"We will never break it up, break it up, break it up"

New additions to my record collection: "Super" by Pet Shop Boys, the super-rare "Modern Man" by Carl Lewis, "Two" by Visitors, reissue of "Faith" by George Michael and finally "The Definitive Collection" by Paul Parker, including the bonus remix collection.

Trailer: The Time Of Their Lives (2017)

I'm so excited to finally be able to see the trailer to the upcoming movie "The Time Of Their Lives". Starring soap icons Joan Collins and Pauline Collins, known from "Dynasty" and "Upstairs, Downstairs" respectively, and Italian actor Franco Nero. Let's hope it will be released on Blu-ray too.

"Determined to gatecrash her ex-lover's funeral on glamorous French hideaway Ile-de-Re, former Hollywood siren Helen escapes her London retirement home with the help of Priscilla, a repressed English housewife stuck in a bad marriage. Pooling their limited resources, they hit the road together by coach, ferry, car and foot in a race to get to the funeral on time, becoming entangled in a love triangle with a reclusive Italian millionaire along the way. On this unforgettable journey, they find true friendship in one another - and have the time of their lives."



For all things "Dynasty" and soap operas, like Plastic Retro on Facebook.

Steps - Tears On The Dancefloor

It's official. One of my favourite pop groups Steps are finally back with a brand new tour and album, just in time for the band's twentieth anniversary. How time flies. The new album is called "Tears On The Dancefloor" and will be filled with dance-pop music. I'm excited beyond words.

The first single "Scared Of The Dark" will be released on March 10 and the album includes "Story Of A Heart", a cover of a song written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA. Other writers for the album are Ina Wroldsen (Calvin Harris, Britney Spears), Steve Mac (Jess Glynne, Little Mix), TMS (Years & Years, Sigma), Carl Ryden (The Saturdays, David Guetta), Fiona Bevan (One Direction, 5 Seconds Of Summer) and Metrophonic (Take That).

I have already pre-orded myself a CD copy. I just hope that the bonus remixes from the digital edition will also be available to buy separately later on. Or even better, include them on a maxi-single CD.

"Tears On The Dancefloor" can be pre-ordered now on CD, vinyl and as a download from the official Steps shop and from Amazon UK, Amazon US and iTunes. I will update the post with more stores as they come.

"Tears On The Dancefloor" tracklist:

1. Scared Of The Dark
2. You Make Me Whole
3. Story Of A Heart
4. Happy
5. No More Tears On The Dancefloor
6. Firefly
7. Space Between Us
8. Glitter & Gold
9. Neon Blue
10. I Will Love Again
11. Scared Of The Dark (Wideboys In The Shadows Vocal Mix)*
12. Story Of A Heart (7th Heaven Radio Mix)*

Tracks marked with * are bonus tracks on the digital edition of the album.



For all things Steps, like Plastic Retro on Facebook.

Miss Fisher And The Deathly Maze - Digital gamebook

I adore the mystery TV series "Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries" starring the brilliant Essie Davis as the title role. I just watched the final episode on TV. Sadly, it seems like there won't be any more seasons. Instead they are planning to make a couple of movies about a younger Miss Fisher.

While waiting for the movies, we can enjoy the newly released gamebook "Miss Fisher And The Deathly Maze" where you can take part in solving the mystery. The first episode is available to buy for iOS. More episodes will follow soon and the gamebook will also be released for more platforms.



Photo: Tin Man Games

"J’aime la vie, la vie, toute la vie"

New additions to my record collection: "J'aime La Vie" by Sandra Kim, promo EP "Melodifestivalen 2010" featuring Hanna Lindblad, NEO, Sibel and Linda & Velvet, reissue of "Aretha" by Aretha Franklin, "Jordan Fisher" by Jordan Fisher, "It's Alright" by Dag Taylor, "Loved Me Back To Life (Deluxe Edition)", "One Heart" and "I Drove All Night" by Céline Dion.

