#david michael phillips

[myvinylplaylist]

Lizzy Borden: Deal With The Devil (2000)

Cover Art by Todd McFarlane

Metal Blade Records

[clarence-tries]

“One Day More” Encore from the opening night of the Les Misérables Arena Tour in Sydney featuring the 1988 Australian cast!! Video credit to @stejohvin on Instagram.

[iamtryingtobelieve]

"Blasted! Wasted! Busted! 'I think these guys have been experimenting with some controlled substances…' 'Well you ain't just whistlin' Dixie'" Bully (2001) Dir: Larry Clark

[jmunneytumbler]

This One Weird Trick Helped Me Watch 'Lilo & Stitch' (2025), 'Thunderbolts*,' and 'Bring Her Back'

[vaporlocke81]

Today's Tarot: King of Wands § ENTHUSIASM - art by @benjaminmackey -

[dhplover]

#OTD in 2009:

Mike: “What makes a good marriage? I think patience.”

Kathy: “Patience & separate bathrooms.”

Provenza: “Up until now, you guys had avoided all the big mistakes that people make in a relationship. Getting married, buying a house & having kids. I look at this wedding today as a big red flag.”

Gabriel: “Hi, I just wanted to say that I really have enjoyed working with both of you, truly. And this really couldn't be happening to two nicer people. Congratulations, you guys.”

Andy: “Hey, you guys. Enjoy Italy. You've earned it. And make sure you sleep in a lot your first week out.”

Daniels: “I don't know much about successful relationships, but you seem to have one. And I'm happy to have been a part of your lives.”

Buzz: “I just wanted to say, it's really nice to be invited to the reception. And I hope this little tribute is something that you will like & keep & remember.”

Julio: “My Wife died six years ago & I've never taken off her ring. Always love each other. Always.”

Pope: “Well, I'm happy for you both. May each year bring you closer together.”

#TheCloser #DoubleBlind

[yosoybaxter]

[badmovieihave]

Bad movie I have Superbad 2007

[letterboxd-loggd]

Scrooged (1988) Richard Donner

December 20th 2023

[newjazzthings]

ESTHER PHILLIPS / WHAT A DIFF'RENCE A DAY MAKES

[nozomisumino]

It's funny rewatching Twin Peaks and being like, "Oh hey Mike! How are you doing?"

[liugeaux]

Greatest Songs Ever - Part 23 (w/ Friends)

Here's part 23! Once I landed on the theme of this edition, I knew it was going to be a good time. The idea hit me when I realized a significant number of songs I had already chosen either had features or were duets. You guessed it, this list's theme is songs with more than one artist. It could be guest spots, features, duets, or collaborations. It just needs to have 2 or more credited artists. A simple theme, with big songs. Let's get started.

1984 "Easy Lover" - Phillip Bailey & Phil Collins

"Easy Lover" was destined to be on this list from the time it struck my ear about 20 years ago. I know the song is from '84 and I definitely remember hearing it in the 80s and 90s, but it wasn't until the 2000s that it really dug its heels into me. Equal parts 80s synth-pop, 70s area rock, and smooth R&B, "Easy Lover" takes the best of Phil Collins and merges it with Earth, Wind, and Fire Vocalist Phillip Bailey's pop-friendly voice. There's even a healthy serving of the Collins' signature drum sound. Likely taking a cue from MJ's "Beat It" this track's crescendo is a sleek guitar solo that almost feels out of place in what should probably be an R&B song. There's not a time where I hear "Easy Lover" and don't want to turn it up.

2019 "Blow" - Ed Sheeran w/Bruno Mars & Chris Stapleton

"Blow" is a song by three artists whose day job is to sound nothing like this song. "Blow" is a serious rock track, with a hot guitar riff, and an edge to it that you wouldn't typically hear from Sheeran, Stapleton or Mars. With the song carrying a bit of a southern rock tone, Chris Stapleton is the closest equipped with the style needed to make this believable, but there's a swagger to "Blow" that is undeniably Bruno Mars. Ed just seems to be along for the ride here. It's got a confidence not found in most Sheeran songs. It's big and gaudy and screams for your attention. One thing I found while pulling the best collabs is that when artists work together they typically want to write a song that's splashy and big, "Blow" is the absolute best example of when that process goes right.

2010 "All I Do Is Win" - DJ Khaled featuring T-Pain, Ludacris, Rick Ross and Snoop Dogg

Seemingly written exclusively for sporting events, "All I Do is Win" has the perfect menagerie of featured artists. Both Luda and Snoop are probably on the Mount Rushmore of Featured Rappers. The song's college band feel to it also helps with its sporting event persona. The energy of the track must have been infectious because a remixed version of the song was released later in 2010 with Diddy, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes, Fabolous, Jadakiss, Fat Joe and Swizz Beatz. Everyone wanted to win.

