the GT with the sporty looks and added features such as touch screen display and 18 inch alloy wheels. The premium isn't too much and overall impressions of it are good. The SE AWC is best avoided unless you just have to have the traction. Lancer running costs should be about average among its competition but resale value is something to consider.

Quality: Mitsubishi has good quality cars. Reliability isn't going to be much of an issue. Only real issue here is locating a Mitsubishi dealership for repairs if you do come across such a problem. Interior quality isn't great although it does feel sturdy and long lasting. There are rivals that offer the best of both worlds and you really don't have to pick between the two.

Safety: Front and side curtain airbags come standard. As well as a traction control, anti-lock brakes with brake force distribution to help reduce braking distance in the case of an emergancy braking situation. Also a host of anti-theft aids come standard to keep theft away.

The Lancer is an attractive sedan that is often over looked by competition. It does offer an compelling package and is priced right with the heavy hitters such as the Ford Focus and Hyundai Elantra. However the styling inside out is dated and there's quite a few short comings with the Lancer that others seem to have mastered. If you want the Lancer for it's generous kit and reasonable price then this is the car for you. However keen rivals have all passed it by and it seems that the only logical reason to buy one is for the discounts.

Likes: Stylish exterior looks. Ralliart is just as good as the EVO but cheaper! Generous standard kit.

Dislikes: Overdue for a redesign. Not sure if the Lancer offers an compelling enough reason to consider over the already better competitors.

Devon's pick: The GT form has the looks and is just as fun to drive as the Ralliart minus the turbo engine. This isn't a bad thing because running costs will be slightly improved and you won't have to pay the premium for the Ralliart.

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Acura TSX Wagon (Look-back review)


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The Acura TSX sport wagon is designed and aimed at at those tempted to buy a BMW 3-series touring and Cadillac CTS wagon. It's a better option compared to most crossovers, but is it enough to convince people to consider? 

Performance: There is only one engine available for the TSX sport wagon and that's a 2.4-liter four-cylinder producing 201hp which is the same engine used in Civic SI. It may not offer the same blistering performance as the SI but it does offer decent pace around the town and on the highway. It's a shame that there is only a five-speed auto gearbox offered. A six-speed automatic or manual gearbox would help performance and fuel economy even more.

On the road: The Acura TSX feels comfortable and smooth on the highway. Venture into the city on uneven road surfaces, you'll be greeted with a firm and unsettled ride. Handling is great but is a let down due to the numb steering which ruins the sporty nature of the engine. You won't hear too much wind or road noise thanks to a pretty insulated cabin. The engine feels smooth even when revved hard.

Behind the wheel: The front seats provide comfortable support with good visibility. The dashboard layout isn't very easy to navigate. There are too many similar shaped switches and controls. This makes it impossible to tell apart at a glance. The TSX doesn't have a large boot compared due to the low slung roof and intruding rear suspension. With the seats folded down there's bundles of space to spare.

Equipment: The TSX sport wagon comes with plenty of kit standard. Automatic climate control, Bluetooth and HID headlights are standard. You'll have to step up to the top of the range trim to get navigation system, power tailgate and perforated leather seats.

Buying & owning: The Acura TSX wagon is cheaper to buy than a 3-series Touring and Cadillac CTS wagon. Running costs are also lower thanks to the fuel-efficient engine. Finding one should be a lot easier than both the Cadillac CTS wagon and BMW 3-series touring. If you are considering one you need to act now as the TSX wagon may not be available for long.

Quality & Safety: Acura and Honda share most of their mechanicals. This means that the Acura TSX wagon also has a spectacular reliability record. Interior quality is very good and feels long lasting. Customers have rated the TSX below average for interior quality. This is a let down because it's keenrivals offer much better and classier interiors. Electronic stability control, anti-lock brakes and six-airbags come standard across the range. A lane-change warning system and cruise control that brakes in emergancies are optional. Deadlocks and an alarm system keep theft away.

The TSX wagon offers a fuel efficient engine and tons of equipment standard. It may be cheaper than the BMW 3-series touring and Cadillac CTS wagon, but it doesn't offer a more powerful engine option and/or all-wheel-drive option like the CTS and 3-series. You'll need to act fast if considering one because the TSX wagon may not be in production for long in the U.S. 

Devon's Pick: The base trim of the TSX Sport Wagon is all the TSX you'll ever need. There's enough kit to justify not having to climb into the top of the range which adds a technology package. Unless you desire the navigation system and power tail gate. I highly suggest sticking with the base trim which is pretty much great value for money. 

Likes: Decent peformance with impressive fuel economy. High standard equipment level at a reasonable price.

Dislikes: No turbo or V6 engine option. All-wheel-drive isn't offered either. Acura may discontinue it after 2013.

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Less Cruze more SS please! (Used)


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The Cavalier never really stacked up to its Japanese rivals. Neither could the Cobalt, but all this is going to change with the Cruze. Chevy's newest answer to the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic. It's bigger, roomier and has a more classy interior. But is this enough to lure American buyers back to Chevy?

Performance: The Cruze comes with two four-cylinder engines. A 1.8-liter four-cylinder with 138hp and a 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with 138hp. Picking between the two clearly depends upon taste. If you desire more oomph on the highway, the turbo version makes the most sense. The 1.8 offers good fuel economy too and is the only version offered with a manual gearbox, unless you choose the Eco trim that has the turbo engine.

Ride & Handling: The Cruze doesn't offer sharp handling like some of its keen rivals. The ride has a jiggly quality, some bumps and potholes can easily upset the ride comfort. Handling is a mere acceptable, there isn't much body roll in corners. However, it doesn't feel as sporty as the Volkswagen Jetta. The steering is quick and light, but has very little feedback. Feeling almost numb at times.
Refinement: The engines don't offer much in terms of power. Both provide good pace around town, the turbo version feels more punchy thanks to the extra torque at low revs. At higher speeds the engine sends a loud sound track into the interior. Wind noise is well supressed, but some surfaces can kick up a bit too much road roar than desired.

Behind the wheel: There's adjustment for reach and height for the driver seat and steering wheel. Many drivers will find it easy to get comfortable. Some may not find the front seats comfortable. They're strangely shaped and are short on lower back support. All the controls are within easy reach of the driver's hand. Everything feels easy to use and operate. Rear visibility isn't great, but it isn't bad for a small sedan.

Space & Practicality: The rear seat offers plenty of space for two. The large center tunnel and narrow cabin means trying to carry three in the back is best avoided. The boot is fairly large, but the trunk uses an old fashioned hinges that eat into cargo space. The split folding rear seats increase cargo space.

Equipment: The Cruze comes with air-conditioning, cd-player with MP3 compatibility and tire pressure monitors all standard. You'll have to step up to the higher trim levels to get alloy-wheels, cruise control and heated front seats. Top of the range offers climate control, rear reverse camera and keyless start.

Buying & Owning: The Cruze doesn't seem much of a value compared to its rivals. But you do get plenty of kit for the money. Fuel economy is decent, and resale value should be average. Some may be put off by its bland styling.

Quality & Reliability: The interior looks and feels like a major leap forward for Chevy. The dash materials are hard to the touch, but look smart and are well textured. However, there are signs of cost cutting in some areas of the interior. Reliability for the Cruze is too soon to say.

Safety & Security: ESP, ABS and six airbags are all standard. An engine imobiliser and deadlocks are fitted on every model to keep theft at bay.

Likes: Roomy interior, a major improvement over the Cobalt, interior feels up to par with Japanese rivals, available turbocharged engine, decent fuel economy.

Dislikes: The diesel engine can't be had with the fancy body-kit or alloy wheels. It's not even close to being as sharp to drive as a Jetta and the most desirable versions are the most expensive.

Overall: The Cruze is a major leap forward for Chevy. The interior feels high much improved, and there's plenty of kit for the money. If Chevy offers a more powerful engine, the value for the money factor will be well justified in the top of the range trim.

Devon Focuses on a New Ford (Used)

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If you considered a Ford Focus in the past, most likely you'd pick one because there were massive discounts or you were given one as a rental car. The new Focus is a breathe of fresh air in the crowded compact car market. It's stylish, affordable and offers tons of technology that can rival some of the more expensive luxury brands. 

Does the new Focus have what it takes to shake off the rental car image and be a serious contender in the compact car segment? Or is this another "all style no substance" vehicle? Let's find out.

Performance: The Focus can be had with two engine choices. There's a 2-liter four-cylinder producing 160hp and a 2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder producing 252hp at the top end of the range. The more mainstream 2-liter 160hp engine is the pick of the range. It may not offer the fire breathing turbo engine from the ST, but it's quite enough for what it has to offer. Acceleration is decent around town and on the highway. Fuel economy isn't bad either. 

Ride & Handling: The Focus is quite a joy to drive around twisty bends and even on the highway. The ride comfort and overall handling is one of the sweet spots. Body control is good and steering feedback is very communicative. It may not be as sharp as the Volkswagen Golf, but it does it's job really well. The ST has a firmer suspension which results in a firmer ride. The trade off is the handling is spot on good, but still lags behind the Volkswagen GTI finesse. 

