Find the original article in The New York Times here: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/health/iris-long- dead.html
Iris Long, a chemist whose knowledge of the intricacies of pharmaceutical clinical trials and the Food and Drug Administration’s approval process made her a transformational figure in ACT UP, the militant political action group dedicated to ending the AIDS crisis, died on April 4 in Astoria, Queens. She was 92.
Michael Long, her husband of 55 years and only immediate survivor, confirmed her death, at a rehabilitation center. She lived in Astoria.
By 1987, when Dr. Long first attended a meeting of ACT UP, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, she had retired from her work as an organic chemist. She was looking to help people directly, rather than in a laboratory. She was not politically active, didn’t know anyone with AIDS and wasn’t even sure she had ever met anyone who was gay.
“God, the epidemic was getting so bad, and she thought she could help,” Jim Eigo, a writer and leading ACT UP member who worked closely with Dr. Long, said in an interview. “We were a bunch of downtown queers, and she came from a background that was totally different from us. She brought her love to us.”
At that first meeting, Dr. Long realized that the activists needed a guide who was fluent in science to help them expedite the approval of drugs to treat AIDS and the H.I.V. virus that causes it.
“She was their scientific North Star,” Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview. “She told them that if you’re going to interact with the scientific community, you’re going to have to understand the science.”
She tutored the activists on immunology and virology and schooled them in the intricacies of the Food and Drug Administration’s approval process and pharmaceutical research protocols. She set up what became ACT UP’s treatment and data committee,
and with Mr. Eigo wrote memos to drug companies and government agencies suggesting programs that would benefit people with H.I.V. and AIDS.
Her guidance, Mr. Eigo said, empowered key ACT UP members, including Mark Harrington, to communicate with researchers and officials at the F.D.A. and other government agencies on a more equal, and therefore less confrontational, footing.
Written by Richard Sandomir
Find the original YAHOO! Article here: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/chlamydia-fallshiv-cases-rise-221825736.html
Written by Alexander Castro
During National STI Awareness Week, the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) had some good news to share: An assortment of sexually transmitted infections seem to be entering a period of decline after years of upward movement.
The most promising downward trend can be found in chlamydia, which dropped to 4,681 cases in 2024 the lowest since 2015, and a marked difference from the peak of 5,717 cases documented in 2019.
The latest state data from 2024 was compiled and released by the state health department during March in its annual STI surveillance report.
The data, which is reported on a year lag, “represent the most accurate, comprehensive, upto-date snapshot we have of HIV, STIs, viral hepatitis, and TB [tuberculosis] in Rhode Island,” according to the report’s opening note from Director of Health Dr. Jerome Larkin.
Disparities linger, however, in the distribution of STIs. Take newly diagnosed cases of HIV. Overall, there were 94 documented cases of newly diagnosed HIV in Rhode Island in 2024, the highest number since 2015.
That spike was highest among Rhode Island’s Black and African-American population. From 2020 to 2023, the number of cases in this demographic dropped by 63%, for a total of about 12 cases diagnosed in 2023.
But in 2024, this statistic shot up nearly fivefold to about 57 cases, which the RIDOH report noted was “18.9 times higher than among the non-Hispanic White population” and “observed across multiple risk groups. ”
The average number of cases in recent years has hovered around 70 per year. Over the past decade, the population most commonly exposed to HIV are gay, bisexual, or other men who have sex with men (GBMSM), which the RIDOH report says have accounted for 66% of newly diagnosed cases where the exposure type was known.
HIV diagnoses dropped in 2020 during the pandemic, but the health department report says that, from 2021 to 2023, this number returned to levels compared with the pre-COVID era. The 2024 data saw a 34.3% increase above the average number of diagnoses in these years.
Larkin noted in his introduction, however, that preliminary data for 2025 does not seem to hold the same trend.
“I am pleased to report that we did not continue to see an increase in cases in 2025,” Larkin wrote. “Rhode Island’s counts of newly diagnosed HIV cases in 2025 are below our 10-year average of 70 cases per year. ”
The state has also seen success in treating people with HIV, with an estimated 76.4% of people living with the virus receiving treatment and 94.1% of those engaged in care achieving viral suppression, Larkin wrote. The health department estimates there are 2,851 living with HIV in Rhode Island.
