Lady Gaga

It’s no wonder that a little girl from a good, Italian, New York family turned out to be the exhibitionist, multi-talented singer-songwriter with a flair for theatrics that she is today: Lady GaGa.

“I was always an entertainer. I was a ham as a little girl and I’m a ham today,” says Lady GaGa, 22, who made a name for herself on the Lower East Side club scene with the infectious dance-pop party song Beautiful Dirty Rich, and wild, theatrical, and often tongue-in-cheek “shock art” performances where GaGa — who designs and makes many of her stage outfits — would strip down to her hand-crafted hot pants and bikini top, light cans of hairspray on fire, and strike a pose as a disco ball lowered from the ceiling to the orchestral sounds of A Clockwork Orange.

“I always loved rock and pop and theater. When I discovered Queen and David Bowie is when it really came together for me and I realized I could do all three,” says GaGa, who nicked her name from Queen’s song Radio Gaga and who cites rock star girlfriends, Peggy Bundy and Donatella Versace as her fashion icons. “I look at those artists as icons in art. It’s not just about the music. It’s about the performance, the attitude, the look; it’s everything. And that is where I live as an artist and that is what I want to accomplish.

 “My goal as an artist is to funnel a dance record to the world in a very interesting way,” adds GaGa, who wrote all of her lyrics and melodies, and played most of the synthesizers on her album, “The Fame” (Streamline/Interscope/KonLive).

On “The Fame,” it’s as if GaGa took two parts dance-pop, one part electro-pop, and one part rock with a splash of disco and burlesque and generously poured it into the figurative martini glass of the world in an effort to get everyone drunk with her fame. “’The Fame; is about how anyone can feel famous,” she explains. “Pop culture is art. It doesn’t make you cool to hate pop culture, so I embraced it and you hear it all over ‘The Fame.’ But, it’s a sharable fame. I want to invite you all to the party. I want people to feel a part of this lifestyle.”

The CD’s opener and first single, Just Dance, gets the dance floor rocking with its “fun, L.A., celebratory vibe.” As for the equally catchy Boys Boys Boys, Gaga doesn’t mind wearing her influences on her sleeve. “I wanted to write the female version of Motley Crue’s Girls Girls Girls, but with my own twist. I wanted to write a pop song that rockers would like.”

Beautiful Dirty Rich sums up her time of self-discovery, living in the Lower East Side and dabbling in drugs and the party scene. “That time, and that song, was just me trying to figure things out,” says GaGa. “Once I grabbed the reins of my artistry, I fell in love with that more than I did with the party life.” On first listen, Paparazzi might come off as a love song to cameras, and in all honestly, GaGa jokes. “On one level it is about wooing the paparazzi and wanting fame. But it’s not to be taken completely seriously. It’s about everyone’s obsession with that idea. But it’s also about wanting a guy to love you and the struggle of whether you can have success or love or both.”

GaGa shows her passion for love songs on such softer tracks as the Queen-influenced Brown Eyes and the sweet kiss-off breakup song Nothing I Can Say (Eh Eh). “Brown Eyes is the most vulnerable song on the album,” she explains. “Eh Eh is my simple pop song about finding someone new and breaking up with the old boyfriend.”

It’s been a while since a new pop artist has made her way in the music industry the old-fashioned/grass roots way by paying her dues with seedy club gigs and self-promotion. This is one rising dance/pop star who hasn’t been plucked from a model casting call, born into a famous family, won a reality TV singing contest, or emerged from a teen cable TV sitcom. “I did this the way you are supposed to. I played every club in New York City and I bombed in every club and then killed it in every club and I found myself as an artist. I learned how to survive as an artist, get real, and how to fail and then figure out who I was as singer and performer. And I worked hard.”

I guess all of us in this industry are up for the wash-and-spin ride of rollercoaster house, electronica, pop — or what I simply call “dance music” — but it is good to know the real story of dance, with all its varieties. Remember: education, education, education.

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Comments and suggestions, feel free to e-mail me at rickydaker@gmail.com.