1970's – Brian Ferrari's Blog

Artist’s Muse: Wilbur Pippin

The latest subject in our Artist’s Muse series is Wilbur “Billy” Pippin, a friend, lover and confidant to a circle of artists that included George Platt Lynes, George Tooker, Paul Cadmus, Jared & Margaret French (aka the PaJaMa collective).

Wilbur Thomas Pippin was born on May 25, 1924 in Macon, Georgia. An only child, his father was employed by Railway Express while his mother worked at a dress shop. After the couple separated, Wilbur and his mother moved down the road to his maternal grandmothers house. He attended Lanier High School for Boys, where he was on the honor roll and received recognition for 5 years of perfect attendance. Upon graduation in June of 1942, he enlisted in the Army and served through World War II.

Back in Georgia for the 1946-47 school year, Billy enrolled as a freshman at North Georgia College in Dahlonega, three hours north of Macon. He became president of the drama club and was also voted “Most Versatile Cadet”. His academic career seems to have ended after that successful first year, as life took an unexpected turn in the form of a fellow named Fred Melton.

Sgt. Pippin – the Most Versatile Cadet at North Georgia College (1947)

We previously mentioned Fred “Butch” Melton in a profile of Artist’s Muse/writer Donald Windham. Butch was an Atlanta artist/photographer who moved to New York in 1939 with Windham, his boyfriend at the time. After the two split in 1942, Melton abruptly married Sarah “Sally” Marshall. The newlyweds settled in Greenwich Village and had two sons in quick succession. The growing family then moved back to Sally’s hometown of Macon, Georgia to live on land provided by her parents.

In the New York Public Library blog post Finding Frederick Melton, Stephen Bowie writes, “Melton dove into small-town Southern life with gusto. He built a modern house and workshop on the property, painted, and worked on the newspaper and in the local theater. But the experiment in conformity didn’t last.”

Whether Butch and Billy met doing local theatre or through some other social event is speculative. Suffice to say that Macon isn’t a very large town. In any case, the two found each other, and sparks flew. Billy did not return to college. In early 1948, Butch left his young family in Macon to move back to New York with Billy.

The couple moved into a cold-water tenement flat at 446 West 55th street in Hell’s Kitchen. Butch introduced Billy to the circle of gay artists that he had left behind 5 years prior. The striking young man soon began to turn up in their work.

Bernard Perlin & Wilbur Pippin photographed by Fred Melton in Cherry Grove, Fire Island (1948)

Wilbur Pippin photographed on Fire Island with George Tooker and Margaret French

Ballet impresario Lincoln Kirstein was apparently so fond of the couple that he tasked them with running Pippin Press, a silkscreen company he bankrolled and named after Billy. The original intent was to make collectible prints of ballet designs and the work of artists like Pavel Tchelitchev. Ultimately Pippin Press found more success producing custom silkscreen wallpaper.

Billy also began exploring photography alongside Butch, forming the “Melton-Pippin Photography” imprint for both of their work. Although he later enjoyed a long career as a fashion photographer, today Billy’s most notable photographs are his 1950 portraits of Jack Kerouac. It was one of these photos that was Kerouac’s choice for the original cover sketch of On The Road.

Jack Kerouac photographed by Wilbur Pippin (1950)

In early 1951, Butch and Billy had a new neighbor when their friend George Platt Lynes moved into the building. Lynes’ relationship with Chuck Howard had recently ended, and he was facing increasing financial woes. Lynes was initially pleased to have the couple as neighbors – Melton helped him with remodeling and silk-screening wallpaper for the living room. But he quickly grew annoyed by the couple “forever borrowing that old cup of sugar…” he wrote to a friend, “… or in their case it was more likely to be a bottle of gin.”

*Wilbur Pippin & Chuck Howard, (ca. 1950*)

Wilbur Pippin photographed by George Platt Lynes

Besides the thirsty neighbors, the far-west proximity and sketchy neighborhood did not sit well with Lynes. By September, he had fled back to the comfort of the East side, although his finances could not support it.

Fred “Butch” Melton & Wilbur “Billy” Pippin photographed by George Platt Lynes (ca 1951)

The couple remained friends with Lynes through the rest of his life, despite some difficult times. When Lynes fell out of favor with Lincoln Kirstein, Melton was named as his replacement as the official photographer for the New York City Ballet. In 1955 when Lynes was hospitalized with terminal lung cancer, Pippin was one of a small group of friends tasked by Russell Lynes to dismantle and pack up his brother’s apartment. George Platt Lynes died in December of that year.

With Pippin Press winding down, Billy went to work as publicity director for the New York City Ballet as well as press representative of the Broadway show Protective Custody, which opened and closed in late December, 1956.

By the end of the 1950’s, Butch and Billy had gone their separate ways. As with so many others, Fred Melton was dropped by the mercurial Lincoln Kirstein and had been replaced as photographer for the New York Ballet, just as he had replaced Lynes years before.

In 1961, Melton departed New York once again, leaving his collection of ballet negatives to the New York Public Library, intent on spending his last days drinking on the beaches of Puerto Rico.

Meanwhile, Billy was working steadily as a fashion and celebrity photographer for the New York Times. He traveled the world through the following decades as a freelance fashion photographer for Vogue and other outlets. In the late 1960’s, Pippin coupled with fellow photographer, Thomas Wier, Jr. For 30 years, the duo ran Pippin & Wier Photography in New York City. Their country home was an old converted schoolhouse in East Haddam, CT. They eventually amassed a menagerie of 15 cats.

*The Commercial Appeal*, Memphis, TN 10/29/64

*Daily Messenger*, Canandaigua, NY (12/12/1974)

In 1979, Pippin co-authored the book Catwise with actress Marian Winters. This was a collection of photographs Pippin had taken of his feline family, with classical quotes selected by Winters. Sadly, Winters succumbed to cancer just before the book’s publication.

