In nearby Portland, Ms. Action Slacks runs Sugar Town, which puts on queer soul dance parties. Her blog is an informative and fun look at classic soul, with video and audio. When I looked it up and saw info on Dusty Springfield, Margie Hendricks/Hendrix
and the Sweet Inspirations among the latest entries, I knew I was in the right place: www.actionslacksnerdout.blogspot.com (not sure why I can't seem to create links
lately, but check it out).
Ten or twelve years ago on a Tuesday night, I was waiting for Shannon's show, "Soul Kitchen," to start at 6pm on KAOS, so I had the end of the national LGBT program "This Way Out" on the radio. As "This Way Out" concludes each week, the announcer mentions a few of the stations that carry the show. This time, one of the three was "KAOS/Olympia, Washington." As it was mentioned, I let out a "Whoo!" or something. Being a good radio DJ, Shannon already had the mic open, ready to jump in. So she too exclaimed "Whoo!" at exactly the same time I did. The effect of hearing myself and an unexpected voice simultaneously in sync produced the weirdest effect--it was as if God bounced my word across a pond or something. As Solomon Burke once said, Shannon
is the Queen, you know.