The History of
"One Common Heartbeat"
In
1998, the twentieth anniversary of International Mr. Leather in Chicago
witnessed the premiere performance of a new anthem for the leather nation.
Gary Aldrich is a singer and leatherman whose operatic and concert career
spans the nation. In 1999 he made debuts in two of the country's most
famous concert halls: at Lincoln Center in New York and at the Kennedy
Center in Washington DC. Singing with him at IML 1998 were co-lyricist
Kevin Tyrrell and Joseph Ricci, Mr. Northeast Drummer 1994. Backing them
up were members of the original performance ensemble (below) and the Chicago
Gay Men's Chorus.
At
the request of Chuck Renslow, founder of IML, Aldrich composed and co-wrote
the lyrics to "One Common Heartbeat," with Kevin Tyrrell, Empire State Bear
1996. Aldrich, Tyrrell and Ricci sang the very first "unofficial preview"
performance of the anthem in April 1998 at Empire State Leather, in Albany,
New York, (above) sponsored in large part by STARS M.C., and flanked by
attending members of the national Leather Community, several members of
STARS, M.C., and a substantial contingent of the Capital Pride Singers,
the New York Capital Region's LGBT chorus. Original orchestrations were
created by Aldrich and Greg Speck at the Stonewall Recording Studio in Rensselaerville,
New York. This was the version presented at IML 1998 to a standing ovation
of enthusiastic leather men and women.
Aldrich
was nominated as Man of the Year at the 1999 Pantheon of Leather in New
Orleans for his contribution to the Leather Community. Since IML 1998,"One
Common Heartbeat" has been presented in New York, San Francisco, Providence,
Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Tulsa, Washington, Ottawa, Kansas City,
San Diego and elsewhere. (At left, Aldrich and Tyrrell perform the new anthem
in Philadelphia in 1998. With them are International Drummer Boy 1998 Ryan
Goldner and Scott Reikofski, Mr. Pennsylvania Drummer 1997 and later American
Leatherman 2000.)
After
the 1998 performance at IML, a fully-realized orchestral recording of "One
Common Heartbeat" was requested and partially commissioned by Chuck Renslow.
According to the composers, it was a daunting task... one which took a great
deal of time and money. They, Renslow, and several other generous members
of the Leather Community contributed the funds to make the recording a reality.
The CD was engineered at Cotton Hill Studios in Albany, New York. The orchestration
was written by Chuck d'Aloia, with vocal arrangements by Aldrich. The recording
was released at IML 1999 and continues to be played at leather functions
throughout the United States. It is now in the public domain and available
to anyone who chooses to use it. Any and all proceeds from this CD will
be donated to the Leather Archives
and Museum in Chicago.