Wladziu Valentino Liberace was quite possibly the nicest man in show business. He was, of course, as gay as K.D. Lang's mullet, in a time when that was not socially acceptable...But nobody seemed to mind. He always had a big smile, he was always happy to perform, and he always seemed surprised and grateful that so many people came to hear him play the piano.
He was, the story goes, just as nice offstage, and he would spend hours after each show signing autographs, free of charge. It drove his manager nuts, but Liberace always said that he loved his audience as much as they loved him, and he didn't want anyone to be disappointed.
But some time in the late 70s or maybe the early 80s, the world changed. It grew colder, and poorer in spirit, and suddenly there was no time for a smiling old queer with a genius for piano. The fans still came, but more in desperation than anything else...Though no longer the highest paid entertainer in the world, he still packed them in, masses of people listening to music 20 years out of style, trying to remember what life was like when Liberace wasn't the only person smiling.
Then, one day in 1987, he left. He didn't even have time to say goodbye. His fans never held it against him, but life just wasn't the same without the flamboyant old man beaming out his love of his music and his fans. They had loved him, and he loved them back.
The cleaning crew at the Radio City Music Hall say that they can sometimes still hear him playing, late at night. The management wanted to hire an exorcist, but the janitors threatened to strike.
Because they know that at 2 AM in Radio City Music Hall, it's always 1979. Reagan and Clinton and Bush never happened, and there aren't tens of thousands of wounded veterans being neglected, and there isn't a Camp X-Ray, and those towers never fell. There's no PATRIOT Act and things aren't so crowded and busy. There isn't a future full of fears and fresh scrawls on horror's scrolls.
There's just a gaudy old man and a piano. And a smile.
Okay for now,
Dok
I remember Liberace.
The Enquirer is to blame, they crucified that man for not being the lonely "bachelor" next door, and he was never the same after.
Wow. Dok, that made me tear up, in the last few paragraphs.
But maybe that's because I have a soft spot for old queens who just wanted everyone to be happy.
Weepy,
LMNO
He was great wasn't he?
I teared up too, LMNO.
It always sucks to loose someone who gets IT.
Liberace was truly amazing. He wasn't faded or jaded or cynical, he wasn't lampooning anything or satirizing anything; he lived to glorify what he loved, which was music and people.
The world needs another Liberace. The world needs a dozen Liberaces, all loving what they do and loving you for loving it, too.
:cry:
I remember Liberace. He was way ahead of his time!!!
1979, wow, I was 11. Not a whole lot wrong with your life at 11.
Quote from: The Lord and Lady Omnibus Fuck on May 10, 2010, 07:04:48 PM
Liberace was truly amazing. He wasn't faded or jaded or cynical, he wasn't lampooning anything or satirizing anything; he lived to glorify what he loved, which was music and people.
The world needs another Liberace. The world needs a dozen Liberaces, all loving what they do and loving you for loving it, too.
I called the factory, Nigel, and they don't make them anymore. They've retooled for jaded and sneering and cynical, for a series of generations that wants to wallow in self-pity and a piss-poor excuse for "anger". They can ship you an Oscar De La Rocha or a Green Day UPS Red, and they can probably crank out a Warren Oates or two in a week plus shipping, but there's no Liberaces left on the shelf, and they melted the mold down to make the tooling for Taylor Swift.
Something should be done about that.
Taylor Swift should have her vocal cords ripped out by a toothless beggar.
Quote from: LMNO on May 10, 2010, 06:58:18 PM
But maybe that's because I have a soft spot for old queens who just wanted everyone to be happy.
I am sure the fundies believe he is roasting in hell. I don't want any part of a belief system that doesn't have room in heaven for someone like Liberace.
Quote from: Hawk on May 10, 2010, 07:12:12 PM
Taylor Swift should have her vocal cords ripped out by a toothless beggar.
They'd just make another one. There is an endless supply of manufactured "talent". There was only one Elton John, one Liberace, one Johnny Cash. There is an infinite number of Taylor Swifts, Miley Cyruses, and Justin Beibers.
