Tonight we are planning a low-key New Year's eve at my sister-in-law's house in Jersey with the family. Hope you're keeping warm and (mostly) staying out of trouble! xo
Wednesday, December 31, 2025
All About (New Year's) Eve
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
Bow Wow Wowed: An ’80s Queen Braves Totally Tubular
Like, ohmygod! The 2025 Totally Tubular Festival was totally not as grody as I thought it might be! (OK, enough of that -- I'm already exhausted.) Despite my well-earned reputation as an '80s fanatic, these kinds of things are (totally) not my style: A) I hate festivals/drawn-out concerts; B) I'm very selective about the music I listen to -- especially to see performed live; and C) These things invariably pick the wrong nostalgia acts (think Animotion, the Escape Club or a Stuart Adamson-less Big Country).
But as it would happen, not one but two of my favorite artists -- Bow Wow Wow and the Motels -- were included in this lineup. And then they started to give tickets away -- $22(!) -- with the venue all but walking distance from my apartment, at which point I decided: Why not?
Security was a nightmare, so we ended up arriving as Tommy Tutone was performing a (not surprisingly extended) version of "867-5309/Jenny." Given the fact that the next couple acts did just three songs each, the most we missed was two, which was a bit of a shame given that front man Tommy Heath was in fine form at 78. Shockingly, I learned that the band had actually scored another Top 40 pre-"Jenny," in 1980's "Angel Say No," which has to be the answer to the hardest question in the Trivial Pursuit Totally '80s edition. (You're welcome.)
Next up was Bow Wow Wow, aka Annabella Lwin. With guitarist Matthew Ashman six feet under since 1995 and her relationships with drummer David Barbarossa and bassist Leigh Gorman also long dead, Annabella has had to fight to keep performing as Bow Wow Wow since Gorman likes to perform under the moniker with singer Chloe Demetria, which sounds about as sad as the Culture Club sans Boy George and Divinyls sans Chrissy Amphlett attempts of recent memory. Annabella looked and sounded great as she came out to the band's second single, "W.O.R.K. (N.O. Nah, No No My Daddy Don't)," the 1981 protest song satirizing the Thatcherite push for work in austerity-era Britain. From this deep cut they pivoted to "Do You Want to Hold Me?" and "I Want Candy," the group's two highest-charting singles in the U.S. Always a pleasure to see that one but boy would I have liked more.
Then came Martha Davis and the Motels, which included longtime keyboardist/saxophonist Marty Jouard, the brother of lead guitarist Jeff Jouard, who was booted from the band back in the day in favor of Martha's then-boyfriend Tim McGovern. (Those were some awkward holidays!) Martha wasted no time in singing "Only the Lonely," followed by a haunting version of "So L.A." (great choice!), "Suddenly Last Summer" and "Strange Days." Martha is the main reason I decided to go -- interviewing her in 2008 remains a blogging highlight -- because she's 74 and recently had a second bout of breast cancer, which first struck her at the height of the Motels' popularity in the early '80s. (Producer/manager Val Garay says she also had early stage cervical cancer.) I'd love to see her perform a full set, but at this point any Martha is better than no Martha. Unlike so many of my legacy artists, Martha is still making music that stands up to her heyday output, and I'm hearing 2026 will see the birth of even more. Here's hoping she's in the mood to travel again to celebrate that. (Listen to the albums "This," "Beautiful Life" or "The Last Few Beautiful Days" if you don't believe me.)
UPDATE: I ended up rewatching their episode of VH1 "Bands Reunited" (adorable) and finding a full concert from earlier this year at the House of Blues in Anaheim, which was the perfect salve. It's 18 songs, with the perfect combination of early material ("Dressing Up," "People, Places, Things," "Counting," "Closets & Bullets") along with the tracks that made them famous. (She even does "Remember the Nights"!) Good to know that Martha is still up for a full set. I guess the caveat is that I'll probably need to go West if I want to experience it again ... they're playing the Whisky A Go Go in April!
The Motels were followed by Thomas Dolby, who hilariously announced that he was the only artist on the bill who had "never broken up and gotten back together" and still had all its original members. I've always been a fan, but even I was surprised by how terrific his set was, bolstered by his doing "Europa and the Pirate Twins" and "One of Our Submarines," two of the best songs of the 1980s. He also did "Hyperactive" and, of course, "She Blinded Me With Science," the projected video of which featured a surprise cameo by Hillary Rodham Clinton, to the delight of the crowd.