Age also plays a factor in STI acquisition, with teens and young adults in the age range of 15 to 24 continuing to show higher rates. Chlamydia, for example, had a rate of around 427 infections per 100,000 people in the general population. Among the 15-24 age group, the rate was 1,827 per 100,000 people. That was still an improvement over last year, with people in this age range having approximately 2,030 infections per 100,000 people.
A similar situation played out with gonorrhea, whose case-per-population ratio in the 1524 group was more than twice that of the general population The state health department promoted its RIght to Know app alongside its announcement about falling STI rates. The platform is designed to provide adolescents and young adults with “accurate information about sexual and reproductive health, as well as places across Rhode Island to access resources like care and condoms,” according to the health department’s press release.
Also highlighted in this year’s STI report:
• Chlamydia’s 4,681 recorded cases in 2024 were the lowest annual total since 2015. But the disease caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis remains concentrated among younger people, with the highest rates since 2020 observed among Rhode Islanders ages 20 to 34.
•
• Gonorrhea continues to climb, even if it experienced a slight dip this year. The health department counted 1,622 cases in 2024, down from 1,672 cases in 2023, but still far above the 580 cases in 2015. The report says rates have risen consistently over the last five years among people ages 20 to 34.
•
• Infectious syphilis dropped to 161 cases in 2024 down from 190 the year prior, and less than half the peak of 328 cases recorded statewide in 2021. More alarmingly, the health department noted it recorded 12 cases of congenital syphilis from 2020 to 2024, when no cases had been reported in more than a decade.
•
• Viral hepatitis has seen strong progress over the last decade, with the number of inpatient hospitalizations tied to a diagnosis of hepatitis C declining from more than 2,700 such cases in 2015 to under 900 in 2024. In 2023 and 2024, there 15 cases of hepatitis B and 41 cases of hepatitis C.
•
• Monkeypox, or Mpox, was first observed by health departments around the world during its initial outbreak in 2022. Aggressive vaccination efforts quickly suppressed the virus’ spread for the most part, but Larkin wrote that the state saw “a slight uptick in cases in 2024 and 2025.” A health department dashboard shows there have only been 104 cases recorded in the Ocean State as of Feb. 2026, with less than 10 in both 2024 and 2025.
•
• And what about TB? While tuberculosis is not a sexually transmitted infection, it’s combined with the surveillance of other diseases in the annual report. Larkin wrote that rates of this consumptive illness were “higher than expected in 2023 and 2024, but preliminary 2025 data showed a decline to pre-2023 levels.” There were 23 cases recorded in 2024, still higher than the past decade’s low of just seven cases in 2020. Pre-pandemic, the state was still considered “low-incidence” and regularly documented under 20 cases in its annual counts.
Written by Ariel Messman-Rucker / Find the original article in OUT MAGAZINE here: https://www.out.com/celebs/jacob -tierneyhiv?fbclid=IwY2xjawRQ8RBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFWZVJNRDBPRk1KaDJjODRtc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5Mg ABHvpa9XWY_FfEYI0GA31T5Rrb -izBhLJ_5eKOeuIWOcwo -ELjU0tEcv8wbIte_aem_0wnphhtred5c1PL6pzAC2g&utm_campaign=mrffacebook- outmagazine&mrfcid=2026041869e294abc534331e19976b13
A resurfaced clip of Heated Rivalry creator Jacob Tierney from four years ago is getting praise for his frank discussion about living with HIV and the stigma he's had to deal with.
Heated Rivalry ended up being a catalyst for an honest discussion about gay sex (apparently, straight people had no idea what frotting is and didn't know rimming was popular), but it turns out this is nothing new for Tierney.
The TV show creator opened up about his HIV status in an interview on the Good Morning Sodomites! podcast back in 2022. Tierney shared with host Zach Noe Towers that he is "HIV positive undetectable," before going into detail about how sick he got before he started treatment.
"I acquired HIV when I was 34, and it was really, really bad," he said. "I got very, very, very sick, lost a lot of weight, had a lot of bad medical complications that a lot of people don’t."
Tierney, who described himself as a "full disclosure person," explained that the person who transmitted HIV to him was "off their meds" and had a "high viral" load, prompting the director to urge people to "stay on your meds."