*Hartford Courant, Connecticut (12/14/79)*

Pippin and Wier eventually retired to their East Haddam house. Thomas Wier Jr. died on 9/12/2000, age 70. Wilbur Pippin died on 4/30/2003 at his home, age 78.

In 2024, the A. Therian gallery in Cairo, New York featured Billy, an exhibition of rare and previously unseen photos of Wilbur Pippin taken by George Platt Lynes, the PaJaMa collective, and Fred Melton. This collection of photographs shed light upon the striking young man from Macon, Georgia who became a friend, lover and confidant to his great artistic contemporaries.

Wilbur Pippin, Egremont, Massachusettes (ca. 1948)

The Boys In The Band Press Book (1970)

Whenever I see posts on social media that mention the 1970 film The Boys In The Band, there are always strongly opposing viewpoints. Whether you love or hate the film, everyone can agree that it is a cultural touchstone. Like the Stonewall uprising itself, The Boys In The Band serves as a landmark, with every other gay-themed film described as either preceding or following it.

I recently acquired the original press book for the film, which you can see below. Also included is the Playbill from the original West End production with the same cast as well as some revealing photos of “Cowboy” Robert La Tourneaux. During the New York run of the play, he was photographed in and out of clothes by Jack Mitchell for After Dark magazine. Years later, La Tourneaux would appear in photo layouts for Mandate, Honcho, and Zeus, which were the names of gay publications and not a queer law firm.

The Boys In The Band poster (l-r) Leonard Frey, Robert La Tourneaux (Photo by LMPC via Getty Images)

Kurt Bieber: From Little Me to Colt Model

You may already know this, but anyone with an affinity for self-indulgent grande dame memoirs and/or the camp humor of Auntie Mame needs to seek out the 1961 book Little Me, The Intimate Memoirs of That Great Star of Stage, Screen & Television Belle Poitrine, as told to Patrick Dennis. The book spawned a Broadway musical starring Sid Caesar in 1962, which was revived with Martin Short in 1998. However, the book is whole different animal. The 2002 reprint with a new foreword by Charles Busch may be out of print, but affordable copies are easily found online.

The whole thing is a parody – a camp fiction classic created by the Auntie Mame author with over 150 photographs by Cris Alexander, an actor who appeared in both the stage and film versions of Auntie Mame. Alexander had transitioned into his second career as a photographer.

Actress Jeri Archer embodied Belle Poitrine in the photographs with a cast of characters playing her co-horts. Among the familiar faces in the company are character actresses Dodie Goodman and Alice Pearce, author Patrick Dennis (as Cedric Roulstone-Farjeon) and his wife Louise (as Pixie Portnoy). Cris Alexander also appears in various roles alongside his lifelong partner, ballet dancer Shaun O’Brien (as Mr. Musgrove). Miss Rosalind Russell makes an appearance as well.

The role of Letch Feeley, Belle’s hunky paramour and costar, was played by Kurt Bieber. After the publication of Little Me, Cris Alexander wrote, “Shaun and Kurt generated an unprecedented amount of fan mail, all sent to the publisher’s office.”

Letch Feeley & Belle Poitrine, aka Kurt Bieber & Jeri Archer in Little Me

Kermit Henry Bieber was born on January 5, 1929 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. A 1946 graduate of Emmaus High School, Bieber worked at the local Sears before serving in the Army during the Korean War.

After his discharge, he headed to New York, where he studied drama, dance and voice at The American Theatre Wing. Roles in summer stock soon followed, with ensemble work in Can-Can, Happy Hunting, Oklahoma! and Wonderful Town.

The Morning Call, *Allentown, PA (6/21/1960)*

It was his work in a regional production of On the Town that took his career to the next level. Cris Alexander later wrote, “Ross Hunter may have discovered Rock Hudson, but I discovered Kurt Bieber during a summer package of On The Town (Pittsburgh ’58).” By October of that year, Bieber was back in New York playing a sailor alongside William Shatner in the original Broadway production of The World of Suzie Wong.

More regional work followed, including a stint in the play Teahouse of The August Moon with Red Buttons. It was around this time that Cris Alexander began to shoot the photos for Little Me, casting Bieber in the role for which he is best remembered.

In Uncle Mame: The Life of Patrick Dennis, author Eric Myers writes “Most memorable to a certain contingent of the book’s audience was actor Kurt Bieber, who… displayed plenty of muscular flesh in nearly all of his photos.”

“I loved doing Little Me. People would stop me in the street and say ‘Aren’t you Letch Feeley?'” Kurt fondly remembered. “It was a first. No one had ever done a book like that… it was such a different atmosphere then. The photos were really a breakthrough.”

*“Kurt Bieber is a* poseur *extraordinaire. The grace and symmetry of the youthful physique is captured in this study by* Male Today.”

Following the success of Little Me, Bieber continued acting as well as modeling. He found work as a “posing strap” model for Male Today and other physique magazines. He was an early subject for Jim French, a photographer who was starting up a photo studio under the name Rip Colt. An early Colt film loop lists Bieber as one of the performers – a softcore scene with three muscular models lathering each other up in a shower – but none of the models appear to be him.

In 1969, Bieber had a bit part as a Times Square street hustler in Midnight Cowboy:

At the dawn of the 1970’s, 40-year-old Bieber – no longer a young chorus boy – opted for a new look. He transformed himself into the quintessential gay clone: an urban cowboy/mustache and Levi’s/hanky-code persona that would characterize the gay scene for the next decade. His photos for Colt studios now typify that era of gay erotica.