This is where I got a little confused. Because they were billed toward the top, I somehow had it in my head that Men at Work was next. If this makes me sound like an idiot, please note that neither the Aussies nor Men Without Hats were ever bands I ever got particularly excited about -- but I definitely know the former was way bigger than the latter, so at least I knew something was off. The Canadian synthpop-sters got off to a bad start, with singer Ivan Doroschuk bouncing around like a Super Ball to what turned out to be "The Safety Dance," only the microphone malfunctioned, so it took a good minute or so before it was fixed. Next, they did songs called "Moonbeam," "Where Do the Boys Go?" and "Antarctica" before performing their other hit, the delightful "Pop Goes the Word." From there they announced that they were doing what every '80s fan dreads hearing -- "a new song" -- before launching into the on-the-nose "I Love the '80s," which by the end had the crowd singing along. (OK, it was kinda cute.) To the producers' credit, they then allowed the band to take "Safety Dance" from the top -- which took me back to when I saw A Flock of Seagulls in 1983 and they did "I Ran" twice ... without sound problems! -- announcing that this was for "anyone who'd arrived late"! Worth noting that one of the band members wasn't a man and one of them was in fact wearing a hat, yet they charmed me in an unexpected way.
*I would argue that the Motels are the second biggest band on the bill, but I've read that Martha prefers to go on early -- plus Men Without Hats are more lively, so perhaps it makes sense for them to go on later.
So while I'm still not sure how Men Without Hats ranks "second" among the artists on the bill, the fact that they're not the at-work men explained how A Flock of Seagulls soared to the top of the bill. Fondly remembered as the quintessential one-hit wonder of the new wave era, the group did in fact have a few chart hits, so it was great hearing "Space Age Love Song" (my personal favorite), "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph)" and "The More You Live, the More You Love" -- as well as "Say You Love Me" and "Some Dreams" -- before closing the night out with ruckus version of "I Ran." Although grumpy frontman Mike Score is the only original member -- even his drummer brother has long flown the coup -- touring bassist Pando(TM), who reminded me of Toni Basil if Toni Basil had an eating disorder, knows how to keep the crowd engaged.
All in all, a fun night in a roomful of like-minded fans, some of whom were more dedicated to the cause than others.
If you hurry, you can see clips from most of the artists on my Instagram stories HERE.
Tennis Tuesday: Andreas Vavassori
I know, I know. Andreas Vavassori AGAIN. What can I say? Italian and Hispanic men are my weakness, so I married an Argentine! More of the substantial doubles specialist BELOW.
Remains of the Day (12/30)
Edge: What did you think of Craig Geoghan, this year's winner of Hallmark’s "Finding Mr. Christmas"?
Travel Pulse: Top 25 LGBTQ travel destinations for 2026
KIT212: Tom Brady spends shirtless holidays with jailbait son after ex Gisele Bündchen’s secret wedding
Brian Ferrari's Blog: Gay porn stars we lost in 2025, including Tim Kruger, Mr.Cali, Colton Ford, Scott Finn and Blake Mitchell
Washington Blade: Kazakh president signs anti-LGBTQ propaganda bill
People: Anthony Geary’s widower, Claudio Gama, shares new tribute to the late "General Hospital" actor
The Times: Does this mean Tom Daley is a twink top?
Hot Cats of the Day: Sounds like poor Blaze and Phoenix have their paws full!
Breaker: The final ever print edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is now at the printers before hitting newsstands tomorrow and being delivered to subscribers in the morning. In August, the AJC announced it was phasing out print in favor of doubling down on its website AJC.com, its mobile app, along with video, newsletters, podcasts, and live events. This once seemed unimaginable, but now it has me wondering soon before this is the norm in all major cities?
Monday, December 29, 2025
Weekend Tennis Roundup
Venus Williams held a second wedding while the rest of the tour enjoyed their final moments of rest. Full report BELOW.
Saturday, December 27, 2025
Empire State Human
It dawned on me as I traipsed through a snowy Central Park this afternoon that it was exactly 40 years ago that I first visited New York City as a teenager. If you had told me then that I would end up living a stone's throw away from where these "before" photos were taken I would have totally believed it -- this is where I have wanted to be since I first laid eyes on Buffy and Jody, who were lucky enough to have their parents die so they could leave the Midwest and move in with their sophisticated Uncle Bill! 😜
To my travel partners Greg and Nina: For the past three or four years I have dreamed about having us get together again in NYC in 2025, yet somehow it completely slipped my mind now that the time is here. So in lieu of what would have been a great reunion, I decided to try to recreate a couple moments, with my husband(!) standing in for The Greg. ❤️
Friday, December 26, 2025
On the Rag, Vol. 888
This week's rag 'n' mag roundup features the naked ambition of the "Heated Rivalry" boys; Jeff Kaplan; Arvind Baldiya, Jordan Hurt and more BELOW
Thursday, December 25, 2025
Wednesday, December 24, 2025
Christmas Is Almost Here
As I frantically wrap presents before heading out to New Jersey to spend the holiday with my in-laws, I just wanted to wish you all a very merry Christmas. In what has become a bit of a tradition, Damian and I had our own celebration last night -- with a movie (Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” at the IFC), drinks (at Rolf’s, home of the most incredible decorations in the world) and dinner (at Molly’s Shebeen), followed by a walk through Gramercy Park.
