BijouBlog

Hi Guys! Will Seagers here to share some more Castro Neighborhood memories from the past. The focal point is the Moby Dick Bar, which I'm glad to report is still open. Once again this comes from the perspective of having been an employee. Hope you enjoy reminiscing!

 

It is sort of strange that I wound up DJing at three of the Castro Neighborhood's most prestigious bars when I was never a bar person. I did dabble in it back in my early 20s when I lived in New York City. I enjoyed the music and sexual energy of bars like The Eagle and The Anvil in particular. This was a good thing to have in my memory banks as when you are playing at stand up bars rather than dance clubs, you are creating background music to help the guys "achieve their goals!"

Routinely, as I mentioned in a prior blog about The Badlands, I played Sunday evenings right after Timmy Rivers. I had a nice little SAAB sedan that I drove from my apartment in the South of Market area to work. Parking was always a nightmare. My first choice was always on Hartford Street... just down the block from the Moby Dick Bar and two blocks from The Badlands. Frequently I lucked out. With my smart canvas bags full of records, I would pass by Moby Dick and notice the crowd. That wonderful music that spilled out the front doors sure helped me get in the party mood to play my shift at Badlands!

Moby Dick was a popular spot. Both music and people were to be found spilling outside of the place! Physically it was charming, a converted turn of the century retail store that had been painted in very Gay Colors. It's key feature was an enormous aquarium behind the bar... hence the name. There were two levels; the main level where the bar was located and surrounded by major windows. Then up a few steps was a gaming area with pool table and pinball machines. Off to the side of this upper level was a nearly hidden DJ booth.

I think how I started there is almost a blog in itself! My dear friend Michael Goglia, Moby Dick bar manager and former bartender at the Badlands, called me in a panic on New Year's Eve 1990 in the afternoon. He said his main DJ, Vincent Carleo (who was also a friend and who I greatly admired as a DJ for decades), had taken ill and could not play that night. I hadn't played out for several years but leapt at the opportunity! Needless to say, the rest of that afternoon I spent putting together my New Year's Eve ensemble. I have always kept a fully functional mixing system in my homes including a Technics RS-1506 open reel deck upon which I recorded my ensemble.

So, I arrived at the bar which was already partying and festive with my bags of records and my New Year's Eve mix. I was slightly nervous - but ready to take on the night! I was familiar with all of the equipment. At first, I was a bit put off by the location of this booth - there was no view of the bar or main floor. Up until this point I had always gauged how and what I was going to play by watching the crowd. That all changed very abruptly! So, midnight was quickly approaching and I got my program cued up on their open reel deck. At the stroke of 12, I started with the bells and alarm clocks from "Time" from Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon." As the bells faded into the heartbeats, I brought in "Fanfare for the Common Man" by Aaron Copeland and followed that with a very popular disco hit by Thelma Houston - "Don't Leave Me this Way." The crowd went nuts and the cheering was even loud in my remote booth. Soon after the midnight celebration, Michael came rushing to the booth with a shot (and a line) to congratulate me on rocking the crowd. I do have my own rather unusual musical style. But, I had no idea that it would have been so well received. Michael was so happy that he was teary-eyed. He relayed to me the brilliance of using "Fanfare" followed by "Don't Leave Me this Way" - Aaron Copeland had just recently passed and I never even knew it! I know that my guardian angel was looking out for me! Michael then asked me to be a permanent member of the staff. After accepting, I enjoyed my final year and a half in San Francisco playing my heart out at Moby Dick Bar!

Moby Dick Bar's contemporary exterior
 

Previous blogs in DEEP INSIDE THE CASTRO series:
The Castro Theatre - Josh Eliot
The Badlands - Will Seagers
The Midnight Sun - Josh Eliot

 

Bio of Will Seagers:

Will Seagers (also credited as Matt Harper), within his multifaceted career and participation in numerous gay communities across the country in the '70s and '80s and beyond, worked as a print model and film performer. 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.

