by tim parks

 

To say that Reichen Lehmkuhl is militant when it comes to raising awareness regarding lifting the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, would not be an understatement at all. 

 

In fact, it perfectly encapsulates the 36-year-old’s passion for spreading the word on the political hot potato, which he will next address during his appearance at Deployment Vegas.

 

The event, being held in Sin City on August 13-15, is an annual gathering for gay military men and those who champion them.

 

Lehmkuhl, who served as a Captain in the Air Force prior to his honorable discharge, has since spent his time in the trenches as a spokesperson for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network and has a flight-themed jewelry line, Flying Naked, with proceeds benefiting the aforementioned organization.

 

It has been seven years since Lehmkuhl, and then partner Chip Arndt, won “The Amazing Race”; and he is now in the midst of dipping his toe back into the reality TV pool with his appearance on the upcoming LOGO series, “The A List: New York,” which has been likened to Bravo’s popular “Real Housewives” franchise, and features him and his boyfriend Rodiney Santiago in their day-to-day existence.

 

Lehmkuhl took time out his very busy schedule, which also includes taping of the new series and his starring role in the off-Broadway production of My Big Gay Italian Wedding, to chat with The Rage Monthly about a number of reality-themed topics; from being affiliated as one of its stars to the realism of there being a lifting of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

 

Seeing as Lehmkuhl has been one of the few LGBT faces to win on a reality competition, we thought we’d get his two cents worth on how these shows represent the community as a whole.

 

“I think depending on the show, it’s portraying all different sides of the gay community,” he said, “It’s funny, as I get older, I’ve come to learn that there are so many kinds of people who happen to be gay; that you can’t fault any single show for depicting the gay community any single way.

 

Because who’s to say that straight acting gay people should be more acceptable than feminine acting gay people, or professional gay people should be regarded in a higher esteem than artsy gay people?"

 

“I’m kind of at the point where I’m non-judgmental about all of the different kinds of gay people that are in the community.”   

 

As far as which of the many reality shows that populate the airwaves, he does have a favorite that he’s partial to, in terms of how the community are showcased on it. “‘The Amazing Race’ has done it the best, because they’ve shown a lot of different kinds of gay people,” he answered.

 

“They’ve embraced the whole spectrum of the gay community. Our gay watchdog organizations that we have; there’s almost this pressure to show the gay community in a way that might be more acceptable to the straight community,” he explained.

 

“So that we have a better chance of getting rights, and I’m getting militant in my older age in saying, ‘We should be able to be how we are, and still be respected to have the same rights as everyone else.’ When you’re talking about reality shows, especially ‘The Amazing Race, ‘ I think they applaud that mindset.”

 

One mindset that may not have Lehmkuhl giving a standing ovation to is the labeling of being a “reality star,” as he has branched out into other avenues of the entertainment field with acting roles, including his turn as Trevor on “Dante’s Cove.”

 

He explained his connotation of the term. “Ah, reality star,” he said with a laugh. “Someone who has a really hard time getting respect in the legitimate acting world; I think it takes a special kind of person to really stick with it, and try to parlay their reality world fame into things that are more constructive and respected more in the entertainment industry.”

 

As previously mentioned, he is in the midst of filming “The A List: New York” and is both “totally excited and scared to death” to be swimming back in the waters of reality TV, as this experience is far different than his turn on “The Amazing Race.”

 

“It’s scary, the cameras are with me all the time,” he stated. “It’s an eight episode series, and we’re shooting for three and a half months; and the show is with me, basically, six days a week and sometimes twelve hours a day."

 

“And they’re showing everything,” Lehmkuhl exclaimed. “Viewers of the show are going to see my life, like my family and friends probably haven’t even seen it. It’s so intense, this show, and it’s scary to be opened up like that. But at the same time, it’s so much fun and so exciting.”

 

As far as the series being similar to the Real Housewives brand, Lehmkuhl feels that it will stand on its own merit.

 

“It’s definitely a unique show, because it will be the only one that’s totally gay and depicting these six guys’ lives,” he professed.

 

“You’ll be able to relate to it more, and there’s every kind of gay person on the show – name the kind of guy and he’s on there. I think everyone’s going to have a favorite and everyone’s going to have someone they hate.

 

And, I think the show will be appealing to a lot of people outside of the gay community, because it’s a kind of social experiment.”  

 

Another aspect that he sees as beneficial is that it’s a great cross-promotional tool for the gay rights causes he supports through appearances on the lecture circuit, as well as highlighting his attempts to eek out time to write a tongue-in-cheek follow-up to his 2006 memoir Here’s What We’ll Say, which he plans to title It Will Be Great Exposure.

