BijouBlog

By Will Seagers

Hello folks, Will here!

Well, it's been some time since I have signed on with that line. I hope you all have been well in the interim!

With a title like the above, I'll be digging back - way back - in my memories of men with whom I have had the Pleasure! After recently celebrating my diamond birthday, I thought it might be a good idea to write about these guys while I still have it fresh in my mind! But, then again, how could anyone ever forget the experience of being with likes of Al Parker, Bruno, Jim Bentley and of course Richard Locke!

There were other heart throbs of that time and slightly later with whom I never got to experience the pleasures. But, I do have a vivid imagination. And, here at Bijou you are just a click away at bringing them right into your own man cave!

Al Parker - Icon of the ages.

I never even knew that I was going to make a film with him until that very day. It was an early Falcon production - Weekend Lockup. I was freshly transplanted from New York to San Francisco via an offer from Chuck Holmes, the studio's owner and creator.

We had a lot of fun working on the scenes that day... if you could call it work! I really hit it off with Al and his lover, Steve Taylor, who co-starred in the film. At the end of the day, these two invited me to their home in Manhattan Beach for a weekend of our own kind of lockup! Needless to say, I didn't get to see much of the beach! Boy! Those two were real sex machines.

Bruno - Another face and body that you saw plastered all over gay media!

This particular meeting and shooting was quite unusual. My friend, Lou Thomas (of Target Studio fame), had arranged for me to take off a couple of hours off from my lifeguard job at the Boatel (of Fire Island Pines fame). He was friends with my boss, John Whyte - the Boatel owner. Lou had made arrangements with owner of a beautiful Pines home, complete with pool, as our set for the day. Once again, I was taken by surprise as I was only told hours before that I was "on loan" from John.

As I remember, it was a Wednesday afternoon when I sauntered up to the beachfront location and first laid my eyes on Bruno. We had never met and I really did not know what to expect. I mean, yes, I had seen my fair share of his pics. But, I did not know what a gentle giant he was and how passionately and authentically he performed. If I were not already in a relationship, I could have easily fallen for this tall, dark and sensuous man! Alas, we only had that afternoon. But, he left his impression!

Jim Bentley - "Is it true blondes have more fun?"

If it's Jim, the answer is a resounding YES! Energetic, fun and sex to the Moon and back are my memories. We met on the set of Cabin Fever. Although there was a fairly large cast, sparks started flying between us immediately. We didn't need a script or props - all they needed to do was to keep enough film in the camera! Off camera, we developed a really fun relationship. Of course, sex was at the center. But, we had other mutual interests, to boot.

When I first went over to his Polk Street apartment, he warned me that there was a huge "cage" in his living room. Me, being a bird fancier all of my life, I thought that was really cool.

After a night of endless flip-flopping, I awoke to see his huge cage uncovered. Ironically, he was breeding Moluccan Cockatoos. I had a beautiful female of that species at home named "Gloria!" She took to Jim right away leaping from my shoulder right to his. He loved her, too. Such a nice man. And, so many memories!

Richard Locke - (Speaking of Icons!)

Well, I did know in advance that I would be working with Mr. Locke via the crew that interviewed me for the part of Wylie in L.A. Tool & Die! My interview took place in San Francisco. But, the movie was shot in Los Angeles.

Richard and I were both living in S.F. at the time. Somehow, word got out about the two of us and this upcoming blockbuster. Another studio asked us to film Cruisin' the Castro before the filming in L.A. It was a smaller production, but was packed with some steamy sex scenes. That's where Richard and I first "met!" It was really good chemistry on the set... one whose formula we were able to keep alive and hot for our L. A. adventure.

He had a natural sexiness that I found irresistible. One that kept me panting despite the lighting, sound and many other techs present to give this film its "major studio" feel. I also love Richard's professionalism. We were there to make a fuck flick and by golly that's what we did! Yeah, it's work... but, somebody's got to do it!



I hope all of you folks out there have steamy and fun memories that Cupid and his arrows can dig up for you to relive! Happy Valentine's Day!

Will! 💖

Bio of Will Seagers:

Will Seagers (also credited as Matt Harper), within his multifaceted careers and participation in numerous gay communities across the country in the '70s and '80s and beyond, worked as a print model, film performer, and DJ, just to name a few. He made iconic appearances in releases from Falcon, Hand in Hand, Joe Gage, Target (Bullet), J. Brian, Steve Scott, and more, including in lead roles in major classics like Gage's L.A. Tool & Die (1979) and Scott's Wanted (1980). He brought strong screen presence and exceptional acting to his roles and was scene partners with many fellow legends of classic porn.