He was quoted as saying “I loved being photographed in the nude. I’ve always been an exhibitionist. To be an actor, you have to be. Besides, I got to choose the models. I chose hot men that I could get off on. That’s why they gave me (Colt superstar) Dakota.”

*Kurt Bieber (in a Colt t-shirt) outside Badlands in the West Village, NYC (1979)*

While major film roles never materialized, Bieber appeared in several commercials and continued to garner background work in films like Last Summer and Chapter Two. He can be seen offering poppers to a cohort at The Eagle in the controversial Al Pacino film Cruising (1980):

His appearance in Cruising landed Bieber on the cover of the February 1980 issue of Mandate Magazine. In his interview, Bieber mentions that he played Letch Feeley among other acting roles. He differentiates himself from the other Cruising extras, some of whom were cast off the street. “I want to stress that I did it as a professional… It’s just a job.”

As for those rumored to be having sex on camera in the leather bar scenes; “On the set, some people were having sex for real, but (director William) Friedkin didn’t ask anybody to. No way I would suck cock in front of a camera,” he says.

Although Bieber doesn’t mention his work with Colt Studios in this article, four months later Mandate ran a 10-page spread titled “Whatever Happened To Letch Feeley?” This feature tracked Bieber from his Little Me photos through his work with Colt Studios.

When asked to sum himself up at the close of the article, Bieber said with a smile; “I’ve done a little bit of everything and I’ve loved every minute of it.”

Later in 1980, Bieber was done in by a poison dart in Times Square during the opening sequence of Eaten Alive, an Italian cannibal movie:

The epilogue of Uncle Mame: The Life of Patrick Dennis (2000) notes that Bieber “has been an extra in almost every movie ever filmed in New York City. Kurt says he is ‘still around and still cruising Christopher Street.'”

*Kurt Bieber behind Whoopi Goldberg and Patrick Swayze in a scene from* Ghost (1990)

Decades later, Little Me fans still recognized him. “Even today, I’ll sometimes walk into a store and someone will say ‘Wow! Letch Feeley!’ How they recognize me after all these years, with my white hair, I’ll never know.”

Kurt Bieber passed away at age 86 on December 31, 2015 in New York City.

Truman Capote in Mandate (1985)

Truman Capote is the subject of this article from the February, 1986 Mandate magazine. The piece was written by Boze Hadleigh just over a year after Capote's death.

Continuing with our theme from the last post, Truman Capote is the subject of this article from the February, 1985 issue of Mandate magazine. The piece was written by Boze Hadleigh just 6 months after Capote’s death.

The infamous book jacket photo of Truman Capote from Other Voices, Other Rooms. One critic commented, “He looks as if he were dreamily contemplating some outrage against conventional morality.” (1948)

Artist’s Muse: William Weslow

Hard to believe but it has been a year since the last Artist’s Muse profile – these are men who inspired and were subjects of 20th Century painters, photographers, and other artists. It was last January that we cast the spotlight on Jose “Pete” Martinez. Chuck Howard was profiled in September, 2022 and is currently being featured in George Platt Lynes photographs on exhibition at Childs Gallery in Boston. If you read our post and then take a look at their press release, you might surmise the primary source of their biographical material.

Our latest Artist’s Muse is William Weslow, a ballet dancer with an extraordinarily long career who was also a Broadway performer, artist, and masseur. He posed for George Platt Lynes’ camera during their brief relationship, and was later involved with choreographer Jerome Robbins. He posed nude for dance photographer Kenn Duncan when he was in his 50’s, looking as fit as in photos from 25 years earlier.

William Edward Weslow was born on March 20, 1925 in Seattle, Washington. His mother had been a Ziegfeld dancer, and he soon followed her lead. As a teen, Weslow studied with famed dance instructor Mary Ann Wells. His 1943 draft registration card lists him as a student at Broadway High School in Seattle. Later that year, he joined the Navy Coast Guard and was stationed in the Alaska.

*Annie Get Your Gun (1946) Ethel Merman with Weslow on the right (Photo: Eileen Darby)*

After his stint in the Navy, Weslow headed to New York to continue his ballet study. He joined the Ballet Theatre, but soon turned his attention to the Broadway stage. He was in the original Broadway casts of two Ethel Merman vehicles: Annie Get Your Gun and Call Me Madam, the latter choreographed by Jerome Robbins. Besides touring companies, he also appeared on Broadway in the original casts of The Girl In Pink Tights and Wonderful Town with Rosalind Russell.

*Weslow photographed by George Platt Lynes (1951)*

It was around 1951 that Weslow had his brief relationship with photographer George Platt Lynes. The affair was so fleeting that it did not garner a mention in Allen Ellenzweig’s recent Lynes biography. In David Leddick’s Intimate Companions, it is summed up in a single anecdote:

Dancer William Weslow, who had a transitory but more serious than usual romance with George Platt Lynes in the early 1950’s, evidently treated the photographer to the kind of temperament Platt Lynes had displayed to his admirers in the past. Dining at Platt Lynes’s apartment before a performance, Weslow had requested a steak because of the demanding dancing that was to be done that evening. Instead, Platt Lynes served him an elaborate veal dish, which the young dancer flung against the wall before leaving in search of a steak.

Lynes’s photographs of Weslow are also rare, due in part to the paper negative process that the photographer was experimenting with at the time. This cost-cutting technique gave the photos a quality that have been described as either “ethereal” or “muddy.”

When he wasn’t on stage, Weslow enjoyed painting and sketching, with an affinity for exotic birds, both real and imagined. His work garnered several gallery showings through the years.

