You
may recall from various interviews with Andy Bell in recent years that
his partner and manager Paul Hickey has written an autobiography, "Happiness
Is The Best Facelift".
The book gives a powerful insight into how his and Andy's lives together changed with the phenomenal success of Erasure, and paints a vivid picture of what it was like for Paul to suffer a stroke and to be struck down in the prime of life. One learns from the book that it is never too late to start doing the right thing, and that it is always worth putting up a fight, even when all the cards seem to be stacked against you...
Paul has set up a presence on myspace.com, where one can read a detailed synopsis of his book plus a breakdown of the first two chapters in his blog.
Now this is where your help would be appreciated. Basically we need to demonstrate with hard figures the demand for the book to potential publishers. So it would be of a great assistance if you could leave feedback / comments via Paul's myspace blog of what you think about what you have read and if it is a publication that would interest you.
One will be required to request becoming a friend in order to read the blog (all requests will be approved), again this is in order to demonstrate (to a certain extent) the interest. Because of this, please do not republish the synopsis on other websites / blogs / forums etc.
'The Food Chain' Benefit Event
Tickets are now on sale for The Food Chain's first theatre benefit, which is to be held on the 2nd December 2006 in London.
A night of unique duets, the evening will feature, amongst others Jimmy Somerville, Heather Small, Julian Clary, Andy Bell, Fran Healy and Jonathan Harvey.
Tickets are £20 and £50.
The venue is The Mermaid Theatre in Puddle Dock and there is full disabled access.
Doors open at 7 and the performance starts at 8pm.
There are even rumours of a very special after the show party so bring a little cash and a lot of stamina; it is going to be a great night.
To book call the Barbican on 020 7638 8891 or visit Barbican.org
'The Erasure Show' Charity Auction
The 'Erasure Information Service' is currently running a charity auction.
Costumes from 'The Erasure Show' worn by Andy Bell, Vince Clarke plus the backing singers Ann-Marie & Val are being auctioned via eBay, and the proceeds will be donated to the charities 'Scope' and 'The Stroke Association'.
Andy
Bell To Perform at Opening Gay Games Ceremony
The City of Chicago announced today that British pop superstar Andy Bell of Erasure would perform at the July 15 Opening Ceremony for the 2006 Gay Games and that two of the world's most recognized brands ø Gatorade and ESPN ø had joined as major sponsors which now number more than 300 corporations and agencies signing to support the international event.
The Games will feature 12,000 participants, competition in 30 sports, world-class athletes and artists, band and choral performances, nightly medal ceremonies, a week-long arts festival, parties, and spectacular opening and closing ceremonies featuring entertainment, pageantry, and the parade of participants from more than 70 countries.
The announcement was made at the MayorÕs annual Pride Reception, before more than 500 representatives of the lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender (LGBT) community at the Chicago Cultural Center.
For further information on the 2006 Gay Games, visit gaygameschicago.org. Tickets are available via tickets.gaygameschicago.org
EQCA's Equality Entertainment Award
At
Equality California's (EQCA) 7th annual Equality
Awards (held in Los Angeles), Andy Bell will be presented with EQCA's
Equality Entertainment Award.
As a trailblazing gay public figure, Andy Bell has made a significant contribution to changing attitudes toward members of the LGBT community, and continues to serve as a role model for others both in and out of the spotlight.
The Equality Awards celebrate extraordinary and heroic contributions to the cause of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality.
Regular and VIP tickets are available for $250 and $350 respectively. Tables of ten are available for $2,500 and $3,500 respectively.
For more information, please contact Traci at Blue Room Events at traci@blueroomevents.com or (310) 491-1401.
Life After Stroke Awards 2006
The
2006 Life After Stroke Awards
ceremony took place on Thursday 8 June. The event was created in order
to formally recognise and celebrate the achievements of people of all
ages who have shown tremendous courage in rebuilding their lives following
a stroke.
Importantly, the awards also acknowledge the work of carers and others who show true commitment and compassion helping those affected by the devastating impact of stroke.
The ceremony, compered by Dr Mike Smith, included 10 awards in total. They were presented by a host of celebrities, including Prunella Scales, Sue Townsend, Cliff Parisi, Andy Bell, Lynda Bellingham, Sarah Greene, Julie Peasgood and Tony Hart.
After
the Erasure Acoustic LA show (at the Ford Amphitheatre),
Andy will be DJing at the Citizen
Smith lounge for approx 45mins.
New
Single - Download Exclusive Tracks
'I'll Never Fall In Love Again' is taken from the Erasure frontman's debut solo album 'Electric Blue', which was released in October 2005.
The single comes with a variety of new mixes from Goetz (Sugababes, Faithless), plus Jaded Alliance & Mr Do.
The single will be available to purchase from Monday 29th May, but you can download the following exclusive remixes from Monday 22nd May.
Purchase the album online from HMV or Amazon
Purchase the single online from HMV or Amazon
Download the 'Goetz Remix' w/ 'Back To The Old Routine' exclusively from iTunes
Download the 'Jaded Alliance Remix' exclusively from MSN
Download the 'Mr Do's Remix' exclusively from Napster
Download the 'Goetz Extended Remix' exclusively from Wippit
Andy Bell realtone ('I'll Never Fall In Love Again' album version) text 'REAL 103391' to 80160
Praise for 'Electric Blue'...
"Oozes glamour, destined for every pop-dance lover's collection" (The Sun)
"A collection of lyric-heavy dance synthpop that overachieves and succeeds in its mingling of emotion and sexuality. It's time to trade in the lime green tutu for some electric blue body paint and let the show begin!" (popmatters.com)
Erasure will be performing at the forthcoming GLAAD Awards event in New York on the 27th March 2006. GLAAD is the leading gay rights anti-defamation organization in America.
A two song performance from Erasure is expected, 'Boy' and another hit.
The event is being taped and will be broadcast on the US MTV channels VH-1 and Logo in mid-April.
Andy
Bell releases a new single via Sanctuary Records on 29th May 2006.
'I'll Never Fall In Love Again' is taken from the Erasure frontman's debut solo album 'Electric Blue', which was released in October 2005.
The single comes with a variety of new mixes from Goetz (Sugababes, Faithless), plus Jaded Alliance (Erasure, Yazoo) & Mr Do. The package is completed with a brand new bonus track 'Back Into The Old Routine'.
Format details:
CD SANXS245 - I'll Never Fall In Love Again' (Goetz Radio Edit) / 'Back Into The Old Routine'
The album version of 'I'll Never Fall In Love Again', plus remixes from Jaded Alliance, Mr Do and the Goetz Extended Mix will also be available as digital downloads from i-Tunes, MSN & Napster.
The remixes and additional new club mixes of album title track 'Electric Blue' (also due for future release) are already currently tearing up club dancefloors across Europe and The USA.
Andy Bell has spent the last few months promoting 'Electric Blue' across Europe & America, and also played his first live gigs in Russia, including two sold-out shows in Moscow & St Petersburg.
'Electric Blue' is currently enjoying considerable success in the US, where the album reached #1 in the i-Tunes Dance Chart. The first single from the album 'Crazy' also spent over four months in the Billboard Dance Chart, peaking at #3.
The 'Electric Blue' album was co-produced and written with Philip Larsen & Chris Smith, aka Manhattan Clique, who have recently worked with Goldfrapp, Moby, Fischerspooner, The B-52's and Stereophonics.
Andy
will be special guest DJ at The
Two Brewers on Sunday 26th March.
An
interesting interview with Andy Bell has just been published online on
the floatationsuite.com
website.