 

“I’m having a time in my life, where I’m not getting the chance to sit down and write,” he recounted. “I’m actually heading to a store right now to buy a desk, so I can sit down and write more.

 

The first quarter will be my time as a gay officer in the Air Force and everything I went through living a double life, and then I’ll go into meeting Chip, doing “The Amazing Race,” meeting Lance (Bass) and going through a breakup on the grocery store newsstand tabloids.

 

“I’ve been through some other really hard stuff that I’m going to reveal and open up about, hopefully to help other people who might have gone through the same things.”

 

And this is the exact reason why he became involved with Deployment Vegas, as he knows first hand about the types of experience the military men have gone through.

 

“It’s really important for me and I feel so lucky to have been invited by the organization to speak to them,” Lehmkuhl said. “And I know it’s an organization that relates to me and what I’ve been through, and I relate to them and what they’ve been through."

 

“I think it will benefit me as much as it will benefit them (the men participating). I’ll love getting together with these guys and having that camaraderie with them, and we can all talk and share stories.

 

To stand before them and tell my story is cool, but I want to hear their stories, as much as they might want to hear mine. When you’re in the military and you’re gay, you withstand emotional torture leading a double life and it’s very difficult.”

 

If Lehmkuhl had his druthers, and in a perfect world, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” would become a thing of the past. “If I had it my way, I would be best friends with the President and talk him into signing an executive order to stop the discharges immediately,” he proclaimed.

 

“At two discharges a day, at the rate we’re running, I’d put all those discharges on the shoulders of the President. "We’re really torturing people who are willing to give their lives in their profession; name one other profession where people are willing to give an actual beating heart for that profession,” he stated.

 

“You’re taking those kinds of honorable people and ripping them from their careers, humiliating them, and everyday we’re doing this to a couple of men and women. It has to stop! In an ideal world, which is not the one we live in, that’s what I would do."

 

“In the real world, I have high hopes that the Senate will pass this Defense Budget Bill. It’s a lot of work and will take a lot of convincing.”

by bill biss & brad shaw

 

78-year-old entertainer Mitzi Gaynor is still bringing audiences her specialty, by giving them the old razzle dazzle with her one-woman show, Razzle Dazzle: My Life Behind the Sequins, which she will perform at The Welk Resorts Theatre September 2 through September 5.

 

A rare triple-threat commodity in the world of the business known as show, Miss Gaynor has been singing, dancing and acting her way into the hearts of fans for over 60 years now, and along the way has worked with the likes of Bing Crosby, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and even Marilyn Monroe.

 

Her film resume is chock full of stellar celluloid moments, in which she was able to showcase all of her talents, in films such as There’s No Business Like Show Business, Les Girls and Anything Goes.

 

Her turn as Nellie Forbush in 1958’s South Pacific saw Gaynor not only wash that man right outta of her hair in a lyrical sense, but she was also nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actress for the role she is most identified with.

 

However, being the true entertainer that she is, Gaynor also parlayed her film credits into a successful run as a Las Vegas headliner for many years, while she also hit the road with her incomparable knack for song and dance.

 

And, she provided small screen viewers with glimmers of flash and dazzle in a series of annual specials that aired throughout the 1960s and into the late ’70s. A collection of these gems became an Emmy-winning documentary, “Mitzi Gaynor Razzle Dazzle: The Special Years,” which marked the seventh such accolade that the venerable showstopper has garnered over her storied career, while off camera, she enjoyed a 52-year marriage to Jack Bean, who passed away in 2006.

   

The Rage Monthly chatted with the very charming Gaynor about her showbiz past, the slap happy nature of Les Girls director George Cukor, memories of co-stars and the current crop of musicals.  

 

Mitzi Gaynor: Oh, aren’t you dear? Thank you so much, that’s very, very nice!

 

MG: When my husband, Jack Bean, told me who I was going to do a picture with, of course I just really flipped out, because of starring with Bing Crosby. I had been such a big fan of his for all of my life and I grew up listening to him.

 

We got along extremely well; he was a Taurus and I’m a Virgo, and Taurus’ and Virgo’s get along very well together. And Bing used to call me “Brookie,” and I asked him why. He said that when I walked away my little fanny looked like a Brook trout going upstream.

 

And, of course I got to dance with Donald (O’Connor), and in Show Business I was his sister. Some of the best dancing I know that I ever did was with Donald; when we did “De-Lovely” together that was so beautiful.   

 

MG: That was because of Ernie Flatt; Ernie Flatt and I started out in show business together and we were very good friends. And when I got to do this, Zizi Jeanmaire (her co-star) had her husband do her numbers, and the big coup was that I got to do the number for “Anything Goes.”