Tierney also lamented that "a year later I would have been on PrEP," because the life-saving medication, pre-exposure prophylaxis, came on the market not long after he contracted HIV.
A year after his diagnosis, Tierney got "really, really sick again" and was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes by his HIV doctor, who was able to finally figure out what was wrong.
"There was like a year and a half where I just was basically dying all the time," Tierney said.
Watch the interview on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjeB1M_AHhs&t=7s
NOTE: Tierney has not only been candid about his HIV status, but about showing honest depictions of gay sex onscreen in ways that audiences aren’t used to.
"It’s this very limiting, puritanical way of looking at sex scenes of, you either pan away and 'I don't wanna watch this,' or you omit people's sex lives entirely as though that's not a part of who they are,"Tierney told Entertainment Weekly.
"We were very aware we're making a horny show. Let it be horny. Enjoy!
That's part of the fun of this, right? That's also part of the reaction we're seeing here, is that this show is different because of that. Sex is not supposed to be trauma here, and that was something I really wanted to avoid. I want it to be beautiful."
The podcast clip has been going viral on social media, where it has sparked conversations about the lasting impact of the AIDS Crisis and how thankful fans are that Tierney is speaking openly about it.
"Here in NYC the scars left by the worst era of HIV/AIDS are still fresh and likely permanent. My own dentist lost over 15 friends in the 80s to it," the original poster of the clip wrote on X. “If anyone still doubts on Jacob's intentions behind queer joy storytelling, I don't know what more to say, really."
EDITOR’S NOTE: It was brought to my attention that a good way to fight stigma and show sex positivity is to share and remember some of the adult actors/sex workers as well as celebrities we lost to AIDS.
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/theaidsmemorial
David Cole (1962 – 1995) was a songwriter and record producer who died of AIDS in NYC. He was 32 years old.
David was best known as was one half of the dance-music duo C+C Music Factory, which he founded with Robert Clivilles.
David also produced hits for artists such as Mariah Carey and Aretha Franklin. He won a Grammy for the soundtrack for the film The Bodyguard starring Whitney Houston.
David Cole also assembled and produced Seduction, a female dance-pop, house and freestyle trio that included Michelle Visage
In episode 163 of ‘RuPaul’s What’s the Tee w/ Michelle Visage’ podcast broadcast in August 2018, Michelle Visage recalled:
“David was amazing ... and he was you know ... Robert (Clivillés) and I were the closest .. as friends .. but David made me nervous. He had a presence about him that was very judgy and I never felt good enough to sing for David Cole. I remember in his last days, he used to tell me, to keep me in check I think ... it was his way ...
he would say, “Bitch you are not Madonna! Don’t act like you are!“ Things like that. I then I remember ... I didn’t know he was leaving us anytime soon ... but they flew me out to do a video. It was a video for C+C Music Factory (Do you wanna get funky).
He said, “Hey, come hang out!” So everything was done. We wrapped. Billy B. did the make up. You know we were all just getting ready to hang out and David Cole goes ... he looked me in the eye and goes, “Not only could you be the next Madonna, you’re better than Madonna.” And it was in that moment that ... it was for me ... and I was like “OMG, What’s making you say that?” I’m an extra in this video. They flew me out on their own dime ... out to LA, put me up in the Hotel Nikko ... and it was a big deal. I couldn’t understand why ... but I felt like they were part of my family. When he told me that, I felt in that moment, for one of the few times, that I was really talented. Because David Cole ... look you (RuPaul) have always believed in me, my mom and dad have ... David Cole was such a brilliant musician and operator in his brain and producer and vocal producer. My vocals were never best unless David were doing them. He had a way of getting something out of me.”
The AIDS Memorial would love to hear from those who knew David who can provide more details about his life
FOR THOSE IN TORONTO LIVING WITH HIV
If you have not heard, we as a community are in a major fight with the City of Toronto over The AIDS Memorial. People like Chris Moise and Daniel Fusca have been trying to silence the voices of the HIV+ Community and The ECHOES proposal About seven weeks ago, I went on CP24 and did an interview on signing the petition and lending your voice to make Mayor Olivia Chow get involved. Mr. Moise is only concerned with trying to get all the drug users and homeless out of Barbara Hall Park. His idea is to close the park late night and to put a fence around it. His proposal has nothing o do with the upkeep and renovation of the memorial. The ECHO Project can be found at TheAIDSMemorial@ca and you can also see our proposal to add more pillars and vegetation to make the space more respectful to the memory of all of those we have lost to this disease. Use the QR Code below to get involved.