Quote from: Khara on May 10, 2010, 07:06:23 PM
I remember Liberace. He was way ahead of his time!!!
No, he was out of time. He belonged to a future that never happened. The future we were supposed to have...Not this festering pile of shit they built while we were sleeping.
TOM WAITS AND WILLIE NELSON STILL BREATHE THE AIR ON THIS PLANET.
There is, at least, that. Not nearly as fabulous, though.
This is why we can't have nice things, Doc. People with nitpicking concerns, cunnignly mongered fears, and a barely - qualifiable hardon for "Family" safe America have lsot us the right to have such Glorious Faggots.
Back then it didn't matter. Like with my buddy, Nate the Great, some folks could jsut be spectacular, happy, and outrageously gettign a kick out of jsut beign themselves, and it was OK. No one cared where that energy was coming from, or what they did with consenting adults in the spare time, they jsut appreciated having good, happy people around.
"Queer as a 3 dollar bill", grandad always called him, sharing a joke everyone knew, but could still get a smile out of anyways. He had a vintage mirror from one of his houses, proudly displayed.
Now everyone has to be the right approved flavor. Everything has to be FAMILY tm safe, except of course for the sportball players, performers, or policitcos. Every orphan has to be placed in a trailer house with dysfunctional, NASCAR, obese heterosexual foster parents who love the right sportsball players and performers, and vote for the right politicos. Everyone has to love them some Jesus, and line up for more at the megachurch every Sunday.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 10, 2010, 07:14:18 PM
Quote from: Hawk on May 10, 2010, 07:12:12 PM
Taylor Swift should have her vocal cords ripped out by a toothless beggar.
They'd just make another one. There is an endless supply of manufactured "talent". There was only one Elton John, one Liberace, one Johnny Cash. There is an infinite number of Taylor Swifts, Miley Cyruses, and Justin Beibers.
Mind adding Freddy Mercury to the first part of this list?
Quote from: LMNO on May 10, 2010, 07:16:54 PM
TOM WAITS AND WILLIE NELSON STILL BREATHE THE AIR ON THIS PLANET.
There is, at least, that. Not nearly as fabulous, though.
Tom Waits can't actually die. He runs on nicotene and bourbon, not air and water.
And yeah, not nearly as fabulous. Waits has a different vibe, one of sharing a joke with you, a horrible Lenny Bruce joke that makes you want to scream, only you can't, because Tom Waits is singing and you just don't interrupt that shit.
Quote from: Richter on May 10, 2010, 07:18:04 PM
This is why we can't have nice things, Doc. People with nitpicking concerns, cunnignly mongered fears, and a barely - qualifiable hardon for "Family" safe America have lsot us the right to have such Glorious Faggots.
Back then it didn't matter. Like with my buddy, Nate the Great, some folks could jsut be spectacular, happy, and outrageously gettign a kick out of jsut beign themselves, and it was OK. No one cared where that energy was coming from, or what they did with consenting adults in the spare time, they jsut appreciated having good, happy people around.
"Queer as a 3 dollar bill", grandad always called him, sharing a joke everyone knew, but could still get a smile out of anyways. He had a vintage mirror from one of his houses, proudly displayed.
Now everyone has to be the right approved flavor. Everything has to be FAMILY tm safe, except of course for the sportball players, performers, or policitcos. Every orphan has to be placed in a trailer house with dysfunctional, NASCAR, obese heterosexual foster parents who love the right sportsball players and performers, and vote for the right politicos. Everyone has to love them some Jesus, and line up for more at the megachurch every Sunday.
WalMart Religion™, Richter, it's what keeps America™ kneeling tall. Glorious faggots and freaks are only appreciated when they're safely dead and not stomping around your TV set, reminding you of how things should be...How they
could be, if only we had the courage.
