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"Music Is My Way of Life!" Part 4: Landing and Takeoff in San Francisco
Hi Folks, Will here. And, I am ready with another installment in what has become my mini-series! LOL. Little did I know that when I undertook this saga that so many memories would surface in the process. Thank you readers for jumping from one cliff-hanger to another with all of these installments... fifty years is a lot of time to cover!
Linking up with the last installment, it was the fall of 1976 and I had just landed in the arms of friends in the outrageous City by the Bay! My job offer from Chuck Holmes was waiting and that was a source of stability and comfort in my new life on the other side of the country.
Chuck owned a restaurant/bar called Trinity Place (located on the street that bore the same name in S.F.'s financial district). At first I tended bar. That didn't last too long, as I wasn't fast enough to keep up with vast number of clients that flowed in at five o'clock when the stock market closed. Playing solo on a 25' bar was not in my resume. So, I agreed to move to the dining room and join the waitstaff. Soon, I was made aware that we the bartenders and waitstaff were also on the menu. Lots of money was to be made on the "side hustle." New to town and trying to set up my own headquarters, this money came in handy. I found a couple of pleasant "Johns" and did repeat performance$.
Chuck was also good to me with the film and magazine work that he offered. The S.F. chapter of my porn career took off quickly and successfully. Soon, I worked with Al Parker and a number of other Falcon luminaries. The pay was great! (But, I still had a hard time calling it work!) It was with this "pin money" that I slowly started to put my first DJ mixing console together - a pair of Technics 1800s and a Numark mixer. This extra bit of cash also came in handy during the non-stop weekend partying of the late 70s. My circle of friends grew quickly along with these regular Saturday night outings.
Bones was the first club that I called home during this time. Jack and Jerry were the dynamic duo who owned this club located at the end of Haight St., across from Golden Gate Park. They dared to play the most underground and soulful music that I had heard since leaving New York. Timmy Rivers and Michael Lee were the resident DJs, and were not satisfied unless you left their dance floor soaking wet! (And we did!)
A brief aside. I not only was a patron of their club, but I started my lighting career with Jack at his "parties at large." Without any real training, I jumped in head first and learned on the fly... going to lighting rental houses and getting truckloads of lighting instruments to erect and "play" at various venues around town.
It was at these parties that I met Steve Fabus, who was the go to DJ for all of these "At Large" events. We have remained friends over the years... and he is still playing to fans in San Francisco and around the globe. One of the most memorable of these parties was held at The Peoples Temple on Geary Blvd. If that name sounds eerily familiar, it's because it is the same place where Rev. Jim Jones preached before leading his flock to Jonestown, Guyana! It was a massive old synogogue screaming out for my best lighting efforts! Steve played the music, I did the lights, and Bruce Trondson did the sound. I was always glad for Bruce's help connecting my lighting controller to the electrical sources in all of these buildings. I also need to mention that Vincent Carleo (of Flamingo fame) made a cameo appearance that night and played a couple of his legendary standards.
Back to club life evolution. The next big club after Bones - big enough to be called a "Disco" - was the I-Beam. This was also located on Haight St. just a block or so east of Bones. Sanford Kellman was the owner/entrepreneur. He had a very successful leather bar in the South of Market area called The Bolt. The size, scale and DJs at The I-Beam made it an instant sensation. Timmy Rivers once again graced the wheels of steel. The only thing that wasn't great was that it was located in an abandoned loft. The only way in was a huge staircase. It was just about as infamous as N.Y.'s "Loft" staircase. Just about as many steps but much wider. It used to get quite packed with revelers trying their best to get in. This was also during the height of the Quaalude era. So, the steps could be a bit tricky! LOL.
Next came The Music Hall on Larkin Street in the Tenderloin section of town. Originally, it was a dinner theater that was converted to a club by removing the theater seating, flattening the floor and adding beautiful hardwood. This club reminded me of The 10th Floor (from a prior blog). Bruce Trondson did the sound. I not only helped him with the lighting design, but was one of two resident light men. I worked most of my shifts with Lester Temple spinning... (another S.F. DJ of major fame). I was delighted to see Lester on one of my recent trips back to S.F. He's still making music!