 

MG: Well, I was supposed to do White Christmas with Donald, and he was sick, so they got Danny Kaye. And Danny Kaye had done movies with Vera-Ellen, so I was out, Donald was out and Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen were in.

 

If I could live my life over again I would, honest to God, live it at Paramount; because the studio powers-that-be wanted Donald and I to do musical versions of Preston Sturges’ Miracle on Morgan Creek, The Palm Beach Story and all of those wonderful movies. But Donald wanted to do something else, so that didn’t work.

 

 

MG: One time Gene Kelly said, “He’s so full of sh**!” Cukor was a slapper and he couldn’t slap me, because I would have punched him out. So, he couldn’t smack me, he couldn’t smack Gene Kelly, and he certainly wasn’t going to smack Kay Kendall, so he kind of smacked Taina Elg. So, we did our very best to not do anything wrong, so Taina wouldn’t get smacked.

 

I’m telling you all kinds of bad things, but it was fun, and his personality would just radiate in the morning when you’d come in. As soon as you’d walk in on the set there would be music and he’d say, “Darling, my beautiful cast, come darlings, come, come, come and give me a kiss,” and then we’d go to work. He made everything fun.     

MG: Jack Cole did the choreography, but he came down with Hepatitis and had to quit. So, Gene did our motorcycle number that he and I did together. And, I think that’s really good work.

 

Gene, the dear heart that he was, was let go and this was going to be the end of his tenure at Metro, after all he had done for musical films, my God; and we never ever knew a thing, because he didn’t have any cross words with us or anybody.

 

MG: Marilyn worked like a dog for Jack Cole for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Jane Russell would say, “I’m tired, I’m going home.” And Marilyn would practically be on her hands and knees saying, “No, but I’ll do it another time.”

 

Because she wanted to do such a good job, and I thought she was fabulous in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. And think of how great she was in There’s No Business Like Show Business in that number that she did, “Heat Wave.”   

 

MG: I can say that it wasn’t hard, because I was lucky enough that Jack could be with me all the time. I didn’t go on the road by myself, in other words. Jack and I were like one person.

 

MG: Ten years ago, there was no such thing as a musical. And now, of course, with “Glee” and with “Dancing with the Stars” and all those things, life is changing a lot and kids really want to learn to dance. 

 

I’m the president of the board of directors of Professional Dancers Society, and one of our members is Joe Tremaine, who has these fabulous schools; and he says that his teachers have never been so busy, because people want to dance, dance is joy.    

 

by tim parks

 

Musician Dave Koz is experiencing the professional equivalent of being on cloud nine, as he has been nominated as “Entertainer of the Year” for the inaugural American Smooth Jazz Awards, being held in Michigan City, Indiana on October 29. 

 

As if this weren’t enough of a celestial boost, Koz literally saw stars, in the singular sense, when he was presented with his very own on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last September. 

 

The venerable saxophonist is currently touring with guitarist Jonathan Butler and percussionist Sheila E., and Southern Californians can catch him at the Long Beach Jazz Festival on August 14 and the Thornton Winery in Temecula on August 28 and 29.

 

The 47-year-old is also readying his forthcoming CD,   Hello Tomorrow, for an October 19 release date. His latest effort features the openly gay performer’s rendition of Herb Alpert’s song “This Guy’s in Love With You,” on which he sings.

 

This is quite indicative of the new musical ground he’s treading upon by stepping outside of his comfort zone, as he told The Rage Monthly. 

 

Dave Koz: I was born and raised in California and Los Angeles. I kind of grew up where stars were in the back yard. I use to go with my parents and walk down the street and look at those names. I’d ask my mom, “Who’s this and who’s that?”

 

Now, somebody can be walking with their parents and walk over to my star and say, “Who the hell is Dave Koz (laughter)?” It all comes full circle. To say the word “surreal” doesn’t even do it justice. It was such an outrageously “pinch me” moment.

 

How did this happen? How did I get here? I just kind of embraced it. I had a great time and was surrounded by family, friends, colleagues and fans. It was a day I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.

DK: I went 20 years on Capitol Records as an artist there. When I found out that the star was coming, I scoped out a spot. I kept my fingers crossed and prayed that they would actually give it to me. And they did! It’s right at the front door.

 

You’ve got Garth Brooks, Bonnie Raitt, all The Beatles, Natalie Cole and all these huge megastars and there’s me (laughter).

DK: Jonathan and I have known each other for years. He and I are like kindred spirits. He likes to call us, “brothers from another mother.” As for playing with both of them, what is most exciting or exhilarating is that they are completely on the edge of unpredictability.