I first came to NYC as a teen during Christmas, and for me it remains the most wonderful time of the year here. xo
Tuesday, December 23, 2025
Monday, December 22, 2025
At Le Poisson Rouge, Susanna Hoffs Lets the Songs (and Others) Talk
Susanna Hoffs was in fine form on Friday night at Le Poisson Rouge, performing Bangles classics, a couple covers (Jimmy Cliff's “Sitting in Limbo” and Nesmith/Stone Poneys/Ronstadt's “Different Drum”) and trying out a bunch of new songs from a forthcoming album -- “Casablanca,” “None of Them Were You,” “Sometimes You Gotta Learn Your Lesson Twice,” “Bad Case of Loneliness” and “Good Luck” -- as well as one (“It’s My Time”) from a possible musical (with Edie Brickell!) based on the diminutive Bangle’s debut novel.
It’s been a particularly prolific era for Hoffs -- who released just two solo albums in the 1990s, zero in the 2000s, and one in the 2010s*, but has put out three in the past four years -- so any disappointment I felt about the set list was largely assuaged by my gratefulness for where she is now.
It was a delightful, low-key evening with just Sue and the two young men she’s currently collaborating with -- CJ Camerieri (horns; piano) and Ryan Lerman (guitar; clarinet) -- on stage, and she only played guitar during the one-song encore. As ever, she was her usual diffident self, deferring to these young guys the audience had never seen or heard of before to tell her own 40-year-old stories(!), and repeatedly re-doing guitar parts until she got them just right. (My friend Greg felt that perhaps she was a bit too low-key, half-joking that “she looks great, but that basic black Ann Taylor pantsuit infuriates me. It’s a show, not a TED talk.”)
Then, in a sweet moment, she choked up while preparing to perform a new song about her husband of over 30 years, Jay Roach, who looked equally overcome as he filmed her on his phone from the sidelines -- which struck me as particularly poignant given that he’s a world-famous filmmaker. (“Directors -- they’re just like us!”)
When I told my childhood best friend about the concert, he mentioned that he was in the middle of reading Jennifer Otter Bickerdike’s authorized biography of the Bangles, which inspired me to follow suit. I’d kind of dismissed the book at first, thinking there couldn’t be anything I didn’t already know about this group I’ve followed religiously since I was a kid.
But boy, was I wrong -- Annette Zilinskas was in the band twice before exiting prior to “All Over the Place” and had never played bass before joining, a la Kathy Valentine! Maria McKee’s mom responded to one of Susanna Hoffs’s flyers for bandmates but then abruptly hung up when she was told Maria couldn’t be the singer! Thomas Newman is the person who got the Bangles involved in "Less Than Zero"! -- even if it also annoyingly confirmed what I had long suspected about the issues within the band, which seem to plague them to this day.
Yes, I can understand why the Peterson sisters -- whom I adore and think are incredibly talented -- were unhappy that the “everything is split evenly four ways” idea fell apart. But are they really naive enough to believe this kind of success would have ever come their way if not for Sue’s distinctive voice and star quality? If that were the case, why didn’t Crista Galli, Aishi, the Muze, the Fans or Those Girls -- the pre-Hoffs incarnations of the group -- ever get signed and shoot to the top of the charts the way the Bangles did? And it cuts both ways: Susanna bombed as a solo artist -- so it clearly was about alchemy. (See also: Mac, Fleetwood.)
So instead of being so bitter (especially Debbi) about how it happened, why not be grateful -- because, as the Go-Go’s bassist will tell you, lightning rarely strikes twice.
* Children, Matthew Sweet and the reformation of the Bangles all being limiting factors, of course.
Venue note: LPR has always been a general admission venue, but perhaps because of the, um, maturity of the crowd they decided to have tables and chairs. Somehow they sold out before I could get one, so we were forced to get “standing at the bar” tickets, which were horrendous. In addition to being quite far from the stage, the path to the bathroom runs right through that section, so we spent the entire night being jostled and having our view obstructed. Buyer beware!
P.S.
Just learned that Sue does a duet of "Happy Together" with Rufus Wainwright and "Love Hurts" with Eric D. Johnson on the soundtrack of "The Roses."
Also:
Damian and I have been wanting to try this Georgian restaurant near our gym on the Upper West Side then noticed the very cute looking Old Tbilisi Garden on Bleecker Street near the concert venue -- so ate there instead. As you can see, I didn't like it at all!
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