Refinement: Wind and road noise are so well suppressed in the Focus that you'd think you were in a larger more expensive vehicle. Both engines operate smoothly even at highway speeds. The ST turbo engine racy exhaust note makes it more addicting to push harder on the highway. The manual gearbox is the better choose with slick gear change and overall feel of the clutch makes it easy to deal with as a daily driver. The six-speed automatic offered is smooth but often hesitates between gears, making it feel rather jerky at low speeds. 

Behind the wheel: The driving position in the Focus is spot on. There's plenty of adjustments for the driver's seat and steering wheel. Visibility is good thanks to nicely sized windows and exterior mirrors. The dashboard is too button busy for our tastes. Many of the controls are rather fiddly and can be somewhat distracting. 

Space & Practicality: Although the Focus is small on the outside, space for four adults in the inside is possible. Leg and headroom is decent all-round. The boot isn't massive, but for the amount of space that it has most will find it quite enough to meet their needs. 

Equipment: The Focus comes well equipped even in base trim. Air-conditioning, stability control, CD-player and air-con all come standard on the base trim. Mid-range SE trim adds alloy wheels, cruise control and auto headlights. Top of the range Titanium trim adds leather trimmed seats, reverse sensors and a dual-zone climate control. ST adds turbo engine, unique ST grille and fog lights with a six-speed manual gearbox. 

Buying & Owning: The Focus base price is competitively priced with the Golf and Civic. The higher the trims you climb the more kit you get, but the higher the price will climb. Running costs will be decent thanks to good fuel economy, while resale value should be good thanks to strong demand. The ST trim will be slightly more expensive than the mainstream Focus, but the thumping performance makes up for the price. 

Quality & reliability: The quality and feel of the cabin materials are very good. This is a step up for Ford because in previous generations of the Focus, many of the plastics felt cheap and scratchy. Reliability of the Focus has been a mixed bag. Many owners have complained about the radiator and also the automatic transmission. 

Safety & Security: All Focus trims adds front and side curtain airbags standard. Traction control, anti-lock brakes and stability control are also standard. Tire pressure monitors are standard across the range as well. Anti-theft system is standard while anti-theft alarm is optional. 

The Ford Focus is a vastly improved vehicle overall. The interior has been improved and the overall image of the vehicle is no longer a rental car or the bland unappealing Focus of the previous generations. Ford has finally stepped up its game and given a Focus that's worthy of consideration in the small car segment. However, the dashboard is button crowded with fiddly operation and the reliability record is iffy. Overall the Focus is a step up in the right direction but needs some improvements in areas that matter to buyers the most. 

Devon's Pick: The SE trim is all the Focus you'll ever need. It offers decent kit and the engine offers enough oomph for both city and highway driving. Low running cost and decent asking price makes this trim ideally the pick of the range. 

Likes: Fun to drive with sharp steering and excellent body control. Thumping turbo engine in ST trim. Plenty of luxury options for very little money. 

Dislikes: Iffy reliability record, dashboard is rather button crowded with fiddly operation. MyFord Touch system is fiddly to operate and distracting to use. No engine to pick between the mainstream Focus and ST trim. 

Devon M 

Kia tries to sell its Soul to Pathological Hate (Used)


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The Kia Soul is one of those cars that tries to something for everyone. It has a commanding driving position that makes you feel like you are in a crossover and it's small and dinky enough to squeeze around tight urban parking spaces. It really is a jack of all trades but what has it mastered?

The 1.6 in the entry-level Base trim comes standard with a six-speed manual gearbox with a six-speed automatic as an option. We wouldn't bother with the Base trim if you want an auto gearbox; instead we'd opt for the Plus trim which adds an automatic standard and comes with a smoother 2-liter engine.

The Soul won't turn through corners and bends as well as a Focus or Golf but you'll forgive it when you see how comfortable it is to drive around town and on the highway. Both engines provide decent turn of pace but the 2-liter feels more relaxed at highway speeds. Steering feedback is good and the ride comfort is also good too. Plus and Exclamation trim both suffer from a firmer ride due to the larger alloys that are fitted as standard. Wind and road noise are both at respectable levels.

The driver's seat offers plenty of comfort and offers an array of adjustments for drivers of all sizes to get comfortable. There is plenty of headroom and legroom for both the front rear passengers. The infotainment system we had out tester car (Plus trim) was easy to navigate through and everything was within easy reach of the driver's hand. Boot space is decent too and with the rear seat folded down its more than generous.

Base trim gets decent kit for the money but the automatic gearbox is what makes the this trim rather pointless because you can easily step up to the Plus for similar cash. Air-con, Cd-player, bluetooth and keyless entry all come standard on all trims. You'll have to step up to the Plus and Exclamation to get larger alloys and the top of the range gets the LED headlights and larger infotaimnet display.

Kia is known for having rock hard reliability and the same can be said about the Soul. The interior feels well put together and all the controls and dials feel long lasting. Kia was once considered the budget brand for those who couldn't afford the more popular options, that's all changing because the Soul is a desirable alternative to even the best such as the Golf or Ford Focus.

Overall: It's hard to fault the Kia Soul. It's good but not great.

Likes: Easy to drive and live with. Driving position is similar to that of a crossover. Decent kit standard.

Dislikes: It's not as engaging to drive as some rivals, and it may depreciate faster too.

Devon's Choice: Skip the entry Base unless you want the manual gearbox. Everyone else who wants an automatic will have to pay a hefty premium which pushes the price closer to the Plus trim (which is our pick of the range). The top of the range is a bit expensive, which leaves you with the most sensible trim the Plus. It offers decent kit and comes with the smoother 2-liter engine standard.

(Note* We have yet to test drive the new turbo engine option on the Soul.)


Saturday, September 23, 2017

We test drives the two-seat Mini Roadster (used)


If you wanted a two-seat roadster but didn't want to pay much money. Your only option would be the Mazda MX-5 Miata. It's not a bad option but what if you wanted something a little different from the MX-5. Well your prays have been answered! Mini has a new Roadster which can go toe to toe with the MX-5 in both fun to drive and affordable price, but is it a winning argument? 

Performance: There are a familar range of 1.6-liter engines that all Minis offer. The Standard Mini Roadster uses a 1.6-liter non-turbo four-cylinder with 122hp. Cooper S trim uses a turbocharged form with 181hp, while the top of the range JCW gets pumped up to 208hp. Pick of the range is simple and yet the best form of a Mini you can buy the Cooper S. It's quite flexible and simply the most fun to drive and the more sensible choice of the range. The base trim feels a little underpowered while the top of the range is excellent but rather priced a little steeply.

On the road: The Mini Roadster has a rather firm ride, it's not nearly as firm as the Mazda MX-5. At highway speeds the ride surprisingly feels settled, even at low speeds the firm ride is forgiving. The Mini feels sharp and balanced through bends and corners with well weighted steering that has sharp response. With the roof down ther'es a lot of wind buffeting in the cabin. Road and engine noise can be heard at highway speeds. The exhaust emits an appealing pop and bangs.

Behind the wheel: Finding a driving position that suits you best won't be hard to find. The dashboard is a differ story however. It's funky retro design looks good but functionality is poor. Many of the controls feel fiddly to operate and confusing in layout. Rear visibility is very limited with the roof up. It's not as bad in the Mini Coupe. Compared with most two-seat roadsters, the Mini Roadster is very practical. The boot offers a decent size with a pass through for skis.

Equipment: All the roadsters come with the basic specs which includes alloy wheels, air-con and parking sensors. A part-electric roof is also standard as well. For those who wants to customize their Mini to their tastes, there are plenty of customizations to choose from.

Buying & Owning: The Mini Roadster costs about the same as the Mazda MX-5. The Mini Roadster is more fuel-efficient and offers better storage and resale value. The news gets even better when you pick the Mini Cooper S over the Mazda. Not only do you get a more powerful engine, but it's cheaper and more still more efficient.

Quality & Safety: Cabin materials are very iffy in quality. Some areas look down right cheap. Mini does well in reliability and customer satisfaction, but still we question Minis long term reliability. Mini comes with stability control and anti-lock brakes to keep you safe. The brakes are sophisticated and there's plenty of airbags to keep you safe in the event of a crash.

The Mini Roadster is very pratical and sensible option compared to the Mazda MX-5. It's quite fun to drive and offers much value for the money if you stick with the Cooper and Cooper S forms. Howver, the Mini Roadster suffers from a stingy equipment level and isn't as fun to drive as the Coupe form. If you are looking for a two-seat roadster that's practical and affordable the Mini Roadster should be on your list. 

Devon's Pick: Mini Roadster Cooper S is the sweet spot of the range. It's not as expensive as the JCW but is just as fast and is more fuel efficient than the JCW. 

Likes: Go-kart handling. Surprisingly comfortable despite firm suspension. Very practicla for a roadster also.

Dislike: Dashboard controls are fiddly to operate. Options can send the price soaring. Not as sharp to drive as the Mini Coupe.