 

They’re so much alike, the two of them in that you never know what really is going to happen. There is a lot of spontaneity on stage. For someone like me, even though sometimes it’s terrifying or scary, I really love being pushed and prodded that way on stage. It makes for an always interesting and entertaining show. Inside of that well-rehearsed show are huge chunks that are completely improvisational.

 

I love watching the reaction of the audience to Sheila. First of all, she’s gorgeous. She wears these huge high heels. Then, she gets behind a drum set and kills it!

 

DK: It’s kind of an important thing now, especially because radio’s been so strange, with a lot of radio stations flipping formats. So, it’s nice to have this organization set up to pay some attention to the music that’s been on the airwaves for a long time, and in a lot of people’s hearts, too.

 

DK: They put on a fantastic show there, and also because you are surrounded by your contemporaries that are there with other bands, every group that’s on the stage realizes they have to bring their A game, so the music’s always great. It’s nice to see friends that you may not see very often, too.   

DK: I’m very excited about this album; it’s my debut for Concorde Records. I work with the great Marcus Miller, who’s a bass player and producer, and John Burk who is the other producer. This is a very live recording with live musicians – the best musicians on the planet.

 

And what the title signifies to me on a personal level, and I think for a lot of people of a certain age – myself included – who are trying to figure out how to embrace the amount of change that’s going on in the world; and how do we see ourselves in this next chapter as we turn the page.

 

Because there is so much going on, everything we counted on as the pillars on which we built our lives, everything has changed; trying to find solid ground right now is very difficult.

 

So I wanted to combat that with a recording that would hopefully awaken people on a musical level to, in a sense, embrace the future. There’s a lot of embracing the discomfort zone on this album for me, and it’s a very hopeful album.

DK: I ended up singing because I heard it with different ears this time. It’s always been one of my favorite songs, but I heard it within the framework of the time that we’re living in, especially as a gay man, the time for gay marriage is now. It’s not even let’s argue about it or have a conversation about it; it’s so much like, “Yes, now’s the time.”

 

And I heard that song as being somewhat of a gay marriage anthem, I just heard it that way. I called up Herb Alpert, whose one of my chief mentors in life, because I wanted to get his blessing on this reworking of the song.

 

And he said, “Not only do you have my blessing, but send me the track, I might see if I can play a couple of notes on it.” So he does play on it, and that makes it extra special to have the guy who made the song famous be on this version of it.

 

DK: I think this music digs way deeper down and drills down to another place than I’ve done in the past; a lot of it has to do with him. His overriding musicality is so entrenched and so deep, and when you have that kind of thing that goes way down deep, you can build these much more elaborate structures on top of it, because you have the foundation there to hold it.

 

And that’s what he provides, both figuratively and also phonically, he was a major source of foundation for me to try these things. He really pushed and prodded me in a bunch of different ways. I was so out of my comfort zone, that for the first couple of days of recording I was not enjoying it.

 

Then I settled into it and realized this is what the album is exactly about, which is the essence of being alive in 2010. It’s been a real journey, in fact, he wrote a song for this album called “The Journey,” and that’s really what the album making process was like; and what I feel that my life process has been.

 

It’s been a wonderful journey up until this point, and, in many ways I feel that the best is yet to come.

by bill biss

 

In the history of popular music, sometimes “it takes two, baby, to make a dream come true.” Such is the case with the magical and very musical duo of Nikki and Rich.

 

The combination of Rich Skillz’s musicianship, production and music writing combined with Nikki Leonti’s amazingly powerful, sensual and chameleon-like voice and lyrical skills create major sparks on their Reprise debut CD called Everything.

 

The Rage Monthly spoke with the two of them just weeks before their release drops on August 17. Let’s find out more about this dynamic duo, shall we?

Nikki and Rich: (laughter)

 

Nikki: I like that.

 

 

Nikki and Rich: Thank you.

 

 

Rich: It was amazing. I just heard this power in this voice. I think the first thing that hit me was not so much how I was blown away…that was an instant. But, the fact that I was excited to get something. The music that she had played me, I felt she wasn’t using what she had in her.

 

She had acoustic and country and all that. It was all great, but I really thought with her voice and us doing this kind of soul and pop thing that we do, would really work with her. I completely changed my whole production style accordingly. She was just this raw talent that came in and I was just blown away.

 

Nikki: Yes, but that was definitely a collaboration with Rich and myself. It’s a subject matter that maybe strays a little differently from what a lot of people speak of when they talk about relationships. It’s one of my favorite songs on the album.

 

Rich: That’s the funny thing about that song is the false sense of “this is the woman allowing the guy to take the lead.” It’s not like: you can take the lead…you’re being allowed to (laughter).

 

Nikki: Wow. We had a few different orders on the record before we determined how it would be done.

