But, Oh, The Summer Nights... When I Was a 3

Well, there was the time when I first went, and I danced to "Best of My Love" on a 20 foot long runway with a 6 foot tall drag queen named Coco... thus initiating my Summer of Love and my rekindled love of seventies R&B (Coco, the ex of the guy I was seeing at the time, is lost to the sands of time)...

And there was the time the drag queen nearly beat me up because she thought I touched her wig... and it turned out one of our friends did... which should have been a lesson to us all about him.

And there was the time I met the National Makeup Director for Princess Marcella Borghese by singing along with him (in perfect harmony) to George Michael's "Freedom 90" (probably one of the classic songs of gay men from the nineties).

And there was Andy Anderson, the deejay we loved, who played everything we loved, and knew who we were. Who played Express Yourself, and Groove is in the Heart, could get a room screaming by playing Summer Nights from Grease, and who is probably singlehandedly responsible for reintroducing "Dancing Queen" and by extension everything that follows (including Mamma Mia) back into the culture.

And there was the Halloween when I went and people said I looked like Diana Ross in my dress and wig.

And the New Year's Eve when RedStar, J in Balto and myself danced for hours.

And the night after AIDSRide when Dr. T and I went there (him for the first time, I think).

And so much more.  Which is to say: Ah the memories, now that Roxy has closed for good.  There will never be anything quite like it, indeed, it was never quite like itself, especially in the last few years.  But everyone went, because it was there, because you had to, because that's what Saturday night was about for a very, very long time.  It was ecstatic and huge and a theme park and it utterly changed what it meant to be a gay nightclub and to have a place that was ours.  And it was time to go.  The world moves on.

I had the pleasure, over my last few years in New York, to meet and talk with and almost work with John Blair (he was big on Howard Dean, too).  And he knew who I was, which was extremely flattering, both from his one time restaurant and from Roxy. He's also extremely nice, and I've come to admire him tremendously.  I wish him luck in whatever the future holds. In the Times article, he mentions that he had a rating system for attendees who signed up for Roxy membership cards - 1s were hopeless (i.e. straight), 2s were regulars, and 3s were "cuties who paid".  I like to think, and I know you will too, Betty, that we were 3s, at least when we first went there. Ah... good times. :)

Comments

[Leigh]

Another legend falls to the developer...

We love ya, Roxy!

[jin baltimore]

"Demonstrating love and affection..."

Ahh Roxy, that it lasted so long after its "moment" must mean something, right? Two friends and I figured out that, on the Sat. night of Pride, 1992, all 3 of us were dancing to Crystal Waters there, quite a coincedence considering we'd yet to meet each other, and, that at that time, none of us lived in NYC. So, I suppose one must include it as a "bridge-and-tunnel" nightspot too, yes?