Pop Culture – Page 2 – Brian Ferrari's Blog

Gay Porn Stars We Lost in 2024

In August of 2020, porn star Koldo Goran tweeted about three fellow performers who had recently died. Goran’s tweet was the only public notice that one of them, Dani Rivera, had been murdered. “I realize nobody talks about it, we are unprotected and forgotten;” Goran tweeted “We are humans, people, enough of contempt.”

Most gay news outlets choose to ignore the passing of all but the biggest names in the adult film industry. Porn companies also seem reluctant to broadcast the death of a performer who is still on their roster, forever young and willing in their website content. An obit is a real boner killer, ya know? Why jeopardize the profit margin?

Additionally, performers who abandon their porn personas and return to life under their real names often pass away unnoticed by former employers and scene partners.

As in previous years, there is a lack of people of color on the list. Why? Is it that few have passed on or that they haven’t been reported yet? For this reason – and due to continued interest from fans – there are ongoing updates to the lists of porn star passings in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. If there’s someone we missed, let us know.

We remember those that were lost in 2024 to prove Koldo Goran wrong – they have not been forgotten.

1) Bo Dixon aka Thom Austin, 62, died in his sleep on February 7, 2024, according to his partner Brad. Dixon was active in films from 2005 to 2008, working for Colt Studios and Hot House Entertainment. According to Queer World News And Life, he left the porn industry “to become a successful body builder, personal trainer and quintessential daddy.”

2) Cole Claire, aka Tristen Wayne Evans had been battling advanced renal disease for two years. In February, the 27 year-old posted on social media that he had decided to stop treatment and enter hospice care. He passed away a few days later on February 22, 2024.

Claire was 19 years old in 2016 when he began working in the adult film industry. The popular model went on to appear in approximately 50 scenes for Helix, Boy Crush and Cockyboys.

3) Rylan Shaw (aka Garret Crenshaw) passed away on February 25, 2024 at the age of 39. Earlier in the month, he announced on social media that he had been battling cancer, stating “I’m not going into details but probably not going to end on a good note.”

The Indiana native appeared in over a dozen scenes at Sean Cody in 2008-2009. After a three year hiatus, he resumed work with Falcon, Men, Raging Stallion, Dominic Ford, Next Door Studios and other outlets. Rylan worked as a bartender in Chicago after he retired from the industry. In 2021 he posted “13 years ago my first vid came out. I ain’t ashamed of it one bit, & I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

4) Evan Mercy was in a motorcycle accident and died from his injuries on May 25, 2024. Originally from Paris, Kentucky, the bisexual performer appeared in approximately 30 scenes from 2012-2014, working for Baitbuddies, All Worlds, Falcon and Dominic Ford, among other studios.

5) Grant Michaels, aka Skylar Hawks, was born on September 6, 1969 and grew up in Zimbabwe, South Africa. He was first seen in the adult film industry in 2004 around the age of 35 and went on to appear in over 125 straight porn films. He also filmed for Colt Studios as Skyler Hawks and on Straight Guys For Gay Eyes. He passed away at age 54 from a “heart attack” on July 19, 2024. His brother is fellow adult film performer Justin Magnum.

6) Alan Marcelo might win the award for Most Performer Aliases. Besides the various spellings of Allan Marcello, Allan Marcelo, Alan Marcello, Allan Marecello, Allen Marcelo and Allen Marcello, he was also billed as Adrian, D’Angelo, Jason, Leonardo, Romeo, Caetano, Caettanno, Caitano and good ole Professor Allan. In any case, he was born in Brazil on February 7, 1983 and began working in gay, trans and straight films when he was 21 years old. He appeared in over 300 titles before retiring in 2012. That said, he does still have an active website with paid content.

The bio on his website states that he is “currently backpacking through Asia with a few friends.” The IAFD reported that he died in an accident on July 28, 2024 at the age of 41.

7) Mike Hollister, aka Michael Zook was killed in a motorcycle accident in Murfreesboro, Tennessee on Aug 10, 2024. He was 28 years old. Born on October 17, 1995 in Baltimore, Maryland, Hollister appeared in 4 popular scenes for Active Duty in 2016. He went on to work as director of sales for a software company. His obituary states “he touched the lives of everyone he met.”

8) Mars Barcelona, aka Mars Gymburger, aka Igor was a Russian-born model based in Spain who appeared in over 150 scenes for Raw Fuck Club, Lucas Entertainment, Kristen Bjorn, TimTales, Fuckermate and other companies from 2020-2024. He also created content for several fan subscription websites. He passed away on September 26, 2024 – one month before his 40th birthday.

9) Giovanni Rosa, aka Michael Milani died of an overdose on October 12, 2024. The 33 year old, originally from Maryland, also lived in Dallas before moving to South Florida about five years ago. Milani was described by a friend as “vibrant and high-energy, with a ‘no bullshit’ attitude.” He appeared in a dozen films between 2019-2020 for Baitbuddies, Pride Studios, Badpuppy, and Man Royale. In addition to his film work, he was also a party promoter and manager.

10) Tate Daniels, aka Trevor, overdosed in Wilton Manor, Florida just two weeks after Giovanni. Their combined memorial was described as an “intervention disguised as a memorial,” offering help to those in the community with substance abuse issues.