Safe is the enemy of happiness, Richter. Safe is the enemy of liberty. The enemy of HOLY FUCK THAT'S COOL. Safe is what got us into this mess, and for the life of me, I can't see a way out. They've welded all the hatches shut with Family Safe™ products and "fun for the whole family" singers and goddamn Lifetime channel movies about "coping". I don't fucking want to
cope, Richter, I WANT TO KICK THIS PIG UNTIL IT STOPS BEHAVING.
Quote from: Hawk on May 10, 2010, 07:18:54 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 10, 2010, 07:14:18 PM
Quote from: Hawk on May 10, 2010, 07:12:12 PM
Taylor Swift should have her vocal cords ripped out by a toothless beggar.
They'd just make another one. There is an endless supply of manufactured "talent". There was only one Elton John, one Liberace, one Johnny Cash. There is an infinite number of Taylor Swifts, Miley Cyruses, and Justin Beibers.
Mind adding Freddy Mercury to the first part of this list?
Not at all. Freddy Mercury was amazing, even if they do play
Bohemian Rhapsody on the radio until I start screaming and spitting up horrible shit on my windshield.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 10, 2010, 07:26:37 PM
Quote from: Hawk on May 10, 2010, 07:18:54 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 10, 2010, 07:14:18 PM
Quote from: Hawk on May 10, 2010, 07:12:12 PM
Taylor Swift should have her vocal cords ripped out by a toothless beggar.
They'd just make another one. There is an endless supply of manufactured "talent". There was only one Elton John, one Liberace, one Johnny Cash. There is an infinite number of Taylor Swifts, Miley Cyruses, and Justin Beibers.
Mind adding Freddy Mercury to the first part of this list?
Not at all. Freddy Mercury was amazing, even if they do play Bohemian Rhapsody on the radio until I start screaming and spitting up horrible shit on my windshield.
Yeah, shame that, especially considering all the other stuff he did.
Quote from: Hawk on May 10, 2010, 07:29:08 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 10, 2010, 07:26:37 PM
Quote from: Hawk on May 10, 2010, 07:18:54 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 10, 2010, 07:14:18 PM
Quote from: Hawk on May 10, 2010, 07:12:12 PM
Taylor Swift should have her vocal cords ripped out by a toothless beggar.
They'd just make another one. There is an endless supply of manufactured "talent". There was only one Elton John, one Liberace, one Johnny Cash. There is an infinite number of Taylor Swifts, Miley Cyruses, and Justin Beibers.
Mind adding Freddy Mercury to the first part of this list?
Not at all. Freddy Mercury was amazing, even if they do play Bohemian Rhapsody on the radio until I start screaming and spitting up horrible shit on my windshield.
Yeah, shame that, especially considering all the other stuff he did.
The Album they did based on
Metropolis was amazing. So was
A Night at the Opera.
Dok,
In love with his car.
Now I want to design a T-shirt that has a three-dollar bill with Liberace's face, and the words, "Safe is the enemy of HOLY FUCK THAT'S COOL" emblazoned down the front.
Quote from: LMNO on May 10, 2010, 07:32:12 PM
Now I want to design a T-shirt that has a three-dollar bill with Liberace's face, and the words, "Safe is the enemy of HOLY FUCK THAT'S COOL" emblazoned down the front.
Does I smell new postergasm?
Quote from: LMNO on May 10, 2010, 07:32:12 PM
Now I want to design a T-shirt that has a three-dollar bill with Liberace's face, and the words, "Safe is the enemy of HOLY FUCK THAT'S COOL" emblazoned down the front.
I'd talk to Suu. She is full of good advice on these things.
Quote
The Album they did based on Metropolis was amazing.
Which album is that?
It occurs to me that I've never really heard a queen album, just some of the songs.
Quote from: Requia ☣ on May 10, 2010, 07:41:39 PM
Quote
The Album they did based on Metropolis was amazing.
Which album is that?
It occurs to me that I've never really heard a queen album, just some of the songs.
