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A quick tour of the compilation’s 12 fascinating tracks will help introduce gay music fans to the talent, diversity, and worldwide appeal of the CD's cast of star trans talent:

Track 1 – “Forever Stay” by Ashe of Columbus, OH. Even the opening track on this album is a surprise. Instead of the usual bombastic, up-tempo rocker, the first song is a smoldering torch ballad, featuring Ashe’s deliciously sultry and smoky Seal-like vocals. This pulsating, smooth and sexy tune also features some really fine sax playing.

Track 2 – “Just a Girl” by Lipstick Conspiracy of San Francisco, CA. Here’s the bombastic rocker. This all-American, head-banging anthem to all things trans is proudly blasted out by America’s premier all-trans band. It’s fun, take-no-prisoners, I-don’t-give-a-damn, working-class and shout-it-out-loud rock. Thanks to the glam (if not truly glamorous) ladies of LC, the term “hair band” will never be used the same way again!

Track 3 – “Lux” by Emanuela Jaforte of Castel Mella, Italy. A space-age, electronica/trance instrumental by a superb bassist and composer.

Track 4 – “Babydoll” by Tina Belmont of Los Angeles, CA. This has got to be one of the oddest, creepiest acoustic folk songs ever recorded. Belmont employs electronic altering methods to give her singing voice an eerily pubescent “babydoll,” almost “munchkin-like” quality. The result is spooky, highly original and downright sexually subversive.

Track 5 – “Return from Reality” by the band Cosmonaut Bob of Nashville, TN. Ah! Good ol’ hippy-trippy, California-style rock. Cosmonaut Bob’s sound is progressive, Zappa-esque and infused with lots of nice LSD-laced electric guitar work.

Track 6 – “Airplane” by Tracy Gianelli & Fresh of Tampa, FL. Heavy guitar/bass/drums power trio ala late-sixties psychedelia. Gianelli’s lead vocal sounds fondly reminiscent of Eric Clapton’s Cream-era singing.

Track 7 – “The Weird Turn Pro” by Stacy Fair Tessler of Denver, CO, who has written and recorded over 50 songs. Stacy beguiles with her mysterious and almost disembodied feminine singing voice, saturated here with all manner of sonic and echo special effects. This well-written, complex pop song reminds me of the “lonely” era Beatles, ala “Eleanor Rigby” and the Sgt. Pepper’s album, though combined with the more modern styles of Annie Lenox and Enya. In this tribute song to her own trans-sexuality, Tessler's lyrics offer ghostly references to the Beatles’ “She’s Leaving Home”; Carlos Castaneda’s “eagle flying” (conquering death); and Van Gough’s “abstract painting" (of abstract lives). Tessler plays all the parts on “The Weird Turn Pro."

Track 8 – “Black Witchcraft” by Toxic Frock of London, U.K. Be very afraid!
The dark side of the trans world, (plus who knows what other demons), are conjured up here via the spooky mumbled invocations of this very, very weird band. As if slowly circling a bubbling cauldron of witches’ brew, the chanting casts its spell. The musical accompaniment to the subterranean sounding vocals on this song is so bizarre I can’t even tell what instruments are used. My best guess is a string quartet thru a fuzz box. “Black Witchcraft” culminates by morphing into a heavy metal dirge worthy of the first Black Sabbath album. To quote TF’s website, “This is not music for relaxation but an exultant hymnal to anarchic excess. You will never see this band live, never experience the tawdry disappointment associated with so many clay-footed musical legends. This is a band whose music reaches beyond the grave to stab two bloodied fingers in the air and scream a defiant "Fuck You!" at the bloated corpse of consumer-friendly unit shifters that passes for modern alternative music.” Like I said, be very afraid!

Track 9 – “Repeat Sequence Twice” by Jaye Tolliver of Phoenix, AZ. This feelin’ groovy, flower power type ballad is sung and played beautifully in traditional 60’s protest folk song style. Tolliver released her first recording Under the Sun in 1972 and has additionally released two different collections of gospel songs.

Track 10 – “El Gato Negro” by Michelle Garcia (San Francisco, CA) – Here we have a Latin take on classic, instrumental “fusion” rock, ala Santana, Steely Dan, Mark Knoffler. It features a lovely interweaving of electric guitar, electronic keyboard and tenor sax (the latter played by Miss Transgender 1997 Dale Carlson). Garcia was herself crowned Miss Transgender San Francisco in 2000.

Track 11 – “The Mix” by D.J. Veronica LeGends of Long Beach, CA. The album now turns to 90s era Madonna/Cher-style gay dance club disco (with just the right touch of Depeche Mode thrown in). This trancelike pumping raga will bring everyone out on to the dance floor. Among her many influences, LeGends includes “Music, Life and well.... NATURAL substances...tee-hee.” As a professional dance DJ spinner, she releases a new demo CD every year, blending current styles with past reflections.

Track 12 – “And Where Is the Body” by D.J. Luna of Minneapolis, MN, cranks it up to fever jungle/tribal heights for the CDs big finale. This track features a myriad of sampled media quotes and sonic hooks swirling madly throughout (I caught one from Ab Fab).

TGMS Compilation Vol 1 is already garnering airplay on gay radio stations across the globe. All proceeds from the sales of the TGMS CD go to the TG Music Society to create a working fund to aid trans-gendered musicians and to create future compilations from the members of the Society.

Through the efforts of courageous musical artists such as the TG Society members on this compilation CD, the unfortunate tide of misunderstanding towards trans-genders will eventually turn around. What listeners will hear on this album is the sound of that turning. To quote the TGMS CD liner notes, “You can believe in that!”

The CD is currently being distributed by the trans-owned and operated Pirate Princess Productions SoCal.

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