By Josh Eliot

The 1999 movie The American Way and its sequels made in the early 2000’s were a pinnacle in producer/director Kevin Clarke’s career in the gay adult video business. From 1995 to 2006, Kevin Clarke directed 14 movies with one thing in common: cute, athletic and boyish young men. Within the course of his career in the adult industry, he met or worked alongside most of the major players and calls those days “the best times of my life.” But Kevin wasn’t initially destined to become a porn director; in fact, Kevin’s career from 1973 until his first adult project in 1995 was as a manager for musicians. He was introduced to David Forest, who at the time was managing Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham and Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist, Randy Rhodes. Of course, I know of David Forest as a porn star agent – of Ryan Idol, to be exact, as well as others. Kevin’s other initial connection was with Vicki Wickham, who was managing the group Labelle's member Nona Hendrix, along with Dusty Springfield and Marc Almond of Soft Cell. Kevin credits Vicki with teaching him everything he knows about the music management business. His first client was Scott Gatewood, and he parlayed that into working with countless musicians throughout the years, including Ronny Drayton and Sarah Dash from Labelle. He and Sarah became close friends all the way until her death.

A music connection that had “six degrees of separation” to the gay porn world was Kevin’s encounter with gay porn model Tony Young. Kevin was working with a young band from Pawtucket, RI that had just fired their drummer (Tony Young) because they found out that he worked in some gay pornos: Backyard Boys (1990), Tempting Tommy (1990), Summer School (1990), Hot Summer Knights (1990), Beat Street Boys (1991), Sparky O’Toole’s Excellent Adventure (1991) and Takin’ Care of Mike (1992). The band regretted firing “Tony” and Kevin was playing negotiator. Tony Young wanted to make music, his focus, and to stop working in the movies, but the conversation between the two parties went south. In 1994, Tony Young worked in the movie Hip Hop Hunks in a scene with co-star Billy Houston. It was the last movie either one of them would ever make and Tony Young was never heard from again. Billy Houston is currently serving two life sentences for numerous murders. A haunting premise for Tony’s disappearance that has stuck with Kevin all these many years.

The following year, Kevin Clarke had his first introduction into adult gay video when he took a position as an offline editor for Richard Morgan’s movie Feels So Good (1995). A couple years later, his regular position was working as an editor at Delta Productions with Barry Knight and Russell Moore. Barry Knight worked with Monroe Beehler (aka Mark Aaron, director of Grease Monkeys) at Jaguar Films since the early 1970s. Barry and Russell wanted to bring back the Jaguar line of movies and asked Kevin to direct their initial effort. The idea from the beginning was to compete with Bel-Ami Studios whose founder, George DuRoy, specifically shot hairless young men with athletic bodies and boyish charm, mostly from Eastern Europe. The movie Kevin would debut his directorial skills in was called Pleasure Principle (1997), and upon its release became enormously successful and garnered Best Picture and Best Director nominations. Kevin rode the wave of acclaim and went on to direct Tony Donovan in Something Very Big (1998) for Odyssey Video, with our favorite gal-pal Sharon Kane in the credits for “make-up.” Kevin followed up with titles Heartland and The American Way in 1999, produced by Richard Morgan and starring Ashton Ryan for Rad Video. The American Way was extremely well received, won Best Twink Video at the Grabby Awards and birthed two sequels, The American Way 2: Lust and The American Way 3: Love.

From 2000 to 2003, Kevin directed Ashton Ryan’s B-Boys, Freshman Diaries and Kevin’s favorite movie by far, A Young Man’s World. In his movie A Young Man’s World (2000), he tells the story of five young men through the lens of their older selves. Playing the older version of the young characters in non-sexual roles are Ron Aaron, Barry Knight, Russell Moore, Kevin himself and, most surprisingly, 1980’s icon Derrick Stanton. Looking studly at (I would assume) age 44, Derrick Stanton featured a classic haircut, shaved on the sides, which made his facial features look striking. His physique in a black tank top was in peak condition as well!

