If Music is the soundtrack of our lives, then the songs of Diana Ross and the Supremes headline each chapter of my life

Diana Ross finishes her live concerts with a powerful message: “Go for your dreams!” Mary Wilson motivates audiences with her “Dare to Dream” lectures, building on the message of her best-selling autobiography, Dreamgirl: My Life As A Supreme. Now Dale Guy Madison, inspired by the timeless songs of Diana Ross and The Supremes, “dares to dream” his life story in this uncensored and candid memoir. 

DREAMBOY: My Life as a QVC Host & Other Greatest Hits is the vintage “album” of Madison’s life set against the tunes of The Supremes and filled with lessons on love, self-determination, and surviving the trenches of the entertainment industry. Through its pages Madison navigates a litany of broken intimate relationships, (including an affair with a closeted Baltimore politician), experiences a whirlwind heterosexual marriage, fights for and secures work as a gay black actor in Hollywood and clings to life within the halls of a city mental institution. However, it is after gaining nationwide fame as a television host on the QVC shopping network that Madison learns opportunities must not be waited on -- they must be created -- and thus begins the “B-side” of the album. 

Sissy sammy In The Land of Weho 90069 is a parody of the Frank Baum Classic

The Wizard of Oz

It is the tale of a young gay boy from Compton who ends up in West Hollywood trying to find a bus token to get home. Along the way he meets a drag queen, rough trade and a butch lesbian. They all have something they need from the head DJ at the Raging Queen. Just like Dorothy’s trip to OZ, the journey is also a lesson of self-discovery. 

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Sissy Sammy was a hit with audiences at the Squaw Valley Writers conference of 2007. It was presented as a staged reading during the closing night variety show. In addition, I have read it as a performance piece for various gay prides throughout California. 

It is an adult fairy tale penned and illustrated like a children’s book. Most children’s books are written and inked similarly and purchased by parents to read to their kids. However, this is not intended to be a bedtime story read to a five year old. I don’t fool myself in believing a parent would read this book to their LGBTQ son or daughter. The kid who would benefit from reading this book is already out of the house They would have been asked or pressured to leave. It uses adult language and adult situations.  

DREAMBOY is a story that appeals to audiences on many levels. How many times have we heard a song and it reminds us of something that happened in our lives? Madison faces obstacles and turns them successes. Being born black, gay, and in a single family household, Dale has dreams of being successful like his idols, the Supremes.

Having grown up in a household where fantasies of stardom were stamped out “with a quickness,” a young Madison held on to his dreams of becoming successful like his idols, The Supremes. DREAMBOY: My Life As A QVC Host & Other Greatest Hits pays homage to the artist in every human spirit while giving a humble nod to the immortal Motown female phenomenon. A true renaissance man, (an actor, nude model, fashion designer, television host and film producer), Madison proves that clarity of vision and being true to one’s self are the makings of a bona fide Dreamboy. (Or girl!)

This adult parody also slips in gay historical references. I believe it is important to let the younger queer generation know how we got here and occasional holdovers of past inequality like the requirement for gays of color to have two ID cards to enter a club. 

It also plays with pop trivia.  West Hollywood (also nick-named WEHO) is a real city that exists with the second largest percentage of likely homosexual households and a zip code of 90069. Sammy admits an attraction to the iconic image of Tarzan.

When I talked to gay men of my generation about their pre-adolescence days, in a time before the internet, the safest way to lust after a man was to watch a Tarzan movie. Where else could you go and see a half naked man without exposing your sexuality?

Besides embracing gay history and taking a wink at pop culture, at the conclusion of the story, my goal is to offer a therapeutic platform to discuss issues.

I urge readers to seek out organizations to support our queer youth. Read this book and give it to someone whose life you might influence and possibly save.