Backstage

Preparing for the BIG show...


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Afternoon Dance Break - "Miss Thing, There Is No Guest List Tonight!"

The beginning of Club Lonely by Lil Louis always cracked me up - someone walks up to a club doorperson and claims to be on the DJ's guest list.  The doorbiatch responds with a fierce:

"MISS THING, THERE IS NO GUEST LIST TONIGHT!!!"

Afternoon Dance Break - Unspeakable Joy

The incredible Kim English club anthem - Unspeakable Joy...

Gay NYC Nightlife Loses an Icon - Marc Berkley

NYC party promoter, HX Magazine founder, and gay nightlife ringmaster Marc Berkley said in 1993 - "A few years ago there were maybe 500 fabulous people in New York. Now, everyone thinks they’re fabulous." And he was right. Every time I sashayed up to the Limelight, Tunnel, Palladium, or Club USA and entered one of Marc's parties, I felt like the hottest biatch this side of Trenton.

It really saddened me to learn that "Ms. Berkley" (as he called himself), passed away on Fire Island yesterday of an apparent heart attack. He was only 56 years old. My strong reaction to the news was surprising until I thought about it ... In actuality, I moved to NYC to be a part of Marc Berkley's world.

In the early 90's, after graduating college and moving back home, I visited NYC often. The clubs were awesome but sometimes hard to find since venues, promoters, etc. changed constantly. And remember, there was no Internet - the only way to find out about future parties was via flyers, which were handed to you while leaving bars/clubs.

But party promoter Marc Berkley (and his partner Matthew Bank) had an ingenious idea. They would put together a black-and-white pamphlet which listed bars/clubs/sexay places - with emphasis on Marc's parties. This pamphlet, called "Homo Xtra", soon became HX Magazine ... New York's premiere "bar rag"...

HX was basically ALL the party flyers put together.  So when I visited the city the first thing I did was find a copy of HX and plan my itinerary.  Marc Berkely and Matthew Bank's little magazine showed me a world that seemed fun, edgy, and VERY gay - just the kind of place I wanted to be in. So eventually I packed my bags, left Central Pennsylvania, and moved to the Big City.

After arriving, my nightlife revolved around Marc's parties - Limelight was on Wednesdays ("Lick-It") and Fridays ("Heaven"), and later there was Saturdays at the Tunnel, and Sundays at Club USA (my all-time favorite club/party) and then Palladium. If you got on Marc's mailing list, you were issued a "Fagtag" which got you reduced or comped admission to all these parties. And for a country mouse like me, it was like a VIP ticket to superstardom...

But, as all things do, gay nightlife changed - and we heard less and less about Ms. Berkley.  He promoted parties here and there - but finally sold his stake in HX before the magazine closed completely.  And over the past few years I hadn't read or heard a thing about him (go to a great article HERE which fills in some blanks).

Berkley was attending a friend's birthday party on Fire Island this weekend and complained of stomach pain on Friday night before going to bed.  He died peacefully in his sleep and was found by his friends on Saturday morning.

RIP Ms. Berkley.  When it's my time to go, will bringing my Fagtag to Heaven help me get in?  I bet it will ...

Afternoon Dance Break - WHO'S In This House?!?!?

Back in the early 90's, NYC club DJ's didn't often play this entire song during their sets - but they loved to mix in the chant into various other songs.  One night at the Tunnel, DJ Junior Vasquez played it at least a dozen different times - and each time he did, a huge cheer would erupt on the dance floor.  There were DEFINITELY some Ho's in that house on that particular evening.

Afternoon Dance Break - Understand This Groove

The Sound Factory's "Understand This Grove" was another of those early 90's house songs I danced to at the clubs I frequented after moving to NYC.  Not-so-coincidentally, the "Sound Factory" was also the name of one of those clubs.

You've got to UNDERSTAND this grove.

Escuelita Go-Go Of The Year Contest

Legendary Times Square Latin club Escuelita held its Go-Go Of The Year Contest over Thanksgiving weekend. And since I was in Pennsylvania for the holiday, I didn't get to witness the hotness in person. Color me sad ... :(

And the winner is ... "Shadow"...

I SWEAR, if they do this again next Thanksgiving I might have to stay in NYC! Check out many more photos at the great blog - WilsonModels.