30 year-old Tate was relatively new to the industry, with some high profile OnlyFans collaborations under his belt and work with RawFuckClub. He was also photographed by Luke Cruz and Covetimage.

11) Mr. Saukei, aka Mr. Sauki, Mr. Saki or simply Saukei was born Searcy Lee Allen III on December 12, 1982 in Oklahoma. Between 2004-2013, he appeared in dozens of films for Bacchus, Flavaworks, Pitbull and other companies. He was nominated for a 2009 Blatino Award as Best Bottom. He was 41 years old when he passed away in Tulsa, OK on October 14, 2024.

12) Apollo Moon, a transmasc adult content creator known to friends and family as Forest Harader, died in Los Angeles on December 1, 2024, his loved ones confirmed to Them. He was 26 years old and had been on life support for several days. Over the past two years, he appeared in scenes for Brazzers, Grooby and Manyvids.

On social media, friends remembered him as a trailblazer and a “kind and beautiful force” for the world.

13) FitRick81 aka Fitwolf81 aka Rick Araya was active on OnlyFans since 2022 and also appeared in scenes for RawFuckClub. Born June 26, 1981 in Costa Rica, he was living in Miami when he passed away at age 42 on January 20, 2024.

14) Justin Busiere, aka Clayton, was a model and professional bodybuilder who worked with Fratmen, AllAmericanGuys, and MyFriendsFeet, as well as OnlyFans. According to the IAFD website, he committed suicide on Christmas Day, 2024. He was 33 years old.

One of his last social media posts was a quote from Dr. Seuss: “Remember me and smile, for it’s better to forget than to remember me and cry.”

15) Brad Phillips, aka Steven Casavant was born in Glendale, California on February 6, 1955. While in high school, he developed an interest in fitness and began working out. He later taught aerobics for 10 years.

His first film appearance was in Buckshot’s The Company You Keep (1984), a flip scene with Matt Ramsey, aka Peter North. Phillips went on to appear in over 50 movies for Falcon, Surge, HIS, Vivid and Fox Studios, to name a few. Through much of his career, his boyfriend and frequent co-star was Butch Taylor.

In 1987, gay Trekkies were pleasantly surprised to see an uncredited Brad Phillips aboard the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation. He appeared in 10 episodes of the first season.

After relocating to San Francisco in 1991, Phillips suffered from facial disfigurement due to a rare disease. This was an especially cruel fate for a model and magazine coverboy. He shifted into a new phase, donning an eye patch and adopting the persona of DJ Pirate Steve, spinning throughout the city’s club and party circuit. He also worked as a fitness trainer and masseuse.

According to his partner of 26 years, Phillips died while taking a bath in their San Francisco home on March 13, 2024. He was 69 years old.

16) Rex was a legendary gay erotic artist and illustrator whose work was closely inspired by Tom of Finland. Rex’s depictions of gay fetish and leather scenes in turn influenced artists like Robert Mapplethorpe. His iconic illustrations were omnipresent in gay bars through the 1970’s and 80’s and prominently featured in Drummer magazine.

The reclusive artist was rarely photographed. His real name and age are unknown, although Jack Fritscher’s research ages Rex at 81 years old when he died. Many assumed the artist had passed away years before his death was announced by the Bob Mizer Foundation in late March.

Dusting Off The Holiday Favorites (2024)

I know I am not alone when I say that I take comfort in the annual repetition of the holidays: revisiting holiday-themed music, films, television shows… and now internet posts. Dave Holmes’ account of Patti LaBelle’s disastrous performance at the 1996 National Christmas Tree lighting is worth an annual revisit. Trust me.

Not to get meta or anything, but the post you are currently reading has been reworked and updated each year since 2020.

While we’re mining the past and dusting off our chestnuts, here’s the intro to the 1999 holiday episode of Bri-Guy’s Media Surf, an NYC Public Access show that featured yours truly lip-synching a little Esquivel:

Whenever the song pops up on my holiday playlist, I still do this.

I find it interesting that we immerse ourselves in certain pop culture favorites for exactly 6 weeks of the year and then pack them up in mothballs with the ornaments until next year. I mean, Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” is currently at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Burl Ives, Bobby Helms and Andy Williams are also in the top 10. Are any of them on your 4th of July playlist? They aren’t on mine.

*Gabe Pressman (left) with Marilyn Monroe (1956)*

I used to look forward to the annual Christmas Eve tradition on NBC New York’s evening news when reporter Gabe Pressman would read “Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus.” I taped it in 2011, knowing that the tradition wouldn’t last forever. The self-described “little Jewish kid from the Bronx” was 87 years old at the time and continued to work at NBC until his death at age 93.

NBC New York reporter Gabe Pressman’s annual segment on Virginia O’Hanlon’s 1897 letter to the New York Sun Newspaper.

In keeping with this revisit, my other blog posts of Christmas past are back to haunt you like A Christmas Carol, Mr. Scrooge:

Last year I posted Your Guide To Gay Disposable Holiday Movies, highlighting the 10 gayest Lifetime/Hallmark/Netflix movies of the past few years:

Copyright issues kept my 60 Degrees Girl Group Christmas playlists out of commission but now they are back! They have been running each week on the resurrected East Village Radio all month. Click here for streaming:
12/1/2024 – from 2008
12/8/2024 – from 2009
12/15/2024 – from 2012

And here’s a new one:

There’s a new Motown Christmas Special this year that has already aired in prime time several times this month, featuring Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, Martha Reeves and The Temptations. Here is my take on the 1987 Motown Christmas Special – which featured very few Motown acts.