 

Rich: We got some input from our A&R person, Watts Russell. He was very intricate in helping with that. We had our original order and then the new order kind of changed very lightly.

 

Nikki and Rich: (laughter)

 

Rich: I agree with you there.

 

Nikki: I was 16 at the time. At the church we were going to, somebody snuck me a copy of Mariah Carey’s Music Box and her Christmas album. So, when my parents would leave, I would play that record.

 

That was my first exposure to anything non-Christian. I was blown away by the vocals and everything she did.

 

That was the first. Later, when I was 18 and out of the house, I was listening to James Taylor and Chicago.

 

Nikki: The whole Wizard of Oz movie has been like my life-obsession. I always wanted to infuse something of that into a song lyrically. The well-known concept of the yellow brick road was something that meant something to me.

 

I have an “Over the Rainbow” tattoo on my arm. I’m pretty crazy. For me, that song was an opportunity to be a little more poetic and to not be as pop with the lyrics. 

 

I’m such a daydreamer and you want to believe that there is this happy road that leads you exactly where you need to be. Sometimes, it’s not that way.

 

Nikki: Richard here. Mr. Rich Skillz’s music is so exciting for me to hear. The music is what always inspires me when I’m going to write something. It got me completely excited and I knew it was something that could really go there, and indeed Rich took it there (laughter).

 

Rich: Awww.

Rich: It’s funny. That song was particularly inspired by Barbra Streisand. We were listening to her and Barry Gibb’s record when we were outside while we were making this record. We both kind of caught on to how effortlessly she sings and how beautifully she hits everything.

 

Nikki: And lazily sometimes, she just flows completely with the rhythm of a song. Rich was telling me to try something like that and to really relax on the vocals.

Rich: Absolutely. We’re jumping right back on the road. We’re just going to be doing a ton of shows. We also have a couple of big album release shows that we’re going to do.

 

We have Jimmy Kimmel Live set up and a bunch of other things set up right around the album release time.

 

 

Rich: We appreciate that. We definitely love that era and we incorporated that into our record. We like it. But…we definitely made sure that we got everything that we loved. That’s true R&B, true Soul. Even like a Lauren Hill-type of music to even having Hip-Hop in there, we tried to blend all the things we like.

 

Nikki: Yeah. It’s not a throwback record. If you listen to “Next Best Thing” it’s obvious it’s using part of the sounds of the 1960s but like you said, there is a common thread. It all fits but it’s not a throwback-stylized record.

Nikki and Rich: No problem. Thanks so much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 hundreds of people. We met them at a reception before the dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Palacasino.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Continuing she adds, “Each crisis seems to happen to me at the end of every unfortunate marriage. I have very poor taste in men. My first marriage [to Eddie Fisher] was a mistake but I have my two wonderful children [Carrie and Todd Fisher].

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ronnie Kroell came upon the public’s attention as a contestant on Bravo’s Make Me a Super Model.

 

His down-to-earth appeal, intellect and humor caused a sensation on the first season. The openly gay man was really one of the first at the time to spark the term, “bromance.”

 

He had quite a crush and camaraderie with a straight and married contestant on the television show. Since then, Kroell has branched out into the world of runway modeling but has always been an interested party in the development of acceptance for LGBT people while also spreading the gospel on human rights for all.

 

Just last month, he appeared in his birthday suit for Playgirl magazine. It was his idea to cross boundaries with the spread with the hopes of creating dialogue about male nudity and sexuality in the process.

 

As he gets wet for our July editorial, The Rage Monthly wanted to dive in to learn more about his thoughts on posing in Playgirl, his passion for modeling and Political Science, plus the one thing he’s working on now to change within himself. Ronnie Kroell is a force of nature…both physically and mentally. Read on.

 

Ronnie has described his Playgirl spread as “an art project.” Here he elaborates on this description and his decision to pose nude in the magazine. “Playgirl contacted me about six months ago. In the beginning, I was a little hesitant.

 

I wasn’t sure if it was something I wanted to do. I also saw that it could be a really great opportunity to really be an artist and share some things that have been close to my heart for quite some time.

 

How I feel about American’s view of sexuality and how we have kind of demonized and made filthy the human body. As a model, I realized that the body could also be viewed as art and beautiful. At the end of the day, when we drop our labels both figuratively and literally, we’re all the same.”

 

 Taking the reins of his decision to be in the magazine, Kroell describes his ideas of what he saw in the opportunity to do June’s Playgirl spread. “I’ve worked very hard in the fashion industry to get where I am.

 

I really wanted to have a high-fashion styled GQ-esque fashion photo shoot. I wanted to do something different and have a message behind it. When I brought this to the table, with my high-fashion team and photographer, Lope Navo, they said, ‘Ronnie. You go ahead with it and run with it.’ I couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome.”

