Yusef Lateef – “The Plum Blossom” (Click Here to Listen)

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Isn’t it nice / Sugar and spice / Luring disco dollies / To a life of vice / I could make a film / And make you my star / You’d be a natural / The way you are / I would like you / on a long black leash / I would parade you down the high street / You’ve got the attraction You’ve got the pulling power / Walk my little doggy / Walk my little sex dwarf

Soft Cell – “Sex Dwarf” (Click Here to Listen)

The Russian Revolution dissolved a centries long tsarist edict that sequestered all Jews to one geographical area (the Pale of Settlement) and lifted bans on Yiddish shools and theaters.  “For the first time, Jews had a state-sponsored outlet on the stage for their stories of thwarted dreams, shtetl intrigue, and farcical yearning. And by encouraging expressions of ethnic identity, the new regime made it possible for avant-garde theater to flourish.” Now at the Contemporary Jewish Museum: Chagall and the Artists of the Russian Jewish Theater. Ends September 7, 2009. Click here for more.