Skip to main content

90 replies

Scissor Sisters

Michael MadisonMichael MadisonSage
New single out on import now, and album available soon as import; drops Feb 2 in the UK. If you've been under a rock for the past year and haven't seen them everywhere from Cheeze Whiz to High Life to the Bowery Ballroom -- you've heard them played by the finest DJs all over town. You know, the pink floyd cover with the beegeesesque vocals and funky nouveaudisco vibe? Run out and smack down 6 bucks and pick up their Comfortably Numb single. This band is defo the next big thing, and so deserve your support.
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Night NurseNight NurseSage
Over a year and a half ago, Sweetie told me to come hear this band she had booked for her Cheez Whiz Saturday party. So on a small stage at the Parkside Lounge, Sweetie introduced this band that she had said would be HUGE, and she was right. The Scissor Sisters had me hooked from the getgo, and I have been an oh so loyal fan since, seeing them all over town. We all have our faves- some of us live for Jake's athletic gyrations and watching him sweat (hoping for a drop or two to fly off onto us waiting audience members), or Ana Matronic's sassy movements and her very sassy outfits/jewelry (and the duo's choreographed moments also are genius), and there are those who love Derek G or Baby Daddy for their whole silent masculine musician thing, and I could go on and on....

Posion Eve showed me the video for Comfortably Numb on the single, which is so gorg, so modern, and just so HOT!!!

Anyway, I am just a touch of a fan.
Last edited {1}
Zazoo and SatoriZazoo and SatoriSage
Ordered the import from Shake It because the domestic keeps getting delayed...

OMG. This is one of the best albums we've heard in YEARS. We missed them by 2 days in Detroit, and their playing The Double Door this Friday... SIGH.

We'll just have to be satisfied with the CD on constant reloop.

You know, I had downloaded some stuff from them about a year ago, and have it on CD somewhere... They were demos, and some didn't make it on the album. One was something about "Are you a Scissor Sister?" Regardless, none of it was as near as developed as their sound now.

XXXOOO
Satori
Luxury LexLuxury LexSage
They have totally exploded. Literally they are EVERYWHERE. They are in this month's Out magazine as a "hot" band and their album hasn't even been released here yet. I hear "Filty-Gorgeous" on the Queer Eye soundtrack, see their pictures everywhere -OMG! It seems like just a few months ago little Jake was handing out flyers at Marion's. I love it when home town girls make good.
Zazoo and SatoriZazoo and SatoriSage
Few things worth mentioning...

--> Free live performace this Friday July 30th at the Tower Records in the East Village. 4pm

--> The domestic release is here today! So if you don't have it, go get it.

--> Believe it or not, I gave my import copy to my dad for Father's Day. (Hey, if you think that's weird, I gave my mom Woodward's "Plan of Attack" for mother's day.)Anyhow, I was reading back through the lyrics today, since I haven't had the cover art in a month, and got to the credits. There are no less than 7 thank yous for people connected to the motherboards!:

-Brandon Olson
-Justin Bond
-Sammy Jo
-Sweetie
-Tangle
-Texx

and the Short Mountain Faeries.

Should have known.
XXXOOO
Satori
Michael MadisonMichael MadisonSage
SO happy for them! From the new Village Voice:

Fly Life
by Tricia Romano
Superstar Sisters
Electroclashing locals make it big in the land of tea and crumpets
July 28 - August 3, 2004


"Scissor Sister Jason Sellards: Really happy, but with no perspective"

It's a time-honored tradition for New York bands: Make it big in England while you plug away in anonymity in the States. THE STROKES and the YEAH YEAH YEAHS were the most recent beneficiaries of the British hype machine"”now, it's the SCISSOR SISTERS. The quintet have been spending the better part of the year overseas, most of it in the Queen's country, where they are bona fide rock stars. They had a Top 10 single with their campy cover of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb," earlier this year, and then this month their debut album hit the No. 1 spot on the British charts. So far, they've shipped 750,000 records. It's hard to believe this is the same act that once played Luxx during the LARRY TEE electroclash era with just two members.

JASON SELLARDS, my friend from Seattle (he used to order Jolt colas all day long at the café where I worked), is the singer, otherwise known as JAKE SHEARS. A few weeks ago, when he called me from Norway just two hours before they were due to go onstage, he sounded exhausted. Just how weird is his current reality? "Our dressing room is a boat. And we're playing on an island," he says. "I'm really happy, but I have no perspective. There's no time to stop and think about anything. We are sleeping every other day, finishing shows and then just getting to the airport."