Last December we honored ten people for their work or activism in HIV/AIDS. One of those people was a gentleman who I have been working with for over a year now. He has devoted his time to LGBT seniors and what happens to them. His name is Zvika Weidenfeld.
JE: Zvika, darling...how are you today?
ZW: Hello Darling, excited to be here. Thanks for the opportunity to sit with you and introduce myself and my story and shed a light on a subject that we all avoid as much as possible - Aging! It’s not a “sexy” subject, especially if you’re gay, and more so, if you’re aging with HIV.
JE: So, we always start with a little backstory on our featured person. Where are you from? What is your background?
ZW: I was born in Tel-Aviv, Israel. I had a regular, typical upbringing: working father and home making mother, one younger sister, and a dog. I immigrated to Canada twice; first in 90 to 97, back to TA and returned to Toronto 2006, and have lived here ever since. My professional career was in design: fashion, graphic and web design. Later on in men’s retail and consulting. It all ended when the pandemic hit.
JE: Now this is where we get "up close and personal" with you. How long have you been HIV+? And what was it like when you found out about your diagnosis?
ZW: A month after I returned, in July 2006, I became very sick and went into the hospital. No one understood what was going on. My mom came from TA and sat by my bed for two weeks. They ran two HIV tests that came back negative. After two and a half weeks, I was released from Mount Sinai. My mother returned to TA not knowing that I’m positive.
When I was discharged from the hospital, I was told to go for a follow up. I did that after a couple of weeks, and then the results came back positive. I was in shock for the first couple of minutes, but then I told myself: well, that’s not a real surprise, considering how "promiscuous” I was. I knew that I was “lucky” in the sense that I became positive at a relatively late age (I was 44) and that there are drugs now that can manage HIV. I knew it’s not a death sentence like it was back in the 80s, and strangely enough, I felt "relieved" that now I don’t have to worry about catching it, if that makes any sense?!
JE: You have told me before about your studies at Ryerson...I believe that's where you said you went. What did you study, and where did it lead you?
ZW: There’s me before the pandemic, and after. Before, I was a very hedonistic guy: Sex, Drugs, and all that jazz. When the pandemic ended, I turned 60. All of a sudden, when I understood that I’m still alive and kicking, and potentially have another 20 to 30 years to go (my mother is 91), I asked myself: what the hell am I going to do with the rest of my life?! My professional background was in men’s retail and consulting. After the pandemic, no one gave any importance to formal dress anymore, and I can’t turn back the clock. So I needed to find something that would give me purpose and interest to get out of bed in the morning. During the pandemic, I was actively involved with ACT’s Gay Men’s Coffee Night. At one of the meetings, a new guy to the group, who was in his early 40s, told us how isolated he was. No one knew he was positive, he had no doctor, and ran out of drugs. His story shocked me to the core. I realized that the HIV issue is important to me and that I want to do something to prevent this story from happening again. I went back to school and took a program at TMU: “Community engagement development and leadership”. I identified a gap in services to people aging with HIV, and developed a program to fill that gap. I took the program to PWA. At that time, PWA did a survey of its members aged 55+. I was the right person at the right time and place. They asked me to analyze the results and offered me the opportunity to further develop and implement my program. I started the group “Positive Connections” that ran successfully for almost a year, until funds ran out. That’s when and how we connected, by bringing your “Pink Cinema” initiative, as one of the group's activities. It is still going strong, and I know it’s just the start of us collaborating on projects in the future.
JE: So, you and I were both working on projects at the People With AIDS Foundation here in Toronto. Unfortunately, because of budget cuts, the program you were working on for LGBT seniors got cut. After the AIDS Committee of Toronto announced it was
closing, a lot of the AIDS Service Organizations shifted their budgets. What are you working on now?
ZW: I’m an HIV activist, advocating for seniors in the LGBT community and people who are aging with HIV.