Here are 10 Things You May Not Know About March of The Wooden Soldiers, the Laurel & Hardy classic holiday film.

My Canine Christmas Tail is a true story about my dog Sunshine, a basset hound with an appetite for tinsel.

Have you watched Christmas In Connecticut yet this year? How about that delivery woman? This year I was able to update my 2019 post, identifying Daisy Bufford as the actress who played the unbilled role.

The original version of “¿Dónde Está Santa Claus?” is featured in “Llamacita,” this year’s Amazon Prime holiday commercial. Here’s a little backstory on the song & Augie Rios, who sang the original version.

Also – would you like to hear my Spotify holiday playlist?

Way back in 2002, when Limewire was a thing and people listened to music on silvery discs, I started creating Christmas CD mixes that I would mail out or give to people. These were received with a heartwarming combination of feigned delight, veiled indifference and deafening silence. None of these CDs had a pressing of more than 20 copies. I’d like to call them “much sought after” – but no, that’s not really the case, although every once in a while, someone really got into them and would ask for copies of other volumes.

And so, I’m offering this simple playlist…. for kids from 1 to 92. Unfortunately some of the tracks on these dozen CDs are not on Spotify, but I keep adding songs that would be on the current CD volume… if there was one. And now the playlist is over 17 hours of holiday tunes. I recommend listening on shuffle – there’s something to irritate everyone. Enjoy!

Here’s one more nugget to stuff in your stocking: This vid went viral in 2011. Choreographed and performed by Alex Karigan & Zac Hammer of the Amy Marshall Dance Company, it was filmed in one continuous take at the New 42nd St. Dance Studios. There’s something infectious about it: the joy, the corniness, the celebratory queerness of it all. It makes me want to dust off my jazz shoes. Once a year.

Some Thanksgiving Treats For You (2024)

Ok – I admit it: I am one of those people who started playing Christmas music last week. Yesterday the Christmas lights went up. I don’t normally rush this, but this rotted post-election month has really done a job on my belief system. However, I am comfortable enough in my middle-aged fruitiness to freely quote Auntie Mame at you: We need a little Christmas. Now.

Baron von Munchausen is ready.

One of my favorite holiday CDs of recent years is Tracey Thorn’s Tinsel & Lights – a smart collection of original and non-traditional holiday-themed songs perfectly suited to the Everything But The Girl singer’s melancholy voice.

The lead track, Joy (written by Thorn) has been on repeat in my home every December since its 2012 release. When I first posted this in 2020, the song felt like it was tailor-made for that pandemic holiday season.

The opening lyric:
When someone very dear / calls you with the words “Everything’s all clear.” / That’s what you want to hear / but you know it might be different in the new year. / That’s why / That’s why / We hang the lights so high: Joy.

Now, in 2024 as we stare down the barrel of the gun that is the second Trump administration, it’s a different lyric that strikes a chord:

So light the winds of fire / and watch as the flames grow higher / we’ll gather up our fears / And face down all the coming years / All that they destroy / And in their face we throw our Joy.

Here are some other Thanksgiving-themed goodies I have previously posted:

When it comes to holiday music, unfortunately Thanksgiving is lost in the long shadow of Christmas. There’s a severe lack of Thanksgiving songs, aren’t there? All we’ve got is “Let’s Turkey Trot” by Little Eva, and even then it is not really about Thanksgiving at all. The song’s title refers to the Turkey Trot, a dance step popular back in the early 1900’s.

“Let’s Turkey Trot” was Eva Boyd’s third single, released in 1963 with the hopes of recapturing the #1 success of her debut platter, The Loco-Motion. It had a respectable showing on the charts, peaking at #20, although it should have been billed as Little Eva & The Cookies, as the backing group is as much a part of the success of the record as the lead. Group member Earl-Jean McCrea delivers solo lines echoing their own hits Chains & Don’t Say Nothing Bad About My Baby, which also featured Little Eva on background vocals.

Here’s an abbreviated performance by Little Eva on Shindig in 1965. Darlene Love and the Blossoms stand in for the Cookies in what must be one of the proudest moments of their career. Gobble Diddle It!

The Dollyrots also covered this track in 2014. Besides using footage of Little Eva’s Shindig performance throughout the video, they also namecheck “Little Eva back in ’63”:

Want some “Mashed Potatoes” with your “Turkey Trot?” Here’s Dee Dee Sharp with her own ode to a Thanksgiving staple / dance move:

Aaaaand some “Gravy” for your mashed potatoes:

Here are 10 Things You May Not Know About March of The Wooden Soldiers, the Laurel & Hardy classic holiday film that is required viewing on Thanksgiving morning.

On the darker side… one of the faux trailers from Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse is the hilariously spot-on Thanksgiving, directed by Eli Roth. It is entirely plausible that someone would have jumped on the bandwagon of grade-z holiday themed horror films that followed the success of Halloween. But this one is a fake. In 2023, Roth did put out a full movie version of Thanksgiving. The original trailer retains it’s own seedy charm:

During the Thanksgiving episode of SNL in 1997, Lilith Fair stand-up comic Cinder Calhoun (a recurring character played by Ana Gasteyer) & singer Sara McLachlan paid a visit to Norm MacDonald and the Weekend Update desk, singing the Thanksgiving classic “Basted In Blood.” It would not be nearly as funny if they didn’t sing it so well.