Buffalo Courier Express (4/1/51) & New York Post Star (7/9/71)

New York Daily News (1/1/54) & (11/6/54)

*Weslow* *was a soloist at Radio City Music Hall, New York Daily News (6/20/56)*

In 1955, he originated the role of Levi Stolzfuss in the Amish musical Plain and Fancy. After nearly 10 years in musicals, he felt the need for a change. When the show closed the following year, he rejoined the Ballet Theatre for a brief stint before settling in at the New York City Ballet for the rest of his dance career.

Like his relationship with Lynes, Weslow’s dalliance with choreographer Jerome Robbins was so fleeting that most biographers fail to mention it. It is worth noting as it caused friction between the two while they continued to work together. Weslow is not alone in saying that Robbins could be vindictive, manipulating his dancers because of personal grudges, often pitting them against each other.

Weslow also caught the eye of New York City Ballet Director Lincoln Kirstein. He rebuffed his advances, stating “I don’t find you attractive, Mr. Kirstein.” “Who asked you to find me attractive?” Kirstein snapped, “I was just asking you to come over to the house for a few drinks and stay over.”

Later, the two had a chance meeting at a gay bathhouse. Weslow greeted him loudly with “Why Lincoln, hello! Come here often?” The married Kirstein did not respond and left the establishment.

*1963: Weslow & Suki Schorer in Variations from Don Sebastian (photo: Martha Swope)*

*1964: Weslow & Sara Leland in La Valse (photo: Martha Swope)*

1964: William Weslow & Carol Sumner are the dancers in the first of 4 Temperaments – NYCB filmed for Canadian Television

*1965: New York City Ballet rehearsal for Don Quixote (l-r) Nicholas Magallanes, George Balanchine, Richard Rapp, Jillana, William Weslow (photo: Martha Swope)*

Camden Courier Post, New Jersey (3/8/66)

*1966: Weslow & Marnee Morris in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (photo: Martha Swope)*

*1967: Weslow & Leslie Ruchala in Don Quixote (photo: Martha Swope)*

In the mid 1960’s, Weslow began cultivating a side career as a masseur, working on fellow ballet dancers including Alicia Alonso and Edward Villella, who credited Weslow’s massages with extending his career by several years. Weslow makes a brief appearance as his masseur in the 1968 documentary Man Who Dances: Edward Villella.

In 1972, Weslow was dismissed from the New York City Ballet. He was 47 years-old and had been with the company for 14 years. In the book I Remember Balanchine, he recounts Balanchine telling him, “You’re too old. You have to leave company. We only want young, pretty dancers here. Old dancers – you see, when they get old they should just go away and die. This is what they should do, die. Because you’re not pretty. No youth… Besides, dear, you’re not going to commit suicide, are you?”

He replied; “To please you, no, I wouldn’t, Mr. Balanchine.”

“And that was that,” Weslow writes; “He didn’t say ‘You have been a good dancer’ or anything. It was just ‘Go away. Go away.’ I was close to tears. It was a terrible blow because I adored the company.”

Weslow’s massage work helped him to keep a connection to the dance world while easing into the next phase of his life, as he became known as “masseur to the stars.”

*1976: Weslow was 51 years old when he was photographed by Kenn Duncan*

*When former ballet dancer Anne Byrne (aka Mrs. Dustin Hoffman) was profiled in the New York Daily News, her masseur William Weslow was there to lend a hand or two. (1/22/78)*

When interviewed later in life, a reporter recalled “He seemed to love Maria Tallchief and had a poster of her on the wall. He also had kind words for Allegra Kent. He could be quite sarcastic, compassionate, cranky and deeply moving remembering certain people and other things.”

Allegra Kent called him “the funniest comedian ever” while also noting his empathy for others. He could also be quite brutal in his assessment of those he had worked with. Of Kirstein he said, “There was cruelty in Lincoln.” Jerome Robbins, he told a biographer “should have been cut up in small pieces and burned in a microwave somewhere because he was so horrible to me.”

While photographing male nudes for his 2011 book Shades of Love, photographer Demitris Yeros recounts how a naked octogenarian William Weslow would repeatedly interrupt the photo shoot, arms waving to chase the pigeons from his veranda.

William Weslow passed away at age 87 on January 29, 2013 in New York City. He was remembered in a Dance Magazine article as “A flamboyant personality with a sassy comeback for any remark directed his way…. (he) was as colorful off stage as on.”

’60s Girl Group Survivors

Recently, the Gr8terDays blog featured cast photos from TV shows throughout the golden age of television. Surviving cast members are pictured in color while those who have shuffled off this mortal coil are depicted in black and white. I found this method of categorizing to be a bit jarring and sad, but also informative.

The post begins; “I’ve always been the morbid type. Even as a kid, I would watch old movies and TV shows and zero in on, ‘Which of these people is still alive?'”

Well, I was that kid too, although I didn’t get that way without help. I remember watching The Wizard of Oz on television when I was 5 or 6 years old while my parents made casual conversation of tallying the deceased cast members. “Yeah, she overdosed. And he’s dead. That one’s probably dead too… I’m not sure about Jack Haley.”

This might explain why my last post was Zombie Divas, a piece of Halloween fiction that featured a reanimated Judy Garland and other dearly departed entertainers hanging around the narrator’s apartment.

I have written about my love of ’60s girl groups in the past. From 2008-2013 and again in 2024, I produce and host 60 Degrees with Brian Ferrari, a 2-hour weekly program on East Village Radio devoted to female singers of the 1960’s. I have great respect for these women and am very much enjoying the newly released book Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? An Oral History Of The ’60’s Girl Groups by Laura Flam and Emily Sieu Liebowitz.

With that said, here’s my list of surviving members of 30+ girl groups (primarily) of the 1960’s. They may be gone, but their music lives on.

Lead singer Peggy Santiglia and Phyllis “Jiggs” Allbut are the last original Angels. Besides Barbara “Bibbs” Allbut, first lead singer Linda Jansen and Bernadette Carroll have also passed on.