I have two projects in development. The first one is for the Rekai Centre, which houses the “Rainbow Wing,” the first of its kind in North America, dedicated to seniors from the community. Many seniors who move into long-term care homes are “pushed” back into the closet. They can not express their identity because of fear and shame, and ignorance from the staff. The program is designed to be an identity-affirming tool to help them feel comfortable and accepted where they are. It’s a holistic approach that brings together art and music therapy, with movement and physical activities like Zumba, yoga, and Tay-Chi, combined with fun activities like drag bingo and trivia nights.
The second project is for one of the bigger housing providers in the GTA. It’s a pilot project, specifically for people who are aging with HIV. It’s still in the early stages of development, and I can’t share more details, but I promise to let you know once it hits the ground.
JE: I often joke about being on a banana peel slidin' towards 60. None of us are getting any younger. What is the importance of this project?
ZW: In the 70s, we fought for our rights. In the 80s, we fought for our lives. Now, we want to age with dignity and respect and not be overlooked. The gay culture, unfortunately, does not acknowledge this stage of our lives. I want to raise awareness and start a conversation about aging. We cannot continue burying our heads in the sand as if we’ll not get here. I have, and so will you. So it’s better to be ready and prepared for it.
JE: Well, I appreciate the work that you are doing, and I am thankful that there is someone thinking about our futures as seniors living with HIV. Is there anything else we should know about Mr. Weidenfeld?
ZW: Well, when I get out of the shower, I use two Q-tips at the same time, one in each ear; it’s an amazing sensation …
But seriously, I want my story, or path, to show that being gay and living and aging with HIV is not all doom and gloom. There’s one thing we gain with age - Wisdom. Take that and use your experience and wisdom to guide and help you navigate this challenging chapter of our lives. I’m actually excited and looking forward to seeing what this road will take me to. It’s a new beginning, not the end. I hope others can rethink aging as I did, not motivated by despair but by hope.
VERNAL SCOTT: DECADES OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND HIV ACTIVISM
So, in our past few issues we have had celebrities like Sandra Berhard, Elton John and Annie Lennox. But this month I wanted to introduce you to an author and activist with a four-decade span of work in Human Rights and HIV/AIDS. His name is Vernal Scott.
AKJ: Good afternoon, Vernal...How are you today?
VS: I am well, thanks. The Spring weather has lifted my mood. The winter seemed to go on too long, and it was exacerbated by geo-politics and the sense that we are in perilous times. Yes, spring is particularly welcome this year.
AKJ: I guess we should start with where you are from and what's your background?
VS: I am a Londoner by birth, of Jamaican 'Windrush generation' parents. I was the last of their five children: two girls and three boys. My two brothers were born in Clarendon, Jamaica, and my sisters and I were born in London, UK.
AKJ: So, I have to be honest. I have plenty of Facebook friends but don't really know all of them. I happen to come across a post about HIV/AIDS and BCAT. Could you tell us what BCAT stands for and how it came about?
VS: BCAT: Black Communities AIDS Team. Headed by me, it was a mid-1980s voluntary community initiative to address the lack of culturally appropriate services for Black and Asian men, women and children directly impacted by HIV and AIDS. The established service groups were run by and designed for white gay and bi men, and it showed! It was a time of great suffering, and racism was an added challenge, sadly. BCAT operated in London, although it later had a sister branch in Leeds, which was run locally and only related to the London iteration in name and operational purpose.
AKJ: Now to set the record straight...you are not HIV+. I'm curious...what got you into this activism in your community?
VS: I was just coming out of the closet as a young Black gay man when HIV and AIDS arrived and started claiming the lives of people around me. Precious, beautiful people who were my then age, but often older. They were mostly gay men. I wanted to help. Frankly, I felt that there was nothing more important to do with my life than to get involved in the challenge, and to lead where leadership was lacking. I did my best, but I remain haunted by an abiding feeling that my best wasn't good enough. I couldn't stop the Karposis, the pneumonia, the fear, the hate, the hysteria, the stigma. I could not stop the conveyor belt of death and dying, but I could knock on the doors of the powerful and secure a service response that our friends and loved ones deserved. It was a horrible time, and I am still deeply impacted by what I witnessed, forty years later.
