I admit to being a Mac snob. And on my iBook is a delicious program called iTunes (can I get a hallelujah?). It's perfect for the slothful DJ—just hit play and your work is done. One of my homemade playlists—Electro Gayboy—is packed with the danciest of dance tunes, most of them from the '80s and early '90s—Depeche Mode, New Order, Erasure, Dead or Alive, Yaz. So, when David Manley's single crossed my desk, my Electro Gayboy file did a little booty shake all on its own, knowing that soon—yes, lord—it would be spinning the likes of funky "Tranny Hooker": "Hanging on the corner with her B-cup on / Condom in her pocket, waiting for a John / She's a little miss thing, she got an attitude / This little miss thing got some Jimmy Choo shoes."

Sure to raise eyebrows and elicit a few laughs, this is merely the B-side to the five-song EP, So Unreal, a song that has been reworked in four ways so distinct that it hardly seems a single at all. The production is tight enough to bounce a quarter on, weaving through dark-wave techno and retro-Euro Pet Shop Boys vibes with sexy synth-loving Manley vocals that would make Prince and Alison Moyet hold hands and do a back flip.

I was overjoyed to speak to Manley, as I immediately felt that this dude—both fresh and flashback at the same time—would join me on my previously established musical page. Especially after reading his bio.

"I totally relate to your musical upbringing," I said. "Kristy and Jimmy McNichol? I nearly peed."

Manley lets out a hearty laugh. "Yeah! It's so funny, it's one of those things that was just in the back of my mind when I was writing the bio. I was like, holy cow, that was one of my early inspirations? I can't believe it, but it was."

Born in the Albany area, Manley now resides in Newburgh. He admits that his first real musical influence was Kermit the Frog, who showed the world in The Muppet Movie that he could cross the country, gather up some friends along the way, and presto! hook up with a Hollywood producer. In Manley's child mind, all he needed was an open heart and a love for all creatures, and that would be his ticket to stardom.

Among other early names, he lists the Carpenters, Helen Reddy, Barry Manilow, Queen, Supertramp, and Michael Jackson as influences. But it was the early '80s new wave during the tender teen years that really set things in motion for Manley—Thompson Twins, Eurythmics, Dead or Alive, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran. It seems that for Manley, things really clicked at a mammoth Duran Duran concert, where he saw what he calls "these tiny dots called Erasure," who opened for Simon Le Bon and the boys. In this group, he found a vibe that was unabashed bliss.

Manley began performing in local theater productions in the early 1980s, but he succumbed to the 40-hour workweek and set his dream aside (sound familiar?). He still found comfort in being a founding member and producer of 4th Wall Productions in their first three years at Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center in Poughkeepsie. It wasn't until the late 1990s that he first stepped into a studio, putting out a call for previously written submissions to record, while collaborating on others. His first CD, Shades of Life & Love, was a first step, but it didn't go far.

"It was a great learning experience, but I just didn't have the resources to get it out there. I'm kinda glad it happened that way. It's all a process, and I wouldn't change it for anything."

Retreating into local theater, Manley hooked up with some new folks, coming back armed with some great tunes—Kendall Kelly's "So Unreal" and "Dagnabbit"—and two fantastic producers to help him flesh out the music for "Tranny Hooker." Manley briefly describes the process.

"I'd been encouraged to look for music from publishers that hadn't been produced. Artists in the industry these days are doing this like crazy—like Missy Elliott—and they get their material from all these artistic think tanks. But it's a little difficult relying on producers to help write music. It costs when you're in a studio all night. We go over my lyrics and see what kind of pattern they have, and they might suggest a melody and we just go from there." Manley currently works with the Super Buddha production team, who scored the pilot to Showtime's "The L Word." He has the utmost admiration for those who do the mastering. "It's obsessing over every minute detail," he says on his blog. "Hats off to those engineers who have that patience. You all deserve medals. Imagine all the bad music they have to sit through. Really, someone had to master a William Shatner album! The horror!"

Manley's "So Unreal" single was just released, and it's been sent to national publications, the gay and independent press, and a couple of record labels in the US and the UK. He hopes to get enough sales to continue on album production; he's got another handful of songs ready to hash out with his producers. Manley recently performed at Triangles Cafe, in Danbury, Connecticut, but his focus is currently on promotion instead of performance.

The artist has a few thoughts about where the music industry has been headed and what it's unfortunately left behind. "I hate to pick on anything and be negative, but the whole "American Idol" thing is so homogenized, bringing everything to the one common denominator that they can spoon-feed the public. And these people with all their vocal acrobatics—it's all fine and good, and they do have talent, I don't deny that. But back in the '80s there was more substance. It was more about personality, about overall talent. People with different quirky voices and talents could make it in the business. I think it's becoming more and more difficult, and it's such a shame, because these interesting, talented people are going to fall through the cracks. Just the music industry itself...if something sells really well, they have to mass produce it with all of these clone artists, and once you have one successful boy band, there are so many you can't even count. Once you have somebody successful like Britney Spears, then every record label has to have a Britney Spears. They don't make room for the different artists that are out there. I think it's better in the European market, and that's one of my focuses too."

I ask Manley how he feels about being a potential retro-electro god of the 21st century and he laughs. "It would feel fantastic! It's really opening up and becoming the next thing. Everybody I've talked to in the industry, when I tell them I have a retro '80s sound, they matter of factly say that's what's hot. I just happen to be jumping on the right bandwagon at the right time. When I was doing this back in 1998 and it wasn't hot, nobody wanted to even listen to me. But that sound was such great stuff back then. There was so much drama in the music. Totally sucked you in."

Manley feels that his time has come, and the way things have lined up for him have a synchronistic ring to it. "When you put that intention out into the universe and say 'this is what I need and would like to happen in my life right now,' you just move in that positive direction and the opportunities present themselves to you. I wanted a producer just like Super Buddha, and it happened. When you're ready for it, it happens. And sometimes when you're not ready for it." He laughs.

As for how he copes with it all, Manley admits to being a huge fan of therapy. "I think Bette Midler said something like 'therapy is worth every penny because it takes more than a lifetime to figure yourself out.' I'm totally in love with that. Every time I feel stuck, I go into therapy and become unstuck. It's being able to voice all of that junk in your soul and let it go, it starts to free you up. I'll go to therapy for the rest of my life. Happily."

This is one artist whose mission in life is to spread the love. "Not to sound corny, but music is about helping people and uplifting spirits, and all that kind of groovy, positive- vibe type of stuff. That's what I'm about. I hope that with success I'll be able to help other people. Just spreading the good vibe. There's so much unnecessary doom and gloom, and I was guilty of it too, when I was a kid. But my God, when I saw Erasure, it totally turned my world around. Like, yes! This is happy and it's okay to feel this way! I want to be part of a vibe like that."