Darlene Love’s group The Blossoms started as The Dreamers in 1954. The evolving lineup went through many group names and members, with Fanita James as the one constant throughout. The 1964 lineup with Love, James and Jean King were regulars on the TV show *Shindig!* and continued until Darlene’s departure in 1975. Jean passed away in 1983, while Fanita died on Thanksgiving Day, 2023.

When Reather Dixon Turner died in 2014, co-lead singer Emma Pought Patron became the sole surviving member of The Bobbettes, which formed in East Harlem in 1955.

Seminal girl group The Chantels formed in the Bronx in 1957. Although they lost Jackie Landry to cancer in 1997, members of the group are still performing today.

Baby, That’s Me: The last member of The Cake is Barbara Morillo.

The Chordettes were of an earlier generation than the other girl groups, having formed as a folk group in the late 1940’s. They later shifted over to pop music with hits like “Mr. Sandman” and “Lollipop”. Carol Buschman, the last member from the group’s heydey, passed away on September 30, 2023 at age 96.

Chiffon Sylvia Peterson passed away in July, 2023. Barbara Lee had previously died in 1992. Lead singer Judy Craig still occasionally performs with her daughter and niece.

Original Crystals lead singer Barbara Alston passed away in 2018.

The Butterflys were a quartet with two former Crystals: Myrna Giraud and Mary Thomas along with lead singer Paulette Holland. All three are still in New York City… but where in the world is Carmen Santiago?

The original Cookies formed in 1954 and later morphed into the first incarnation of the Raelettes. They have all passed on, but the second lineup included Earl-Jean McCrea and Margaret Ross Williams, who are still with us. Margaret still heads a Cookies lineup and honors the earlier group in live shows with their song “In Paradise.”

Sole surviving Dixie Cup Barbara Hawkins keeps the group alive with current member Athelgra Neville, sister of The Neville Brothers.

The exciting Brenda Reid, lead singer of The Exciters, is the last surviving member of her group.

No pearly gates for these Flirtations: The group, formed in New York as The Gypsies in 1962, moved to the UK in the late 60’s. All three are still performing together, including Viola Billups, aka Pearly Gates.

Guitarist Carol McDonald (aka Shaw) passed away in 2007. In October 2023, the group was inducted into the New England Music Hall of Fame with the surviving members in attendance.

Honey Cone lead singer Edna Wright (sister of Darlene Love) passed away in September, 2020.

Trying to keep track of the many Ikettes is akin to herding cats, but this classic lineup – which became The Mirettes – featured Robbie Montgomery, Venetta Fields, and Jessie Smith, who died in February, 2021.

Bluebelle Sarah Dash passed away in September, 2021. The New York Times recently reported the ongoing health battles of Cindy Birdsong, who left the Bluebelles to join the Supremes in 1967.

Late 60’s Vandella Sandra Tilley succumbed to an aneurysm in 1982, but Martha Reeves and her other Vandellas are alive and well.

Katherine Anderson Schaffner, group spokesperson and the one constant member of The Marvelettes, passed away on September 20, 2023. The surviving members are now Juanita Cowart Motley, the first to leave the group in 1963, and Ann Bogan, who replaced original lead singer Gladys Horton in 1967.

When Murmaids lead singer Terry Fischer passed away in 2017 from Parkinson’s disease, her sister and fellow Murmaid Carol Fischer Morell called her “the heart and soul of the group.”

Sole surviving Orlon Stephen Caldwell was still active on the oldies circuit with replacement members until 2022. He passed away on October 1, 2025.

Middle Paris sister Sherrell has been the sole surviving sibling since the death of Allbeth in 2014. Youngest sister Priscilla passed away in 2004.

All three Pixies Three (as well as replacement member Bonnie Long-Walker) are still at the party.

Ruth Pointer is the oldest and last surviving member of The Pointer Sisters.

Reparata (Mary Aiese) had two sets of Delrons in the 1960’s. Carol Drobnicki succumbed to cancer at age 33 in 1980. Reparata passed away on 11/30/2024.

Cousin Nedra Talley Ross is the last Ronette.

The elegant Royalettes from Baltimore, Maryland lost their first member when Anita Ross Brooks passed away a few years ago.

The Shangri-Las: The Ganser twins have been gone for decades, but Mary Weiss passed away on January 19, 2024, leaving her sister Betty as the last surviving group member.

The Shirelles formed in 1957 and hailed from Passaic, New Jersey. Shirley Owens Alston Reeves has retired from performing, but Beverly Lee tours with her own Shirelles.

Besides Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard, early 4th Supreme Barbara Martin has also passed on. However, all of the 1970’s post-Diana Ross Supremes are still with us.

Cissy (mother of Whitney) Houston passed away at age 91 on 10/7/2024, leaving Estelle Brown as the sole surviving member of this legendary backing group.

Fayette Pinkney was one of the founding members of The Three Degrees, which was formed by producer Richard Barrett in 1963. She went solo in 1976 and passed away in 2009. Originally from Philadelphia but now based in the UK, members of the group are still touring.

The Toys were assembled in Jamaica, Queens in 1961. Lead singer Barbara Harris is the only one still performing, although the retired members often show up to support her at shows. All three still live in the Tri-state area.

At different times, Motown’s Velvelettes also featured Vandellas Betty Kelly and the late Sandra Tilley. Founding member Bertha Barbee McNeal passed away in December, 2022.

The Ad Libs were not a true girl group, but “The Boy From New York City” and their follow-up Blue Cat singles sure fit in the genre. Sadly, Mary Ann Thomas and the boys from Bayonne, New Jersey have all passed on.