The Scissor Sisters are set to go into the studio with that superfamous, pint-sized pop icon KYLIE MINOGUE. ELTON JOHN is one of their biggest fans, and the Sisters' '70s-style piano-rock number "Laura,""”inspired by Elton"”is said to have in turn inspired Elton to return to the keys. "What a cool guy! He's great," says Sellards of one of his musical idols. "I was so excited and happy that he turned out to be so nice."

In London, the band is well-known enough to be recognized on the street"”though so far, the paparazzi leave them alone. "I couldn't walk 20 feet without someone wanting to take a picture with me," says the grateful singer. They played Glastonbury, the massive annual festival that draws over 100,000 fans"”not once, but twice. And the press goes ape over the group: rave reviews in papers like NME, and BBC Radio took note of Sellards's own "wardrobe malfunction." "My dick popped out of my trousers on the show that my mom was videotaping," he says. "I went through one whole half song with my penis exposed. The audience was all grandmas and grandchildren. I gave 'em a thrill. Glastonbury was one of the best weekends of my life. It was magical and incredible. It was like a rock and roll blissful summer-of-love weekend."

And to think it was all supposed to end after the release of "Comfortably Numb." That was the only Top 10 single but, says Sellards, "people are buying the album instead of the singles, which is what you really want." In October, they're even slated to play London's legendary Royal Albert Hall.

"People in America don't really have a concept about what is going on," says Sellards. "It's hard to have a concept about it if you don't see it." But when a friend saw a tiny write-up in People, he says, "she started screaming."

Here at home, things are starting to pick up. A January Bowery Ballroom show suggested they've got a dedicated cult following. VH1 has placed their video for "Take Your Mama" (a song actually about Sellards's mom, Frida) on heavy rotation. And last week in Seattle, which is where Sellards grew up, they played a sold-out show at Neumo's to an adoring crowd who knew every single word to every single song. After the gig, BABYDADDY (né SCOTT HOFFMAN) told me that every date on their U.S. tour except Portland was sold out, and I said that would probably change by the time they arrived there the next evening.

When the band plays at P.S.1's Warm Up series on Saturday, they'll probably have a captive, if jaded audience. But it's not the hip crowd they want, anyway. "You gotta get to the housewives," Sellards laughs. "That's what we were saying the whole time. It fucking worked! Like crazy!"
daddydaddySage
We are very happy for them and very proud of them.
However...
Tricia failed to mention that opening up these amazing shows is none other than our very own DJ Sammy Jo (aka Nancy Isla). Her meteoric rise is just as astounding. (go figure) If any of you lurkers out there have been wondering where in the hell that hideously caustic tobacco stained lesbian is...
she is on tour with The Scissors.
We are also very proud of her.

DJ Sammy Jo (aka Nancy Isla)

Attachments

Hide
Images (1)
  • sammy3
Michael MadisonMichael MadisonSage
quote:
If you've been under a rock for the past year and haven't seen them everywhere from Cheeze Whiz to High Life to the Bowery Ballroom
-- Michael Madison, 1/28/04. What a difference 6 months makes!

From today's Liz Smith gossip column in the NY Post:

THIS COLUMN takes a sabbatical until Aug. 23, and though we hardly claim to be experts on modern music, this is what the crystal ball says will happen over the summer: The Scissors Sisters! Dazzling, sexy pop music that exists only to lift you up. Glam. Camp. Fun to the max. The next big, big thing.
AB Alligator BoyRaconteur
Since returning to London in September I have heard them everywhere but reading the stats on the Sisters success is astounding. From the BBC:

"New York pop group Scissor Sisters had the UK's best-selling album of 2004 after overtaking rock band Keane's sales on the last day of the year.

Scissor Sisters' self-titled debut CD sold 1,594,259 copies in 2004 - 582 more than Keane's Hopes and Fears.

The Scissor Sisters' surge was so unexpected BBC Radio 1 named Keane as the top-seller in a rundown on New Year's Eve."
Zazoo and SatoriZazoo and SatoriSage
Good for them!

We were REALLY upset to find out that they came to Cincinnati, and we didn't even find out about it until two weeks afterwards!

And we heard it wasn't very crowded...

You think that being on their mailing list we'd be the first in town to know, but we got no communications at all, saw no ads, nothing.

I mean, we drove all the way to CHICAGO to see them, and they come to our home town and we don't even hear about it?

I don't know if they booked last minute or something, but if I were them, I'd fire the person who was supposed to promote the date.

Frown
Satori
Amber RayAmber RayRaconteur
At my last Pow-Wow with My Plastic Surgeon, DR.Zevon, He mentioned to me that his Nephew was becoming Quite the Rockstar...and that he had just gone to see his Band at the Hammerstein.
(We used to talk about the stuff I was into and was doing, as well as the crowds I was running with)...
WheN I asked who this fabulous entertainer was, he suprized me with the Scissor Sisters!
Another interesting tidbit???
Warren Zevon was from the same family...
CHEERS!!!