 

 

You can read Will Seagers' previous blogs for Bijou here:
Welcome Matt/Will
What's For Dessert?
On and Off the Set of L.A. Tool & Die
Wanted, Weekend Lockup and Weekends in Hermosa Beach
Honeymoon in the Palms
Birds of a Feather
The Stereo Maven of Castro Street
The Pass Around Boy
The Ecstasy and the Agony
Fitness and Fantasy: The Early Gyms
Chasing the Boys and Chasing the Sun: My Story of Sun Worship and Where It Got Me
Becoming Invisible
The Reverse Story of Dorian Gray
Pin Money
One Organ Leads to Another! Part 1
The Wheels of Steel
Feast and Famine: The 1970s to the 1980s
An Alphabet Soup of Powders and Pills
Merry Christmas (and Getting Re-Organized)
Now and Then
DEEP INSIDE THE CASTRO: The Badlands

 

By Will Seagers

I have always considered my excursion into the porn business as one of sex and pleasure (and some notoriety), and not one of great financial gains. It WAS always a great deal of fun to make porn - whether it be print or film. Most people involved were there to create a medium that was intended to make the viewer have fun!

When I first started, it was in print medium - mags, calendars and the like. Names like Man's Image, Target and Falcon are first to come to mind. Not much money was to be gotten from these adventures. I didn't complain - I figured out rather quickly from my first few shoots what the going rates were for the more notable studios. So, I called it my "Pin Money."

Will Seagers in a Man's Image calendar & on the cover of the first issue of Playguy

1978 Target calendar & a Target magazine in connection with Bullet's Cowpokes

 

Now, being that this was not nearly enough money to support myself, (especially living in the fair city of San Francisco), I always kept myself gainfully employed with what I called my regular job, as well. I worked in several gyms and gay clubs in town over the years. In terms of the clubs, I always wanted to play music. So, one of my first outlays with the pin money was for a pair of turntables, a mixer and a modest sound system. All of this was for the purpose of teaching myself how to be a DJ. It started off with making cassette tapes for friends and "getting the word out!" The pin money and odd jobs helped me scrape enough together to buy a fairly recent model FIAT 124 Spider!

Fiat 124 Spider and Will's following car, a Peugeot 504

Will's first turntable and mixer

 

I had the unique fortune to be reaching a high point in my porn career at the same time. (Don't think I didn't I didn't use that to my advantage!) So, when I showed up with my demo tape of my music in person... sometimes the tape was never even heard! I played at a couple of noteworthy establishments in San Francisco's Castro District - namely The Badlands, the Phoenix and finally Moby Dick Bar. But, I certainly cannot leave out the night club Dreamland from the list. Two of my friends who were an integral part of that club, Roy Shapiro and Michael Maier, heard my tapes. I was summoned to perform for "Easter Sunday Tea Dance" in 1980. I stayed with that venue for a year or so. (I quickly found out that I was not the kind of DJ that played all through the night and into the morning hours!)

Towards the end of my four-year engagement at the Badlands, I began to tire of bar life and being up all night. A "Regular Job" fell out of the sky through my friend and salesman Harold Banks at Eber electronics. Now in my mid thirties and my porn career starting to slow down a bit, I took on the mantle of "Electronics Maven of Castro Street!" I still played music on Sunday nights at Moby Dick Bar through my connection with my friend and the manager, Michael Goglia. That place was the last where I played records... and my favorite!

So, that accounts for the early years. They were great (if not chaotic!). In 1991, my "Guardian Angel" tapped me on the shoulder telling me it was time for a trip back home (back east) and a reassessment of where I was on life's trail. I loved San Francisco! It was where I found out who I was and what I could become. And, I am glad to have been there for the golden years of that city!

Bio of Will Seagers:

Will Seagers (also credited as Matt Harper), within his multifaceted career and participation in numerous gay communities across the country in the '70s and '80s and beyond, worked as a print model and film performer. 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.