The cast of the Phil Spector Christmas LP, released 60 years ago this holiday season.

Other books I highly recommend: John Clemente’s Girl Groups: Fabulous Females Who Rocked The World, which is cited as a reference source on anything related to the genre. Prior to that, Alan Betrock’s 1982 Girl Groups: Story Of A Sound and the 1983 documentary based on that book were the first attempts to tell their story.

Kenn Duncan After Dark

Kenn Duncan is widely considered to be one of the foremost dance photographers of the late 20th Century. In addition to his work as principal photographer for After Dark and Dance Magazine, his photos also appeared in Vogue, Time, Life, Newsweek and Harper’s Bazaar. From the mid-1960’s through the early 1980’s, he photographed nearly every major dance company in the world as well as many Broadway shows.

Born in New Jersey on September 22, 1928, Duncan began his career as a figure skater and then segued into dance. His career took another turn when he was sidelined with a broken foot and signed up for a six-week photography course at the local YMCA. Naturally he gravitated back to the dance world for photographic inspiration.

In addition to his dance photography, Duncan was well regarded for his nude photographs, with an emphasis on male subjects. His first two books, Nudes (1970) and More Nudes (1971) were favorably received for his “discreet and artistic arrangements of his subjects.”

After Dark was an edgy entertainment and culture-based magazine that sprang from the waning Ballroom Dance Magazine in 1968. In The Rise And Fall Of Gay Culture, Daniel Harris writes; “One of the strangest reincarnations in journalistic history… it was out of the ashes of a periodical devoted to such topics as waltzes, rumbas, and turkey trots that After Dark, an audacious mass-market experiment in gay eroticism, arose like a phoenix in all of its subversive splendor.”

Although After Dark was not officially a gay magazine, the publishers were certainly willing to cater to that audience, pushing the envelope on male nudity to a degree that is still not seen in mainstream US publications 50 years later.

Richard Thomas (1969)

Sal Mineo (1971)

Duncan photographed Bette Midler numerous times through the years, including three After Dark cover photos and the cover shot for her 1976 Live At Last LP.

Rudolph Nureyev (1971)

Mikhail Baryshnikov

In 1971, Kenn Duncan photographed singer Lou Christie for his Paint America Love LP.

Harvey Evans was photographed in the buff for the October, 1971 cover of After Dark to promote the television adaption of the musical Dames At Sea.

LaBelle (l-r) Nona Hendryx, Sarah Dash, Patti LaBelle photographed in 1972 shortly before their intergalactic makeover.

Tony award-winning Welsh actor/director Roger Rees in several undated photos.

Brad Davis (1981)

Maxwell Caulfield (1981)

After Dark shuttered in early 1983. The following year, Duncan published The Red Shoes, a photo book featuring celebrities wearing red shoes in a nod to both the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale as well as the ruby slippers of The Wizard of Oz. Among those featured were many familiar subjects of his earlier work, including (pictured below) Brad Davis, Bette Midler, Maxwell Caulfield, Eartha Kitt, Dick Cavett, Mikhail Baryshnikov, John Curry, Richard Thomas, Gregory Hines, and Treat Williams.

Duncan began work on a second Red Shoes book, but it remained unfinished, along with several other projects. He was just 57 years old when he died of AIDS complications at New York Hospital on July 27, 1986. In 2003, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts acquired 600,000 photos from Kenn Duncan’s estate. Many of these photos have been digitized and are now available for viewing online for free.

Tina Turner: 12+ Cover Songs You May Have Missed

It’s hard to believe that Tina Turner is gone. I remember feeling the same way after Prince died – I liked thinking that he was always out there, somewhere, working on music. Not that I was expecting new music from Tina – it was enough to see her pop up in occasional interviews as she enjoyed retirement in her Swiss castle.

What more can you say about the queen? So much is being written and discussed, I should just shut up and walk away. But…

With the exception of the song “Nutbush City Limits”, Tina is not remembered as a songwriter. But she did have a knack for choosing excellent material and putting her indelible stamp on it. After hearing Tina’s take on a song, you could be forgiven if you forget that “Proud Mary” was a Creedence Clearwater Revival tune, or that “Let’s Stay Together” is Al Green’s song. “I Can’t Stand The Rain” was a 1974 hit for Ann Peebles, and Bonnie Tyler had a minor hit with “Simply The Best” the year before Tina recorded it.

That said, there are some interesting covers that have flown under the radar or fallen through the cracks. Here are some of them.

UPDDATE: The New York Times published their own article on Tina’s covers the same day this was posted, but other than the Stones/Beatles/Led Zeppelin cuts, none of the tracks listed below were included.

1) Tina Sings Dusty Springfield: “Just A Little Lovin'” / “Every Day I Have To Cry” – Dusty Springfield’s version of the Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil song “Just A Little Lovin'” was the lead track from the classic 1969 Dusty In Memphis LP. Tina’s version is from her 1979 solo LP Love Explosion, which was not released in the U.S.

Tina Turner – “Just A Little Lovin'” (1979)

“Every Day I Have To Cry” was originally a minor hit for Steve Alaimo in 1962, and memorably covered by Dusty on her 1964 I Only Want To Be With You LP. Tina’s version is from the Phil Spector produced River Deep, Mountain High LP (1966).

Ike & Tina Turner – “Every Day I Have To Cry”

2) Tina Sings Led Zeppelin: “Whole Lotta Love” – This Led Zeppelin cover was released as a single from Tina’s second solo LP, 1975’s Acid Queen. The NY Times article on Tina’s cover songs describes this version as “disco-inflected” but also “slowed down.” To paraphrase Led Zep: It makes me wonder (what they were listening to.)