Unfortunately this segment seems to have fallen off the annual SNL Thanksgiving Eve prime time special.

In 2019, Ana Gasteyer released a holiday album: Sugar & Booze. Highly recommended!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Your Halloween 60’s Girl Group Playlist

It’s hard to believe that it has been 16 years since I put this Halloween show together for 60 Degrees wi Brian Ferrari, my weekly radio show focusing on “60’s chicks and girl groups – the hidden gems, cult favorites and unreleased obscurities of the decade.” The show ran for five years (2008-2013) on East Village Radio and has been back on the air since July, 2024. This Halloween episode was originally broadcast on October 27, 2008 and aired every Halloween for the duration of the run.

In this very special episode, we’ve got soul witches, rockabilly rabble-rousers, death discs, horror movie theme songs, science fiction sirens, girls driven to madness by love and more dead boyfriends than you can shake a broomstick at. Plus a whole lot more! As with every episode, the songs were interspersed with vintage commercials, sound effects and movie clips.

The show is available to stream HERE.

It is also available (with visuals and some minor alterations) in three segments on Youtube:

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Part 1:

Reparata & the Delrons – Panic
Babs Tino – Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde
Sparkle Moore – Skull & Crossbones
Wanda Jackson – Riot In Cellblock 9
Southern Culture On The Skids – Torture
France Gall – Frankenstein
The Crystals – Frankenstein Twist
Hayley Mills – Jimmy Bean
Claudine Clark – Walking Through A Cemetery
The Sham-ettes – Hey There Big Bad Wolf

Part 2:

Hayley Mills – Cranberry Bog
The Shangri-La’s – Give Us Your Blessing
The Satisfactions – Daddy You Just Gotta Let Him In
The Goodees – Condition Red
The Nu-Luvs – So Soft, So Warm (Dressed In Black)
The Whyte Boots (Lori Burton) – Nightmare
Glenda Collins – It’s Hard To Believe It
Judy Garland – Purple People Eater
The Kane Triplets – Theme From Mission Impossible
Tracy – Strange Love
Mikki Young – Who Killed Teddy Bear?
Patti Seymour – The Silencer
Josie Cotton – Maneaters (Get Off The Road)

Part 3:

Janie Jones – Witches Brew
Martha & The Vandellas – Mobile Lil The Dancing Witch
Bettye Lavette – Witchcraft In The Air
Erma Franklin – Abracadabra
Dusty Springfield – Spooky
Marie Applebee – The Boy Who Took My Heart (took my mind)
The Love Chain – The Love Chain
Peggy Lee – The Case of M.J.
Janie Jones – Psycho
The Martin Sisters – Mother Mother (I Feel Sick)
Julie Budd – All’s Quiet On West 23^rd St.
Gayle Haness – Johnny Ander
The Indigos – He’s Coming Home
Cass Elliott – The Costume Ball
Teacho & The Students – Chills & Fever
Dusty Springfield – Haunted

EVR in the NYT

East Village Radio had been back on the air for three months now – and that includes my weekly show, 60 Degrees with Brian Ferrari. On Sunday, September 29th, 2024 The New York Times posted an article about the station on the front page of their Metropolitan section.

60 Degrees is devoted to girl groups and female singers of the 1960’s, featuring hidden gems, cult favorites and unreleased obscurities. The show airs every Sunday morning from 8-10am EST, alternating new shows with old episodes from the original run (2008-2013). Episodes are available to stream any time, on demand for free here.

Here’s a recap of recent episodes – click on the date for streaming:

7/21/2024 – A tribute to Mary Weiss of The Shangri-Las, songs from film & television, Young Rascals covers, spotlight on Chess Records & selections from The Girls Scene CD Compilation.
7/28/2024 – From 2/2013, show #54: Sisters In The City (mostly NY), and songs recorded live on The Ed Sullivan Show.
8/4/2024 – Spotlight on Red Bird records, Mama Cass Elliot, Beatles covers, Ronnie Spector, Brit girls and soul sisters.
8/18/2024 – Selections from the Kiss N’ Tell CD Compilation, girl groups in the bubble gum zone, a folky 15 minutes and Stax soul sisters.
8/25/2024 – From 9/2008, show #13: Summer / surf songs, party drama, Beatles covers, and Motown rarities.
9/1/2024 – From 4/2011, show #40: Where The Girls Are LP compilation, Marvelettes tribute, and C’est Chic! French girls compilation.
9/8/2024 – From 9/2008, show #14: An assortment of The Cookies, soul sisters, Beatles covers, and songs about shoes.
9/15/2024 – Spotlight on Sue records, the British Bird Invasion, a folky 15 minutes, Beatles covers, and Motown.
9/22/2024 – From 11/2008, show #16: Wedding drama, Beatles covers, a folky 15 minutes, Girls In The Garage.
9/29/2024 – Dream Babies LP compilation, spotlight on Cameo/Parkway records, Brit girls, 50’s chicks in the 60’s, and Girls in the Garage.
10/6/2024 – Songs from John Waters’ Hairspray, peripheral Motown songs, Spector soundalikes, Beatles covers, Brit girls and Girls In The Garage.
10/13/2024 – A rebroadcast from 3/26/12: The Houston/Warwick Clan, Girls With Guitars, International Gals, Monkees Covers & Motown.
10/20/2024 – A rebroadcast from 4/21/08 featuring car songs, Dusty Springfield covers, NYC: A Mini-Musical, soul, Motown and more!
10/27/2024 – The 60 Degrees Halloween Show

Madame Spivy: Why Don’t You?