A Young Man's World (2000): Kevin's locks get shaved off & Derrick Stanton takes on a non-sexual role

 

In 2004, Kevin relocated back home to New York City and finished off his career with five more movies for Latino Fan Club and IOP Productions: The American City (2004), Seduction of a Surfer (2005), American Boys (2006), Something Much Bigger (2006) and College Boys (2007). College Boys was his last before retiring from the adult film industry. During his tenure, he mixed and mingled with the likes of George Duroy, Jerry Douglas, John Travis, John Summers, Tom DeSimone, William Higgins and more. He has amazing stories to tell with great info that filled in a lot of cracks for me regarding the industry back then. I swear he knew everyone, and everything about them! Not to shoot myself in the foot but if Kevin were writing blogs for BijouWorld, I would venture to say that his stories would blow mine out of the water!

The award-winning American Way & some candid shots with Kevin, Jerry Douglas & George DuRoy

 

Kevin and I were recently talking about William Higgins' The Boys of Venice and Derrick Stanton’s name came up. I mentioned that I recently watched a YouTube video featuring Derrick being interviewed at the Abbey in West Hollywood. Without missing a beat, Kevin offered to give me Derrick Stanton’s contact information, stating that he was a nice guy and would love to talk with me about his career. The thought of reaching out to Derrick intimidated me initially, so it took me a few weeks to muster up the courage, but I did. Derrick replied to my message within moments, which absolutely thrilled me, and when he agreed to do a Q&A about his 11 movies for William Higgins, I was over the moon! I am happy to say that our question and answer session is complete and will debut in two weeks on the BijouWorld Blog.

Derrick Stanton then & now

 

Derrick discussed his time on the set of the following William Higgins movies: Jack Wrangler Jocks (1979), The Boys of Venice (1979), Rear Deliveries (1980), Class of ’84 (1980), Class of ’84 Part 2 (1981), Brothers Should Do It (1981), These Bases Are Loaded (1982), Members Only (1982), Printers Devils (1982), Class Reunion (1983) and Route 69 (1984).

His recollections are vivid and intriguing. Thank you, Kevin Clarke for connecting me with icon Derrick Stanton and for your amazing contributions as writer, producer and director in the gay adult video industry!

 

Bio of Josh Eliot:

At the age of 25 in 1987, Josh Eliot was hired by Catalina Video by John Travis (Brentwood Video) and Scott Masters (Nova Video). Travis trained Eliot on his style of videography and mentored him on the art of directing. Josh directed his first movie, Runaways, in 1987. By 2009 when Josh parted ways with Catalina Video, he'd produced and directed hundreds of features and won numerous awards for Best Screenplay, Videography, Editing, and Directing. He was entered into the GayVN Hall of fame in 2002.

 

You can read Josh Eliot's previous blogs for Bijou here:

Coming Out of my WET SHORTS | FRANK ROSS, The Boss | Our CALIGULA Moment | That BUTTHOLE Just Winked at Me! | DREAMLAND: The Other Place | A Salty Fuck in Saugatuck | Somebody, Call a FLUFFER! | The Late Great JOHN TRAVIS, My POWERTOOL Mentor | (Un)Easy Riders | 7 Years with Colt Model MARK RUTTER | Super NOVA | Whatever Happened to NEELY O’HARA? | Is That AL PARKER In Your Photo? | DOWN BY LAW: My $1,000,000 Mistake | We Waited 8hrs for a Cum Shot... Is That a World Record? | Don't Wear "Short Shorts" on the #38 Geary to LANDS END | How Straight Are You Really? | BEHIND THE (not so) GREEN DOOR | The BOOM BOOM Room | CATCHING UP with Tom DeSimone | Everybody’s FREE to FEEL GOOD | SCANDAL at the Coral Sands Motel | DEEP INSIDE THE CASTRO: The Castro Theatre | DEEP INSIDE THE CASTRO: The Midnight Sun | RSVP: 2 Weeks Working on a Gay Cruise Ship | VOYAGER of the Damned | I'M NOT A LESBIAN DIRECTOR | Diving Into SoMa/Folsom: THE FOLSOM STREET FAIR | Diving into SoMa/Folsom: A TALE OF TWO STUDS | BALL BROTH | My 1992 “Porn Set” Diary | Out of Print | There’s a Gloryhole WHERE??! | LUNCH HOUR: When the Big Boys Eat | IN and OUT and All ABOUT | UNDER the COVERs with Tom Steele | 8 Is Enough on Sunsex Blvd | Steve Rambo & Will Seagers For Breakfast | The Many Faces of Adult Film Star SHARON KANE | The ALL-MAN Magazine Interview: The Man Behind Catalina Video | Captain Psychopath | BAD BOYS SCHOOL | VAMPIRE'S GRAVE | The Making of CatalinaVille (PART 1) | The Making of CatalinaVille (PART 2) | Private Dick & The Young Cadets | Meet RAY HARLEY | The GOLD COAST Gold Rush Boys | Colt Model MARK RUTTER: In His Own Words | Bringing in the BIG GUNS | “WHAT THE F@CK?” Moments | You So RUSSO | Bond, SCOTT BOND | I Just Watched: KILLING ME SOFTLY | Sex in Tight Places | Calling GLORIA | DOWN FOR THE COUNT | More Than a Mouthful | When JON KING Returned to Catalina Video | Junior Meets the BEAR Patrol | A Taste for Leather and Fur | Straight to Bed | The Hills Have Bi’s | The Malibu Pool Boy: Cody Foster | New England Summer | The Making of RUNAWAYS 1989 | The Making of FULL SERVICE 1989 | Hot Buttered Cop | The Making of HARD TO BE GOOD 1990 | The Real CONJURING HOUSE | It’s Not a Crime, It’s a SCORE | I Just Watched: Steve Scott’s SCREENPLAY (1984) | Wet and Wild | 69: Discover the Secret | What Really Happened BEHIND THAT BARN DOOR! | I Just Watched AL PARKER & WILL SEAGERS in WANTED | Secret Boys Club | Jawbreaker Pt. 1 | Jawbreaker Pt. 2 | I Just Watched CRUISIN’ THE CASTRO | 80s/90s Porn Star RYAN YEAGER | ADAM Film World’s GAY VIDEO GUIDE | ERIC STONE: Ranger in the Wild | THRILL ME with a SINGLE WHITE MALE... | The SPOILED BRAT | BUSTER & STEVE YORK | LANCE, TEX ANTHONY & MICHAEL GERE | KIP NOLL: The First Real Twink Superstar | THE GREASE MONKEYS | The "Other" Idol

