Song of the Day: 'The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight' by Dominatrix

Over the weekend, a friend shared this five-year-old article about the highly influential club hit "The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight." I couldn't really make heads or tails out of it -- I still don't understand how a pro-domme, a Russian diplomat, U.S. intelligence and Mary Tyler Moore’s landscaper conspired to create a dance classic -- but one thing it did accomplish was sending me down a related  YouTube rabbit hole. For a while I have known that the woman  who sings on the record, Claudia Summers, and the woman in the video who toured with the song -- Dominique Davalos, whom I've met as a member of two of Kathy Valentine's post-Go-Go's bands (Delphines, Bluebonnets) -- were not the same. But I had never actually seen Dominique sing or perform it -- until I stumbled upon this 2018 performance in Houston.

This looks like a fun night.

My friend then added this to the discussion: 

[Dominique] had a song out in '85 called "Madonna Vogue" that people thought was about THAT Madonna, but it was really abut Marie Antoinette. and then years later, when Madonna was performing "Vogue" on MTV she dressed as ... hmmm....

And what about this, Dominique covering the Waitresses?!!!

Smiths fans will recall that Dominique's father, actor Richard Davalos, was the object of Morrissey's affection.

Song of the Day: 'Bye Bye Baby' by the Bluebonnets

Download HERE.

New between-albums single from the Austin blues-pop-rockers! 

Like on Facebook HERE.

Actor Richard Davalos Is Dead at 85

Actor Richard "Dick" Davalos -- onetime co-star and roommate of James Dean, and later Morrissey obsession turned Smiths cover boy -- has died at the age of 85. Although I never met the man, I've had the pleasure of meeting his daughter Dominique, whose angular beauty she clearly inherited from Pops and who sings and plays bass with my friend Kathy Valentine in the Austin-based group The Bluebonnets. Condolences to Dominque and all his loved ones. The Hollywood Reporter has a nice remembrance HERE.

James Dean, Richard Davalos and Julie Harris on the set of "East of Eden"

Song of the Day: '60 Punishing Minutes' by the Bluebonnets

I've been raving about the Bluebonnets forever, now the Austin blues-popsters have their first music video -- from the sublime album PLAY LOUD, available now HERE.

The Story Behind All 27 of the Smiths' Album and Single Sleeves

Fascinating read. I knew who was on the cover of the band's final studio album, "Strangeways, Here We Come" -- actor Richard Davalos is the father of Dominque Davalos, singer/bassist of my pal Kathy Valentine's band The Bluebonnets and the subject of today's Song of the Day -- but the rest was all new(s) to me. Read HERE.

Song of the Day: 'The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight' by Dominatrix

From the You Learn Something New Every Day files: I've been obsessed with the song "The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight" since hearing it in the party scene in "Parting Glances" back in the 1980s. What I just learned yesterday, however, is that Dominique Davalos -- whom I have met on several occasions via her BlueBonnets bandmate and my friend Kathy Valentine -- is the foxy woman in the video for the club smash. Making things even more interesting, she also replaced singer Claudia Summers in the band Dominatrix, but only after the song had been recorded. If this sounds like it has the makings of a mini Milli Vanilla scandal, think again. Summers is also a bombshell and Davalos is also a talented singer -- so it's kind of a wash ... just not a Martha Wash.

Also learned Davalos was in a handful of films back then, including "Howard the Duck" and a televangelism parody with Viggo Mortensen and Exene Cervenka!

 

Description:

Released in 1984, this song is synonymous with the Starck Club. Members of the group included Stuart Argabright, Claudia Summers, Ken Lockie, and Peter Baumann. Summers parted ways with the group but not before recording the bands only single. The use of spoken lyrics made it the forerunner in the freestyle genre of music. The video, directed by Beth B., features Summers on vocal but stars her replacement, Dominique Davalos in fur and stockings. The imagery and subject matter of the song got it banned from mainstream commercial radio and MTV. Funny seems pale in comparison to your modern day Victoria Secret TV commercial. Good thing we had Rick to broaden our horizons!