 

 As a Political Science student at The New School in New York, Kroell speaks of his true motivation in doing Playgirl. “I really wanted people to have conversations. I think that’s the only way we learn and grow as a community as a whole.

 

Getting people to talk about sexuality and not being afraid to talk about our bodies. I didn’t do this because I felt I had the best body in the world or the biggest dick in the world or the best ass or whatever…I really wanted to do this as a political scientist as well.”

 

Ronnie is currently doing a Pride Tour traveling to Boston, New York and most recently Los Angeles Pride. “I was invited to be Celebrity Marshal and be very active and involved. Yet, it’s also disheartening as a gay man.

 

I’m so proud of that part of who I am. When you see people celebrating and drinking and having a great time; while I also like those activities, I feel sometimes that we forget our roots. We forget the people who stood up at Stonewall.

 

There is really a lack of education in our community. Some of us aren’t aware of the people who went before us. It’s because of those people being fearless in putting their lives on the line with the potential of being jailed, beaten or killed that makes me feel so honored to be partaking in these festivities.”

 

Ronnie Kroell is in the midst of working on a new reality show that marries The Hills, Queer as Folk and Sex and the City all into one for the show’s premise. “It’s going to follow one of my best friends and business partners, Stephanie Jones, myself, my boyfriend Taylor Proffitt, who I love to pieces [Ronnie and Taylor have been in a monogamous relationship for nine months].

 

There are also going to be three other men who happen to be gay from all different spectrums and different careers, following their dreams in New York. We’re all a group of friends and we’re going through the trials and tribulations that life throws at you in New York.

 

You’ll see people in the fashion, sports and financial worlds. Just to show and further our message that gay people unfortunately in the media are always portrayed as these stereotypical characters. This show is going to be very interesting and push a lot of boundaries.

 

It’s not going to be as staged as The Hills. It’s going to be very organic and you will get to see these relationships unfold…for better or for worse.”

 

Nobody is perfect. When asking Ronnie if there is one thing he would change about himself or something he is working on to improve, he replies, “I’m working on saying ‘no’ to be honest with you (laughter). I have the hardest time saying ‘no.’

 

I am very much a people pleaser. I avoid conflict at all risks. I can say, I’m 90 percent comfortable in my own skin to where I don’t give other people the authority to put me down for any reason.

 

Sometimes you just have to show a little passion and sometimes it’s controlled anger that you have to share with people. Sometimes people just don’t get it. One of my biggest flaws is not knowing how to say ‘no.’ Knowing my limits because I have to take care of myself before, if I really plan on taking care of other people.”

There is a very good reason that Andy Bell has titled his newest solo effort Non-Stop, as the 46-year-old Erasure frontman is showing no signs of slowing down.

 

His latest offering is just as the title refers to, a non-stop ode to dance music, which is sure to get your body moving and your blood pumping upon its release on June 8.

 

During our conversation, Bell’s blood got to boiling (and rightfully so) as he lambasted everything from being seen (or rather heard, as the case may be) by radio stations as merely an artist from the 1980s,and the media frenzy surrounding much-speculated about music stars who come out to fanfare.

 

While he has been open about his sexuality from the get-go in his 25 years as a musician.

 

Ricky Martin may want to watch his back, so to speak, if he were ever to meet Bell in a dark alley, as it wouldn’t be a close encounter of that kind. Musically speaking, the falsetto-voiced phenomenon is already taken, as Bell has been betrothed to his partner-in-rhyme, Vince Clarke, since he answered a want ad for a singer in 1985.

 

“I think when you’re working with someone else, it’s as if you are in a kind of marriage, and it’s a collaboration,” he said. “You have a certain kind of respectfulness for them. I think when you’ve been with somebody for some time; you tend to bring more baggage along with you.”

 

Bell, who had previously packed light for his 2005 solo CD, Electric Blue, relayed that the creative process for joint ventures and personal ones alike aren’t too terribly different. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t write with Vince, really, that I wouldn’t write on my own,” Bell stated.

 

“After I asked Vince if I could have a break from doing Erasure for a couple of years; it’s nothing against him or anything, I just wanted to be out of the scene.

 

I think I felt a bit like a little puppy being let off the leash. So maybe it’s (the songwriting process) is a little more exuberant or just more playful.” Playful is the perfect word to describe one of the most infectious tracks on the CD, “DHDQ,” which is the acronym for Debbie Harry Drag Queen.

 

Erasure previously covered Blondie’s “Rapture” on 1997’s Cowboy, and were on the road with Harry during the 2007 version of the True Colors Tour—so what is the chance that these two musical pioneers might get together and record a song together?