Ladies and Gentleman, it is time once again to revisit that late great dynamic lady of song, Madame Spivy LeVoe (1906-1971), also known simply as Spivy. A lesbian entertainer, nightclub owner and character actress, Spivy has been described as “The Female Noel Coward” – to which I add “…. if he had been born in Brooklyn as Bertha Levine.”

*Spivy photographed by Carl Van Vechten (1932)*

In case you missed them, here are the previous Madame Spivy posts:
T he Alley Cat
The Tarantella
Auntie’s Face
100% American Girls
A Tropical Fish
I Brought Culture to Buffalo In The 90’s
I Didn’t Do A Thing Last Night
I Love Town
Madame Spivy: Movies & Television
Madame Spivy on the Good Time Sallies Podcast

“Why Don’t You?” is the fifth side profiled here from her 1939 album Seven Gay Sophisticated Songs. Spivy is credited with composing the music, with lyrics by Everett Marcy, who also penned “I Brought Culture to Buffalo In The 90’s”.

Marcy had a few Broadway writing credits including New Faces of 1936. It was Marcy who wrote the oft-repeated line introduced in the show by Imogene Coca: “I must get out of these wet clothes and into a dry martini.”

The song “Why Don’t You?” refers to Diana Vreeland’s column of the same name in Harper’s Bazaar magazine. It was full of random “imaginative” suggestions such as “Why don’t you wash your blond child’s hair in dead champagne, as they do in France?”

Some of the notables of the day that are referenced in the song:

Vera Zorina – a ballerina, actress, and the second wife of George Balanchine.

Cecil Beaton – photographer, diarist, painter, interior designer, and an Oscar-winning costume designer.

Elsa Maxwell – a gossip columnist, radio personality, and professional hostess renowned for her high society parties.

“The Zerbes and Bebees” refers to the original paparazzi photographer Jerome Zerbe (1904-88) and syndicated society columnist Lucius Beebe (1902-1966). The two were a couple through the 1930’s.

Peggy Hopkins Joyce – an actress and socialite, notorious for her flamboyant lifestyle with numerous affairs, engagements and six marriages.

Clifton Webb – a character actor best known for his thinly veiled “sissy” supporting roles.

Why Don’t You?

Today when all the headlines full of red lines and bread lines confuse you
And the world seems bleak, don’t be blue.
In Harper’s they have a column, very smart and very solemn that will amuse you.
It asks you little questions to give you smart suggestions how you, too can reek with chic
like the most ultra-clique, and they call it “Why Don’t You?” It asks you…

Why don’t you have your ermine muff wired for sound and use it weekends as a concertina?
Why don’t you give a charity ball for the Princeton Club and raffle off Vera Zorina?

Why don’t you throw your mother an occasional bone?
Why don’t you try sleeping alone?
Why don’t you take the pretty blue check you won at bridge and kite it?
Why don’t you dip your head in brandy and light it?

Why don’t you try wearing gold sandals backwards just for the sheer agony of it?
Why don’t you send last year’s negligée to Cecil Beaton? He’d love it.
So they want you to try decorating your flat with bundles of hay…
Well they know what they can do with Harper’s, why don’t they?

Why don’t you try going to Elsa Maxwell’s parties as yourself for a change?
Why don’t you try wearing a hat that won’t make your husband look strange?
Why don’t you develop a bright smile by putting an electric bulb behind each tooth?
Why don’t you give a testimonial dinner for Hitler in a telephone booth?

Why don’t you get out of town before you come down with a compound case of heebie jeebies?
Why don’t you listen to the birds and bees instead of the Zerbes and Bebees?
So they want you to roll up your rugs and cover your floors with broccoli on the first warm day.
Well they know what they can do with Vogue too…. Why don’t they?

Why don’t you have a stag line composed of the ex-husbands of Peggy Hopkins Joyce?
Why don’t you cross breed carrier pigeons with parrots so they can deliver messages by voice?
Why don’t you try throwing Clifton Webb over your left shoulder and making a wish?
Why don’t you fill your guest’s finger bowls with invisible tropical fish?

Why don’t you try opening your eyes in the middle of a kiss?
Why don’t you cancel your subscriptions to magazines like this?
Why don’t you tear everything off your hat and stamp on it?
Why don’t you take out a homestead in Montana and go “camp” on it?

So they want you to promise to slap your own face two hundred times a day?
Well tell them you’ll have none of it.
Tell them you’re through with their “Things To Do” and they can all take their Harper’s and… love it.

Back To The Girl Zone: 60 Degrees Returns

I’m bursting with excitement to be able to share the news about something I have been working on for the past couple of months…

After a 10 year hiatus, East Village Radio is now officially back on the air. My show, 60 Degrees with Brian Ferrari ran on the station for 5 years – from 2008-2013. The 2-hour program, featuring female 60’s singers and girl groups, is now back with new episodes bi-weekly, with repeated classic episodes on the opposite week. Besides the Sunday morning, 8-10am broadcast, archives of the show will be available for streaming on demand, any time, for free.