Tina Turner – “Whole Lotta Love” (1975)

3) Tina Sings Prince: “Let’s Pretend We’re Married” / “Baby I’m A Star” – Tina’s cover of “Let’s Pretend We’re Married” was recorded live in 1984 and featured as a B-side on different singles from the Private Dancer LP, depending on the territory.

Tina Turner – “Let’s Pretend We’re Married”

Tina’s version of “Baby I’m a Star” was omnipresent for a season in 2000, as she sang it in Target commercials while they were sponsoring her tour. It was also released on All That Glitters, a greatest hits CD only available at Target. And then… it was gone.

Tina Turner – “Baby I’m A Star”

4) Tina sings Linda Ronstadt: “Long Long Time” – Earlier this year, Linda Ronstadt’s definitive 1970 version of this Gary White song was introduced to a new generation via the HBO series The Last Of Us. Tina recorded her version in 1974 for her first solo LP, Tina Turns The Country On. Rolling Stone recently wrote about this forgotten gem. Although the LP was not a commercial success, it did garner Tina a Grammy nomination.

Tina Turner – “Long Long Time”

5) Tina Sings Marvin Gaye: “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” – There are a few versions of Tina singing Marvin Gaye’s classic Motown hit. The song was often part of her live repertoire. This live version from the Ike & Tina Turner Review is circa 1970:

Ike & Tina Turner Review – “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”

Thirty years later, Tina recorded a dance version of the song for her Twenty Four Seven LP. Unfortunately the song was pulled from the final release of the album:

Tina Turner – “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”

Also – just for funzies, here’s Tina singing with Marvin Gaye on Shindig! March 25, 1965 doing a medley of “Money (That’s What I Want)” and “I’ll Be Doggone.”

Tina Turner & Marvin Gaye “Money (That’s What I Want)” / “I’ll Be Doggone”

6) Tina Sings Stevie Wonder: “Living For The City” / “Higher Ground” – These two Stevie Wonder tracks from his classic 1973 Innervisions LP were covered the following year by Ike & Tina on their Sweet Rhode Island Red LP. The tracks later turned up on several compilations as the material from this period was often repackaged and re-released.

Ike & Tina Turner – “Living For The City”

Ike & Tina Turner – “Higher Ground”

7) Tina Sings Etta James: “All I Could Do Was Cry” – Motown founder Berry Gordy was a co-writer on this song, which was written for Etta James in 1960. Ike & Tina included their version on the Live! The Ike & Tina Turner Show LP (1964). Tina’s 4-minute monologue in the middle of the song is epic, recounting the wedding of the man she loves as he marries someone else, building to a crescendo with “their friends throwing rice all over their heads.” This overlooked camp classic was later featured on the 2007 CD A Date With John Waters.

Ike & Tina Turner – “All I Could Do Was Cry”

8) Tina Sings Elton John: “Philadelphia Freedom” – This Ike & Tina Turner track was recorded in the mid-1970’s, just before Tina left. Ike later included it on his 1980 LP The Edge and on a 1984 Tina Turner EP titled Mini, among other repackages of their 70’s output.

Tina Turner – “Philadelphia Freedom”

9) Tina Does Disco: “Shame, Shame, Shame” – Like “Philadelphia Freedom,” this cover of the 1975 dance hit for Shirley & Co. was featured on Ike’s The Edge LP, Tina’s Mini EP, and numerous other budget collections.

Tina Turner – “Shame, Shame, Shame”

She also memorably performed the song with Cher on her variety show in 1975:

Cher & Tina Turner – “Shame, Shame, Shame”

10) Tina Sings The Temptations: “Ball of Confusion”– Tina’s version of “Ball Of Confusion” was the gateway to the second (or third?) act of her career. Recorded with B.E.F., aka British Electric Foundation for their 1982 album Music of Quality and Distinction Volume One, the song became a top 5 hit in Norway. Capital Records took notice and signed her to the label. The resulting LP was Private Dancer, and the rest is history.

B.E.F. featuring Tina Turner – “Ball Of Confusion”

11) Tina Sings The Rolling Stones: “Honky Tonk Woman” / “Under My Thumb” / “Let’s Spend The Night Together” – Well of course Tina covered The Stones. She taught moves to Jagger. Tina & Mick were always joining each other onstage, and although she never recorded proper versions of “Jumping Jack Flash” or “It’s Only Rock And Roll‘, they were frequently on her concert setlists.

Ike & Tina’s studio version of “Honky Tonk Woman” was featured on their 1970 LP Come Together, and was also the b-side to the single of the title track:

Ike & Tina Turner – “Honky Tonk Woman”

“Under My Thumb” – A track from the 1975 Acid Queen LP:

Tina Turner – “Under My Thumb”

“Let’s Spend The Night Together” – Also from her1975 Acid Queen LP:

Tina Turner – “Let’s Spend The Night Together”

12) Tina Sings The Beatles: “Help!” / “Something” / “Get Back” / “Come Together” – Although not as closely associated with The Beatles as with the Rolling Stones, Tina covered several of their songs through the years. Her ballad version of “Help!” was on the international edition of the Private Dancer LP, but not the U.S. version.

Tina Turner – “Help!”

Tina’s version of “Something”:

Tina Turner – “Something”

Ike & Tina perform “Get Back” on Beat Club in the UK. The song was included on their 1970 Workin’ Together LP and released as a single in Europe.

Ike & Tina Turner – “Get Back”

“Come Together” was the title track from Ike & Tina’s 1970 LP. The single also featured their version of the Stones’ “Honky Tonk Woman” as the b-side.