Devon M

Friday, September 22, 2017

Pride Month: History behind the Rainbow Flag




The rainbow flag, commonly known as the gay pride flag or LGBT pride flag, is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) pride and LGBT social movements. (Other uses of rainbow flags include a symbol of peace.) The colors reflect the diversity of the LGBT community, and the flag is often used as a symbol of gay pride during LGBT rights marches. While it originated in Northern California, the flag is now used worldwide.

Originally devised by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker, the design has undergone several revisions since its debut in 1978, first to remove colors then restore them based on availability of fabrics. The most common variant consists of six stripes: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. The flag is typically flown horizontally, with the red stripe on top, as it would be in a natural rainbow.

Gilbert Baker, an openly gay activist born in 1951, grew up in Parsons, Kansas, and went on to serve in the US army for about two years in 1970. After an honorable discharge, Gilbert taught himself to sew. In 1974, Baker met Harvey Milk, an influential gay leader, who three years later challenged Baker to come up with a symbol of pride for the gay community. The original gay pride flag flew in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978. It has also been suggested that Baker may have been inspired by Judy Garland's singing "Over the Rainbow" and the Stonewall riots that happened a few days after Garland's death (she was one of the first gay icons). Another suggestion for how the rainbow flag originated is that at college campuses during the 1960s, some people demonstrated for world peace by carrying a Flag of the Races (also called the Flag of the Human Race) with five horizontal stripes (from top to bottom they were red, white, brown, yellow, and black). Gilbert Baker is said to have gotten the idea for the rainbow flag from this flag in borrowing it from the Hippie movement of that time largely influenced by pioneering gay activist Allen Ginsberg. The flag originally comprised eight stripes; Baker assigned specific meaning to each of the colors

Thirty volunteers hand-dyed and stitched the first two flags for the parade.

After the assassination of gay San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk on November 27, 1978, demand for the rainbow flag greatly increased. To meet demand, the Paramount Flag Company began selling a version of the flag using stock rainbow fabric with seven stripes: red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, and violet. As Baker ramped up production of his version of the flag, he too dropped the hot pink stripe because of the unavailability of hot-pink fabric. Also, San Francisco-based Paramount Flag Co. began selling a surplus stock of Rainbow Girls flags from its retail store on the southwest corner of Polk and Post, at which Gilbert Baker was an employee.

In 1979 the flag was modified again. When hung vertically from the lamp posts of San Francisco's Market Street, the center stripe was obscured by the post itself. Changing the flag design to one with an even number of stripes was the easiest way to rectify this, so the turquoise stripe was dropped, which resulted in a six stripe version of the flag — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.

In 1989, the rainbow flag came to nationwide attention in the United States after John Stout sued his landlords and won when they attempted to prohibit him from displaying the flag from his West Hollywood, California, apartment balcony.

For the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in 1994, flag creator Baker was commissioned to create the world's largest rainbow flag. It took months of planning and teams of volunteers to coordinate every aspect. The flag utilized the basic six colors and measured thirty feet wide. Foot-wide sections of the flag were given to individual sponsors as part of a fundraiser for the Stonewall anniversary event once the event had ended. Afterwards additional large sections of the flag were sent with activists and they were used in pride parades and LGBT marches worldwide. The Guinness Book of World Records confirmed it as the world's largest flag.

In 2003 Baker was again commissioned to produce a giant flag. In this case it marked the 25th anniversary of the flag itself. Dubbed "25Rainbow Sea to Sea" the project entailed Baker again working with teams of volunteers but this flag utilized the original eight colors and measured a mile-and-a-quarter (2 km) across Key West, Florida from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf Coast Sea. The flag was again cut up afterward, and sections sent to over a hundred cities worldwide.

In 2000, the University of Hawaii at Manoa changed its sports teams' name from "Rainbow Warriors" to "Warriors" and redesigned its logo to eliminate a rainbow from it. Initially Athletic Director Hugh Yoshida said that the change was to distance the school's athletic program from homosexuality. When this drew criticism, Yoshida then said the change was merely to avoid brand confusion. The school then allowed each team to select its own name, leading to a mix including "Rainbow Warriors", "Warriors", "Rainbows" and "Rainbow Wahine". This decision was reversed in May 2013, when current athletic director Ben Jay reversed his earlier decision in February to force all of the men's athletic teams to be just Warriors from the patchwork of names from dropping the Rainbow Warriors name.

The rainbow flag celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2003. During the gay pride celebrations in June of that year, Gilbert Baker restored the rainbow flag back to its original eight-striped version and has since advocated that others do the same. However, the eight-striped version has seen little adoption by the wider gay community, which has mostly stuck with the better known six-striped version.

In autumn 2004 several gay businesses in London were ordered by Westminster City Council to remove the rainbow flag from their premises, as its display required planning permission. When one shop applied for permission, the Planning sub-committee refused the application on the chair's casting vote (May 19, 2005), a decision condemned by gay councillors in Westminster and the then Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. In November the council announced a reversal of policy, stating that most shops and bars would be allowed to fly the rainbow flag without planning permission.

Today some LGBT individuals and straight allies put rainbow flags in the front of their yards and/or front doors, or use rainbow bumper stickers on their vehicles to use as an outward symbol of their identity or support.

In June 2004 LGBT activists sailed to Australia's uninhabited Coral Sea Islands Territory and raised the rainbow flag, proclaiming the territory independent of Australia, calling it the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands. The rainbow flag is the official flag of the kingdom.

In June 2015, The Museum of Modern Art acquired the rainbow flag symbol as part of its design collection.

On June 26, 2015, the White House was illuminated in the rainbow flag colors to commemorate the legalization of same-sex marriages in all 50 U.S. states, following the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision.

On April 20, 2017, advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather announced the release of a commemorative, rainbow-colored font named "Gilbert Color", designed in collaboration with software company Fontself. The font is freely distributed under a Creative Commons license.

On June 8, 2017, the US city of Philadelphia adopted a revised version of the flag. The design adds black and brown stripes to the top of the standard six-color flag, "to highlight black and brown LGBTQIA members within [the city's] community".

Many variations of the rainbow flag have been used. Some of the more common ones include the Greek letter lambda (lower case) in white in the middle of the flag and a pink triangle or black triangle in the upper left corner. Other colors have been added, such as a black stripe symbolizing those community members lost to AIDS. The rainbow colors have also often been used in gay alterations of national and regional flags, replacing for example the red and white stripes of the flag of the United States. In 2007, the Pride Family Flag was introduced at the Houston, Texas pride parade.

In the early years of the AIDS epidemic, AIDS activists designed a "Victory over AIDS" flag consisting of the standard six-stripe rainbow flag with a black stripe across the bottom. Leonard Matlovich, himself dying of AIDS-related illness, suggested that upon a cure for AIDS being discovered, the black stripes be removed from the flags and burned.

LGBT communities in other countries have also adopted the rainbow flag. A South African gay pride flag which is a hybrid of the rainbow flag and the national flag of South Africa was launched in Cape Town in 2010. Flag designer Eugene Brockman said "I truly believe we (the LGBT community) put the dazzle into our rainbow nation and this flag is a symbol of just that."

The rainbow flag has found wide application on all manner of products. The rainbow flag colors are routinely used as a show of LGBT identity and solidarity. The rainbow colors have become so widely recognized as a symbol of LGBT pride and identity that they have effectively replaced most other LGBT symbols, including the Greek letter lambda and the pink triangle. One common item of jewelry is the pride necklace or freedom rings, consisting of six rings, one of each color, on a chain. Other variants range from key chains to candles. In Montreal, the entrance to Beaudry metro station, which serves that city's Gay Village, was rebuilt in 1999 with rainbow-colored elements integrated into its design.

In early October 2010, Canadian teenager Brittany McMillan promoted a new LGBTQ awareness day called Spirit Day. The first observance of Spirit Day was on October 20, 2010; it now takes place on October 15. On this day people wear the color purple to show support for LGBT youth who are victims of bullying. Spirit Day comes from the violet stripe of the rainbow flag, which represents spirit.

Pride Month: (facts about popular songs part three)




LET'S HAVE A KIKI by SCISSOR SISTERS

This fun-fuelled dance track starts as a message that co-vocalist Ana Matronic is leaving on someone's phone. She proceeds to describe her night out at a club, which gets shut down by the cops so she is forced to move the party home.

So what is a 'kiki'? "The term 'kiki' is a drag queen term," Matronic explained to Spinner, "and it's used in the drag community in America to describe a good time. You can have a kiki on the phone with your friend. It also means gossip. Or you might hear a conversation where somebody says, 'Did you go to the club last night?' and you're like, 'Wow, girl, you should have been there. It was a kiki.' It would mean that your friends were all there and you had a good time."

The song became an online hit after Anne Hathaway admitted she was a fan of "Kiki's" on Late Show With David Letterman.

DO YOU REALLY WANT TO HURT ME? by CULTURE CLUB

The four members of Culture Club wrote the songs for their first album Kissing To Be Clever together, with singer Boy George coming up with the lyrics. On this song, he later admitted that he wrote the lyrics about his relationship with their drummer Jon Moss. They had an affair for about six years that was kept hidden from the public, and George often felt hurt and emotional.