2005 "Remember the Name" - Fort Minor featuring Styles of Beyond

Cut from the same cloth as that DJ Khaled song, "Remember the Name" was never a big radio hit, but it was HUGE in stadiums. Fort Minor was Mike Shinoda's rap-centered side project where he did a bunch of songs, mostly with features, and actually had decent success. His most frequent collaborator on the Fort Minor album was Styles of Beyond, and that's who's on this track. The real stars here though are the strings and the chorus. It's a hype track, that yet again fits the bill of two artists coming together to make the most attention-getting track they can assemble.

1995 "Scream" - Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson

I think I might be the only person that loves "Scream". It's futuristic, grimy and intentionally flys in the face of what you'd expect a Janet and Michael Jackson song to sound like. Towards the end, both Jackson's have a Jackson-off with hee-hees and woo-hoos poppin' off left and right. It's a hella weird track that only makes sense if you were there to see the evolution of both artists and this creative car-crash pays enormous dividends.

2011 "Somebody That I Used To Know" - Gotye featuring Kimbra

Gotye and Kimbra emerged from obscurity, dropped this track, and promptly disappeared into the ether. Gotye hasn't even released a follow-up album. It's an unconventional song, and an even more unconventional radio song. At 4:04 it runs a bit long for radio and not only does it have two verses before the chorus, the chorus doesn't kick in until the 1:33 mark. Hearing this on the radio is chaos. "Somebody That I Used to Know" is strongest towards the end when Kimbra steps in and reveals we will be hearing both sides of the story. Then the climactic duel vocal to close it out is uncharacteristically anthemic for a song that's basically a low-key indie Art-Pop sad-boi track. As I listen to it again for the 1000th time, it hits me that this song might be a masterpiece.

1981 "Under Pressure" - Queen & David Bowie

Ladies and Gentlemen, the most "low-hanging fruit" track on this list. I really don't have to justify its inclusion here, but for posterity, I'll throw down a few words. In true Queen fashion, "Under Pressure" feels like 3-4 songs and 2 additional Bowie songs smashed together. These types of songs aren't supposed to exist, you're not supposed to get both the fillet mignon AND the veal, but if you do it's probably at a buffet and they're both terrible. When artists of this caliber collaborate, egos are supposed to destroy the product. Queen and Bowie work so well together, it's a shame they didn't collaborate more.

1992 "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" - Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg

In 1992 Dr. Dre was already a proven talent in the production booth but had yet to have his solo breakout. Snoop Dogg was an unknown rapper from Long Beach. "Nothin' but a 'G' Thang" was so good it helped establish the "West Coast" rap scene. Undeniable about being a 'G', this track ends up being 85% macho posturing and 15% danger but ultimately it works. This track was cool as hell and is still cool as hell. The early 1990s saw a huge shift from Rap being seen as a novelty performed over a sampled backing track to a full-fledged serious production, and Dr. Dre was the king of that hill.

2014 "Bang Bang" - Jessie J, Nikki Minaj & Ariana Grande

In the category of stunty, big-name, flashy, bow-chested collabs, "Bang Bang" is a powerhouse. Jessie J and Ariana Grande take turns trying to out-sing each other, and then Nicki Minaj swoops in to drop fire at the bridge. The song seems to celebrate womanhood and each performer tries her damndest to be a showstopper. Produced by Max Martin, "Bang Bang", has the "anything-goes" production style of the 2010s, and it stands out as a show tune with a soul. Like "Easy Lover", "Blow" and "Scream," "Bang Bang" leaves the nuance at home in favor of big, attention-grabbing, production. Some of the best collabs are just 2-3 creatives having a blast working together and this song feels like that.

1967 "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

The closest thing on this list to a traditional "duet", "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is a love song, that's a product of both its time and its record label. Do you remember that scene in That Thing You Do where Shades plays the titular song with an up-tempo, and it changes everything? "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" reads like a slow song written as a low-key single artist ballad. It wouldn't surprise me if it was tuned up to bring some cheer to the track. With Gaye and Terrell trading lines, the song is perfect for TV performances, weddings, or basically any kind of romantic celebration. For what it's worth, I'd put it on the Mount Rushmore of Motown songs. Then again, who am I to be saying such things?

Ok, that's on the books. See you next time.

Cheers

[badmovieihave]

Bad movie I have The Onion Field 1979

[makingqueerhistory]

Stonewall Book Awards Nonfiction Winners 2025-1971

Some years had multiple nonfiction winners. How many have you read?