By Josh Eliot

Depending upon which generation you come from, when you saw the name IDOL within the gay adult industry it could have referred to two very different origins. If you were coming out in the 1970’s or early 80’s, you watched Tom DeSimone’s classic The Idol at the cinema or on a top loading VHS player. Similarly, If you were coming out around 1990 and you were watching a movie titled or starring an Idol, Ryan Idol was the headliner in a slew of features using his last name as the first name of their title. But wait, there was a third Idol of interest: the “other” Idol, a young, masculine Massachusetts stud with a flawless body, outstanding facial features and a very fuckable butt that directors put to very good use. If you were a gay porn aficionado in 1994, there was Tony Idol, the younger brother of Ryan Idol – well, for marketing purposes only.

Written, produced, and directed by Tom DeSimone with cinematography by Nick Eliot, the movie’s theatrical release was in 1979. From Hand in Hand Films, The Idol tells the story of a college track star who thinks he might be gay, and is determined to find out. The cast, led by Kevin Redding in his one and only adult gay film, also features Mark Bitler, Nick Rodgers, Greg Dale, Jerry Foxe, Jim Battaglia, Peter Borchard, Darla-Lee Barnett, and Derrick Stanton. The Idol was considered a movie like no other that, to this day, is considered one of the very best gay adult films of its time. Just read some reviews from Letterboxd and magazines: 

“One of the most beautiful and romantic coming of age movies in the history of homosexual erotica.” – Patrick S.

“A poignant, gentle and romantic story with sexy guys, believable performances and beautiful cinematography.” – Ben Kinney Harris

“The culmination of everything that Tom DeSimone had spent a decade working towards. DeSimone’s best film?” – Elizabeth Purchell

“The ultimate coming out story! If a person were to see only one sexually explicit gay film in his lifetime, The Idol is that film.” – The Advocate

1990 brought the world a new icon, Ryan Idol, who starred in his first movie, Idol Eyes, for director Matt Sterling. Coming off the success of his Playgirl photo spread in the February 1989 issue, Ryan Idol rose to fame because of his handsome looks, hot body, and debut movie from the most in demand director of the time, Matt Sterling. 1991 brought Score 10 for Sterling, Idol Worship for H.I.S Video, and, in 1992, a gay and straight movie pair for All Worlds: Trade-Off (gay) and Letters From The Heart (straight), where Idol worked with actress Bobbi Blair. In 1993, Catalina Video jumped on the band wagon to shoot the very first movie where Ryan Idol sucks dick – it was called Idol Thoughts. I remember when the GM told me how much he was getting paid to do the movie, I was quite shocked; the amount was more than the budget for one of our monthly releases. Chi Chi LaRue brought Ryan to Catalina, so he directed the movie and I was lead videographer. It was kind of cool to be the first ones to witness Ryan going down on a guy, and I made sure to shoot it beautifully! More movies followed, like Idol Country (1994) and Idol in the Sky (1996), which was his last before retirement from the industry. In 1999, Ryan joined the cast of the play Making Porn, followed by the stage production of Scent of Rain. He also played the role of “Cisco Patron” in the 2007 revival of Terrence McNally’s The Ritz. It’s no secret that Ryan Idol had his share of problems and jail time, but all of that is not really relevant to today’s story.