Feud: Bette Davis And Joan Crawford

Wow! I just saw the trailer to the FX Network's new TV series "Feud: Bette And Joan", about the famous feud between classic Hollywood movie icons Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. I'm a massive fan of both stars and classic movies in general so I need to see this.

But the actresses in the series are great as well. Jessica Lange plays Joan, Susan Sarandon plays Bette, Judy Davis – who was amazing as Judy Garland in "Life With Judy Garland: Me And My Shadows" – plays Hedda Hopper, Kathy Bates plays Joan Blondell and the fabulous Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Olivia de Havilland.

I hope this show will air on a channel I have or be released on Blu-ray.

Monthly chart - February 2017

1. Alessia Cara - How Far I'll Go
2. Dinah Nah - One More Night
3. Britney Spears - Slumber Party (Bimbo Jones Remix)
4. Hazell Dean - This Is My Life (Matt Pop Edit)
5. Chynna Phillips - Naked And Sacred (Radio Mix)
6. Rihanna - Love On The Brain (Gigamesh Remix)
7. The Cool Notes - Make This A Special Night
8. David Charvet - Leap Of Faith (Graham Stack 7" Mix)
9. Blue - We've Got Tonight
10. JAGMAC - Soldiers (Wideboys Future House Remix)
11. Jermaine Stewart - Don't Talk Dirty To Me (Single Version)
12. Carly Simon - My New Boyfriend
13. A-ha - Forest Fire
14. Laura Pausini - Un'emergenza D'amore
15. Blossom Tainton - Let Go
16. De Vet Du - Road Trip
17. Jordan Fisher - You're Welcome
18. FO&O - Gotta Thing About You
19. Hazell Dean - No Frills Love (Matt Pop Mix)
20. Paris King - My Addiction
21. Pet Shop Boys - The Pop Kids (The Full Story)
22. The Cool Notes - It's Over
23. A-ha - Mythomania



This list shows which songs I've listened to the most this month, on my computer and my iPod. A regularly updated list of my all-time favourite songs can be found here.

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube to see more stuff from my life. You can also find more information about me on DennisAlexis.com.

"You loved me back to life"

More CD's from my record collection: "I Want To Know What Love Is (Remixes)" by Mariah Carey, "Loved Me Back To Life" by Céline Dion including the lovely Dave Audé remix, reissues of "The Age Of Consent/Hundreds And Thousands" by Bronski Beat and "Read My Lips" and "Dare To Love" by Jimmy Somerville.

"I raise my hands and I surrender"

New CD's in my record collection: Reissue of "Spoiled Girl" by Carly Simon, reissue of "Stay On These Roads" and the new album "Cast In Steel" by A-ha, "La Mia Risposta", "From The Inside" and "Surrender" by Laura Pausini, "People Hold On... The Remix Anthology" by Lisa Stansfield and "Suis Ta Route" by Roberto Bellarosa.

Dynasty - Reboots, remakes and racism

Every time a movie or TV show is rebooted or remade, many of you – the fans – get angry. It's inevitable. "Ghostbusters" and "Annie" are two examples, and next in line is eighties primetime soap opera "Dynasty", one of my personal favourites. But what seems to anger you the most is that some characters are being cast by black and latino actors. I think you should ask yourself why that bothers you so much.

Don't get me wrong, it's totally fine to dislike the "Dynasty" reboot – even though you haven't seen one single episode yet – and the casting choices, but please leave race out of it. And before you start shouting: "I'm not racist, you PC troll", stop, take a deep breath and think about how the things you write online might come across.

I'm not saying that you are racist just because you criticise the reboot or the casting choice. But ask yourself: Would you have complained as much if the character was recast by a white actor? Probably not. Many of you have even written things like: "The PC catering has gone too far", "They are turning everyone black" and "Sammy Jo will be a man", which suggests to me that there is something more than just change bothering you.

I would like to think that "Dynasty" fans are open-minded, especially since many of us are LGBT, so we know what it feels like to be targeted simply for existing. But some of the online comments made by fans scare me. Have you forgotten how groundbreaking the original show was for having a gay main character?