At first, Boy George didn't want this released as a single because it was such a personal song for him. When it was released, it hit #1 in 23 countries. Boy George told Q magazine September 2008: "Our first two singles failed. That single was our last chance. But I threatened to leave if (the label) released it. I didn't think it was us; it wasn't club music. It wouldn't stand up to Spandau Ballet. But I was wrong. It was so personal in a way that our other songs weren't. It was about Jon. All the songs were about him, but they were more ambiguous."

This was Culture Club's first single released in the United States. It was a huge and unlikely hit for the British band, who embarked on an American tour in 1983 to gain traction in that country. The song crossed over to Adult Contemporary radio, where most listeners had no idea the lead singer dressed like a girl. MTV, whose library was mostly British bands when they launched, had acclimated their US audience to guys in makeup, so Culture Club wasn't so shocking on the channel and the group developed a huge audience of young people who liked the sound and the look.

The "look" was authentic: Boy George had been wearing makeup and women's clothes since his school days, and while he exaggerated it for publicity, it was his preferred style. In a 1983 Trouser Press interview, the singer explained: "I wear my hair this way 'cause it makes my face look longer, my hat because it makes me look taller, black clothes because they make me look thinner, and makeup because it makes me look prettier."

The band came up with the soft reggae beat and put the song together when they found they had some spare studio time during a recording session for the Peter Powell show on BBC Radio One. Their bass player Mikey Craig brought a Caribbean influence to the band's sound.

Boy George surprised a lot of people who met him in person, as his substantial size and manly speaking voice belied his feminine appearance. At least one line in this song addresses how perceptions can be wrong. He told Musician magazine in October 1983: "There's a line from 'Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?' that says, 'Everything's not what you see,' which is basically what I believe. It's kind of boring when things are just what they are."

In the book 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh, Boy George said: "'Do You Really Want To Hurt Me' is a really well-constructed song. It's probably the only proper song we've got with proper chord sequences and keyboard changes in it. It's just very musical. The most powerful songs in the world are love songs. They apply to everyone - especially kids who fall in and out of love more times than anyone else. At the end of the day, everybody wants to be wanted."

In the 1998 film The Wedding Singer, which is set in the '80s, a member of the wedding band named George is clearly modeled after Boy George. At one point, he is thrust into the spotlight and sings this - twice.

In January 2009, one TV news program reporting the demise of the former Culture Club frontman Boy George said it was a case of life imitating art. The previous month, the openly homosexual George O'Dowd was convicted of the false imprisonment of a male escort. He was said to have handcuffed the man to the wall in his London apartment and beaten him with a metal chain. A Guardian correspondent reported that in an apparently accidental allusion to the 1982 hit, Heather Norton for the prosecution, asked the jury: "Did he really have to hurt him?"

At least one newspaper used a similar headline; this was O'Dowd's second conviction in recent years; he had previously been ordered by a US court to sweep the streets of New York for wasting police time after reporting a non-existent crime. Ironically, the video Culture Club made for "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" was set in a courtroom.

The concept of the video was Boy George as an outsider, getting kicked out of different places in various historical settings. It was directed by Julien Temple, who came up with the idea of jurors dressed in blackface. This was a shocking image for American audiences, who long associated blackface with racism, but in England it was far more accepted as part of their music hall tradition.

Temple explained in the book I Want My MTV: "'Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" was about being gay and being victimized for your sexuality, which George was kind of emblematic of. It seemed appropriate to me that in the video he would be judged by jurors in blackface, to send up bigotry and point out the hypocrisy of the many gay judges and politicians in the UK who'd enacted anti-gay legislation."

This was released on September 3, 1982 in the UK to almost universal derision. Smash Hits, for instance, called it, "weak, watered-down fourth division reggae." It only became a hit after Boy George performed the song on BBC music program Top Of The Pops wearing something resembling a white nightie with dreads wrapped in colourful ribbons and a face caked in make up. George recalled in Q magazine: "Our plugger got called and was told. We can't promote this record. What is it? Is it a bird, is it a plane, is it a drag queen. The ensuing tabloid frenzy with the 'Is it a boy, is it a girl' headlines gave the song all the publicity it needed and it zoomed to the top of the charts."

(SING IF YOU'RE) GLAD TO BE GAY by TOM ROBINSON BAND

"(Sing If You're) Glad To Be Gay" by the Tom Robinson Band (TRB) was recorded as part of a live EP in November 1977 and appears on Robinson's critically acclaimed debut album Power In The Darkness. As might be expected, this song calls on homosexuals to "come out" and declare their sexuality with pride. Robinson was an out – though not effeminate – homosexual at the time, although in later life he married and raised a family.
The song contains the interesting couplet:

There's no nudes in Gay News, our one magazine
But they still found excuses to call it obscene

Those familiar with the story behind this claim might beg to differ.

In June 1976, Gay News published a poem by the academic James Kirkup, The Love That Dares To Speak Its Name (a pun on Oscar Wilde). This "poem" described a centurion performing sexual acts on the dead body of Christ, and caused grave offense to many people, especially Christians.

As a result of this, the Christian activist Mrs. Mary Whitehouse (one half of "Mary Long") brought a prosecution for blasphemous libel – the first in Britain since 1921 - against the paper and its editor, Denis Lemon. The trial, in July 1977, resulted in their conviction, a fine for both defendants, and a suspended sentence for Lemon; Kirkup was not prosecuted.

The same issue of the journal contained an article by an anonymous pedophile in defense of his perversion.

Cultural references aside, this song is a bitter attack on the police as much as on the law, a perennial favorite with Robinson.

DON'T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME by ELTON JOHN

This is a song that was influenced by The Beach Boys, and contains contributions from members of the group; Carl Wilson and Bruce Johnston both sang backup. Elton said the Beach Boys "Sound, harmonies, and the way they structured their songs" was an influence on many of his tracks, including this one and "Someone Saved My Life Tonight."

As usual, Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics. Taupin is a student of words, and was always looking for new ways to present an idea. "I like to be more interesting than a good old 'I love you, you love me, my heart will break if you leave me," he told Esquire. "Throw in a curveball. 'Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me.' Put a dark twist on them."

Regarding the composition of this song, lyricist Bernie Taupin said: "My only recollections of this is that we wanted to write something big. I mean, big in that dramatic Spectory (as in Phil Spector) style, like 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'.' Hopefully being powerful without being pompous. I'm not sure that with this in mind it made me fashion the lyrics any differently. Although, in retrospect, they do seem to have a slightly more Brill Building flair to them, so it's entirely possible that I did.

Of course, I always seem to have to revert to a crib sheet to check these things, as I just seem to have a really bad memory of my own work. In fact, it makes me think of a situation that I found myself in a few years ago watching some TV with some friends of mine. There was a game show on where one of the categories happened to be my lyrics. And there were, I believe, five questions, and four of them I got wrong."

Toni Tennille and Daryl Dragon, who would later have several hits and their own TV show as The Captain & Tennille, performed on this. The idea was to have a huge chorus made up of semi-famous singers in the background. Dusty Springfield, as well as members of America and Three Dog Night recorded vocals for the song, but all the voices sounded terrible when mixed together so they just used Wilson, Johnston, and Tennille.

This was extremely difficult and frustrating to record. Elton was not satisfied with any of his vocal takes, and the producer Gus Dudgeon had fits trying to mix all the voices and instruments that went into this. In Philip Norman's book Sir Elton: The Definitive Biography, Dudgeon said, "When Elton recorded this track, he was in a filthy mood. On some takes, he'd scream it, on others he'd mumble it, or he'd just stand there, staring at the control room. Eventually, he flung off his headphones and said, "Okay, let's hear what we got." When Gus played it for him, Elton said, "That's a load of crap. You can send it to Engelbert Humperdinck, and if he doesn't like it, you can give it to Lulu as a demo."

Elton claims he would not have attempted a song like this early in his career. He feels his voice has improved over the years, and by 1974, he had enough confidence and ability to sing with a very broad range.

This was released as a live duet with George Michael in 1991. That version was taken from a George Michael concert in London on March 25, 1991, which was Elton's 44th birthday. Elton appeared as a surprise guest at the show. The duet was a #1 hit in both the US and UK.

If Elton's line "Don't discard me" sounds a little weird, that's because he was doing an exaggerated American accent. Producer Gus Dudgeon was going to bury the line in the mix, but Toni Tenille, who was singing some of the background vocals, convinced him to keep it out front.

The horns heard on the last refrain and at the outro to this song were played by the horn section from the band Tower of Power, who had a hit single in 1972 with "You're Still A Young Man" and another the following year with "So Very Hard To Go."

Oleta Adams recorded this for the album Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin. Other artists who covered the song include Joe Cocker, Obsession, and The Three Degrees. Various orchestras have also recorded the song, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Roger Daltry of The Who sang this song in 1987. This version was used in the hit motion picture The Lost Boys.