I have so many memories of many faces; wonderful people who did not survive the crisis. Colin, a handsome friend, went to San Francisco to look for experimental treatment, but he ultimately returned to London without the elusive cure that he and millions of others had hoped to find. As organised in his dying as he was in his living, Colin, in an almost business-like manner, phoned and requested that I come to see him on the specialist hospice unit at London Lighthouse. His residency there told me everything, and it wasn’t good. I was one of a privileged few who he wanted to say goodbye to in person. Arriving at the set time that he’d allocated to me – to us – I sought him out among the other residents sharing his prognosis. To my utter shame, Colin had to call out my name when I mistakenly walked past his bed: “Vernal, yes, it’s me!” the familiar voice beamed, but it came from a face that I didn’t at all recognize; it was distortedly swollen and miscoloured in foreign patches of dark blue, red and brown. Spiritually untouched but physically demolished, my dear friend looked as though he’d survived nine rounds with Mike Tyson but was cruelly pummelled for another nine, long after any fight in him had evaporated. It was as if AIDS had taken its revenge for his having had the audacity to try and beat it. I tried my best to feign indifference at his appearance, but the tear that so obviously fell from my eye outed my feelings, especially so when it crashed onto his hand, now comforting mine. Our delicate, wordless embrace told my heart that my friend had been dealt a terrible final blow and that this would be our last embrace. Holding each other was the only communication needed now. A few nights later, dear Colin quietly slipped away and out of the body that was no longer capable or worthy of holding his magnificent spirit. A week after that, I attended his solemn but beautiful Life Celebration Service, which was
also held at London Lighthouse. He’d organised everything himself. Oh,perhaps fitting rather than beautiful; beautiful had left with Colin.
AKJ: You have worked with and met a few celebrities who are also HIV/AIDS activists. Could share a few names?
VS: George Michael was in the closet at the time, but he privately funded my early HIV projects. His money paid for the thousands' strong Reach Out and Touch HIV/AIDS Vigil, and I am proud that Whitney Houston and her girlfriend Robyn Crawford attended inperson. I still have those pictures, and there's a video or two. Whitney gave a powerful speech about the impact of AIDS and the need to find a cure. Dionne Warwick also supported my work, with a formal opening of the Brent HIV Centre, my later community project in north-west London. Dionne was overcome by emotion at the opening and completely broke down, convulsing in tears. Like Whitney and George, AIDS had impacted
her inner circle too. Princess Diana was another private supporter. I feel fortunate that these top tier celebrities felt my work was worthy of their time. Robyn Crawford introduced me to Whitney, and I love her for that. She was Whitney's true love.
AKJ: You wrote a book on Human Rights. Could you tell us a little about that and where to get it?
VS: My book is titled UK Black: Windrush Waves, Ungodly Sins, and Early Graves. It is a non-fiction, cathartic expression of everything that has happened in my life to date as a UK Black gay man, including my work as an HIV ally. As well as the noise in my head, it captures the content of my heart and soul. It includes scores of previously unpublished photos, including those of Dionne and Whitney. Sadly, it reads like a book of remembrance in many places. It was written with tears, not my pen. It is available at Amazon in paperback and eBook iterations, and I hope that it will be available in other book stores in the near future.
AKJ: Well, I thank you for the work that you do. We need more people like you to step into these roles and stand for our community. Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers? Maybe an upcoming project to be on the lookout for?
VS:Thank you. I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank readers living with HIV. I am a better human being because of the impact that people with HIV have had on me, including members of my family. I lost a brother and a nephew to AIDS. Today I work in the UK police service, and HIV awareness is integral to my DEI lead role. UK Black had its formal launch in London on 23 January 2026, and I was amazed and humbled by the turnout. I look forward to doing more readings in person or online in the months ahead, so invitations are welcome. Every time I do a reading, I bring lost friends back to life. I remain an active, grateful ally.
Web link to UK Black: Amazon.com: UK BLACK: Windrush Waves, Ungodly Sins, and Early Graves eBook : Scott, Vernal: Kindle Store
Web link to YouTube video of Whitney Houston at my Reach Out & Touch project: WHITNEY HOUSTON at REACH OUT & TOUCH UK HIV AIDS VIGIL. Funded by George Michael. Vernal Scott org. - YouTube
LinkedIn professional profile: Vernal Scott | LinkedIn
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I keep hoping that spring will finally actually happen here in Toronto, but it just keeps feeling like it just might not happen and suddenly out of nowhere it will just be summer. I got twenty-three selections to talk about. It was going to be my usual twenty-one but two releases dropped and I had to redo the entire mix to add them. With so many tracks and remixes to talk about, we should probably get started.