The Works, IIRC.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 10, 2010, 07:14:18 PM
Quote from: Hawk on May 10, 2010, 07:12:12 PM
Taylor Swift should have her vocal cords ripped out by a toothless beggar.
They'd just make another one. There is an endless supply of manufactured "talent". There was only one Elton John, one Liberace, one Johnny Cash. There is an infinite number of Taylor Swifts, Miley Cyruses, and Justin Beibers.
There still is only one Elton John, but he seems to have become a horrible parody replacement of the one that had the credibility .
At least since that festeringly crass and cringy "England's Rose".
Quote from: BadBeast on May 11, 2010, 01:33:30 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 10, 2010, 07:14:18 PM
Quote from: Hawk on May 10, 2010, 07:12:12 PM
Taylor Swift should have her vocal cords ripped out by a toothless beggar.
They'd just make another one. There is an endless supply of manufactured "talent". There was only one Elton John, one Liberace, one Johnny Cash. There is an infinite number of Taylor Swifts, Miley Cyruses, and Justin Beibers.
There still is only one Elton John, but he seems to have become a horrible parody replacement of the one that had the credibility .
At least since that festeringly crass and cringy "England's Rose".
We woke up just long enough to make the
Captain and the Kid album, then buggered back off to sleep again.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 11, 2010, 02:36:13 PM
Quote from: BadBeast on May 11, 2010, 01:33:30 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 10, 2010, 07:14:18 PM
Quote from: Hawk on May 10, 2010, 07:12:12 PM
Taylor Swift should have her vocal cords ripped out by a toothless beggar.
They'd just make another one. There is an endless supply of manufactured "talent". There was only one Elton John, one Liberace, one Johnny Cash. There is an infinite number of Taylor Swifts, Miley Cyruses, and Justin Beibers.
There still is only one Elton John, but he seems to have become a horrible parody replacement of the one that had the credibility .
At least since that festeringly crass and cringy "England's Rose".
We woke up just long enough to make the Captain and the Kid album, then buggered back off to sleep again.
I didn't realise he was asleep. I thought he was just sulking until Robbie Williams went away again, and stopped hogging all HIS column inches.
Quote from: BadBeast on May 11, 2010, 02:50:19 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 11, 2010, 02:36:13 PM
Quote from: BadBeast on May 11, 2010, 01:33:30 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 10, 2010, 07:14:18 PM
Quote from: Hawk on May 10, 2010, 07:12:12 PM
Taylor Swift should have her vocal cords ripped out by a toothless beggar.
They'd just make another one. There is an endless supply of manufactured "talent". There was only one Elton John, one Liberace, one Johnny Cash. There is an infinite number of Taylor Swifts, Miley Cyruses, and Justin Beibers.
There still is only one Elton John, but he seems to have become a horrible parody replacement of the one that had the credibility .
At least since that festeringly crass and cringy "England's Rose".
We woke up just long enough to make the Captain and the Kid album, then buggered back off to sleep again.
I didn't realise he was asleep. I thought he was just sulking until Robbie Williams went away again, and stopped hogging all HIS column inches.
No, he's kept in cold storage. For tax reasons.
Last bump today. Promise.
I'm doing something with this shit.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 11, 2010, 02:54:49 PM
Quote from: BadBeast on May 11, 2010, 02:50:19 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 11, 2010, 02:36:13 PM
Quote from: BadBeast on May 11, 2010, 01:33:30 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 10, 2010, 07:14:18 PM
Quote from: Hawk on May 10, 2010, 07:12:12 PM
Taylor Swift should have her vocal cords ripped out by a toothless beggar.
They'd just make another one. There is an endless supply of manufactured "talent". There was only one Elton John, one Liberace, one Johnny Cash. There is an infinite number of Taylor Swifts, Miley Cyruses, and Justin Beibers.
There still is only one Elton John, but he seems to have become a horrible parody replacement of the one that had the credibility .
At least since that festeringly crass and cringy "England's Rose".