BTW:
I am going through NYC drag withdrawal..I miss you ALL, DEARLY!
goblin73goblin73Sage
as of 7 pm eastern standard time...
they've won TWO of the three brit awards
they were nominated for and robbie williams
in an acceptance speech thanked his boyfriend...
jake shears.
all this after they opened the show w/
a stage full of jim henson dancing puppets.
nancy isla and j-bo are ana and jake's dates.
and they're ALL serving FASHIONS, sweetie.
daddydaddySage
NEWS FROM THE FRONT: THE BRIT AWARDS

As most of you lurkers know by now, our very own DJ Sammy Jo (aka Nancy Isla, aka DJ Pickles, aka DJ Smelly Ho etc. etc. etc.) is the official DJ/Opening act for The Scissor Sisters. He went to The Brit Awards (like our "Grammys") with his... "whatever we're calling it these days", Justin Bond (aka Kiki of "Kiki & Herb"). They were Jason's (aka Jake Shear) and Ana's (aka Ana Matronic) dates. (Not who I would pick but hey...) They are pictured above.
Sammy sent in these pics to make us jealous.

"Fake Dates" Justin and Jason

Attachments

Hide
Images (1)
  • Brits-2005---25
JB jo-jo babyRaconteur
i meet jake shears about 7 or 8 years ago i think. at a fairie gathering in tennessee,where i was doing hair.
well a year or so ago , i was waiting outside his tour bus in chicago, he was performing at double door,and he came of his bus and was like JO_JO, are you still doing hair ? i just thought it was nice that he remembered me...kisses
reddstarreddstarMotherlover
quote:
Originally posted by Michael Madison:
New single out on import now, and album available soon as import; drops Feb 2 in the UK. If you've been under a rock for the past year and haven't seen them everywhere from Cheeze Whiz to High Life to the Bowery Ballroom -- you've heard them played by the finest DJs all over town. You know, the pink floyd cover with the beegeesesque vocals and funky nouveaudisco vibe? Run out and smack down 6 bucks and pick up their Comfortably Numb single. This band is defo the next big thing, and so deserve your support.
sevensevenSage
Read the feature in the Voice this week where the story is an excuse for the writer's expense account party trip to London.

The sisters have become the epitome of the 'underappreciated' on the US market, being a global brand name everywhere but the US oweing mostly to their party band status and the kitschy stage presence both of which are a tip off to American consumers of a marketing scam.

The Voice article comes off as a description of hapless musicians who do not control their own destiny and are imprisoned in celebrity. The article is a puff piece with a sour cachet.

Are the sisters miffed at having their stateside megastardom potential shrugged off by the market? Or are they fulfilled with otherwise world-wide fame and all the excess economic windfall? Its not clear from the article except that, thankfully, they all seem to have retained their NYC cult-band insouciance. House-sitting for Elton John can make up for lack of bona-fide superstardom at home, it appears.

At least Daddy's girl, Sammy Jo, is mentioned as being a benefactress of the whole booty capitalist twist.
Last edited by seven
Nancy IslaNancy IslaSage
Hey seven, just wanted to respond to your post from the previous page. All the press for the second album loves to focus on how successful the band are everywhere except in the US (I think the UK is actually quite smug that they discovered the band he he he) but really the band aren't that concerned with stateside success at this point. They are not even surprised by it judging from the US charts. What's shocking to me is that no record company person has realized the gold mine waiting to be discovered. All over the world SS have the most broad appeal- transgenerational if that's a word which I suspect it is not but Mr Bush you are welcome to use it. The record industry has focused so long on the 18-24 generation they haven't realized that anyone outside that market has virtually been ignored and as has been proven by the SS success in the UK, that is a very strong market dying to have something to get excited about. People in the UK want to slag off the band for having housewives for fans but who the fuck wants a bunch of "hipsters" to be your fanbase when they have the attention span of a 2 year old. That's all for now.
Michael MadisonMichael MadisonSage
Good point Isla. I was in Minneapolis over Labor Day last year, staying with some 40-something friends, whose late 40-something suburbanite friends were *too* excited to have tix to see SS sometime in the fall. The gig was canceled, sadly for them. They were crushed - really crushed! How amazing it was dancing around their rec room with them--and their 10- and 12-year-old daughters--to Take Your Mama Out! Missed transgenerational opportunity indeed.
sevensevenSage
Nice points to make Nancy. I think the band should just concentrate on surviving stardom at this point. They seem to have the survivable attitude. I hope they don't end up dead from OD's or too warped mentally to ever get along with other people, especially the ones that are close to them.