Nigel Olsson's drumming on this track was an influence on three Guns N' Roses songs. According to GnR drummer Matt Sorum, "November Rain,"
"Don't Cry" and "Estranged" started out as all one song. After they broke them up and were getting ready to record "November Rain," Axl Rose played "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me."

"I said, 'God, listen to the tom toms on that,'" Sorum told us. "Axl goes, 'Yeah, that's cool. So epic.'"

Sorum worked that drum phrasing into the song, and played the same fills on "Don't Cry" and "Estranged" to unify the tracks.

Caribou was mostly recorded in a mere nine days. It reached #1 in just its second week on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified double platinum by the RIAA.

THE SHOW MUST GO ON by QUEEN

Guitarist Brian May wrote this while lead singer Freddie Mercury was dying of AIDS. It was Mercury's last official album with Queen, and when it was released, very few people knew he had the disease.

The lyrics are about the need to press on and make the most out of life while you can still enjoy it. It is inevitably a comment on Mercury's worsening condition, and his attitude towards life - May noted his incredible courage in the Days of our Lives documentary. "He never moaned, he never said 'my life is s--t, this is terrible, I hate it,'" said May. "He had an incredible strength and peace."

The song's placing as the final track on Innuendo is notable, as it's likely that the band thought that this might be the last album Mercury would be healthy enough to perform on before his death. In the sessions, he made enough recordings to provide the band with material to release the posthumous 1995 album Made In Heaven.

This was used in the movie Moulin Rouge. It is performed in an operatic style by Jim Broadbent and Nicole Kidman in a scene that sets up the climax of the movie.

In a 2005 poll by digital TV channel Music Choice where 45,000 adults across Europe were asked which song they would like played at their funeral, this was the favorite.

The video is mainly just clips of old Queen videos and a few live performances, but it is so cleverly edited and spliced together that it works as a video of it's own.

This song was performed in dramatic style in 1997 with Elton John on guest vocals with an Italian ballet trope. It would be John Deacon's last performance with the band, and last public appearance - he retired from music after the performance.

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Song facts: Deftones


California State Capitol


BACK TO SCHOOL (MINI-MAGGIT) by DEFTONES

This isn't about school at all. The whole taking notes thing is just a metaphor. The song is an attack on all the bands that stole their sound, meaning the rap-metal genré they helped create.

This bitter attack on school cliques was recorded, according to singer Chino Moreno, when the Deftones' record company requested a hit for White Pony that would compete in the nu-metal market. The band reluctantly reworked that album's closer "Pink Maggit" and White Pony was then re-released with "Back to School" in a contentious move by the label. "I thought, I'm gonna show those f---ers how easy it is to create a hit," said Chino. "And so I rapped a hip-hop part on that song, we shortened it and half an hour later, the hit-single was ready to roll on."

DIAMOND EYES by DEFTONES

This is the title track and second single from the Californian Rock band Deftones' sixth studio album.

Diamond Eyes is the first Deftones release since bassist Chi Cheng was seriously injured in an automobile accident, leaving him in a coma. Sergio Vega, the former bassist of post-hardcore band Quicksand, subsequently stepped in. Kerrang! asked vocalist Chino Moreno if he wrote about Chi on the album. He replied: "Of course there're a few lines inspired by Chi but I'm clever enough not to write about him directly. If anything it's a celebration of my friend and a really positive twist on where we are right now. It's a little more fantasy orientated but inspired by nightlife, feeling alive and being grateful for everything you have. It's good, positive stuff. It's about the underbelly of the world and about going out and living. I like to think of it as a record you could put on when you're ready to go out, and as a soundtrack to everything from that point of view until the sun comes up."

This song contains plenty of enigmatic imagery. Moreno told Spin Magazine about the lyrical direction that this track and the rest of the album takes: "I've been wanting to record a fantasy album like White Pony, where the lyrics are less, 'This is my life and this is what we're going through.' It helps take us away from reality. I don't like listening to people's problems - I like music. Music has been smothered with that complaining since the early-'90s. It gets old. Instead of going to the opposite side of the spectrum and listening to Black Eyed Peas, which is just straight silly, I choose to listen to more instrumental music. I do very little singing about myself on this record. I love songs where I can totally take myself out of being human. I can sing about really odd things, and they don't necessarily have to pertain to me at all. It paints a picture. Those are the kind of lyrics I grew up with - like the Cure. Really visual images and no storytelling."

Robert Schober, also known as Roboshobo, directed the song's music video. He has also helmed clips for Metallica and Mastodon. The video finds the band performing on a black soundstage as tiny pieces of broken glass float around Moreno.

Moreno explained to Spin magazine how the addition of Sergio Vega affected the record. Said Moreno; "It brought us closer together than we've been in a really long time. Musically, we were really clicking, and Sergio really fits with the band. But he's a different type of player than Chi; Chi plays with his fingers, Sergio plays with his pick. We're just appreciative that we're still alive and able to make music. The recording process was very different - we didn't use ProTools. We wrote each song in a practice place and played them a million times 'til they were perfect. That approach goes back to our earlier days, and it's a lot more personable. We work better when everybody's together - and the songs benefit."

MY OWN SUMMER (SHOVE IT) by DEFTONES

This is the biggest hit for the Deftones, who released their first album in 1995 and spent time opening for Ozzy Osbourne and Korn. It's one of their few songs to get airplay on MTV and radio.

Some lyric analysis:

"Cloud come shove the sun aside" - sadness against happiness.

"And no sun in my summer" - The bad luck of being sad and poor in this world.

"There are no crowds in the streets" - Loneliness caused by social discrimination.

"The shade is a tool, a device, a savior" - Living in the shade is a solution to get far away from this.

"I try and look up to the sky, but my eyes burn" - Someone wants to bring us down everyday.

"Shove It" - These people don't care for anyone but themselves. These people are the "sky" (because they've got the cash), and when we try to get next to them, we want to return to our shade and just say, "Shove It."

According to thedeftones.com, this was written in Seattle during the hot summer of 1994. Trapped inside of his room by the heat and sun, Chino Moreno boarded up his windows with aluminum foil and wished for "An apocalyptic-type thing" where all of the people on the streets would disappear and the sun would go away. He called this dream world "his own summer," which is where the song title comes from.

The video features a great white shark. Chino Moreno told NME: "I paid the bill for the director to go to Australia to collect footage to put in the video. The actual sharks in the video were mechanical except the footage they Cgied in at the end."

STREET CARP by DEFTONES

Frontman Chico Moreno (from Deftones World): "It's a classic Deftones song, with a rolling riff and some really interesting chords in the chorus. the vocals are kinda crazy - I'm singing out loud over the top of the music, like (The Smiths front man) Morrissey or something, a cool contrast."

Chino Moreno had placed a little Easter egg in the song, which no one appeared to have caught on to. He told Kerrang! years later: "There is a recurring line 'Here's my new address…' and on the last time I say, '6150 I confess.' That was my Gmail account for years and years yet no-one ever contacted me."

WHEN GIRLS TELEPHONE BOYS by DEFTONES

This song is a fine example of what happens when you want to be in love with the wrong person. After too many failures, you want the person to just go away. When you get back to being yourself without this person, you don't care about them anymore, but in typical human fashion, they want to come back into your life. But now you just say no, because you're so much better than they are. You get the chance to say, "Something's wrong with you and I hope we never do meet again."


Pride Month: (Popular song facts part two)




TRUE COLORS by CYNDI LAUPER

This was written by the songwriting team of Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, who also wrote Madonna's "Like A Virgin," Heart's "Alone," and Lauper's "I Drove All Night." The song is about looking below the surface to see what a person is really like.

In our interview with Billy Steinberg, the lyricist explained: "On 'True Colors' I had this verse and it was written about my mother: 'You've got a long list with so many choices, a ventriloquist with so many voices, and your friends in high places say where the pieces fit, you've got too many faces in your makeup kit, but I see your true colors shining through,' then it went on with the same chorus that the song has.

I often employ a sort of stream-of-consciousness lyric writing style and I remember writing that verse. The verse came first. So the 'true colors shining through' came out of the line that preceded it, 'You've got too many faces in your makeup kit.' We wrote that verse and chorus, Tom and I, and Tom said to me, 'Gee, that chorus has tremendous universal appeal, it could be sung by anyone to anyone. It could be a parent to a child, a friend to a friend, could be for or about anyone. On the other hand, the lyric to the verse you've written, although it's very poetic and very interesting, it seems to be specifically about someone with friends in high places.' He thought it had less universality and I agreed with him. In spite of the fact that I had written that verse about my mom and that it led to the chorus lyric and I was proud of it, I agreed to rewrite the verse lyric and then of course the song would need a second verse lyric.

I really got writer's block when it came to rewriting it. I remember I had something about sad eyes or something, I think Tom even said, 'Well how about 'you with the sad eyes'?' He kept encouraging me, 'Let's finish that song, it's a great song.' I said, 'Let's write something else, I can't do it, I'm stuck.' The song kind of languished because I just didn't know how to rewrite these verses. We had done a very rough demo of the song with the original verse and the chorus and I don't know how this happened, but somehow George Martin, The Beatles' producer, heard our very rough demo and Tom heard back that he loved it. Then Tom really got on my case to finish those lyrics. Tom and I sat together and I finished the lyrics with his help."