From the moment I received his pictures at the Catalina offices, I knew we found someone special. I immediately saw his resemblance to Ryan Idol, and my mind started racing on how we could market him. We would promote him as Ryan Idol’s younger brother Tony, who, unlike Ryan, is a bottom. We initially talked on the phone, and I remember thinking that his accent was so “Boston,” which added to his charm. It reminded me of working with Jake Corbin years earlier, that “Paaak the caa in the yaaaad” East Coast slang. When we flew him to California, we shot his introductory masturbation scene for the movie Stargazing 5, which featured up and coming stars. During that trip, we also gave him a full sex scene in Chi Chi LaRue’s movie Seeds of Love. Tony Idol was the epitome of a video virgin, freshly graduated from high school and still wet behind the ears, as they say. I felt obligated to go out of my way to make sure he felt safe and secure while on the set. I wasn’t sure how sexually active he was at the time, so I constantly checked in with him to make sure he was comfortable as things progressed within the sex scenes. When it came time for anal, he definitely needed to open up with a dildo so he wasn’t so tight for the co-star. We booked extensive magazine layout shoots with him and let him know step by step how we were going to promote his name. He made a number of trips to California in 1994 and 1995 for the following movies: Stargazing 5, Seeds of Love, Idol Dreams, Idol in Exile, Down On It, Revenge of the Bi Dolls, Idol Universe, The Roommate, and Jawbreaker.

Consensus around the office was that, because we just loved throwing the Idol name around, we might have oversaturated him too quickly. His final scene in Jawbreaker was actually one of his best performances to date, and his scene with Vince Rockland and Hunter Scott was fireworks! I knew it was his last shoot with us at the time and it made me question myself as to why we were not going to book him anymore. There are models we used for decades because they were solid performers, but not necessarily “stars.” He was a solid performer and throughout his time with Catalina he never lost his innocent boyish charm, which is rare – trust me. I did take solace in the fact that when his contract ended with us, Chi Chi booked him in movies with All Worlds Video and Falcon Studios. He was in All Night Long (1996) for Jocks, then Freshman (1997) for Falcon, and his final movie Gold Diggers (1997) for All Worlds. In hindsight, I wish we wouldn’t have been stuck in the Idol box I created. Making him the younger brother of Ryan didn’t really work long term. If anything, when we started our Freshman Features and Generation Gap Features (mature men with younger guys), he would have been perfect for those types of movies, as he was still in his early 20’s. He would have been awesome as the lead in either the Junior or Rascal series that we started later on. A twink with a face and body like that would have really stood out. He is one of the models I still think about to this day; he would be in his late forties/early 50’s at this point. I’m confident with his level head and charm he is doing just fine.

Bio of Josh Eliot:

At the age of 25 in 1987, Josh Eliot was hired by Catalina Video by John Travis (Brentwood Video) and Scott Masters (Nova Video). Travis trained Eliot on his style of videography and mentored him on the art of directing. Josh directed his first movie, Runaways, in 1987. By 2009 when Josh parted ways with Catalina Video, he'd produced and directed hundreds of features and won numerous awards for Best Screenplay, Videography, Editing, and Directing. He was entered into the GayVN Hall of fame in 2002.

By Josh Eliot

Over the holidays, with all the nostalgia floating around, I decided to view the 1979 film The Grease Monkeys. It’s hard to believe that I went through so many years never actually watching this movie. In fact, I shot a video in 1989 called Full Service, which I based solely on seeing the movie poster and newspaper ads for Grease Monkeys while I lived in San Francisco. I walked by the Century Theater every single day on my way to the Art Institute. It felt like The Grease Monkeys was playing there forever! A different movie would premiere at the Century, then a couple of weeks later Grease Monkeys was back up on the marquee and the movie poster was back in a frame at the entrance. The same thing happened over at the Mitchell Brothers' Theater with Behind The Green Door. Using only my memory of the movie poster and my imagination as a guide to write Full Service, I somehow I ended up writing a race car scene in my movie. As I viewed Grease Monkeys over the weekend, I was kind of delighted to see that a race car scenario was a very big part of its storyline. Just a cool coincidence, I guess. Speaking of cool, there’s just something about this movie that felt ultra-hip. The way it was directed and shot felt far more progressive than most of the other gay adult films at the time.

