Reba Rambo

Artist: Reba Rambo

LP: Lady

Song: "The Land of Ooh's and Ah's" / "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

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Song: "Lady"

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This 1976 solo LP by Reba Rambo (formerly of The Rambos) has a lot to say about rainbows. The album's first cut, "The Land of Ooh's and Ah's" even makes a (somewhat cumbersome) attempt to meld the plot of "The Wizard of Oz" with Christian ideology. The song lyrics are included below. I've also posted Reba's dramatically breathy and eerily beautiful "Lady," which examines Jesus' life from his mother's perspective. You can read about Reba Rambo and find her discography here, go here to read about Reba's support of the Gay Christian Movement (heart-warming, though hardly surprising given her recurring references to rainbows and "The Wizard of Oz"), and click on "Our Pastors" here to find out what Reba and husband Dony are up to nowadays. I left my mp3 music files at home, so will post links tomorrow. Meanwhile, here's a video clip of Reba Rambo performing "The Land of Ooh's and Ah's":

Reba Rambo on YouTube:

[ "The Land of Ooh's and Ah's" / "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" ]

Meco

Artist: Meco

LP: The Wizard of Oz

Song: "The Wizard of Oz — part one"

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Song: "The Wizard of Oz — part two"

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Yesterday morning on NPR's StoryCorps series, I was moved as I listened to Michael Levine describing what it was like to witness the Stonewall riots in New York City on June 28, 1969—an event which marked the beginning of the modern gay rights movement. You can listen to Levine's account of the events on that fateful and historic evening here. On June 28, 1970, the first Gay Pride marches took place in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York to commemorate the Stonewall riots of the year before. You can read all about the Stonewall uprising and the various phases of the gay rights movement since then on Wikipedia here. Tomorrow, the "Over the Rainbow" pride parade and festivities here in Seattle will be marking the 40th anniversary of the birth of the Gay Pride March. Unfortunately, I won't be at the parade tomorrow, since I have to play the organ for some Christian church out in the suburbs. But if they start singing hymns about gay people going to Hell, I promise to make lots of mistakes. In solidarity with the movement, and to show my support for equal rights for the LGBT community—including marriage, adoption, and the right to be tacky and annoying—I'm posting this fabulous and overlong disco version of "The Wizard of Oz," produced by Domenico "Meco" Monardo in 1978. Meco, who you can read about here, reportedly says of this LP, "This is my best work, bar none!"—and what I think he means is that, unlike most of his other work, he can stand listening to this one without getting stone drunk down at the local watering-hole first.

 [ The Stonewall Riots — June, 1969 ]

Oz

Artist: Oz

LP: Heavy Metal Heroes — Hey You

Song: "In the Chains"

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For day #3 of Gay Pride Heavy Metal Week here at The Homoerratic Radio Show, I've selected something congruent with the theme for this year's Seattle Gay Pride festivities: "Over the Rainbow." Originally from Finland, Oz recorded and released this 1982 album in Sweden. You can read about Oz on Wikipedia here. On the record label, the group is actually credited as "The Oz," but that sounds stupid—and, speaking of stupid, I've included the 2010 Seattle Gay Pride poster below.