IMPERIAL ERSKINEVILLE || A FLAMBOYANT GATHERING EXPERIENCE
Celebrating The Imperial Erskineville's Commune of Connections. Where weird is wonderful and the humble veggie is out of the closet.
Frocks, freedom – and a legend reborn
To say The Imperial Erskineville has a storied past is like pointing out that drag queens are partial to frocks. This dame has lived – and then some.
The Imperial Erskineville
When ever I am in Sydney I make it a priority that I spend a night out at The Imperial in Erskineville. I love the atomosphere and the entertainment. Here's a snippet of what you can expect.
Eating With Soula : The Imperial Erskineville
This vegetarian & vegan friendly repertoire comes with a complimentary side dish of drag, with performances by some of Australia’s most dazzling and dynamic Queens.
At Priscillas, vegetables are far from humble. They’re the fabulous superstars of our soil-to-plate menu.
Aboriginal drag queen, Nana Miss Koori, performs at the Imperial Hotel, Sydney, March 2018
Nana Miss Koori's first performance at the Imperial Hotel, March 2018. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert was partially filmed at this hotel in Sydney's Erskineville.
The drag show was performed in front of an audience of diners having dinner.
Imperial Hotel Says 'I Do'
Today Australia said YES to marriage equality, now we're saying 'I DO' for a very special announcemnet
Rocky Horror Picture Show drag performance at the Imperial Hotel Erskineville Sydney
Short clip from the drag show performed at the Imperial Hotel Sydney
Minnie Cooper & Friends - Imperial Hotel
Drag Show
Erskineville Suburb TV
Profile of the Sydney Suburb Erskineville
Corn Ribletts : Eating With Soula : Imperial Erskineville
This vegetarian & vegan friendly repertoire comes with a complimentary side dish of drag, with performances by some of Australia’s most dazzling and dynamic Queens.
At Priscillas, vegetables are far from humble. They’re the fabulous superstars of our soil-to-plate menu.
Prisoner Imperial Hotel Pt 2
It's all going down at Cell Block H. Keren St James, Trudi Valentine and Mitzi Macintosh are breaking out... The Imperial Hotel. Erskineville Sydney Australia
Me performing at the Imperial Hotel Sydney
Drag Show - The Imperial Hotel - Erskineville - Fauxy Mia Little-x (Little X) & Minnie Cooper
Fauxy Mia Little-x (Little X) - And Crew
Iko iko at the Imperial Hotel Sydney
Just a little show with these two crazies...with Felicity and our hunky dancer Kalin
Pleasure Pact @ Newtown Hotel - Sydney Olympics Show
Pleasure Pact's Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Show
Prisoner Imperial Hotel Pt 1
It's all going down at Cell Block H. Keren St James, Trudi Valentine and Mitzi Macintosh are breaking out... The Imperial Hotel. Erskineville Sydney Australia
Mama Mia @ The Imperial Hotel, Sydney
Miss Ellaneous & Marzi Panne, Imperial Hotel, ALL SORTS: Blackout party, Mardi Gras, 2018
Miss Ellaneous & Marzi Panne performing at the Imperial Hotel, Erskineville, Sydney at the ALL SORTS - Blackout party, Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras 2018
Charlene - I've Never Been To Me (1977/1982)
Click Show More for complete lyrics, and see my YouTube Channel for an HD version of this song that also includes the spoken bridge in the middle that is missing from this version. This seems to be a polarizing song, people either love it or hate it. I expect a lot of thumbs up and thumbs down on this one :)
From Wiki:
Charlene Marilynn D'Angelo (born June 1, 1950, Hollywood, California) is an American R&B singer best known as Charlene. She is known for her 1982 popular song I've Never Been to Me, and is considered a one-hit-wonder. Charlene originally recorded I've Never Been to Me in 1976, and the single reached #97 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1977. When released again in 1982, the single reached #3 in the United States (US), and #1 by June 1982, in the UK Singles Chart. The song has been her only Top 40 hit.
In 1982, Tampa, Florida disc jockey Scott Shannon, then at WRBQ, started playing the song at the behest of a girlfriend, by which time Charlene had lost her recording contract, moved to England and was working in a sweetshop in Ilford, London. Audience reaction was impressive, resulting in the song's second release with the original spoken bridge. The second release was a hit in England as well.