Notorious Limelight Nightclub Becomes A Mall

This story makes me so incredibly sad and makes me feel so incredibly old. One of the reasons I moved to NYC in the early 90's was because there were places like the notorious Limelight night club. Or, as we affectionately called it back in the day, "The Slimelight".

Waiting to get in

The Limelight was opened in a deconsecrated Episcopal church in 1983 by nightclub impresario Peter Gatien. My fascination with the club began in college, when I would read Michael Musto's column in the Village Voice to find about the infamous "Club Kids", who ran amok in NYC clubland at the time. The Club Kids fascinated me, and although I didn't fancy wearing eye makeup and outrageous costumes myself, I loved how they were able to manufacture a certain level of celebrity out of nothing. Basically they got dressed up, went out to clubs, got drunk and high, and acted nuts - and for this, some of them were quite well-known.

Club Kids at the Limelight

So, on my many visits to NYC before I moved here, I always went to the Limelight. Wednesdays ("Lick It") and Fridays ("Heaven") were the best nights to go, because half the club was strictly gay, and the other half was mixed. The cool thing was that us gay boys could go anywhere in the club, but straight guys (and many girls) weren't allowed into the gay party. We even had our own entrance, and it felt very "VIP".

I moved to NYC in November of 1993, and I spent my very first Thanksgiving Eve (Lick It Wednesday) at the Limelight. I arrived at the club early (before the cover charge kicked in - I was broke) and I found myself in "The Chapel" (the gay dance floor) in the middle of a Thanksgiving feast - WITH THE CLUB KIDS! I don't know who threw the party, or quite how I managed to get in, but it was fantastic. They had put out a serious buffet - complete with Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, and all the traditional trimmings - served on china (not paper plates). It was the only Thanksgiving turkey I had that year.

The meal was most likely provided by Peter Gatien to show his love for the Club Kids by giving them a decent holiday meal. After all, most of these kids didn't have much money - like me they were fabulous but poor. And it would make sense for Gatien to thank them, because many of us came to Limelight just to be near these outrageous characters.

On the dance floor of the Limelight

After a while, many of the Club Kids got out of control with drugs - and The Slimelight became well-known as a place where you could buy Ecstasy, Cocaine, Special K, and pretty much any other drug you wanted. And drug use was quite out in the open - most people didn't even bother to take it to a bathroom stall. This drug-fueled madness culminated in the killing of drug dealer Angel Melendez (who I remember from Limelight - he really did wear wings) by Club Kid King Michael Alig back at Alig's apartment. This was the story portrayed in that horrible movie, Party Monster.

Sex was pretty much out in the open also. I saw guys having sex on couches beside the dance floor, I saw a sex show performed in a small room on a single bed, and at one point there was a room full of bunk beds for anyone to use. But, most famously, there was "The Lick-It Lounge" - the dark room down a long ominous hallway where boys "got to know each other". Or so I've been told...

For a blond party-boy from Pennsylvania in his mid-twenties, the Limelight was pretty much the absolute greatest thing ever invented. However, open drug use and rampant sex don't get overlooked forever - especially when Rudy Giuliani runs your city. So NYC finally shut the Limelight down, and the Feds deported Peter Gatien back to his native Canada for tax evasion. The party was over.

After a unsuccessful stint as a club called "Avalon", the Limelight stood vacant for years. However, they have recently opened the main dance floor for use as a space for Sample Sales...

And now, according to recent media reports, the Limelight will be turned into a mall. And even though clubbing isn't my thing anymore, the idea of that fabulous space featuring racks of "Juicy Couture" makes me incredibly sad.

Bad Times For Magazines

Now is NOT the time to be working in print media. Vibe magazine is the latest title to cease publication - announcing today it will do so "immediately".

In other magazine news, NYC gay bar rag HX magazine (and the HX website) was sold due to the financial instability of parent company HX Media. The new owners of HX will make a statement about their plans for the publication/website soon.

I never really read Vibe, but I was a devout reader of HX Magazine. When I started visiting NYC (from PA), the FIRST thing I tried to do was locate a copy of HX so I could find out what was happening in the club scene. HX started out as a pamphlet (called "Homo Xtra") as a way for party promoter Mark Berkley (and his business partner Matthew Bank) to promote parties at Limelight and other clubs. Soon Homo Xtra added listings for other gay clubs/bars and various places of interest, becoming HX - a must-read for club-loving gays (like me at the time).