Here’s a little backstory: I had a late night public access television program called Bri-Guy’s Media Surf that aired in New York City from 1997-2007. Based on the music clips I played on that show, I was approached to do a spot on the early low-frequency broadcast version of East Village Radio. The signal was so weak that I couldn’t receive it in my apartment three blocks north of the station. Given the workload of producing the TV show, I didn’t have the bandwidth to take on a two-hour radio program, so I politely declined. After Media Surf wrapped in late 2007, I was offered a radio spot again. By this time, the station had transitioned into internet streaming and now had a worldwide audience. This time I said “Yes.”

From its inception, the concept of 60 Degrees was that it existed in an alternate reality where women ruled the pop charts throughout the 1960’s, a decade that I consider to be the most transitional and eclectic in the history of popular music. The all-female playlist is in direct contrast to radio programmers that only allow a certain number of female artists per hour. In the land of 60 Degrees, it’s all women, all the time. The men remain in the shadows, only stepping forward for the occasional duet.

This is not to say that the male groups that ruled the charts are completely ignored here. Female artists doing Beatles or Rolling Stones covers and tribute or answer songs are often featured. Besides, you can’t have a 60’s girl group playlist without the specter of Phil Spector looming large.

Another rule for 60 Degrees is that it is not a re-hash of the WCBS-FM “We play your favorite oldies” format. If a 60’s hit is in rotation on an oldies station, you won’t hear it here unless it’s live version, an alternate take, or sung in a foreign language.

Other ingredients that add to 60 Degrees’ unique flavor are the vintage commercials and sound clips from various movies and TV shows peppered throughout each 2 hour episode. These add a camp element to the proceedings and act as an acknowledgement of pop culture’s shift over the past 60 years.

60 Degrees usually concludes each episode with a modern cover or a remix of a 60’s tune to transition the listener back to the current day, in preparation for the next show on the East Village Radio schedule.

*Exciters lead singer Brenda Reid was a guest on the show in 2012.*

I did my first (and only) live show in the First Avenue storefront booth on January 17, 2008. Broadcasting live at street level by myself was a slightly terrifying prospect. The first show went without interruption but at some point I was bound to get a random loon trying to get into the booth while I’m spinning some Shirelles. And it wasn’t like I was going to get a sidewalk crowd like the higher profile prime time DJs. Besides, the variety of the content meant that I was dealing with wildly different sound levels and other audio issues over approximately 75 different clips per episode. Pre-taping allowed for a more seamless, fast-paced show, which was then broadcast in the morning hours before the DJ booth was open.

After 5 years on the air, I felt that the show had run it’s course and I hung up my headphones. I continued on my own personal quest of discovering new/old music, focusing on early soul singers and the sister groups of the 1940’s… then the 1930’s… until one day I found myself listening to 78 records on my 1916 RCA crank victrola. Having gone about as far as I could go, I thew it into reverse once again.

And so we’re back. From outer space. And so is 60 Degrees. I hope you will come along for the ride. It’s kinda cool

Bringing 60 Degrees back to East Village Radio, with the help of Jean & The Statesides.

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.”

*Colt Studios photo of Kurt Bieber with 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.

Debbie At The World (1989)

Here comes the 21st century… it’s gonna be much better for a girl like me…
-Deborah Harry, “I Want That Man”

I recently came across the 2018 Interview magazine article “An Oral History of The World: the most iconic nightclub you never heard of”. This reminded me of my one and only trip to the legendary club when Deborah Harry played there in November, 1989.

Seven years after Blondie went on hiatus, “Debbie” become “Deborah” as she released her third solo album, Def Dumb and Blonde – an eclectic 15-track collection that most fans consider to be her best effort outside of the band. Although the album did not crack the US Billboard top 100, it reached the top 10 in the UK and other countries.

I got tickets to the November 11 show. This was the second of three sold out shows at the Lower East Side club. The guy I was seeing when the tickets went on sale was no longer in the picture by the time the show came around, so I ended up taking my older sister, Kari. She had been a Blondie fan a decade before – it was her cassette of Parallel Lines that we wore out.

We came up out of the F train at Houston Street and First Avenue and started heading east into Alphabet City, walking briskly past the homeless huddled around burning trashcans and assorted drug-induced shenanigans. Kari was holding onto my arm, talking a mile a minute – engrossed in a story that I hoped would keep her distracted for as long as possible. We were somewhere between Avenues A & B when she finally looked around, slowed a bit, gripped my arm tighter and said “Oh my god. Where are you taking me???”

“Almost there!” I said, although I wasn’t sure if we were.

I knew nothing about The World – a 16-and-over nightclub that payed little attention to underage drinking, a quaint complaint given the other activities that allegedly went on there. Housed in a crumbling former catering hall, it had that air of faded decadence prevalent in many East Village hangouts. It was as if the party continued on in the ruins of past generations…. clubs and galleries in the dilapidated haunts of German, Polish, and Ukranian immigrants, followed by another generation of hippies and poets, then punks and artists who had now come and gone. We were in the last months of the 1980’s and all that the decade had wrought was slipping into the past. But would Debbie, um, Deborah Harry?