This was the only original song on the album that Lauper didn't help write.

Steinberg: "Tom sang the demo, it was based on a piano and it had gospel-flavored background vocals. I remember feeling that somehow there was something incomplete about the first verse. I always felt there was something wrong with it but I was just happy to have it done. On the other hand, the second verse, the part about, 'Don't be unhappy, can't remember when I last saw you laughing...' That second verse, I remember I was very happy with that, those first four lines of the second verse. And I was pleased when the Cyndi Lauper record came out because during the solo section she speaks the lines, 'Can't remember when I last saw you laughing.' She sort of says that again and it pleased me that she grabbed a line that I liked and spoke it rather than picking out something I didn't like."

Steinberg: "One of the things that one contends with as a songwriter is that when an artist records your song, unless you're producing it yourself or somehow involved in the production, you have very little input into how the song's being arranged and structured. Sometimes an artist will copy your demo exactly as you present it. That would be the case with 'Like a Virgin' or 'Alone' by Heart - the records copied the demos. In 'True Colors,' more than any other song, Cyndi Lauper came up with a very, very creative departure from our demo. The demo was sort of rooted in the Gospel ballad tradition of a song like 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', 'Let It Be' or 'Lean On Me,' that sort of thing with the piano. Cyndi completely dismantled that sort of traditional arrangement and came up with something that was breathtaking and stark. Tom and I were both elated when we heard her record of it because it was so much more adventurous than our demo, and to her credit, she produced it and did a beautiful job. That song, more than any other song I've written, has had tremendous life. I guess more than any other song that Tom and I wrote, that one seems to have the most universal appeal."

In the UK, this was released as "True Colours." It gave the title a little more British flavour.

This was used in a Kodak campaign to advertise their film processing.

Phil Collins recorded this for his 1998 Greatest Hits compilation. His version was released as a single and became very popular on Adult Contemporary radio stations.

This was covered by Australian country music star Kasey Chambers and used as the 2003 Rugby World Cup theme song.

Fredro Starr and Jill Scott reworked this into a song called "Shining Through," which was used as the theme song to the film Save The Last Dance. On "Shining Through," Jill Scott sings the first bit of the chorus - "I see your true colors shining through, I see your true colors and that's why I love you," and Fredro Starr adds a rap to the song.

In 2007, Lauper launched the "True Colors Tour" in an effort to support gay rights and fight hate crimes. The 2007 tour featured Erasure, The Dresden Dolls and Debbie Harry of Blondie. In 2008, artists included Joan Jett, Regina Spektor, and Tegan and Sara.

Justin Timberlake teamed up with actress Anna Kendrick in 2016 to cover this song for the soundtrack of the movie Trolls. Timberlake voices grey troll Branch in the film, while Kendrick plays a troll called Popp.

COME TO MY WINDOW by MELISSA ETHERIDGE

A song with a Shakespearian level of passion, "Come to My Window" finds Melissa Etheridge baring her soul to her lover, letting her know that she will go that she will go to great lengths just to be with her. Etheridge is imploring her to sneak in through the window (much more romantic than using the spare key) so she'll be there when she gets home.

At this time, Etheridge had been seeing Julie Cypher for a few years, and she was smitten. Many of her songs express her feelings for Cypher in some way, and in this case, it's amorous anticipation.

Yes I Am was a breakthrough album for Etheridge, selling over six million copies in America and launching her to arena-level stardom. "Come to My Window" was the first single, followed by "I'm the Only One." Both songs got extensive radio play across a variety of formats and were put in heavy rotation on VH1, where Etheridge was a core artist.

"Come to My Window" stayed in the Hot 100 for 44 weeks, peaking at #25 in August of 1994. "I'm the Only One" spent 40 weeks on the chart, peaking at #8 in January 1995. This made Etheridge the first artist with back-to-back singles that spent at least 40 weeks on the chart.

Etheridge came out as gay in early 1993, and the Yes I Am album title is a reference to this admission. Her songs of passionate longing were now revealed to be directed toward another woman, but most listeners had no problem with this. Any backlash came not because Etheridge was a lesbian, but because this song and "I'm the Only One" were inescapable, each holding a spot on many radio station playlists for nearly a year.

The black-and-white video stars Juliette Lewis, who recites some lines from the song at the beginning of the clip and in a break in the middle. In the video, Lewis plays a locked-up mental patient in various states of crazy (the following year, she would play an unhinged serial killer in the film Natural Born Killers). It was directed by Samuel Bayer, who was one of the most prolific directors of the '90s. His work includes Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and Blind Melon's "No Rain."

This won a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance and was nominated for Best Rock Song. Etheridge performed the song on the telecast.

When Etheridge recorded this song, she almost left it off the album, since she thought it was "too simple." Her friends convinced her it was worthy, and Etheridge learned a valuable lesson: simplicity can be very effective.

Etheridge opened her set at Woodstock '94 with this song.

BATTLE CRY by ANGEL HAZE

This song was produced by Greg Kurstin (Kesha, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson) and features Dirty Gold's only guest, Sia, who handles chorus duties. Haze told Billboard magazine of the Australian singer. "I had no clear she even knew who I was. And out of nowhere I'm doing a Greg Kurstin section and he's like 'Sia really wants me to play you something, but if you don't want to hear it we'd totally understand.'"

"We play it and the song ends up being so epic," Haze continued. "So she's one of my all time favorite artists ever, and that was amazing for me. Legitimately."

Explaining her decision to work with Sia, Haze said that she is a fan of her 2004 single "Breathe Me," adding: "When I was feeling suicidal, I'd go to sleep with that song on. And I'd either feel like my entire world was closing in on me or, in some strange, euphoric way, I was becoming stronger."

HANG WITH ME by ROBYN

This is the lead single by Swedish pop singer Robyn, from her sixth studio album Body Talk Pt. 2. An acoustic version of the song was previously released on Robyn's set Body Talk Pt. 1.

The song was produced by Robyn's friend and musical collaborator Klas Ahlund, who also co-wrote Britney Spears' "Piece Of Me." It was originally recorded in 2003 by Ahlund's ex-wife Paola Bruna on her album Stockcity Girl.

Robyn told the story of the song to MTV News: "Klaus wrote it but it sounded very different. It's a song that he recorded with his ex-wife! He re-wrote it and I was bombarded by him with his old music. And out of that came a few songs. It was more like a ballad in the beginning. It's a sweet song. Beautiful and bitter sweet, It's about falling in love and being scared."

Robyn explained the song's music video to MTV News UK: "I wanted to see if it could be organic too, Like Twitter and my website. We decided to make something simple that gives the feeling of touring intensity. Max Vitali directed it and I wanted a video which connected back through the touring which I'm doing all year."

MICHAEL by FRANZ FERDINAND

This is about one of the band's friends who was drunk and ended up dancing with a man.

The lyrics, "Come and dance with me, come and dance with me, so come and dance with me" are repeated throughout this song, mostly leading into the chorus. However, at a live performance recorded at the Amsterdam Paradiso in 2003, Kapronis sings instead, "come and dance with me, come and dance with me, so come all over me." If you look at the lyrics printed in the official Franz Ferdinand album booklet, the line, "So come all over me" is crossed out, and is not sung on the official album recording.

Pride Month: (Song facts about popular songs)




SAN FRANCISCO (YOU'VE GOT ME) by THE VILLAGE PEOPLE

This was the first single for the Village People; with its big group chorus, it formed a template for their later hits "Macho Man" and "Y.M.C.A."

The group was created by the French producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo, who developed the concept after coming to America and producing the Philadelphia act The Ritchie Family, who had a hit in 1976 with "The Best Disco In Town." The Village People were conceived as a gay Disco group that would dress in outlandish costumes and sing tunes with gay interest by mainstream appeal. Looking for such a song, Morali and Belolo ordered up a song called "San Francisco," which is a very popular city in the gay community. Their associate Peter Whitehead wrote the lyrics, but they were too gay, so they asked Phil Hurtt, who worked with them on The Ritchie Family project, to clean them up. "They were full of sexual innuendo and a gay concept," Hurtt says about the original lyric. After coming up with something less offensive and more ambiguous, Hurtt turned the new lyric over to Morali and Belolo, who put the track together.

The group did not exist when this song was recorded. This was not uncommon: producers would put songs together using studio musicians, then figure it out later if they needed a group to perform the songs. Casting for the lead singer was basically done at this session, and the job was offered to Phil Hurtt, who co-wrote the song and sang backup. In our interview with Hurtt, he told us the story:

"When I got there, there was myself and three other background singers. I had put down my own vocal as a lead to put the background parts on, so my own reference vocal was on. I got on the microphone with the background guys and I taught them the background parts, taught them the song, gave them the harmony parts - the whole thing, the arrangement.