So, one of the trending stories is how everyone and their mother are dragging Chilli from TLC after finding out that she reposted a meme depicting First Lady Michelle Obama as a transsexual and that she donated to the MAGA campaign. As I have been saying on my Sandcastle Radio show recently, As a working DJ I do not cancel folks…especially if their music is part of the fabric of our culture. Was Chilli’s excuses lame for what was exposed? Absolutely. But there is no denying that TLC is part of Pop Culture and had many hits back in the 90s. I believe if Left Eye had no died that they would have had more hits and might have earned more than four Grammys. There is no ignoring their success.
I don’t know about you, but yesterday’s hits remixed are soothing my nostalgia fix. So, I’m not mad at the PeteDown AfroBeat ReBoot of “Who’s That Girl” by Eve or the DJ-Ibo Shatts Remix of “Jump” by Kriss Kross. They both remind me of a simpler time when Hip Hop was becoming Pop Music and we were heading towards a future with a Black President. The possibilities seemed endless. I would have never guessed that racism would be elect the hate monger that sits in the White House now as a reaction to the first Black President.
Our fourth selection is from another cancelled artist…Ye. I still call him Kanye West. His rebranding will never make me forget his name. And I guess after taking out a full page add in the New York Times to apologize to the Jewish Community for his Hitler phase. The most interesting thing about this apology was there nothing mentioning being sorry to the Black Community…just an observation. Anyway…his latest single is called “FATHER” and the video is a one shot of a church service. The track sorta has hints of his old style before he got involved with Kim Kardashian. Perhaps a remix would help it. I’m not gonna rush to play it, but apparently, he recently sold out the SoFi Stadium two nights in row in Los Angeles. I don’t know who can afford concert tickets these days. However, Ye was invited to headline in the UK for a music festival. Britain quickly banned him. France soon followed as well. So, like Catlyn Jenner…Ye is probably gonna have some problems with international travels.
For some more nostalgia I found this clever mashup by iComplexity of “Push The Button” by Taraji P. Henson from “The Color Purple” and “Love, Sex, Magic” by Ciara featuring Justin Timberlake (another canceled artist). I am just discovering iComplexity’s work and whoever they are their work is brilliant. They have done a great remix of Barbara Streisand’s “Don’t Rain On My Parade” Look them up on YouTube
Our sixth track is the Delirious & Alex K Remix of the 90s cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” by Max-A-Million. I didn’t really appreciate the original version from the 90s, but I don’t mind this new remix.
As I always say…”What’s old is new”. The Hiynur Solvi Remix of “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon seems very appropriate with The Orange Menace in the U.S. Capitol. So, I will be throwing this in a few of my classic sets for my VIDEO JUKEBOX Sundays at Toronto’s Black Eagle – the only weekly Video Tea Dance from 4-8 PM.
I always try to support out LGBT artists. Lady Bunny is an interesting performer. She’s a brilliant comedian but can be politically incorrect. Her latest music video is a commentary on “This Country” right now. I agree with much of what she has to say on this track and we need queens like her to rattle the cage every now and then. Be sure to check for dates for her Don’t Bring The Kids Tour
And since we’re getting political, our ninth track is “DYE PEDO” by Eric Benét. If you have been following him on social media, you probably know that Eric has some pretty strong opinions about many subjects. His dislike for the current president is pretty clear and this Prince inspired production is pretty good. I just wish he had a music video for it.
One of my favourite Nina Simone songs is “Four Women” and finally there is the DESIREE Remix! Great production and a great way to introduce a new audience to the genius that was Miss Simone.
Our eleventh selection is “Don’t Make Me Love U” by Lizzo. It’s interesting that the new sound is this throwback 80s production that has the soundtrack filler music. That what I think of when I listen to Lizzo’s latest single. Maybe a remix will help it grow on me.
