All is not gay sex (though Waters does include Josie Cotton's classic girl group lament, "Johnny, Are You Queer?") and domestic battery, however. He also includes Eileen Barton's grin-enducing platter of feeder fluff "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd Have Baked A Cake" and Ray Charles' inarguably magnificent original recording of "(Night Time Is) The Right Time." I was a trace surprised to note John Prine and Iris Dement's "In Spite of Ourselves" on the disc – folk music on a John Waters collection? – 'til I remembered that the song's white trash lyrics could've stood as the credo for Iggy Pop's character in Cry-Baby. Still, the track can't help sounding a bit off in a way that Earl Grant's vocals in the theme song to Imitation of Life (a strong visual influence on Waters' Polyester) don't.
Still, any set which helps to pull the great Mildred Bailey out of Big Band Cable Music Channel Limbo deserves a big thumb's up – even if Waters has to support her inclusion on the disc by reassuring us in his liner notes that the plus-sized singer was a prototypal fag hag. I'm eager for more, John. Maybe a disc called John Waters' Dance Party – released this summer to pony on the Hairspray movie musical, perhaps – which included all the dance cuts left off the original movie soundtrack CD? I know I'm dyin' to hear "The Dirty Boogie" again.
Article comments
1 - Bill Sherman
As a promo for the new release, New Line has put up an amusing video on YouTube, featuring Waters doing a reading of the liner notes to this set.
2 - joanne chisholm
where is john waters from
3 - Bill Sherman
Waters is a native of Baltimore, Maryland, which is where he's set the majority of his movies.