When the tracks were all done, Jacques (Morali) says to me, 'Okay, darling, you're the singer for the Village People.' I said, 'No, I'm not.' There was no group, by the way. There was no group at all.

I had some other engagements and was on my way out of town, but he says, 'Well, I need you to do that.' I said, 'I can't do that, but there's a guy in the background who has a heavier voice, like a husky voice.' I said, 'He probably could do it for you.' I'm trying to get out of there.

He says, 'Okay, I'm going to lunch. You try him and let me hear what he sounds like.' So I took this kid in the other studio in New York, and taught him the song 'San Francisco,' and wrote 'Hollywood' while I was in the studio. Taught it to him. Brought him back out, put him on the microphone. And when they came back and heard him, they said, 'Oh, he sounds fine.' That was Victor Willis."

The musicians on this track were a group called Gypsy Lane, who also backed The Ritchie Family when The Village People's producers had worked with them.

I WILL SURVIVE by GLORIA GAYNOR

This female-empowerment anthem is about moving on after a bad relationship. Over the years, it has taken on meaning for people who have overcome just about any difficult situation, but for the song's lyricist, Dino Fekaris, it was about getting fired by Motown Records, where he was a staff writer. Says Fekaris: "They let me go after almost seven years. I was an unemployed songwriter contemplating my fate. I turned the TV on, and there it was: a song I had written for a movie theme titled Generation was playing right then (the song was performed by Rare Earth). I took that as an omen that things were going to work out for me. I remember jumping up and down on the bed saying, 'I'm going to make it. I'm going to be a songwriter. I will survive!"

This song was written by the former Motown producers Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris. Perren was a co-writer on three #1 Jackson 5 hits: "I Want You Back," "The Love You Save" and "ABC." Fekaris' biggest co-write with Motown was "I Just Want to Celebrate" by Rare Earth, but he also placed tracks with The Temptations and The Four Tops.

When Perren and Fekaris left Motown, they formed their own production duo and scored big with Peaches & Herb, taking "Reunited" to #1. When they wrote "I Will Survive," they had nobody to sing it. The pair agreed that the next diva that came their way would get the song. That diva was Gloria Gaynor, whose record company called Perren looking for production work on a song called "Substitute," which was originally recorded by the Righteous Brothers. They took the gig, and Gaynor agreed to record "I Will Survive" as the B-side.

Gaynor leaned the song from a demo Perren and Fekaris made for her, and both songs were recorded in the session. Everyone involved in the recording knew that "I Will Survive" was the superior track, but the president of Gaynor's record company specifically ordered "Substitute," and released it as the A-side as planned. "Substitute" peaked at #107 in October 1978, but club DJs started playing started playing the B-side, and soon radio stations were also playing "I Will Survive." Polydor finally released the single with the sides flipped, and "Survive" peaked at #1 in the US in March 1979.

This won the 1979 Grammy for Best Disco Recording. It was the first and last time that the Grammys offered this category.

Gaynor sees this song as just a simple song about survival, regardless of what you have to overcome. She said: "I love the empowering effect, I love the encouraging effect. It's a timeless lyric that addresses a timeless concern."

In June 1998, the French football team (or as Americans call it, soccer) made this their World Cup anthem.

This song became an anthem in the gay community, but its reach extends much farther - it has been reproduced in 20 languages, including Arabic. Predictably, it is also one of the most popular songs to be sung on Karaoke.

Gaynor is far and away most famous for this song (her autobiography is even called I Will Survive), but she was a formidable dance singer before she recorded it. She made #9 in 1975 with "Never Can Say Goodbye" and cracked the Hot 100 with her covers of "Walk On By" and "Reach Out, I'll Be There."

The musicians on this track were some of the first call session players in the Los Angeles area. There were:

Drums - James Gadson
Bass - Scott Edwards
Guitar - Bob Bowles
Guitar - Melvin Ragin
Piano - Freddie Perren (also the song's co-producer and co-writer

String players were also brought in to play on the track.

Gaynor suffered a back injury and spent six months in the hospital before recording this song. She had surgery and was still in a back brace for the session - her producers put baffles under her arms to accommodate her.

Since this was first released, Gaynor has become a devout Christian and added a verse reflecting her faith to live performances:

I will survive
He gave me life
I stand beside the Crucified One
I can go on
I will be strong
For my strength to live is not my own
I will survive!

Producer Freddie Perren had Gaynor do several takes of her vocal, and then double tracked them to give her voice a bigger sound. What you're hearing are two different takes synched up and mixed together.

This song has given hope to many looking to move on from a troubled relationship, but when she recorded the song, Gaynor was happily married.

"Tony Clifton" (Jim Carrey) performed this song near the end of the film Man on the Moon. Frank the pug sings it in Men in Black 2, and many other films have featured the song over the years, including In And Out, Four Weddings And A Funeral, The Replacements, The Adventures Of Priscilla: Queen Of The Desert, The First Wives Club and Coyote Ugly.

Among the many artists who have covered this: Diana Ross, Selena, Gladys Knight, and Cake. Cake's version provides a gender reversal as it was now a man singing about a woman who he must free himself from emotionally. Their version is slower, implying that he is still trying to get over her. It's also more profane, with "I should have changed that stupid lock" replaced with "I should have changed that f--king lock." Gloria Gaynor says it is her least favorite version of the song.

The song has lived up to its title, returning to the Hot 100 every decade since the 1970s in a number of different guises. Latin R&B/ freestyle singer Safire's version debuted on the chart on December 16, 1989 and peaked at #53 in January 1990. In 1996, R&B singer Chantay's slower, jazzier interpretation climbed to #24 and in 2009 the Pussycat Dolls "Survive" sampling "Hush Hush; Hush Hush" rose to #73. Finally, the Glee Cast's mash-up of the song with Destiny's Child's like-themed "Survivor" reached #51 in 2011.

VH1 named this #1 on their list of the 100 Greatest Dance Songs.

In 1999, Gaynor performed this on an episode of That '70s Show. She played the music teacher Mrs. Clark, and sang this at the prom.

Gaynor told Billboard magazine that it doesn't bother her in the least that she will forever be tied to her signature ode. "From the beginning I recognized it was a timeless lyric that everyone could relate to," said Gaynor, "so I don't get tired of singing it. I'm always freshening it up; changing the beat, the lyrics, modernizing the arrangement - I've even stuck a hip-hop section in the middle of it. I become 295% grade A ham when I do this song because people still love it."

A performance by the Northern Ireland singer-songwriter Leah McFall on The UK version of The Voice on June 7, 2013 wowed the judges. The general public was impressed as well as her studio version debuted at #16 on the UK Singles Chart with just 24 hours of sales.

R&B singer Chantay Savage's slower, bluesy version, peaked at #24 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #12 on the UK singles chart. Savage was the daughter of Jazz musician parents and had been a session musician for the likes of Kym Syms before going solo.

Aretha Franklin covered this for her 2014 album, Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics. At one point, her version of the song suddenly breaks down into Destiny's Child's "Survivor." "That was my granddaughter Victory's song, and then it became our song," she explained at the album's listening party.

FREEDOM '90 by GEORGE MICHAEL

George Michael was trying to free himself from the shackles of Sony, which was his record label at the time. They created an image for him to promote his Faith album, and Michael was now trying to distance himself from it. In the video, all the Faith trademarks explode: the jacket, the jukebox, the guitar. Michael was the victim of a Saturday Night Live skit mocking the video.

When the video first came out, viewers were quite shocked because George Michael was barely in it (he doesn't appear in "Praying For Time," also from the album, at all). This was part of his effort to distance himself from his image and bring the focus to his music, and he did it in a very clever way for this video: He got a bunch of Supermodels to lip sync for him. Appearing in the clip were Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington and Tatjana Patitz. These five had recently appeared together on the cover of the UK edition of Vogue magazine, which gave Michael the idea.

The video was directed by David Fincher, who was a top music video director before moving on to feature films like Fight Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Social Network. The "Freedom '90" clip was shot in London over a weekend.

In the video, there is a man shot from the waist down - he walks and he scratches his boxers. That is Michael. His scene goes with the line, "When you shake your ass they notice fast some mistakes were built to last," referring to the flack he got from his tush in "Faith," and the consequent spoof of him and his butt on SNL.

The song is autobiographical and chronicles Michael's Wham days with lines like: "Heaven knows we sure had some fun boy, what a kick just a buddy and me, we had every big-shot good-time band on the run boy, we were living in a fantasy."

In 1996, Robbie Williams released a cover version as his first single after leaving the boy-band Take That. His version tanked, but Williams recovered and went on to a successful solo career with his 1997 album Life Thru a Lens.

Alicia Keys performed this as part of her set during the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. While she was performing this, Kid Rock and Tommy Lee got in a fight that was likely fueled by the presence of Pamela Anderson, who was part of the show. The incident did not appear in the broadcast, but a camera caught the end of the melee and MTV made this video available online.

The year was added to the song title, originally released as "Freedom," so as not to confuse it with the hit single by Wham! also titled "Freedom."