 

“Well, I would love to,” he proclaimed. “That would be one of my ultimate orgasmic moments!”

 

Non-Stop is chocked full of such moments, even on the autobiographical slow jam “Slow Release,” as Bell definitely practiced the rhythm method during its inception.

 

He described his new baby as “full-on club glamour” during our chat, and the project was a case of if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again, as early songwriting efforts with Stephen Hague (who worked on Erasure’s The Innocents) left him feeling as “though my heart’s not really in it.”

 

As luck would have it, someone suggested that he work with Pascal Gabriel, who has written and produced songs for the likes of Kylie Minogue and Little Boots, among others. The two created the double whammy dance tracks, “Will You Be There?” and “Running Out” for his sophomore solo endeavor.

 

“We just really hit it off,” Bell recanted. “He’s Cancerian—same as Vince, so I was really used to his character. And he’s very similar to Vince; he’s very camp for a straight man.”

 

Unfortunately, not all straight men are as gay friendly, as Bell informed me that a form of homophobia and labeling dictates the types of music and artists that DJs play on-air in his native England.

 

This almost led to him releasing the project under the pseudonym of Mimó. “That was because, mainly, the radio is so predjudiced here in the U.K.,” he explained.

 

“It’s very narrow; they’ll play lots of guitar bands and lots of dance/pop, but it’s all very young. They play all of the reality Pop Idol stars, but otherwise it’s very hard to get a way in there.”

 

“Because Erasure is seen as being like an ’80s band, even though we didn’t really break (in England) until 1989, right at the end. So the radio has seemed to have gotten narrower and narrower, where they’ll play only the hits you had in the ’80s and nothing else.

 

But, when we released “Will You Be There?” on Radio 1, it was kind of 50/50; some people hated it and some people loved it. So, we called it Mimó for that reason and also we didn’t want it to sound like Erasure; that was quite a hard thing for me to get over in the first place.

 

Because instantly when people hear my voice, they think it’s Erasure—to hide your name and voice seems ridiculous.”

 

If there’s one thing you need to know about Bell, it’s that you can’t box him in, and if you try…you’d better be sure that you have a big glittery bow ready to attempt to tie him up with.

 

This is the man who has taken to the stage in a tutu during concerts, and had a leave-no-questions-to-the-imagination approach in videos, such as “Chains Of Love” and dressed as ABBA member Frida Lyngstad for their Abba-esque video version of “Take A Chance On Me.”

 

“The whole other thing, of course, is really homophobia—people don’t understand it if you say it,” he explained. “The whole music industry press is homophobic, you know, we’re never ever in Rolling Stone, or any of those magazines.

 

It’s like Erasure never even existed. Because we’re not macho and guitar-strumming, we’re not in the ‘100 Best Frontmen,’ or anything like that.”

 

“And I think it’s interesting with the whole Ricky Martin coming out story,” he exclaimed. “They seem to give more coverage to a closet case, than to somebody who’s been honest from the very beginning. It seems like everything’s all the wrong way around. Maybe I should be a priest.”

 

Talk about a blow to the music world, thankfully, Father Bell came to his senses and informed me of a dream project he’s intrigued by.

 

“I’d love to do an album of duets,” Bell said. “But only with female singers, like—dare I say it? Barbara Streisand.

 

And Annie Lennox and other amazing female singers. I love harmonizing and I love the sensuality of their voices; that’s the thrill I would get with working with Debbie, as well, because hers is like candy coating, isn’t it?”

 

First though, he’s renewing his vows with Clarke on their forthcoming 14th studio LP. “By doing Non-Stop, I feel like I’ve blown out a few cobwebs,” Bell stated. “And I think Vince is really exicted about making music, I mean, he always is.

 

But, I think it’s kind of shaken us up a little bit. From what we’ve done so far, I’m really excited about it. But, I’m way behind on lyrics now, and it’s funny though, I loved doing Non-Stop, but I can’t wait to do Erasure. I’m greedy.”

 

Apparently greed is good, since this year marks his 25th anniversary of being in the music business, the “Call On Me” (that’s the first single off Non-Stop) singer imparted some wisdom about his longevity.

 

“The most important thing, really, in the end, is your sanity,” he answered laughingly. “Remaining sane by being creative, I think. And, you can’t take yourself or the whole thing too seriously, even though you do. If you’re making music, hopefully lots and lots of people will enjoy it, and really being thankful for what you do and what you have.”

It’s been over three years since celebrity model, television reality star and blonde bombshell Anna Nicole Smith tragically died of a drug overdose at 39 years old.

 

Some would say she died of a broken heart after the passing of her only son Daniel.

