Steve Aruni 'The real Harvey Milk'

http://www.myspace.com/stevearuni "The Real Harvey Milk" set to the song 'Everybody's Gay' by George Aruni in 1966 to be performed by Frank Sinatra, who considered it to be "one of the most uplifting songs I've ever heard".

It was due to be released as a single in the spring of 1968 and would have been George Aruni's big break had it not been for a gradual change in the meaning of the word gay. Previously used to convey feelings of carefree happiness, it was now more frequently being used to describe homosexuality, which hadn't gone unnoticed by the Sinatra team. They were by now concerned enough to persuade Frank to pull out at the last moment.

Other big names including Louis Armstrong and Tony Bennett were tempted by the undeniable potential of the song and not so concerned about the chorus. Recent examples of the original meaning of the word gay were still being used in popular culture such as the theme song to "The Flintstones", wherein viewers are assured they'll "have a gay old time." But it would be the rise of San Francisco (mentioned in the first line as the setting for the song) as the gay capital of the USA that would be the final nail in the coffin of the song.

George Aruni continued to write songs but could never recreate the same interest in anything he did again. Sadly he died in poverty in 1998 at the age of 74 at his home in Llanllychlloch, South Wales, where the song lay dormant in an old suitcase, until being rediscovered by his grandson Steve Aruni in 2005. He then rerecorded and performed the song in 2008 but didn't know what to do with it until Sean Penn's portrayal of Harvey Milk inspired him to watch the award winning documentary "The Times of Harvey Milk" and couldn't resist using some of the archive footage to make a video for the song.

"I knew the story and had obviously heard the song but it was from a completely different world to the music I'd always listened to, and it was only on hearing it again recently that I was ready to appreciate it for the masterpiece it is and only hope that enough time has passed since that unforeseeable coincidence, that it can finally be appreciated, albeit with a slight twist of irony, for the classic it was always destined to be.

I have tried to keep the production as close as possible to the 1966 demo recording of the song, unfortunately by now too degraded in quality to be used, and have used samples from Acker Bilk's 'Aria' that bear a striking resemblance to the original.

My grandfather may not have known success in his own lifetime as is often the artists lot. But at least he died knowing that Frank Sinatra, amongst others, knew his name and what he was capable of. Which is a lot more than most of us can say.

I only hope I've done the old boy justice."

Steve Aruni

A commercial version of the song is due to be produced with Marco Della Luche in the summer. In the meantime, if you like the song, you can download it for free at www.myspace.com/stevearuni.

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[gregchance324]

this needs more views... Rest In Peace Harvey Milk and George Mascone

[metal1313]

i just saw the movie on dvd. i found it very sad that harvey milk was gunned down in 1978. he seemed like an intelligent man with sound policies and a love for life and for his fellow human beings. such a shame certain people did'nt share the same viewpoints he did.