For Entertainment Weekly's 2017 George Michael tribute issue, Cindy Crawford spoke about her experience filming the music video for this song. "I heard from director David Fincher that George wanted the group of women who had done a 1990 cover of British Vogue together exactly, no substitutions," she said. "It seemed like it was George's idea to do this video, where it wasn't about him even though the song was obviously about him. Everyone shot [scenes] separately so it wasn't like a big party atmosphere. We each had our own personalities within the video. But I remember being bummed, like, 'Really? I have to be in the bathtub with a towel on my head? Everyone else gets to look so cool!' Then when I saw it after I was like, 'okay this is pretty cool.'

For so many of us, [George's songs were] the soundtrack of our young coming of age. But more than the music, it was the message that was just as important. MTV had really changed the face of music. It wasn't enough to have a great voice anymore. You had to be the whole package. George Michael deciding at that pivotal moment that he didn't want to play the game in the same way, that he wanted to make it his own game, was a great message. I think people loved him more because of that."

WALK ON THE WILD SIDE by LOU REED

This song is about cross-dressers who come to New York City and become prostitutes. "Take a walk on the wild side" is what they say to potential customers. Each verse introduces a new character. There is Holly, Candy, Little Joe, Sugar Plum Fairy, and Jackie. The characters are all cronies of the infamous Andy Warhol Factory, as was Lou.

Reed had an empathy for these characters that comes through in the song, as he struggled with his sexuality for most of his life. His parents even tried to "cure" his homosexuality when he was young.

"Little Joe" refers to Joe Dallesandero, who was also one of Andy's kids in the factory. He was in several films by Warhol. Sugar Plum Fairy is the nickname of actor Joe Campbell.

"Holly," "Candy," and "Jackie" are based on Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling, and Jackie Curtis. They are all real drag queens who appeared in Warhol's 1972 movie Women In Revolt. Woodlawn also appeared in Warhol's 1970 movie Trash, and Curtis was in Warhol's 1968 movie Flesh.

Said Reed: "I always thought it would be kind of fun to introduce people to characters they maybe hadn't met before, or hadn't wanted to meet."

In an interview with The Guardian published December 13, 2008, Holly Woodlawn said: "My father got a job at a hotel, so we moved from New York to Miami Beach. I was going to school, getting stones thrown at me and being beaten up by homophobic rednecks. I felt I deserved better, and I hated football and baseball. So, aged 15, I decided to get the hell out of there and ran away from home. I had $27, so hitchhiked across the USA. I did pluck my eyebrows in Georgia. It hurt! My friend Georgette was plucking them and I was screaming, but all of a sudden I had these gorgeous eyebrows and she put mascara on my eyes. We ran into some marines in Lafayette in South Carolina. They tried to attack me. I was 15 and not used to this stuff. I was sitting in a car with this marine, terrified that he was going to rape me and kill me. I said, 'I've never done this before.' He said, 'You don't wanna have sex with me?' I said it wasn't that I didn't find him attractive, I just didn't want to do it. But he was wonderful. He protected me. While Georgette was in a motel screaming and yelling with 18 marines but having a good time, he said, 'When you're with me, nothing will happen to you.' And they drove us all the way to New Jersey.

In New York I was living on the street. Then I met Jackie Curtis and Candy Darling, and they'd watch Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo movies at 1am. There was this club called Max's Kansas City. Jackie and Candy had just done this movie called Flesh, and they said, 'You have to meet Andy [Warhol]. He's gonna make you a superstar.'

I didn't want to be a superstar. My wig looked like yak hair. One day Jackie put on a show and I was in the chorus. I saw this bag of glitter and a jar of Vaseline, and smeared myself with it and got this boyfriend to throw the glitter on me. [Director] Paul Morrissey said, 'I don't know who she is but she's a star.' Next thing Paul's calling me up to star in a movie called Trash, and the rest is history.

One day a friend called me and said, 'Turn on the radio!' They were playing 'Walk On The Wild Side.' The funny thing is that, while I knew the Velvet Underground's music, I'd never met Lou Reed. I called him up and said, 'How do you know this stuff about me?' He said, 'Holly, you have the biggest mouth in town.' We met and we've been friends ever since."

In a 1972 interview with Disc and Music Echo, Reed described this as an "outright gay song," saying it was "from me to them, but they're carefully worded so the straights can miss out on the implications and enjoy them without being offended. I suppose though the album is going to offend some people."

This was not banned by the notoriously conservative BBC or by many US radio stations because censors did not understand phrases like "giving head." Depending on the regional US market, the song was, however, edited for what we now call political correctness. Reed leads into the female vocalists' "Doo, doo-doo" hook with the words, "And the colored girls say," but some stations played a version that replaced the phrase with, "And the girls all say."

Reed recorded this two years after leaving The Velvet Underground, a band that was very influential, but not commercially successful. Transformer was Reed's second solo album. His first album flopped, and for a while it looked like his music career was over.

David Bowie and Mick Ronson produced this track. They were big fans of Reed.

The sax solo at the end was played by Ronnie Ross, a Jazz musician who lived near Bowie in England. When Bowie was 12 years old, he wanted to learn the saxophone and begged Ross to give him lessons, which he eventually did. When they needed a sax player for this, Bowie made sure Ross was booked for the session, but didn't tell him he'd be there. Ross nailed the solo in one take and Bowie showed up to surprise his old friend.

The album version of this song runs 4:12. The single, which reached its US peak position of #16 on April 28, 1973, was edited down to 3:37 for radio play.

This came out at a time when audiences were intrigued by cross-dressing and homosexuality in music. "Glam Rock," where the performers wore feminine clothes, was big, and artists like David Bowie and Elton John were attracting fans both gay and straight.

This was a rare venture to the pop charts for Reed, who was not known for hit singles. This song provided his biggest hit, and it was his only Top 40 in the US.

The famous bass line was played by a session musician named Herbie Flowers. He was paid 17 Pounds for his work. Flowers was modest about his contribution to this and other songs. He once told Mojo writer Phil Sutcliffe about his role as a session musician, "You do the job and get your arse away. You take a £12 fee, you can't play a load of bol--cks. Wouldn't it be awful if someone came up to me on the street and congratulated me for Transformer."

Three songs on Transformer were commissioned by Andy Warhol for a Broadway musical he was planning based on Nelson Algren's novel A Walk On The Wild Side. The show was never materialized, but Reed kept the title and applied it to characters he knew from Andy Warhol's Factory to create this song.

The female vocalists singing backup on this track were Karen Friedman, Dari Lalou and Casey Synge. In 1974, they recorded as "Thunderthighs" and had a UK hit with "Central Park Arrest."

Rap and Hip-Hop artists frequently sample this track. The most famous appropriation is by A Tribe Called Quest on their 1990 song "Can I Kick It?"

Marky Mark's second single, after "Good Vibrations," was a remake of this called "Wildside." He is now known as Mark Wahlberg and famous for movies like Boogie Nights and Rock Star.

At Live Aid in 1985 at Wembley Stadium, while U2 was playing their song "Bad," Bono improvised 2 Rolling Stones' songs and then this song into the end, changing the lyrics of "Walk On The Wild Side" to: "Holly came from Miami F.L.A., hitchhiked all the way across the USA, she could feel the satellite coming down, pretty soon she was in London town... Wembley Stadium, and all the people went, Doo-Doo-Doo-Doo-Doo." He then had the audience sing this line while he walked offstage and the band finished playing.

Reed's musical influence extends to Third Eye Blind: they got the idea for the doot doot doot hook on their hit "Semi-Charmed Life" from this song.

LAST DANCE by DONNA SUMMER

Paul Jabara wrote this for the 1978 movie Thank God It's Friday. The movie takes place at a dance club, and Jabara played the role of Carl, a clueless club patron. The film didn't do nearly as well as Saturday Night Fever, which was released a year earlier and was also centered around a Disco. This song, however, was a huge hit and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Jabara also wrote "It's Raining Men" for The Weathergirls, as well as Barbra Streisand's theme to her 1979 movie The Main Event. Jabara died of AIDS related causes in 1992 at age 44.

Summer performed this in the movie, which also featured a performance by the Commodores singing "Too Hot To Trot." It was Summer's first role in a major motion picture, and she played an aspiring young singer named Nicole. In the film, she tries to convince the DJ at a hot nightclub to let her sing, and at the end of the night, she gets her chance and performs this, knowing it might be her last chance.

The lyrics could be viewed as a woman looking for the love of her life, but in more literal terms, it's the last song before closing time at the disco and she is looking for someone to go home with for the evening.

European producer Giorgio Moroder worked on this track. He also produced Summer's hits Bad Girls and Love To Love You Baby.

Summer appeared on an episode of the TV show Family Matters where she played Steve Urkel's aunt Oona from Altoona, and sang this song in a karaoke contest.

This was included on a 2010 disco CD included in kids' meals by Wendy's. However, the fast food chain was forced to pull their freebie after customers complained about this song's racy lyrics. Even though the CD had been marked as safe for 3 years old and up, the lyrics "so horny" could be heard.