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Saying hello to Punk Rock & The Roxy Club
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I
remember, that the Roxy looked ever so familiar! Then someone told me
that it was originally a Gay bar, called Shagmyrama, or something like
that. I had been before, when I was in London with David Bowie, when he
did his show at the Marquee for Midnight Special. I remember seeing the
drag duo, Hinge and Bracket there! I used to go there with Mainman
exec. Leee Black Childers. Bowie used to go there, way before he shaved
his eyebrows and started dressing like the cast from Pork.
What? I had not idea that I was booked in the same place where
*Heaven* is now!!! That is news to me! And that is the first
time there I have heard about the stipulation that Cherry had to
play as well! Where did you hear that??????? |
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Well, the first gig was at the Roxy, and it was kind of a dive, but a
good dive! It had real atmosphere. Very trashy. I performed my Patti
Smith impersonation, as Ratti Smith, doing a warped version *Horses*
chanting , horses, horses, horses. giraffes, giraffes, giraffes, piss
ants, piss ants, piss ants, etc. etc. etc. It was a hoot. It told the
story of Johnny. Johnny goes down to the
locker room, and let*s the
football players all jerk off on him. Then he jumps up, all covered from
head to toe with sperm, saying, *Hey, I ain*t no queer man! I just like
to get jerked off on by football players!* It was a ridiculous parody and
quite insulting, actually! |
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Then the other thing I did was. stick my head
into the bass drum at the end of a song. I played a gig in Boston with
the Dead Boys where Stiv Bators ripped that off of me! Also at the
Roxy, I did *Toilet Love* with the condom and garbage wig and trash bag
dress, with old Roxy handbills glued all over it. Also, I vomited on
stage. Besides all the jumping about, vile language and gestures. No, I
did not eat dog food out of a toilet and pretend that it was shit! I
had stopped doing that by then! The Roxy was mostly young kids, all
dressed up in their *Punk* attire. Some bought, but mostly hand made.
There were a lot of Bowie haircuts, left over from the Glam thing, as
well. And of course the garish make up , on the boys as well as the
girls. I played more than one gig at the Roxy, so sometimes I get them
mixed up. One was with X Ray Spex, and the other was with Siouxsie and
The Banshees. I got along like a house on fire with Siouxsie.
One moment from the Roxy I do remember well was, watching this young
boy, take a razor blade and cut his writs!!! Blood was all over the
table, and no one did nothing! He He. Another one was me going into the
men*s room and being told by some cute Punk, that I was in the wrong
toilet! That made me feel good, to say the least!!! |
| The reaction at the Roxy was phenomenal! And no, no abuse at all! They
loved me, and besides some of the Punks were gay or bi in those days,
whether out or not. In the beginning, Punk was not so homo or trans
phobic. That happened later when the movement was taken over by fake
punks and skinheads! And many in all the diff. bands were Gay or Bi
themselves. I want say any of the names, but one of the Clash, one of
the Pistols, and the singer of the Buzzcocks of course. and quite a few
more. I even had a short affair with one of the guys in Menace! Not to
mention, my crush on Mark P!!! I used to sit on his lap and nibble his
ear!!! And of course Gene October and his little *to do* with Billy
Idol. And Walter Lure of the Heartbreakers. Oh, it goes on, believe
me!!! You see, I was so open about myself that a lot of the Punks would
confide in me!, But when they were around other people they would
pretend to be totally straight! So of course, I found out all sorts of
things about everyone!!! Chris Spedding, even gave me scabies!!! That
rat!!! (Did I spell his name right?) He had a huge coke problem and
couldn*t get it up! And of course Dee Dee Ramone was a rent boy! And
most of the managers were all Gay as well!!! And a lot of the record
company guys! I was well loved by the Roxy crowd. And they all knew
who I was. A lot of the Punks had been Bowie, Glam fans! The place was
packed. You couldn*t move! And the place was full of all the Punk
celebrities. Members from just about all the bands were there. |
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I don*t think the Roxy
was at the bottom!!!!!!! Honey you should have seen CBGB*s!!!
Now that was and is a fucking TOILET!!! But a good fucking
toilet!!! He He!!! I love Hilly to death. He is a great person.
Love, Love, Love him!!! The Roxy had real, Rock and Roll
Spirit!!! You could feel the vibes!!! (Isis, that is so Hippy!! He He! Groovy man!!!) The atmosphere was
incredible. And there wasn*t much sex going on in the place, cause the
kids were mostly on that horrid, nasty drug called Sulphate. It was
really, bad, rough speed that would send you bouncing off the walls,
ceiling, and toilet stalls! Although I did catch a few kids here and
there having sex in those, scuzzy toilets!
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The fashion sense there was
also very theatrical. They really all out. But that was good cause it
added to the atmosphere. People really tried to do something different
and wore mostly home made Punk clothes.
Some were in store bought stuff.
But Punk was never supposed to be about store bought clothes. You were
supposed to shop at thrift stores and second hand shops. I hated it when
the fashion people hi jacked the movement! Step right up! Get your ready
made Punk gear! Spend all your money on these *Punk* clothes and be
*in!*
That was shitty cause it ruined the original Punk spirit! It
made Punk out to be just another excuse for the Vampires and Leeches to
make money off of it. Punk was about not having a lot of money and doing
it yourself!!! The posers stepped in and ruined it all!
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I didn*t think that the British punk bands were a cheap
imitation of the Ramones!!! No more than I never thought that the
Rolling Stones were a cheap imitation of Chuck Berry!!! I prefer the
Stones versions! I am an Anglo Phile. I LOVED the London punk bands.
The Ramones themselves were really upset though! One night I was DJing
at Max*s Kansas City, and I was playing the Damned and the Pistols. The
first singles, and no one else had them! Dee Dee Ramone came running
over to the DJ booth hysterical! Screaming, *Why are you playing these
fucking English bands??? They are just ripping us off!!!* I feel that
the British bands gave the sound a new dimension! The Brits are
BRILLIANT at giving their own interpretation of different forms of
music, and most of the time their versions are even better than the
original! The Buzzcocks are a perfect example! The Damned were simply
incredible and they rock to the highest mountain! The Pistols were
brilliant, even if the sound was basically lifted from the New York
Dolls and The Heartbreakers. They put in a special burst of energy and
FUCK YOU attitude that the American bands left out! Speaking of being
LEFT OUT. I am so pissed off at that Don Letts! Just because my father
was in the hospital DYING FROM CANCER and Don couldn*t get a new
interview from me, I was totally left out of that stupid movie *Punk
Attitude.* Just because I couldn*t do the fucking interview didn*t mean
he had to leave me out! Where is his sense of creativity! And all
these years, I haven*t asked him for one cent from that Punk film he did
at the Roxy! Well, now I want to be PAYED!!! So pay up Don. I need a
face lift!!! |