Sex With a Brain Injury: On Concussion and Recovery by Annie Liontas (Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster LLC)

Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H (The Dial Press)

The Women’s House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison by Hugh Ryan (Bold Type Books)

Faltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn’t My Rapist by Cecilia Gentili (Little Puss Press)

Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir by Akwaeke Emezi (Riverhead Books)

Queer Games Avant-Garde: How LGBTQ Game Makers are Reimagining the Medium of Video Games by Bonnie Ruberg (they/them) (Duke University Press)

How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir by Saeed Jones (Simon & Schuster)

Go the Way Your Blood Beats by Michael Amherst (London: Repeater Press)

Queer Threads: Crafting Identity and Community by John Chaich and Todd Oldham (Los Angeles: Ammo Books)

How to Survive a Plague: The inside story of how citizens and science tamed AIDS, by David France (New York: Alfred A. Knopf)

Speak Now: Marriage Equality on Trial, by Kenji Yoshino (New York: Crown Publishers)

Living Out Islam: Voices of Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Muslims, by Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle (New York: New York University Press)

American Honor Killings: Desire and Rage Among Men, by David McConnell (New York : Akashic Books)

Raising My Rainbow: Adventures in Raising a Fabulous, Gender Creative Son, by Lori Duron (New York: Broadway Books, an imprint of Crown Publishing, a division of Random House, Inc.)

For Colored Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Still Not Enough: Coming of Age, Coming Out, and Coming Home, edited by Keith Boykin (New York : Magnus Books)

Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, by Jonathan D. Katz and David C. Ward (Washington, D.C. : Smithsonian Books)

A Queer History of the United States (Revisioning American History), by Michael Bronski (Boston, Mass. : Beacon Press)

Inseparable: Desire between Women in Literature by Emma Donoghue, (Knopf)

Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America by Nathaniel Frank, (St. Martin's Press)

Dishonorable Passions: Sodomy Laws in America, 1861-2003 by William N. Eskridge, Jr., (Viking)

Dog Years: A Memoir by Mark Doty, (HarperCollins)

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel, (Houghton Mifflin)

The fabulous Sylvester: the legend, the music, the seventies in San Francisco by Joshua Gamson, (H. Holt)

Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and in People by Joan Roughgarden, (University of California Press)

Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin by John D'Emilio, (Free Press)

How Sex Changed: a History of Transsexuality in the United States by Joanne Meyerowitz, ( Harvard University Press)

The Scarlet Professor: Newton Arvin, a Literary Life Shattered by Scandal by Barry Werth, (Nan A. Talese)

Gaylaw: Challenging the Apartheid of the Closet by William N. Eskridge, (Harvard University Press)

My Lesbian Husband: Landscape of a Marriage by Barrie Jean Borich, (Greywolf Press)

Stagestruck: Theater, AIDS, and the Marketing of Gay America by Sarah Schulman, (Duke University Press)

The Shared Heart: Portraits and Stories Celebrating Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Young People by Adam Mastoon, (William Morrow and Co./Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books)

Geography of the Heart: A Memoir by Fenton Johnson, (Scribner)

Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation by Urvashi Vaid, (Anchor Books)

Skin: Talking About Sex, Class & Literature Dorothy Allison, (Firebrand Books)

Uncommon Heroes: A Celebration of Heroes and Role Models for Gay and Lesbian Americans by Phillip Sherman and Samuel Bernstein, (Fletcher Press)

Family Values: Two Moms and Their Son by Phyllis Burke, (Random House)

Making History: The Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Equal Rights, 1945-1990 by Eric Marcus, (HarperCollins)

Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth Century America by Lillian Faderman, (Columbia University Press)

Encyclopedia of Homosexuality edited by Wayne Dynes, (Garland)

In Search of Gay America: Women and Men in a Time of Change by Neil Miller, (Atlantic Monthly Press)

A Restricted Country by Joan Nestle, (Firebrand Books)

And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts, (St. Martin's Press)

The Spirit and the Flesh: Sexual Diversity in American Indian Culture by Walter Williams, (Beacon Press)

Sex and Germs: The Politics of AIDS by Cindy Patton, (South End Press)

Another Mother Tongue: Gay Words, Gay Worlds by Judy Grahn, (Beacon Press)

Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: The Making of a Homosexual Minority in the United States, 1940-1970 by John D'Emilio, (University of Chicago Press)

Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present by Lillian Faderman, (Morrow)

Black Lesbians: An Annotated Bibliography by J.R. Roberts, (Naiad Press)

The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies by Vito Russo, (Harper & Row)

The Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde, (Spinsters, Ink)

Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century by John Boswell, (University of Chicago Press)

Now That You Know: What Every Parent Should Know About Homosexuality by Betty Fairchild and Nancy Hayward, (Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich)

Our Right to Love: A Lesbian Resource Book edited by Ginny Vida, (Prentice-Hall)

Familiar Faces, Hidden Lives: The Story of Homosexual Men in America Today by Howard Brown, (Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich)

Homosexuality: Lesbians and Gay Men in Society, History, and Literature edited by Jonathan Katz, (Arno Press) [Series of historically significant reprints]

Sex Variant Women in Literature: A Historical and Quantitative Survey by Jeannette Foster, (Vantage Press)

The Gay Mystique: The Myth and Reality of Male Homosexuality by Peter Fisher, (Stein & Day)

Lesbian/Woman by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon (Glide Publications)

A Place for Us by Isabel Miller, (published in October, 1971 by McGraw Hill as Patience and Sarah )