In the great gay debate, there's always the question:
Are you a Liza, a Bette, a Madonna or a Barbra? (Sorry, I'm not of the generation that asks if I'm a Britney or a Gaga - not that I'm old) Okay, so my generation might ask more if I'm a Carrie, Miranda, Samantha or Charlotte. And that naturally is paired with the colors conversation (are you an Autumn, Winter, Spring or Summer).
To clear it up, I'm a Summer Carrie and I don't really play favorites with my Gay Icons. But I do have a special affinity for Barbra in the 70s, her pop period, which I really consider 1969-1984 (everything that leads up to The Broadway Album). Although the great stuff happened in the 1970s. And I'm not counting Guilty in 1980 because that it was her best selling album to date and not considered a lost classic.
Here's a list of songs from the great Streisand Pop Era - check them out in their 30 second clips on iTunes:
Queen Bee - from A Star is Born ("Welcome, please...the Oreos!)
Space Captain - from Barbra Joan Streisand (yes, the Joe Cocker song)
Life on Mars - from Butterfly (yes , Bowie song - and genius!)
Sweet Inspiration - from Live Concert at the Forum - she gets all Gospel
Look What They've Done to my Song, Ma - from Barbra Streisand and other Instruments - the special at least, not sure if it's on an album
Punky's Dilemna - from What About Today? ("Wish I was a Kellogg's Corn Flake...")
Time Machine - from Emotion (written by Earth, Wind and Fire, also featured on KIDS INCORPORATED)
Emotion - from Emotion - the video and documentary about the making of the video is genius. She basically went from Yentl to this.
It's classic because it so epitomizes so many wrong things about the 70s - it's when a lot of famous old time acts tried to get hip and the era was full of so many wacky ideas that it really was like the Devil's playground in term of guilty pleasures. Amazing. The collision of culture...what a wreck! A deliriously wonderful wreck!
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I'm partial to her Kim Carnes collaborations: "Stay Away" from SONGBIRD; "Love Comes from Unexpected Places" from SUPERMAN; and, of course, “Make No Mistake, He's Mine" from EMOTION.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, is there a trashier, more overblown production than "Left in the Dark" or a more satisfying cover of Sondheim than "Being Alive" from "THE BROADWAY ALBUM?"
Just saying.
Nice blog.