 

The tumultuous press that followed and the work of those in the medical field determined that friend and lover Larry Birkhead was the father of her second child Dannielynn—born shortly before Anna’s death.

 

Losing a loved one for anybody is one of the most difficult things to experience. Larry Birkhead knows this first hand but is now ready to let a bit of his physical attachment to Anna go. 

 

On June 26, Birkhead, along with Julien’s Auctions, is allowing Anna’s countless fans across the globe a chance to own a keepsake or possession of her’s at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

 

Speaking with Larry Birkhead during his press junket in New York, The Rage Monthly found him strong in remembering the important things—and also reveling in the joy of being a father to Dannielynn.

 

Larry Birkhead: Thank you. A lot of people don’t get it right. They think it’s just a fire sale of Anna Nicole memories. It’s not really that. That’s not what it is. It’s basically a long, thought-out process and a year in the planning.

 

I went to an auction at Julien’s and I ended up buying some things of Anna’s for Dannielynn that were up for sale that I will keep—which is ironic because we’re getting rid of some things but we don’t have to keep everything. I’ll continue to collect Anna Nicole’s stuff for Dannielynn.

 

I’ll go on eBay sometimes and I’ll buy little things. She was the spokesperson for Con-Air…the box with the curlers in it where she’s on the box, little things like that that tell some kind of story, I will keep.

 

Some things…you don’t know if they are going to last that long or if [Dannielynn] is going to be the same size as her mom. Like a 1993 Mercedes in the year 2022 or whenever she’s able to drive, you don’t know how well that’s gonna run or if we’ll be driving spaceships (laughter)! We had ten storage bins to go through.

 

Just trying to simplify things…it was a little bit of a messy estate. She had a house in the Bahamas, she had a boat in the Bahamas, my daughter is 3 years old and she doesn’t need to ride around on a 36-foot yacht. This [auction] is the first step of trying to move in the right direction so the money is put up for Dannielynn wisely and for charity as well.

 

We’re just trying to do some good. We’ve actually done some great things with the foundation. We were able to build a home for Habitat for Humanity in my home state of Kentucky, sponsored under Anna’s and Daniel’s name.

LB: There were a lot of times. She was really, really funny. She had a gnarly sense of humor. One time she got trapped in the Trim-Spa bus at the time she was spokesperson and we couldn’t get out. She had to go to the restroom and we were pulled over at a truck stop.

 

Basically, (laughter) basically she had to get creative. I’ll just say that. She borrowed Sugar Pie and Marilyn’s little portable on-the-road pottie to go to the bathroom!

 

That made me laugh! Little things like…she would want to act like a little baby sometimes and fix her hair like a little girl. She could make you laugh most all the time, you know?

 

People didn’t know that about her. She was quite funny.

LB: One time I told her that in my opinion, she was prettier than Marilyn. She slapped me. I said, “What was that for? That was a compliment.” She said, “Nobody is prettier than Marilyn.” She thought that basically Marilyn was the deal. She was as good as it gets.

 

I think the press makes it out to be more than it actually was. She collected Marilyn Monroe things. Some of them are in the auction. She knew everything about Marilyn.

 

Basically, she could have been a Marilyn Monroe historian. It wasn’t to the point where she was obsessed or talked about her every single day.

 

Closer to the end of her life, some people would bring her M.M. gifts and she said, “Why does everybody think that I need Marilyn Monroe stuff all the time?”

 

She had M.M. furniture in her house and some of that is in the auction and purses, trinkets, lunchboxes and clothing. Even pocketknives…she didn’t want people to think it was an obsession but obviously she really loved Marilyn Monroe.

LB: She had this obsession. I call it an obsession because I didn’t like it. No matter where we would go, she would always rock out to Queen. But her favorite was ABBA.

 

She had a wide variety of musical tastes. She had multiple CDs of ABBA, one in the car, one by the pool…she’d turn on “Dancing Queen” and that would be the end of it.

 

She’d roll around. But, she’d also go to the opposite of the spectrum and turn on Anne Murray. She had an old-time record player and she would slip it on and play that.

 

She was kind of a big music fan. She also had a karaoke machine and she’d sing all the time. She also performed for the troops at different functions singing.

LB: It just means you never know what’s gonna be next. One minute you could be sitting on the couch at her home and the next minute you could be packing your bags to go to Australia. Next minute, you find yourself on a bus going from Los Angeles to New York.

 

One minute, she could love you and the next say, “Go home.” And seconds later she would say, “Where’d you go?” “You told me to go,” and she’d say, “Come back.”

 

She’s unpredictable but some of that spontaneity was kind of fun and some of it was a little bit of a challenge. Overall that was Anna…you had to love Anna for Anna. That’s really what I did.