There was a major rumble that was starting to be heard South of Market - Trocadero Transfer. There was no doubt that this was a full-scale disco. Everything about it was huge. The hardwood dancefloor, the Graebar (NYC) sound system and the extensive lighting grid extended across the massive ceiling. Dick Collier was its owner and designer. This former CBS TV studio was the perfect place for a venture like this. Nothing was the same after this club was launched. The I-Beam and the Music Hall faded off into oblivion.
Originally, Vincent Carleo was brought out from New York City to head the DJ entourage. "Vinnie," of Flamingo fame, was used to serving up a lower-paced, very masculine and urban musical fare. I was in heaven... as this was my kind of music. However, it seems that there was more than just two thousand miles separating the coasts. It was the music itself. The great hope for a lot of us was that "The Troc" would give S.F. the underground club that it was missing. But, Vinnie's tenure was not long. Except for a handful of us, his music did not go over well. After he left, lots of pop-oriented L.A. DJs were flown up to do their thing. Although I worked the lights for a couple of months, I rarely went there to dance - the music was just too "bubble gum" for me.
My tenure ended at the Troc after their new messiah from Florida arrived. I will say that, professionally and technically, he was miles over the people he replaced. But, it still wasn't the kind of music that "floats my boat." He noticed my lack of interest and started telling me what to do with the lights. That was enough for me. Being there for those twelve hour shifts became too much to bear. I went back to my "At Large" gigs and soon had some of some of the most memorable events added to my portfolio.
Showing my continued love and admiration for Patti LaBelle, Roger, Tommy and I attended another fabulous concert of Miss LaBelle's at the George Moscone Center in S.F. in 1980, this time as a solo artist. The featured tune at this concert was "Music Is My Way of Life" - and when Miss LaBelle performed that song with her legendary verve, the crowd went nuts! Unfortunately, I don't have many other memories of that concert due to being pharmaceutically challenged. LOL.
And now onto the undisputed Godfather of Disco in San Francisco, William P. Roderick, aka "Rod Roderick." He was friends with sound engineer, Bruce Trondson, and had attended several parties where I had designed and operated the lights. He invited me to "do the lights" at several of his parties held at the Kabuki Theater in San Francisco's Japantown. I had the pleasure of being connected with John Tadesco of Industrial Power and Light fame. He took me to his Bay Area warehouse where hundreds of theatrical and movie lighting pieces adorned the shelves and ceilings. More amazing was when he asked me, "What would you like to use?" I was like a kid in a candy shop... I went nuts! AND... I had no budget!
Needless to say, with Mr. Tadesco's help, I strung together some of the most bizarre yet impressive lighting effects in my career. The leader of this group was a giant "chandelier-ish" 10' sphere that was flown from the highest point of the Kabuki's ceiling (some 30'). This creation was encrusted with small strobe lights and small Fresnel theater lights. At just the right times, it was slowly lowered to just above the heads of the dance floor revelers. The dance floor responded with screams and squeals of joy. But there was more! John and I had rigged six emergency halide lights up by the ceiling. They looked like inverted garbage cans. These were of the same ilk as street lamps, in that they fired up slowly to a ferocious bright peak! I had them gelled with Urban Blue, a very dark blue that could only work with the intensity of these emergency lights. I waited for just the right song from DJ Frankie Corr. When that moment arrived, I turned on the emergency lights. Slowly, the whole theater turned a "thick blue" - you could almost taste it. Then, at the peak of the song, I shot ceiling mounted teal-gelled pin spots through the "navy blue" and quickly killed the navy blue, leaving only a black theater with teal blades of light from dance floor to ceiling. Once again, the dancers confirmed my design with their roar! This was a crowning moment and my last major lighting job. I had begun mixing and recording my own urban music cassettes and peddling them around town. As the requests grew for my tapes and cashflow improved, I upgraded my mixing console with a classic pair of Technics 1100s. A change was coming.
My last entry on the great clubs of San Francisco would not be complete without the inclusion of Dreamland. This was another very large club situated in San Francisco's South of Market warehouse district and was intended to be the foil of Trocadero.
I had the distinct honor and pleasure of having some of this club's original planning happen right in my living room on 10th St. I'll never forget when Michael Maier, the club's originator, asked me if he could bring some folks over to my apartment to discuss the forming of his dream club.