There was an air of anticipation as to how this show would go: her first solo tour at age 44 – the same age as Tina Turner at the time of her Private Dancer success 5 years earlier. Given that Harry was back on her home turf – just a few blocks from CBGB’s – would she lean into her rock/punk roots? Surely this would not be a parade of greatest hits.

Still, it was a surprise when she quietly took to the stage along with her ever-present creative partner Chris Stein and opened her set with the jazzy Motown ballad “The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game.” This Marvelettes cover was the final song on Blondie’s 1982 LP The Hunter. It was an intriguing choice for an opening number, as if she & Stein were picking up right where Blondie left off.

And then the show shifted into gear: playing through a set heavy on Def Dumb & Blonde‘s edgier cuts while seamlessly mixing in Blondie album tracks like “Cautious Lip” & “Detroit 442”. The set wound down with “Brite Side,” her latest single which segued into a cover of The Velvet Underground’s “Waiting For The Man”.

For the encore, she took off her jacket and returned the stage in just a black bra. When presented with a bouquet of roses, she bit the head off of one and spit it back at the audience. She tore through a couple of conciliatory hits: “Call Me” & “One Way Or Another”, plus her minor solo hit “French Kissin’ In The USA”.

Here’s where memory gets tricky: I recall that she did a Ramones cover as her final song. In the years following this show, I saw The Go-Go’s and Kirsty MacColl both cover “I Wanna Be Sedated” as final encores at their concerts. Some mental wires got crossed and 30+ years later, I thought Harry sang it too. But thanks to the internet and her fanatic fans, I am reminded that the Ramones song she covered on this tour was “Pet Sematary,” the theme to the Stephen King movie that her old friends had released earlier that year.

Here’s a recording from The Roxy in LA on October 23, 1989 – two weeks prior to The World shows in NYC:

My sister had gone off during the encore to find a bathroom. Towards the end of this song, she reappeared, white as a ghost, saying “Ohmygod ohmygod you have to help me! I have to pee SO bad and there’s only ONE bathroom for everyone! NO STALLS. I asked someone if it was the ladies room and she said ‘Men, women… what’s the difference?’ ohmygod you have to help me!”

Downstairs in the bathroom, I stood with my back to her, holding my full-length wool coat open like some sort of reverse-flasher trying to block her from the view of everyone except the woman sitting on the toilet right next to her having a conversation with her friend. I was trying not to laugh too hard as my sister kept muttering behind me “ohmygod ohmygod unbelievable… men, women, what’s the difference… unbelievable….”

On our way out, I poked my head into the lounge, where futuristic electronic music played. I could only make out strange silhouettes in the dim colored lights of the smoky room. It seemed like a cross between the Creature Cantina and something out of The Jetsons.

After a quick t-shirt purchase at the merch booth, we were back on the street. Kari was holding on to my arm as we headed down East Second Street. A panhandler approached and said “Now there’s an attractive couple!” My sister let out a sustained “Eeew” which I punctuated with “She’s my SISTER.”

“My apologies.” He responded quickly and moved on to the second half of his spiel as he walked alongside us. “I’m having a rough time right now. If you could reach down into your pockets and help me out with anything, anything at all, I would really appreciate it.”

Kari, absentmindedly reached down into her pocket and presented him with a matchbook. He was not amused.

We turned on to Avenue A as he stood there screaming after us “Fuck you bitch! Fuck you! I will fucking BURN you bitch!”

She didn’t seem to hear him. Shaking her head, she said, “Oh my god. That bathroom.”

It would be another year and a half before I relocated to the neighborhood. But The World ended just two weeks before I got there: On June 27, 1991 co-owner Steven Venizelos – described by the New York Times as “a corpulent man with a penchant for jewelry” – was found murdered on the balcony of the club. He was shot three times at close range. There were no signs of robbery and the case went unsolved. In keeping with the East Village trend, the building was demolished to make way for “luxury” apartments.

And Debbie? She’s still going strong. As she sang in “I Want That Man,” Here comes the 21st Century… it’s gonna be much better for a girl like me… the reunited Blondie brought in the new millennium with “Maria,” a #1 hit in the UK. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

Her latest collaboration is with The Dandy Warhols – “I Will Never Stop Loving You.”

Don Herron’s Tub Shots Part IV: Christopher Street (1980)

Back in 2018, I posted two collections of artist/photographer Don Herron’s Tub Shots, a series of images featuring the famous and near-famous posing in their bathtubs. This coincided with an exhibition of 65 photographs at the Daniel Coon ey Gallery here in NYC. The blog posts (Pt. 1 and Pt. II) still garner a considerable amount of traffic, as well as a third collection posted 2 years ago. Now we have a fourth selection of the collection: a Christopher Street magazine feature from April, 1980 and recollections from the subjects.

The April, 1980 issue of Christopher Street, with football player David Kopay sharing the cover with a very nice Tom of Finland illustration.

Among those featured in the Christopher Street layout was artist Mel Odom, who shared memories of the experience in Pt.1.

Ronald Chase is a San Francisco-based artist, photographer, educator, independent filmmaker and opera designer.

Demetrie Kabbaz (1944-2014) was a painter known for his highly stylized portraits of Marilyn Monroe and other iconics of pop culture.