Ike & Tina Turner – “Come Together”

Here’s a Spotify playlist of the available songs above as well as many other covers:

The Yale Posture Photos: Bill Hinnant

Up until recent years, the fabled Ivy League nude posture photos have been written about but seldom seen. Starting in the mid-1930’s and continuing on until the 1970’s, incoming Ivy League University students were photographed fully nude in order to gauge their posture, detect scoliosis, and address other correctable body issues while simultaneously inflicting emotional scarring on the participants. Talk show host Dick Cavett joked about it in his early stand-up routines:

“Some guys hated it… some seemed to enjoy it. One guy tried to go through twice… one guy fainted… one guy tried to buy his pictures… and one guy tried to get his retouched.”

50 years later, he penned a New York Times Op Ed piece with a much darker view of the experience.

In recent years, the posture photos from Yale have garnered the most press, with tongues wagging at the possibilities of seeing our country’s best and brightest in the buff. The pics were so rare that most articles on the subject did not actually feature any of the images, opting instead to use medical textbook illustrations or military posture photos.

Since 2020, a steady stream of posture photos featuring male freshman Yalies from 1937-1960 have sold on eBay. It was really only a matter of time before some familiar faces began to pop up. I posted about writer Calvin Trillin‘s photo, which went for a little over $100, while the pic of late actor James Franciscus pulled in $1,225.

These pics now regularly sell for close to $1,000 each. Earlier this month, actor Bill Hinnant’s photo went for a whopping $1,600.

Chalk one up to eBay for their ever-changing goalposts of propriety. When James Franciscus’ Yale photo went up for auction in 2021, full nudity was prohibited in auction photos. What we were left with was a modesty strip applied by the seller to prevent us from viewing the full Franciscus. Now eBay requires that auctions selling nude photos actually show the goods – to insure that the subject isn’t too…erm… excited to be there. Dean Martin’s dong was covered with a post-it, but now it’s ok to see Bill’s Hinnant:

Hinnant was still known by his birth name of John F. Hinnant, Jr. when he arrived at Yale in the Fall of 1953. Originally from Chincoteague Island, Virginia, he had spent two summers as an apprentice at Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine. He made his professional debut there playing Barbara Cook’s son in Carousel. He also appeared in Life With Mother starring the legendary Billie (Glinda the Good Witch) Burke.

Following his sophomore year, Bill departed Yale when he won the role of Lt. Cover in the original cast of the comedy No Time For Sergeants starring Andy Griffith. After a year and a half on Broadway, Hinnant returned to Yale to complete his degree alongside his younger brother, Skip, who was also an actor.

In 1957, Bill Hinnant co-starred with former Yale classmate James Franciscus in the noir film Four Boys And A Gun:

Standing just 5’2″, his stature was usually noted in press articles. “Pintsized blond Hinnant has a full-sized talent!” crowed a 1965 Variety review.

Most of his notices were similar to Variety’s take on the 1963 off-Broadway musical Put It In Writing: “Far from memorable but featuring good work by Bill Hinnant.” This was a theme throughout his career, as he received favorable reviews in forgotten musicals that would close on the road (Maltby & Shire’s Love Match), on opening night (The American Hamburger League, Frank Merriwell), or after a handful of performances (All Kinds Of Giants, God Bless Coney). He guested on television shows ranging from Route 66 and Naked City to sitcoms like Pete & Gladys and Karen Valentine’s self-titled show.

He found his defining role in 1967 when he was cast as Snoopy in the original production of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown. The cast included Gary “Radar” Burghoff in the title role, Bob Balaban as Linus and his younger brother Skip Hinnant playing Schroeder. Bill’s scene-stealing Snoopy is still considered to be the definitive interpretation of the role. His performance on the original cast recording is a blueprint for anyone tackling the part. He was awarded a Drama Desk Award for his performance later that year.

In 1969, Hinnant appeared in the film A Nice Girl Like Me with Barbara Ferris:

After a successful run with Charlie Brown, he was still plagued with subpar material- a fact that didn’t go unnoticed by critics:

Even when the material was up to snuff, there were other issues to contend with:

Hinnant reprised his role as Snoopy in a 1973 television adaption of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown. This cast featured Wendell Burton as Charlie Brown and My Three Sons actor Barry Livingston as Linus.

Unfortunately The Bill Hinnant Story does not have a happy ending. On February 17th, 1978, Hinnant drowned while vacationing in the Dominican Republic. He was just 42 years old. The Record noted that “the beige-haired, digest-sized and personable bachelor” was very active in charities for underprivileged children and had adopted several worldwide through the Foster Parents Plan.

Julius: The Bar That Never Changes Is Officially A Historic Landmark

I recently posted a review of Bette Midler’s Thighs and Whispers LP from the February 1980 Blue Boy Magazine. We are revisiting the same issue of the magazine with a profile of Julius, the oldest continuously operating gay bar in New York City.

In April of 1966 – three years before the Stonewall Riots – a protest took place at Julius’s that became known as the “Sip-In.” This action established the rights of gay people to be served in licensed premises in New York and paved the way for gay establishments to obtain state liquor licenses.

The article below also recounts an earlier lesser-known challenge to the bar’s liquor license alleging that the owners “permitted the premise to become disorderly” by permitting homosexuals to “remain on the premises and conduct themselves in an offensive and indecent manner…” Apparently a patron had propositioned a plainclothed police officer. The courts ultimately decided that the charge was not supported by substantial evidence.

In 2016, Julius was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and on December 6th, 2022 the bar was officially recognized by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.

The article below states that the bar opened before 1860, although the wikipedia page notes different sources claiming 1864 or 1867. In any case, it’s ancient, but it did not gain its gay reputation until the 1950’s.

Some highlights from the piece below:

“The typical Julius’s person is almost always a doctor/lawyer type, though he may well be unemployed. He generally drinks too much – too early and too many.”

“The decor… is High Dirt.”

…and the hamburgers are still legendary.