The main point with the industry is that to harvest any demographic market takes two things, a fat fat marketing budget and lining up the twelve people in the US who virtually control all the what used to be called 'Top 40' radio stations' air time. The SS's label probably couldn't care less right now that the US market hasn't been plumbed to its depth since the revenue from all the other international markets gots to be through the roof at this point. I read an interview with one of the band members back when they were just hitting and he said outright that they discovered the trick was to "go for the grandmothers." The US market has been segmented into age niches and all the niches have been massively mis-educated about music. The industry doesn't know how to market to anyone over 40, there aren't any media outlets for music that target them accept a very few 'easy listening' radio waves. The industry would have to buy commercial time on daytime soap operas and magazines like AARP -not something a PR person for the music biz is going to find appealing to do. But it should be a no-brainer to get the CD's in to Walmart, K-mart, etc. if they already aren't.

The US kind of invented the teenager and 'youth junk culture' and commodities like recordings and performances were totally geared to exploiting the creation of the needs. People over 40 have existed forever but nobody has ever really made pop music just for them, even people like the Osmonds wanted a youth market but settled for less, so maybe the SS's are kind of new in that sense. Probably the only entertainment organization in the US familiar with marketing to the SS's demography is Disney.
Last edited by seven
daddydaddySage
I was playing at The Four seasons tonight at a high fallutin' fashion party. I played "The Sisters" and the crowd went crazy. All these Europeans and Austrailians came up and thanked me for playing them.
"We never hear them in the States".
It'a lot like the Pink Martini situation.
Huge in Europe, "Pink What?" in New York.
GlamnerdGlamnerdSage
I think that the SS will make it as big here as in Europe but it might take one more CD. It's not a new story. Blondie made it here after 3 Albums. The B-52's never really 'made it' until "Love Shack" on what was their like 5th album? I don't think it's the 'gay' thing either. They will have that one song that EVERYONE will love here and then the U.S. will be like "I love that NEW band". Duh, typical America.
sevensevenSage
But I don't think bands make hits. The people or organizations that control where and how often the band gets promoted make the hits. Daddy's post just says that right out loud. I'm not saying that if Beyonce was given awful music to do she'd still be a superstar. But know that there are a bajillion hits in the world no one ever hears or don't hear enough. But if the band had a Coke commercial or did an endless college tour or a tour of 3,500 seat theaters in the second and third tier, you know, Boston, Cleveland, Lansing, Minneapolis, Denver, Phoenix, Atlanta, Charlotte -and had a sales and marketing budget to pump it you'd have a hit and Pollstar would tell you why. The public is generally willing and waiting to be an audience to whatever is promoted large. (Look at the not so distant past of the Rolling Stones -they took off from Van Courtland Park in a hot air balloon, they did a 'spontaneous' gig on the plaza at Linclon Center, you think anyone was really there because of what tune they were playing). Boy George was just a hipster's choice here until he did tours that included regions like the deep south. And instead of late night chat show appearances maybe the band should do morning shows if they want the grandmothers. Have US promotion really put the band to work and you wouldn't have sour articles from the Voice. Let's not pretend appreciation of a band means we know something more than people in the backward places of the US,as self-gratifying as that may be, we've just had more access and more proximity to it for longer.
Last edited by seven
goblin73goblin73Sage
how's this for a half-time show:
Scissor Sisters at the Brits

and MM: i just went to minneapolis
to dj a scissor sisters after party.
they rocked, natch! and the venue
was GORGEOUS! it helped that my
"patron" had rented out two VIP suites
complete with bottles of vodka, plates
of sushi and 4 dozen magic brownies.
the more's of san francisco were
also flown in: GLAMAMORE and JUANITA MORE.
the glitter flies in from all directions
when the scissor sisters come to town!!!

p.s. a new addition to their shows...
ana fires a wig cannon into the audience.
i gagged!!
sevensevenSage
It's sort of like bunraku, Nancy. A traditional Japanese puppet theater where the puppeteers are in full view of the audience but dressed mostly in black, while they manipulate large puppets. But I think Mummenchanz is a better example, they did really absurd, sometimes kind of kinky dance shows with really wierd contortions. Really mind blowing sometimes.

mummenschanz
Last edited by seven

Add Reply

Views: 4,720
Post

Membership Required

We're sorry. You must be signed in to continue. Sign In or Register
×
Are you sure you want to remove from your Block List?
×
Loading...
×
When you block a person, they can no longer invite you to a private message or post to your profile wall. Replies and comments they make will be collapsed/hidden by default. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content.
Note: if you proceed, you will no longer be following .
×
Advanced Search
Advanced Search
Link copied to your clipboard.
×