In the opening title sequence of the film, the cool factor was over the top when the three leading men, Nick Rodgers, Kip Noll, and Lee Marlin strut down the streets of Glendale, CA in a beautifully shot montage. It was filmed from a moving vehicle, very much like a scene in the 1972 John Waters film Pink Flamingos where Divine sashays down the streets of Baltimore. The sequence had that “wow factor” that made it feel like a mainstream movie. The three leads worked it for all its worth and gave off the vibe of “Loud and proud!” -- decades before “loud and proud” was even a thing in mainstream society! The scene is even more enhanced with a soundtrack number that really made it shine, the kind of ballad where you want to jump to your feet and dance! This move feels realistic due to its locations throughout Southern California. The urban city locale adds to the grit, and only steps away from the urbanness for a hot and sexy threeway shot at Pismo Beach with Noll, Marlin, and Derek (aka Derrick) Stanton. Derrick Stanton remembers finishing up just before the police arrived to the location.

The lead, Nick Rodgers, is the real standout performer in this film, which showcases his incredible face and body throughout. Discovered while working for The Advocate, his naturally masculine demeanor made him a perfect choice to cast in the movie Hot Truckin’ (1977) for Tom DeSimone. Larry LeBlanc was the stage name he used for that movie, but it was changed to Nick Rodgers for his second film, The Idol (1979). When making the movie Rough Cut (1979), director Steve Scott was quoted as saying that Nick had the “best looking dick in the business.” I remember the first time I saw Nick Rodgers in a film -- it was Malibu Days / Big Bear Nights (1982), pounding Giorgio Canali. I became an instant fan, so it was great to see him showcased in Monkeys all these years later. His outstanding good looks were unique, allowing his career to run from 1977 to 1985 when he shot his final film, Arcade, for director Jim West.

Kip Noll is the second of the three leads, and his sexual energy and fun-loving personality really shine in this film. The chemistry between Kip and Lee Marlin is evident every time they are together on screen. Lee Marlin started off in loops that were later released as parts of a compilation called Locker Room Loops: Bucky’s Triple XXX 1 & 3, from Something Weird Video. His first movie was Just Blonds (1979) followed by his role in Grease Monkeys. In 1980, he was on the original cover of Rear Deliveries for William Higgins. Higgins was quoted as saying that Lee Marlin was “funny and clever but, being a kid of the streets, he ended up in and out of jail a lot.” He went on to star in a bunch of movies for Robert Walters at Nova including Men at Work (1981) and Down on the Farm (1981). His career spanned from the late 1970s to 1982, and little is known of him after retiring from the industry. Lee Marlin is a natural-looking solid, beefy stud who gives off some great energy in Grease Monkeys while getting serviced under the auto-lift inside the mechanic’s garage. This standout scene is another iconic balls-to-the wall moment with a hand-held grease gun emulating Lee’s explosive cum shot in customer Richie Shaw’s hungry mouth. When Nick, Kip and Lee get together in the movie, there’s a real sense of comradery, which is evident in a fun scene where they wash the grease off each other’s arms and chests. It plays like a fun montage, showing the guys clowning around as real buddies do, proof that they genuinely all liked each other.

There are a couple more sequences that really help make this movie one-of-a-kind. The discotheque scene where Nick, Kip, and Lee go to dance off some stress was shot brilliantly and gave the trio an opportunity to really go to town on each other. It is like a time capsule of the era that anyone who lived it can attest to. Lastly, there's the memorable Nick Rodgers scene where he fantasizes about having sex with himself. Shot with the use of a body double, things could have gone terribly wrong, but to my surprise and delight it played on screen as one of the hottest scenes in the movie. Nick Rodgers sucking and fucking himself took this movie to a whole other level. It’s exceptional. How is it that watching this movie caused me to become instantly obsessed with Aaron’s filmmaking? How could I have allowed myself not to see this incredible movie until now, 47 years after it’s release? With a script by Robert Werner and stunning cinematography and editing by Brandon Ryan, Mark Aaron was able to bring about a progressive, instantly consuming film, which made all of the top actors seem bigger than life but accessible at the same time. Everything works, from the lighting, the theatrics, the montages, the creative sexual situations, and even having the balls to shoot a real drag race on the I-10 freeway on-ramp! Who was this director with such great instincts named Mark Aaron?