Michael and I had a wonderful affair in 1978 in The Pines. We both worked there. I was a lifeguard for the pool at The Boatel. He was part of the waitstaff at The Sandpiper just down the wharf. I don't know how either one of us survived the work and the all-nighters we pulled! But, love conquers all. We both loved to dance and party after work. And, we had a unique commonality - we both played the tambourine! Back then, dance audiences loved to contribute with all sorts of percussion instruments. It really made the music seem alive!
Our affair was intense but without a lot of commitments. The future was never really brought up in our lighthearted play. So, it was a bit of a shock when I found out that Michael not only was a stockbroker, but that he had moved to S.F. right after that summer on Fire Island! Add to that was his secret ambition to start a night club in San Francisco.
Anyway, back to my little apartment on 10th St. He arrived with blueprints and several potential investors for his project. I have to laugh. The very coffee table upon which those blueprints were spread was mirror-topped... just perfect for what was to follow in celebration of starting this project (wink!).
Everything was to be light and airy in design, like an Italian villa. It was white with large arches. The New York firm of Graebar was called upon again to provide another breathtaking sound experience. The dancefloor was vast and a very light hardwood. Adjacent to the dancefloor was the bar area with small two-top tables and lots of potted palms and ficus trees. Yes, this brought back memories of dance palaces of the past.
The DJ booth was upstairs, at first. The upstairs continued the theme of the arches. I think for purely contact reasons, the booth was moved downstairs in one of the dancefloor corners with banquettes surrounding it. Mr. Carleo was once again the choice to inaugurate the club. He was joined by many different N.Y. DJs. Howard Merrit was the most famous of these imports. He and Vinnie had played together at Flamingo. Roy Shapiro, a long-time friend from N.Y., and I were the light men. While he was fully enthralled with doing lights, I was starting to get the itch to play music.
It was when one of my aforementioned music cassettes fell into the hands of Michael and Roy that I was invited to move to the other side of the DJ booth and play some of what they heard! My debut was Easter Sunday Tea Dance in 1980. I rehearsed myself silly during the preceding week. I brough a ton of records with me - all songs that had inspired me through the years to make this leap of faith. Although my mixing was dreadful, the crowd roared at the content of what I was playing. People were lined up at the back of the booth to wish me well and get me astronomically high! How I played one record after another was really a miracle. But, it must have worked because Sunday afternoon Tea Dances became my time slot!
Soon, I had the unique pleasure of sharing the turntables with Howard Merrit. He wanted in on this fun daytime slot. What was great was that when he played, I went down to the dancefloor for a break and visa versa. But, the same inevitability that hit Vincent also came my way. The audience wanted more upbeat and commercial sounding music - the kind that I was averse to playing. Soon, I was relegated to playing the off shifts, which barely lasted till two or three AM. I had to face the reality that I might be only a "cassette DJ." My tenure at Dreamland came to an end.
One door closes and another opens, as they say. Little did I know that Ron Holmes, Badlands and Phoenix bar owner and entrepreneur, heard about my leaving Dreamland and wanted me to play at his Castro Street locations. I started at The Phoenix, where I remained for only a couple of weeks. Then, I was "promoted" to The Badlands, where I remained for over four years. (That's an unheard of timespan for a DJ!) Mr. Holmes thought my style of music was perfect for his stand up bar. I took to it like a fish takes to water. I grew as a musician and technician. In no time, I was playing the key shifts including Saturday nights. Being a stand up bar, I could get away with all sorts of experimental stuff... I just needed to keep them happy.
As a working bona fide DJ, I was finally qualified to be a member of the record pool "TOP 25," with George Ferren at the helm. He and I have remained friends and keep in touch to this day. I was always delighted to break the newest and most promising tunes after my weekly visits to the pool.
I soon found out that The Badlands was a key music bar in S.F., and working there garnered me a lot of respect. Although it was not a dance bar, I shared the booth with major S.F. DJs like Timmy Rivers, Jorge Martinez and Johnny "Disco" Hedges. Although I received a lot of compliments during that time, it had never dawned on me that I was considered a good DJ. (After Dreamland, I was a bit crestfallen.) I came to work at Badlands right after L.A. Tool & Die was released. That had a major impact. There wasn't a Saturday night when the entrance to my booth wasn't lined up with shots, drinks and "party favors."