When the song was first released in the US in 1976, Charlene's legal name was Charlene Duncan from her marriage to record producer Larry Duncan; by the time the song was released in 1982, her name was Charlene Oliver by her subsequent marriage to Englishman Jeff Oliver. The single reached the top of the US pop and adult contemporary charts that year, and the concurrent release of her album I've Never Been to Me, was also relatively successful. The single was one of the year's biggest hits, and the video for the song was filmed at Blickling Hall, Norfolk, England and Charlene wore the wedding dress that she got married in.
I've Never Been to Me was featured as the opening song to the 1994 film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. The song is mimed onstage by two Sydney drag queens at the Imperial Hotel in Erskineville, Sydney, Australia. The latter performance includes a scene where a plastic baby doll (actually a rubber chicken) is hurled into the audience by one of the performing drag queens.
Lyrics:
I've Never Been To Me (R. Miller / K. Hirsch - Motown Records, Inc)
Hey lady, you lady
Cursing at your life
You're a discontented mother
And a regimented wife
I 've no doubt
You dream about the things you never do
But I wish someone had talked to me like I wanna talk to you
Oh, I've been to Georgia and California and anywhere I could run
Took the hand of a preacher man
And we made love in the sun
But I ran out of places and friendly faces
Because I had to be free
I've been to paradise but I've never been to me...
Please lady please lady
Don't just walk away
Cause I have this need to tell you
Why I'm all alone today
I can see so much of me still living in your eyes
Won't you share a part of a weary heart that has lived a million lives
Oh, I've been to Nice and the isle of Greece
When I sipped champagne on a yacht
I moved like Harlow in Monte Carlo
And showed them what I've got
I've been undressed by kings
And I've seen some things that a woman ain't s'pose to see
I've been to paradise but I've never been to me...
Hey, you know what paradise is?
It's a lie
A fantasy we created about people and places as we like them to be
But you know what truth is?
it's that little baby you're holding
And it's that man you fought with this morning
The same one you are gonna make love to tonight
That's truth, that's love
Sometimes I've been to crying for unborn children
That might have made me complete
But I, I took the sweet life
I never knew I'd be bitter from the sweet
I spent my life exploring
The subtle whoring
That costs too much to be free
Hey lady I've been to paradise
But I've never been to me...
I've been to paradise but I've never been to me...
Pleasure Pact at the Newtown #2
Mitzi Macintosh , Trudi Valentine and Keren St James
Lou P Scarlett - Stay Still (OFFICIAL Music Video)
iTunes:
Spotify:
FOLLOW LOU P SCARLETT
loupscarlett.com
Stay Still - Lou P Scarlett
Directed/Styled - Lou P Scarlett
Cinematography/Editing - Iota Media
VHS Footage - Jamie Heath
Assistant - Lyndal Tuckey
Filmed at the Imperial Hotel Erskineville, Sydney Australia
LYRICS
Stay still, don’t move
Stay still, don’t move
My lips I keep ‘em sealed
Except for maybe if you find me kneeled
To say a secret prayer
That everything I do you’ll follow with your stare
Stay still, don’t move, listen
Stay still, don’t move
Your worth is rising
Still, don’t move, watch me
Stay still, don’t move
You’re safer this way
Stay still, don’t move, listen
Stay still, don’t move
Your worth is rising
Still, don’t move, watch me
Stay still, don’t move
You’re safer this way
Our feeds are a different kind
We eat more to satisfy our mind
We wage a silent war
The taste of fame is on our lips but we want more
Stay still, don’t move
Stay still, don’t move
Your worth is rising
Still, don’t move
Stay still, don’t move
You’re safer this way
You’re safer this way
Stay still, don’t move
Stay still, don’t move
Your worth is rising
Still, don’t move
Stay still, don’t move
You’re safer this way
Like a gambler in Packer’s joint
We breathe but there is no point
Unless you give it one
Hypnotised by flashing lights
All your days roll into nights
Go on and give it one
Why would I wanna leave my bedroom
When I can watch a screen?
I pixelate looking sidewise
Cause the FOMO makes me green
I’m a monster (inside), capture it
I can feel the pull and it’s potent
Come on everybody don’t you wanna watch me worship electronic rodents
The real world is such a bore
So I buy all my shit from an online store
Romance (ew) overrated
I download American films to be sated
Don’t move, infinite knowledge
Google is God and yet we pay homage to cat memes, booze, your brunch, your boobs
Lead astray by the Frankenstein of our day.
We cannot control it
I’m down on my knees
This is our creation
Double talk and appease
We cannot control it
I’m down on my knees
This is our creation
Brainwashed to please
Stay still, don’t move
Stay still, don’t move
Your worth is rising
Still, don’t move
Stay still, don’t move
You’re safer this way
Stay still, don’t move
You’re safer this way