Mark Aaron’s real name was Monroe Beehler, he started Jaguar Productions in 1971 and later became the owner for the Century Theater in Los Angeles, which he used to premiere their movies on the west coast. Jaguar’s productions ended sometime in 1980 and the Century Theater closed in 1988. Aaron previously directed The Boy With the Hungry Eyes (aka) Youthful Lust (1970) and Time It Was (1971) followed by The Rivermen, shot in 1975 but not released until 1980. That’s definitely one I will watch next on Bijou VOD, because I am sold on his style from the Monkeys viewing. After Grease Monkeys, Mark Aaron did not direct any further movies, which is a loss for all of us. As far as I can tell, he seems to have lived a very low-key life all the way until May 15, 2018 when he passed away. Every once in a while, you see a movie that impresses and engages you. Grease Monkeys did that for me many, many times throughout the viewing. I’ll be ordering my physical copy for my collection. Better late than never, it’s a must!

Watch these trailers by Josh Eliot!
Grease Monkeys New Extended Trailer
Trailer for Full Service

Bio of Josh Eliot:

At the age of 25 in 1987, Josh Eliot was hired by Catalina Video by John Travis (Brentwood Video) and Scott Masters (Nova Video). Travis trained Eliot on his style of videography and mentored him on the art of directing. Josh directed his first movie, Runaways, in 1987. By 2009 when Josh parted ways with Catalina Video, he'd produced and directed hundreds of features and won numerous awards for Best Screenplay, Videography, Editing, and Directing. He was entered into the GayVN Hall of fame in 2002.

By Josh Eliot

There were Bob and Jeff and Scott and Marc who used the surname “Noll,” but the “Noll” that brought the name into superstar status was Kip Noll. Bob Noll was the first, a very popular Trademark Studios magazine and solo loop star in the early 1970’s. A masculine, handsome man whose work drew instant attention. When producer/director Mark Reynolds (Larry Ginsburg) discovered an eighteen-year-old named Thomas, he cast him under the stage name Kip Noll, assuming the role of Bob’s younger brother. The two of them did have a strikingly identical appearance and demeanor that Reynolds wanted to play off of. Initially, Reynolds wasn’t convinced that Thomas (Kip) had anything special to offer. Kip’s overgrown hair and bushy moustache hid his most attractive attributes, but once he was clean shaven and polished up, the potential was obvious.

According to a bio written for Live Journal, Kip began an extensive initial career in the Trademark Studios loop business, many released years later in the compilation Surf & Turf from Cream of the Crop Video. Loops with titles I’ll Do It If You Will and Double Your Pleasure featured Kip as mostly a bottom. Most of the loops were shot while Kip had a front tooth missing. Mark Reynolds filmed and released a solo and accompanying magazine which was called The Kip Noll Story in 1978. Kip continued to work in more silent loops for Reynolds (examples: Fuck Truck and Dreamboys) and took over the spotlight as his “older brother” Bob faded from the industry.

After taking a short break from making movies, Kip made a huge jump into stardom when Reynolds introduced him to William Higgins, who cast him in the starring role for The Boys of Venice (1979). In that movie, Kip's deep masculine voice is heard on screen for the very first time, enhancing his desirability to the audience. It also marked his first role as a top when he mounted Greek stud Emmanuelle Bravos who, unlike Kip, only ever worked in this one movie. The film was a smash hit! In 1979, he followed the success of his initial “talkie” with Grease Monkeys for Jaguar, taking top billing alongside Nick Rodgers and Lee Marlin. The macho role he played hit a chord with his audience, but the shoot itself was no walk in the park. Kip described the threeway sex scene on Pismo Beach as his most difficult because of the ice cold water and very vocal crowd yelling down from the top of the cliffs.

Born in Greenwich, Connecticut on August 7th, 1957 Kip's lean muscled frame, shaggy hair, free spirit and east coast upbringing all added to his charm. He is said to have had a very high sex drive. Even though he was a street hustler when Reynolds met him, he was not gay but leaning more straight or bisexual. The drive for him was the money, that was his motivation. 