Four years of constant late nights with all that you would expect to accompany them were taking a toll on me. When I announced my intention to leave Badlands, Carl, the bar manager, was crushed. I was his rock. Despite the "Sodom and Gomora" atmosphere of bar life, I always treated the position with responsibility and dignity. He was truly sorry to see me go.
Most of the electronic toys that I had accumulated in the seven years of being in S.F. came from Eber Electronics, just off the corner of Castro and Market St. I threw out the idea of working there to my favorite salesman. He arranged an interview with the owner, which I aced. Eber's became my new home for the next five years.
During this hiatus of playing DJ at one location, I still maintained my cassette business. I had to keep my fingers on the pulse of current music. That paid off several times with the wonderful man, Michael Goglia. Michael was a bartender at Badlands and, unbeknownst to me, was a huge fan of my music. He left Badlands a couple of years before I did to become the bar manager of Moby Dick Bar on 18th St., just down one block from Badlands.
Twice, Michael had me play at his "At Large" parties at the Russian River. One was called "Search" and the other was called "Rescue." They were wonderful outdoor, all night affairs. I became concerned when my dance floor was empty several times. Michael reassured me... "They're in the woods fucking - you're doing fine!"
My denouement to playing music in my beloved "City by the Bay" was at Moby Dick Bar at Michael's request. This is where I really "styled out" and was at my artistic best. And, to top it off, guess who I got to work with? None other that the legendary Vincent Carleo! Although we had been close over the years in San Francisco, our friendship and musical relationship grew to new heights. I remember so many nights that we stayed in the booth after the bar closed playing for each other. Now, how many people actually get to become friends with and fans of their mentor? Although I only played there for a year or so, it was a perfect way to end this chapter of my life.
Sadly, my partner of thirteen years, Tommy, had passed from AIDS two years prior. And without his help, I wasn't taking good care of myself. I could feel the nudge of my Guardian Angel telling me it was time to move on. The East Coast and a reinvention of myself was waiting. However, one thing remained the same - "Music Is My Way of Life."
Stay tuned for a short but musical follow up...
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.
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 | Chasing the Boys and Chasing the Sun | Becoming Invisible | The Reverse Story of Dorian Gray | Pin Money | One Organ Leads to Another! | The Wheels of Steel | Feast and Famine | An Alphabet Soup of Powders and Pills | Merry Christmas (and Getting Re-Organized) | Now and Then | DEEP INSIDE THE CASTRO: The Badlands | DEEP INSIDE THE CASTRO: Moby Dick Bar | DEEP INSIDE THE CASTRO: "Just Another Stroll Down the Castro!" | Diving Into SoMa/Folsom: Hamburger Mary's | Diving Into SoMa/Folsom: Long Live the Stud! | Diving Into SoMa/Folsom: Club Life..."Hit me with your Rhythm Stick!” | A "Split Ticket": SoMa/Folsom and The Haight! | Staying Vanilla in a Flavorful Culture | A Little Secret | Recollections of the 1977 S.F. Gay Pride Parade | Life's a Beach | Flora & Fauna | Once Is Just Not Enough! | A Love of Cultures – A Knack for Languages! | For the Birds | It's About Time! | The Perfect Storm | Hello Chicago/Adieu Fire Island Pines! | Sex in the Woods! | My Life at the Gym | The Last Picture Show | Cumming Attractions! | The Peter Pan Syndrome | Valentine's Day Reflections | The “Idus Martias” and a Peacock! | Taxing I.M.H.O. | Nope...This Sure Ain't Kansas! | The French Connection | Water Baby | Pride: You Wear It Well! | Life Goes On... | The Dance Floor and the Booth, Part 1 | The Dance Floor and the Booth, Part 2 | The Dance Floor and the Booth, Part 3 | A Christmas Haiku | It's My Party & I'll BLOG If I Want To! | "Werk!" | It's My Party & I'll BLOG If I Want To! | Heart Throbs from the Past! | Traveling the Arc | Music Is My Way of Life, Part 1 | Music Is My Way of Life, Part 2 | Music Is My Way of Life, Part 3
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