With the popularity of the internet, do magazines stand a chance anymore? What magazines do you guys subscribe to and/or read? I think I only subscribe to Vanity Fair now ...

The Saint-at-Large Black Party

Tonight marks the 30th anniversary of the infamous Saint Black Party here in NYC. The Black Party was and is, at it's core, a huge dance party - with the "black" representing leather, masculinity and foreboding.

The party originated at the Saint disco/nightclub - which opened in 1980 in the old Fillmore East Theater in Manhattan's East Village. The Saint's creator, Bruce Mailman, spent almost $5 million (an unheard amount in those days) to renovate the old hippie concert venue. What Mailman created set the standard for nightclubs of that time. The huge dance floor was topped by a planetarium dome - and the lighting was controlled by a huge spaceship-like projector which loomed over the dance floor. At various points of the night/morning/next day - the lighting maestro could create the illusion of dancing under the night sky - or produce intense lighting effects that kept the dancers moving.

When the the Saint opened, it was wildly successful. It was a members-only club - selling memberships for up to $250 per year (which sold out almost immediately). The Saint did not have a liquor license at first - but it didn't need one since various drugs fueled the party quite nicely. Original Saint members still speak in awe of nights spent dancing under the dome - a quasi-religious experience for many of them. Saint-goers felt as if they were members of a "tribe" - dancing to the same tribal rhythms, together as gay men. Yes, this tribe wasn't perfect - it was almost all white and primarily well-to-do (or at least middle class) - but the Saint provided a safe harbor where this particular tribe could gather and be themselves without fear.




Almost as popular as the Saint's huge dance floor was the balcony - where one could view the dancers through the planetarium scrim, and partake in the sexuality of the day. The balcony was where the action was - and, as was the custom of the time, sex was given and taken without guilt. The Saint was a place BY men and FOR men - and the hyper-masculine atmosphere helped fuel the sexual escapades.


Unfortunately this gay super party didn't last for long. During the second "season" (the club closed during the summer - so as not to compete with Fire Island), men began dying from a mysterious "gay cancer". For a while, the disease that ultimately became known as AIDS was nicknamed "Saint's Disease", based on the number of club members who died.

The Saint dealt with a dwindling membership by lowering fees, admitting women, serving liquor, and eventually having "straight nights". Finally, in 1988, the Saint closed with a party that went non-stop for two days.

After the club closed, the Saint-At-Large continued to hold annual parties at various venues - the most famous of them being the annual leather extravaganza - the Black Party. The Black Party was the first "circuit party" - the first dance party that attracted gay men from all over the globe. It is the granddaddy of them all - and is still going strong 30 years after the first Black Party held back at the original Saint.


I went to my first Black Party in 1993 at the Roseland Ballroom in Times Square - shortly after moving to NYC. I saved up the money I made working at Macy's to buy a ticket, squeezed into black jeans and a tight black t-shirt (I was skinny then), and accessorized with a studded leather bracelet I had bought on Christopher Street. I heard that only drunks and old queens showed up to the Black Party before 4:00 am - and I almost slept through my alarm while taking my "disco nap" in my rented room in Brooklyn. It would have probably served me right for being such a shallow little Twink.

I will never forget arriving at that first Black Party. The music THROBBED. The men looked like MEN, were gorgeous, and most were HIGH AS KITES. This was the first place I ever saw people snorting cocaine - and those bitches would have put Amy WineWarehouse, Kate Moss, and Lindsay Lohan to shame. These men were GOOD AT THIS.


Off to one side of the dance floor were the "Live Acts" - which culminated every year in a demonstration that involved "giving your partner a hand" (so to speak). Believe it or not, I used to get bored during the "shows", because the actual party-goers were much more entertaining. However, one year I did watch a gorgeous musclestud get EXTREMELY intimate with a traffic cone. That was interesting.


And then there was the balcony. Lets just say that for one night a year, the Roseland Ballroom balcony and the old Saint balcony have a lot in common. But what happens at the Black Party, stays at the Black Party.


I probably attended for 6 or 7 years in a row, until I grew tired of large clubs/parties. I always felt like the Black Party was an endurance test - like running a marathon - and I just didn't have the stamina anymore.

So, for those of you who are headed to Roseland tonight - have fun, take it easy, be safe ... and say "hello" to the boys on the balcony ... er ... DANCE FLOOR for me...