2007 NOVEMBER 17 #321
Daisy Dymanite Botch-a-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina)
MP3:
1 Botch-a-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina) (2:36)
2 Molly Polly (2:29)
3 Chattanooga Choo-Choo (3:07)
4 Happy Song (3:18)
5 Jet Set (3:21)
6 Evil Girl In Town (2:40)
Drag queens have been putting voice to vinyl for many years by way of cabaret acts and live shows, but few seriously attempted to enter the pop arena until Divine in the 1980s. However Dutch diva Daisy Dynamite (real name Hans van den Hoek) had no less than three stabs at the charts back in the 1970s. The first two were for Polydor with the double-tracked drag star sounding not unlike Norman 'Hurricane' Smith, although thankfully not looking like him.
There haven't been many who were brave enough to do a cover of the Rosemary Clooney classic but Daisy makes the song her own, although curiously borrows again from Hurricane Smith in the shape of a strangled-goose sax solo (someone had been listening to 'Oh Babe What Would You Say?' that week). The flipside Molly Polly is an equally kitsch tribute to Follies chorus girls. The second single is almost a carbon copy with gravelly vocals, that swinging sax and another original B-side, but perhaps lacks the spark of the first release.
In 1979 Daisy had another go, this time dipping her high-heeled toe in the disco pool with Jet Set. This was issued in Holland and Japan where the record company went to the expense of special cover art. Perhaps at the risk of putting potential buyers off with another drag portrait they opted instead for a cartoon of a female jumbo jet, which, like Daisy seems to have a bump where a bump shouldn't be!
Sadly I discovered that Daisy Dynamite died on 5 June this year (2007). The following obituary is taken from a Dutch blog 24oranges:
Dutchman Hans van den Hoek, better know as Daisy Dynamite, died yesterday at the age of 78 in Amsterdam. The transvestite and artist had a hit in 1973 with 'Botch a me'. Van den Hoek started working in Paris in 1948 as a dancer. He first started out doing something akin to black face, but then went white again. Besides performing in cabarets and revues in several countries, Van den Hoek appeared in a few TV series and films, including Casanova by Frederico Fellini, together with Donald Sutherland.
- Contributed by: David Noades
Images: Single One, Single Two, Single Three
Botch-a-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina) / Molly Polly
Media: 7"
Label:Polydor
Catalog: 2050238
Date: 1973
Credits: Produced by Richard de Bois
Chattanooga Choo-Choo / Happy Song
Media: 7"
Label:Polydor
Catalog: 2050454
Date: 1973
Credits: Produced by Richard de Bois
Jet Set / Evil Girl In Town
Media: 7"
Label:Overseas Records
Catalog: Ma-178
Date: 1979
Credits: Produced by Peter Shon and Jay Denson