Shortly after his rise to superstar status, other Noll “siblings” and “cousins” started popping up out of the woodwork. There was Jeff Noll (brother), Marc Noll (cousin), Scott Noll aka Chris Noll (brother). All a schtick from producers and agents trying to cash in on Kip's success. Hell, Scott Masters and I even worked with another Noll sibling in my movies 69: Discover the Secret and Junior Meets the Bear Patrol, Chip Noll, in 2004! Not to be outdone, in 2017 William Higgins discovered Igor Galek, a Czech model who sometimes shot movies under the name Greg Noll! With all those Nolls I mentioned, there are bound to be four or five more, don’t you think? You can see the solo loops of Bob, Jeff, Kip, Mark and Scot Noll in the movie For You Solo Signature Series 6 (1980) from Mark Reynolds and H.I.S. Video.

Kip’s career was on a constant rise. He promoted Grease Monkeys while performing at the Eros Theatre in Times Square with co-stars Lee and Nick. Kip’s next big release was Kip Noll & the Westside Boys (1979) for Higgins, who was all about riding the wave when he planned to star Kip in his next movie Rear Deliveries. Just prior to production, Kip was involved in a motorcycle accident and could not star in the movie. After recovering, he worked with Lee Marlin and Kourey Mitchell for the Mark Reynolds movie Roommates (1980). The hits kept coming with Cuming of Age (1980) which matches Kip, Scott Noll and Steve York, Al Parker’s Flashback (1981) where Kip and Chris Noll have a scene together, Pacific Coast Highway (1981) with Jack Burke, Brothers Should Do it (1981) with Derrick Stanton, Class of ’84 Part II (1981) with Jeremy Scott and The Legend of Kip Noll: Superstar (1981).

The Legend of Kip Noll: Superstar is basically a compilation for most of the movie, where Jon King interviews Kip and asks questions about some of his movie memories from various scenes in his films. A typical comp film until the end, which is more than worth the price of admission. I read that Higgins described how when it came time for Kip and Jon to start their sex scene, they literally ripped the clothes off each other and, before Higgins could tell them to stop (because he was still loading film into the camera), Noll was fucking King on the floor, pounding away like an animal so wildly that Jon King started cumming all over himself, causing Noll to blow his load up King's ass. Without missing a beat, Noll spun King around and continued fucking doggie style. Why weren’t more of my movie sets like that! The film got loaded, Higgins kept shooting and the two kept at it, not even fazed by the fact that they already shot their loads. They came back the next day to shoot the “intro” they had missed and, supposedly, once the intro was shot, the two started screwing again and wouldn’t stop while the crew just packed up the equipment around them. A stark contrast to his off-set life, where it is written that he was dating adult film star Velvet Summers, a petite (4’ 11”) young actress who specialized in bondage themed movies. Velvet was born September 22, 1960 and was also from Massachusetts. She worked in seventeen movies between 1981 and 1984 with titles like Wicked Schoolgirls (1981), The Taming of Rebecca (1982) and When She was Bad (1983).

In 1981, the Follies Theatre opened in New York City and Kip appeared to sold out crowds, which was unprecedented at the time. Noll became famous for incidents where he would have sex with the audience, often putting his erect cock in different audience members' mouths. Quite the showman! His career was more about “on the road” appearances at this point, but he made one final movie in 1983, a movie that he himself financed and directed called Kip Noll’s Casting Couch. Kip was involved in all of the scenes within the movie and it’s said to include the one and only time Ron Jeremy performed auto-fellatio on himself. At this stage in his life, it is reported that Kip Noll got married and worked as a machinist in San Diego. He reappeared again in 1984 for a grand re-opening of the Follies, alongside Lance and Daniel Holt, but no further sightings are noted after that performance. In 1985, rumors circulated of his death but were proven groundless by Manshots magazine. An obituary in a Salt Lake City newspaper shows Thomas (Kip) died on May 21st, 2001 of a heart attack at age 43. Being one of seven brothers, he is survived by his wife and three daughters.

Watch Josh Eliot's excerpts/trailers for Kip's classics!
Kip's interview with Jon King from The Legend of Kip Noll: Superstar
Trailer for The Boys of Venice

Bio of Josh Eliot:

At the age of 25 in 1987, Josh Eliot was hired by Catalina Video by John Travis (Brentwood Video) and Scott Masters (Nova Video). Travis trained Eliot on his style of videography and mentored him on the art of directing. Josh directed his first movie, Runaways, in 1987. By 2009 when Josh parted ways with Catalina Video, he'd produced and directed hundreds of features and won numerous awards for Best Screenplay, Videography, Editing, and Directing. He was entered into the GayVN Hall of fame in 2002.