The article mentions a 1981 exhibit at Jehu gallery in San Francisco. The tub shot of gallery owner Ron Jehu (1937-2007) is also included alongside actress Mink Stole and popular San Francisco DJ Sheila Rene (1939-1998).

Writer Felice Picano: “Don came to my duplex at 317 E 11th Street, now owned by Annie Leibovitz and he was a sweet man, so he climbed onto the back of the bathtub where he was cramped but also supported by two walls and he shot a bunch of photos.

“He then asked if I could recommend others to shoot, and I sent him to either George Stavrinos or to Victor Hugo (Halston’s lover). By the time Don was done, he had gotten a pretty full and accurate portrait of Bohemia In New York City in the period. And, as I wrote in my book Art & Sex in Greenwich Village, Don captured what was probably the last unified downtown NYC bohemian community.”

Peter Hujar (1934-1987) was a photographer primarily known for his portraiture. His photo is featured on the same page as fellow photographer Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989). Annie Leibovitz would later recall, “Peter and I shared a distaste for Robert. One of the reasons is that Peter thought Robert was silly, you know, which he was. And he thought that Robert copied him in certain ways, which of course he did.”

Belle de Jour was New York’s most notorious dominatrix in the 1970’s and 1980’s. She ran a successful commercial dungeon and a weekly S&M theatre in her midtown loft. Submissive men, suburban couples, and thrill seekers were known to fill the bleachers to watch Belle and her entourage perform.

Don Herron‘s own Tubshot can be seen in this ad for a 1982 gallery showing:

Sur Rodney Sur recounts his tub shot: “We used the bathroom of Cynthia Chiarulli’s loft for the photo shoot, which was styled by Suzan Silver, a jewelry maker who made her wares from mirrored plastics she purchased on Canal Street. She provided the lipstick and sprayed the sides of my hair silver.

“I used the photo for the cover of my first book of poems… I organized an exhibition of Donald’s prints at the Tribeca club Stilwende and also showcased Suzan’s jewelry. I also screened a new version of my TV talk show – the All New Sur Rodney Sur Show. Sometime after the event I produced a version of my talk show where I interviewed Holly Woodlawn in a bubble bath for a photo shoot with Donald in a television studio in Chelsea.”

Valery Oisteanu: “I remember being introduced to Don by Timothy Greenfield and Don was part of the East Village Arts scene. He was very friendly. I was writing a monthly column at that time in Cover Arts magazine called ‘The Wall Patrol’ about art galleries…. Don took a photo of me naked wearing a Mylar face mask and there are also butt plugs as a humorous prop.”

Colette Justine (aka Colette Lumiere) is a multi-media artist who is considered a pioneering street performance artist and “photographic tableau vivant.” She is also known for playing with male/female gender roles through different guises and personas.

Käthe Kruse, performer/artist: “I was staying with John Heys when he was photographed by Don. When we met in John’s apartment and he saw my hair, he asked to photograph me too. So after the shoot with John, I got off my clothes and laid down in the bathtub and he arranged my hair. Then he climbed up to the edges of the bathtub and started to photograph. He told me that he always takes the same number of photos (eighteen) and then he stopped. I love these kind of concepts. When I was back in Berlin I received one print and after all these years it is still hanging in my home. I love the photo and I am very happy and thankful to have been photographed by Don.”

Photographer/visual artist **Christopher Makos** (1980)

Stanton Weiss (1952-2022): “New York in the 1970’s was an unparalleled place. There was an edge to it and a feeling that anything could happen. I had a seemingly conservative job working for Dick Ridge, the renowned interior designer. The phone rang. ‘Stanton darling, it’s Pat. Don Herron wants to photograph me and I need to use Dick’s tub! My bathroom is being painted.’ Pat was Pat Loud, America’s first reality star of PBS’ An American Family. She is a stunning woman, and unlike other reality stars, she is the epitome of grace and style. She posed with calla lilies and then Don asked me if I would like to be photographed as well.”

Pat Loud (1926-2021): “I recall Don calling me to say he was doing a series of photographs of people in their bathtubs and would I pose for him. I told him I didn’t do bathtubs but he assured me that nudity was not his objective and I could use all the bubble bath I wanted…. I don’t know whose idea the calla lilies were that seem so dominant and strategically placed and yet so out of place for such a photo.”

Dick Ridge (1928-2021): “I received a phone call from Pat Loud, who asked me if I would pose along with other people of the moment for a picture in my bathtub. Having just returned from Southampton, I had a pretty good tan and decided ‘Why not?'”

Poet Michael Ratcliff, Performer/Fashion designer Katy K (Kattelman), Legendary nightlife performer Joey Arias.

Marcus Leatherdale (1952-2022) was a Canadian portrait photographer who was personally and professionally associated with Robert Mapplethorpe.

Michael Musto: “Don contacted me with the idea of photographing me in my bathtub. I thought that was a novel idea, especially since I usually took showers, not baths. He wanted the photo to express my eccentric side, so I wore the shower cap, shades and white lipstick. I found Don to be likeably quirky and creative. This was a time of horror because of the mounting epidemic, but it was also a time when LGBT culture, nightlife, and solidarity were on the rise. I used my Village Voice column as a venue for both anger and humor at the same time, while also expressing myself via fashion and nightlife antics. Don’s photo captured my multiple moods.”

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