There’s so much talk about A.I. replacing artists. Our twelfth selection is completely A.I. It’s a duet between Pharell Williams and Janet Jackson. I don’t think it has a title but if Janet is going to have a comeback, she needs to work with some new producers. Nothing against Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis but it’s a different market out in Pop Music these days. And while the 80s sound is on the rise, 80s artists are experimenting with new producers and productions.
Up next is the latest single by FLO called “Leak It”. I heard a few singles by this group, but they have not done anything that has stuck with me. This track is okay. Will it be a big hit? Probably not.
But you know what I think will be a big hit? “Runway” by Lady GaGa & Doechii from the soundtrack of “The Devil Wears Prada 2”. Just as everyone has been waiting for this sequel, I have been waiting for this track since I heard it was coming. And many probably do not know that it was penned by Bruno Mars. I like the original version but I am hopeful for the remixes.
Our fifteenth selection is “Club Song” by The Pussycat Dolls. Now…I thought that The Dolls were done. Especially since Nicole Scherzinger won a Tony for her run on Broadway in “Sunset Boulevard”. I mean…why would she go back to the Pop group that tried to stall her career with fine print in her original contract? But I guess the lure of popularity and relevance to a young audience is too hard to ignore. Of course, The Dolls are only three members now. Maybe they’ll do a cover of “Nasty Girl” by Vanity 6. As
for this new single. It’s okay. It sounds kinda juvenile in its lyrics. Honestly, it seems beneath Nicole after all that she has accomplished.
“Dance No More” by Harry Styles is our sixteenth track. I fell in love with this song when Harry performed it on SNL a couple months back. As usual, here is another example of an artist or label releasing the wrong song as the first single off a new album. This would have been a better choice completely. I’m just mad that I was unable to get the actual performance from SNL. It was excellent!
My husband is an Aretha Franklin superfan. So, I’m always glad when I find any great remixes of any of her songs. Now, our seventeenth selection isn’t really a remix but more of a House Dub of her classic “Chain Of Fools”. It is renamed “Take It Easy” and this is the Sonny Federa & Mat Joe Remix. And I cannot wait to play it the next time he is at one of my gigs.
Number eighteen is the Travelers Remix of “Need You Tonight” by INXS. Probably their biggest Dance hit from the 80s. I used to love this song! I remember waiting for the video to be played on MTV. Boy…those were the days. You sat for hours waiting for your favourite video to show up. So, of course I love this new remix and it’s interesting to see the blue-screen video footage that was used in the original video.
Now…I have to be honest. I am not getting the allure of the new BTS album. All the songs I have heard are, in my opinion, not that good. It was weird to see them spend a week on Jimmy Fallon singing in the Guggenheim singing different songs from the
album. The first single was “Swim”. What a fuckin’ boring song! But because it charted, I found the DJ AGA House Remix to use for this month’s mix. Did this mix make me like the song better? Nope.
I saw footage of Madonna joining Sabrina Carpenter on stage at Cochella It was a nice moment. It’s weird to see another Popstar shorter than Madge. I know Sabrina came on the scene heavy with “Espresso” but I’ve not heard any difference in anything else. Her latest, “House Tour” is cute but not anything I’m gonna rush to play.
Our twenty-first track is the Umberto Batzanelli, Jerry DJ & Michelle Rework of “Loco Loco” by Gordo & Reiner Zonneveld. I tried looking information on these two and came up with nothing. They aren’t on Wikipedia. I don’t even know how to categorize what genre this is. I believe it sung in Spanish but not sure. The person featured in the video is not either of them. But somehow I like it and think it would be a good bridge between a Latin Club set into (or out of) an English Club set
And since the last track was “Loco Loco” I dug up the Martin Drenth NuDisco Bootleg of “Crazy” by Seal. I couldn’t do this column without expressing my opinion on world events. On April 25th there was a shooting at the Correspondence Dinner in Washington DC. Conveniently President Plump spoke afterwards about this validates his idea of building his Ballroom. The same guy who somehow grew back cartilage after being shot in the ear. Do I believe that this was a real attempt on his life? Not even a little bit.
And to close out this month’s mix I chose the Dallas Down NuDisco Mashup of the new Madonna, “I Feel So Free” and “Everybody’s Free” by DE SOFFER. Thank God this version came along because I was not impressed with the original version.
