The Mix’s Alise Shoemaker got a chance to sit down with Billy Porter, the star of the hit TONY nominated broadway musical Kinky Boots, at Cyndi Lauper’s Home For The Holidays benefit.  They chatted about some of Billy’s favorite things in life including his favorite Cyndi Lauper songs of all time.  Lauper is the songwriter for all of the music in Kinky Boots.

The Mix’s Alise Shoemaker got a chance to sit down with Billy Porter, the star of the hit TONY nominated broadway musical Kinky Boots, at Cyndi Lauper‘s Home For The Holidays benefit.  They chatted about some of Billy’s favorite things in life including his favorite Cyndi Lauper songs of all time.  Lauper is the songwriter for all of the music in Kinky Boots.

Enjoy!!!

“I think that Cyndi wrote music that invokes a particular type of feeling. That song is a classic, Whitney Houston-esque power ballad for me. I am not one that has many idols, but if there were ever an idol that I have had in show business it would be Whitney Houston. The fact that we lost her this year and she meant so much to me helped me to decide to go all the way there with that song.”

1. Michael Nesmith – “Joanne”
“This song has such an incredibly beautiful melody! Michael Nesmith is a great song writer, and very underrated. His records are fantastic.”

2. The Passions / Beach Boys – “All This Is That”
“I love this song from Carl Wilson’s record. Great harmonies.”

3. Dusty Springfield – “Let Me Down Easy”
“Dusty Springfield’s voice is as great as they come. This is a lesser known song from her London days.”

4. The Louvin Brothers – “My Baby’s Gone”
“The Louvin Brothers are geniuses! Like the Everly Brothers they are masters of 2 part harmony, but lesser known. It’s definitely worth buying all of their records.”

5. The Free Design – “I Found Love”
“Free design is a group of siblings who made some of the first easy listening music in the late sixties early seventies, produced by Enoch Light they sing beautifully together, in a child-like and wonderous way.”

6. The Zombies – “Whenever You’re Ready”
“Zombies, one of my favorite bands of all time. This song is a classic. Colin Blunstone is an exceptional vocalist. There is no group like the Zombies.”

7. Gene Clark – “No Other”
“He left the Byrds because he was afraid of flying. Gene Clark had a very interesting solo career with many great records. This is the title track of the very unique and haunting record No Other.

8. Jim Croce – “Operator”
“I love Jim Croce. He had such an expressive voice, and was a fantastic song writer.”

9. Billy Joel – “Allentown”
“This song has such an uplifting melody but such dark subject matter: My favorite combination. One of Billy Joel’s finest!”

10. Ella Fitzgerald – “I’m Making Believe”
“This song puts me to sleep in the best way. I love all of Ella Fitzgerald’s duets with the ink spots but this is a favorite.”

Listen To Some Of Zooey’s Picks!

The Mix’s Alise Shoemaker sat down with R&B songstress Melanie Fiona to find out about the things in her life that she loves.  They talked about the songs that inspired Melanie, the restaurants she likes in her adopted Brooklyn, the designers that help her with her swag and more!!!

He is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts with a B.F.A in Drama.

He is probably best known for his portrayal of the Teen Angel in the 1994 revival of Grease!. Other plays he has been in include Ghetto Superstar (The Man That I Am) for which Porter was nominated for “Outstanding New York Theater: Broadway & Off Broadway Award” at the 17th GLAAD Media Awards and inTopdog/Underdog at City Theatre, Jesus Christ Superstar and Dreamgirls at Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, and the song cycles “Myths and Hymns” and “Songs for a New World”. In September 2010, Porter appeared as Belize in Signature Theatre Company’s 20th Anniversary production of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America.

Porter has also appeared in a number of films. He landed a major role as Shiniqua, a drag queen who befriends Angel (David Norona) and Lee (Keivyn McNeill Grayes) in Seth Michael Donsky’s Twisted, an adaptation of Oliver Twist. He has also appeared on an episode of the The RuPaul Show.

He has had a musical career with two albums released, Billy Porter on A&M Records in 1997 and At the Corner of Broadway + Soul in 2005 on Sh-K-Boom Records. He was also featured in a number of songs in the tribute album It’s Only Life: The Songs of John Bucchino in 2006 released on PS Classics and in Adam Guettel’s album Myths and Hymns on Nonesuch Records. He also covered “Only One Road” that was included on the Human Rights Campaign compilation album Love Rocks.

The Mix with Billy Porter

Mraz’s international breakthrough came with the release of the single “I’m Yours” from the album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. The single peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Mraz his first top ten single. The song was on the Hot 100 for 76 weeks, beating the previous record of 69 weeks held by LeAnn Rimes’ “How Do I Live”. The song was a commercial success in the US, receiving a 5x platinum certification from the RIAA for sales of over five million. The song was successful internationally, topping the charts in New Zealand and Norway and peaking in the top ten of multiple international charts.