We woke up just long enough to make the Captain and the Kid album, then buggered back off to sleep again.
I didn't realise he was asleep. I thought he was just sulking until Robbie Williams went away again, and stopped hogging all HIS column inches.
No, he's kept in cold storage. For tax reasons.
Williams has disappeared up his own arse. Again. No-one seems to be in any hurry to go in after him this time. Even Bono. Better thaw Elton out for Maggies funeral this Summer, or they'll ask Cliff to do it.
Quote from: BadBeast on February 24, 2012, 09:56:40 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 11, 2010, 02:54:49 PM
Quote from: BadBeast on May 11, 2010, 02:50:19 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 11, 2010, 02:36:13 PM
Quote from: BadBeast on May 11, 2010, 01:33:30 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 10, 2010, 07:14:18 PM
Quote from: Hawk on May 10, 2010, 07:12:12 PM
Taylor Swift should have her vocal cords ripped out by a toothless beggar.
They'd just make another one. There is an endless supply of manufactured "talent". There was only one Elton John, one Liberace, one Johnny Cash. There is an infinite number of Taylor Swifts, Miley Cyruses, and Justin Beibers.
There still is only one Elton John, but he seems to have become a horrible parody replacement of the one that had the credibility .
At least since that festeringly crass and cringy "England's Rose".
We woke up just long enough to make the Captain and the Kid album, then buggered back off to sleep again.
I didn't realise he was asleep. I thought he was just sulking until Robbie Williams went away again, and stopped hogging all HIS column inches.
No, he's kept in cold storage. For tax reasons.
Williams has disappeared up his own arse. Again. No-one seems to be in any hurry to go in after him this time. Even Bono. Better thaw Elton out for Maggies funeral this Summer, or they'll ask Cliff to do it.
You fool. Maggie Thatcher will outlive us all.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on February 24, 2012, 09:57:34 PM
Quote from: BadBeast on February 24, 2012, 09:56:40 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 11, 2010, 02:54:49 PM
Quote from: BadBeast on May 11, 2010, 02:50:19 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 11, 2010, 02:36:13 PM
Quote from: BadBeast on May 11, 2010, 01:33:30 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 10, 2010, 07:14:18 PM
Quote from: Hawk on May 10, 2010, 07:12:12 PM
Taylor Swift should have her vocal cords ripped out by a toothless beggar.
They'd just make another one. There is an endless supply of manufactured "talent". There was only one Elton John, one Liberace, one Johnny Cash. There is an infinite number of Taylor Swifts, Miley Cyruses, and Justin Beibers.
There still is only one Elton John, but he seems to have become a horrible parody replacement of the one that had the credibility .
At least since that festeringly crass and cringy "England's Rose".
We woke up just long enough to make the Captain and the Kid album, then buggered back off to sleep again.
I didn't realise he was asleep. I thought he was just sulking until Robbie Williams went away again, and stopped hogging all HIS column inches.
No, he's kept in cold storage. For tax reasons.
Williams has disappeared up his own arse. Again. No-one seems to be in any hurry to go in after him this time. Even Bono. Better thaw Elton out for Maggies funeral this Summer, or they'll ask Cliff to do it.
You fool. Maggie Thatcher will outlive us all.
Her "Official" funeral I meant. They'll just stick her on ice with the poor old Queen Ma for a refit. The Queen Mother is getting re-
booted spawned as William & Kate's first.
Bump.
This is possibly my favorite piece that I've written for PD.
It is beautiful and sad.
This was a brilliant one. One of my favorites, too.
Edward R. Murrow interviewed Liberace back in the 50's, it's recreated on "Good Night And Good Luck". Murrow asks Liberace if he is planning to get married soon and Liberace answers that he is hoping to meet his perfect mate, he hopes that it will be a lasting union, he is like Princess Margaret who is looking for the perfect man.
He had to be subtle because it was the fifties and you just didn't talk about that stuff, but he didn't lie or pretend to be straight. He had cojones.