I get that change can be tough, that you prefer things to stay exactly the same as they always have. But as much as we love the original show, this is a reboot, targeted at a younger audience – like most shows on The CW – who probably never heard of the original. Back when "Dynasty" originally aired, shows had at most one or two "token characters" of colour. But nowadays shows try to be more diverse, because that's what the world really looks like, it's not "all white". How is that a bad thing?

It's actually quite easy: If you don't like the reboot, don't watch it. I'm pretty sure they're not rebooting it for you anyway. Complain as much as you want about it being rebooted, but make sure you're not complaining because some of characters look different from the original, because that's shallow. If you want the original, watch the DVD's of that show. No one is taking that away from you, I promise.

I'm gay and I watch shows featuring straight characters all the time, so it's not obligatory to have a gay character to please me. But whenever one of the characters turn out to be gay, it makes me feel included, since I can easily relate to him or her. How can wanting to include others be a bad thing?

Reboots usually don't go down well with the original fans and I totally understand if you are fed up with remakes in general. I'm not saying the reboot will be good, because it hasn't even aired yet. I just wish you would stop using personal attacks and racist remarks when criticising entertainment. Because yes, that actually does make you sound racist, no matter how much you say you're not.

Eurotix - Letting Go (Demo)

"Letting Go" is the early demo version of the Eurotix track "We Could Have Been", but with different lyrics, recorded back in 2013. We have made the demo version available to download for free through our Soundcloud page. You might enjoy comparing it to the final version, embedded down below.

"We Could Have Been" is available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon UK and Amazon US.

Riverdale - Archie Comics goes soap opera

I grew up reading the "Archie" comics and used to buy old copies in a local vintage shop. My sister loved them too and we even used to play Betty and Veronica. Now, The CW have created an exciting new TV series based on the comics, called "Riverdale".

I love discovering new drama series so I had to watch it. I must admit, I was a bit worried about the "darker" tone of the series, but after watching the pilot, I was hooked. I love the mystery and the fact that they have included so many of the characters from the comics, even smaller ones such as Josie And The Pussycats, Ethel, Cheryl Blossom, Dilton, Moose and the openly gay Kevin Keller.

The first three episodes are already on Netflix and a new one will be uploaded each Friday. So if you like teen soap operas such as "Pretty Little Liars", "Gossip Girl" and "90210", you will love "Riverdale". Fun fact is that Archie's dad is played by "Beverly Hills, 90210" star Luke Perry.

Other brilliant TV series I've recently started following: "The Crown", "The Halcyon" and "This Is Us". I highly recommend them!



Photo: The CW

"Love pains, hurting me through and through"

More CD's in my collection: "Nightlife" and "In The Name Of..." by Hazell Dean, nyutgåvor av "Say It Again" med Jermaine Stewart och "Real Love" med Lisa Stansfield. "Black And White" by Dag Taylor, also known as Taylor D., "Ma Voie" by Eurovision star Roberto Bellarosa, the rare promotion compilation "CD-Prom 101 - 9 Februari 1990" and finally "Teach Me How To Love (Graham Stack Remix)" by "Melrose Place"/"Baywatch" star David Charvet.

My Traci Lords collection

This is my small but cherished Traci Lords collection: Her autobiography "Traci Lords: Underneath It All" where she even mentions my favourite soap "Melrose Place", her album "1,000 Fires" and singles "Fallen Angel" and "Control". Check them out. They're all great!

"Gonna make this a night to remember"

New CD's in my record collection: "G.R.L." by G.R.L., reissue of "Friends" by Shalamar, "Looking For Freedom" by David Hasselhoff, "I'll Keep A Light On" and "I Think About You" by Evelyn "Champagne" King, "Galen" and "My Girl" by Christer Sandelin and finally "Leap Of Faith (Deluxe Edition)" and the "Leap Of Faith" single by "Melrose Place"/"Baywatch" star David Charvet.