The mood

I think what I always have liked about FEATHERS is that it’s the home of “…happily ever after.”
In the early days when ever I went to the bar I would be able to forget my troubles and just live a second life (this was before cyber lives like Farmville and such). The second life was never connected to the first life. Confused? I was at the time. As much as I was a bar star when I woke up in the morning I was just a nobody living for the bar fame.
I don’t mean nobody in a negative way, it was just such a high place that we were on at the bar. No one could touch and everyone wanted to be us. We would walk through the bar and the customers would part and make way for us to go by. Everyone knew us. Hank was cool in one way. He would not let us be photographed or advertize in the magazines. “They know we’re here, why waste the money advertizing?” Hank would remark. At the time I didn’t agree, but people came. We were known for our Monday Dollar Nights, and our exclusive performers and shows. It was the Golden Era of the bar and I don’t say it to down play its popularity today, it’s just missing the people who like the place. I cannot remember ever complaining about the place. I don’t remember customers complaining about the place. Today everyone wants someone from the place not realizing the place is just a place and it’s the people that make it what it is…
Till tomorrow, be kind
I am writing short paragraphs because I am in the middle of midterms and school work. I will return to full stories soon.

coatroom

Other unsung heroes in the bar are the coatroom people. The coatroom was the first legitimate job I had in the bar. I didn’t get to keep the tips-they went to pay for the lights in the parking lot. I would feel like an idiot if it wasn’t for the fact others believed him also. There was Glenn (Miller). I love Glenn dearly but imagine your parents call you Glenn miller? There was frank Moo-cow and Glenn the cleaning guy! OMG! the cleaning guy with the gross dog who lived in the house next door that was so broken down years ago. I once got so drunk I ended up staying at that house once. I woke up in the middle of the night to pee and this smelly homeless looking guy was in the hallway. I asked Glen the next day who the guy was? “Oh, he’s a homeless guy who used to sleep in the basement and now sleeps in the hallway. “ It always amazed me what I got used to in the bar business. Imagine letting someone sleep in your upstairs hallway. The things we got used to still amaze me. Besides the sexual innuendoes, there were the sex changes and the transies.
The thing that surprises me is the fact that nothing surprises me. You become numb and I hated becoming numb.
Today you can find Inny’s Ohn or Darryl or AJ or a few others. Many things have changed over the years, including the look of the coatroom. I had wire hangers and a silver duct tape box, anyone who worked the coatroom in it’s hay day remembers the silver duct tape box.

door people

An important job that always seems to be ignored is working the door. Gerry was the first door person I remember. He was so funny and we worked together when I stamped hands. He was actually the first person I met who had a sarcastic sense of humor. The door people, like the Dee-jays, used to keep themselves separated from the bar staff. The only time people spoke to the door person was to get friends in for free. David Ryan, who used to perform as Doe reen and Trixie were other door people. There was School Teacher Bob, Therese and Dee was favorites. Ray is the head honcho today. He works most of the nights now.
The door people are expected to be jack of all trades. They have to stamp hands, give change, give tickets, answer phone and all the time they are locked in that little 2x4 cubicle. They are the unsung heroes at the bar.
Till tomorrow, be kind

A letter to readers

I would like to clear one thing up…These are my memories of Feathers and everyone has their own. This blog is for everyone and if you have memories and moments add them to the blog…I would love to know what others were going through while all these events were occurring. There are MANY names I will forget, or didn’t really have a relationship with. I know I forgot some Dee-Jay’s like, Garry and John Marto and Peter from years ago, this is not intentional. Everyone made Feathers what it is today and if some names are changed it’s because I never got permission to link them to the bar- any old timers know who they are and any young kids don’t really care.
Everyone thinks their time at Feathers is the best and that is what makes the place so successful. Today someone is walking into the bar for the first time and having his own story to tell. The only difference between my story and theirs is that I know where I ended up and they just started the ride of their life. Would I changes things, sure but look what I would have lost. Life is a continuing journey and we all have our maps to follow…Enjoy yours and remember a life lived is a life with no regrets

Also, everyone has different relationships with people and how someone treated me may not have been the way they treated other people.
Till Tomorrow, be kind

The Music of the Night

Music has always played an important part of Feathers history. Whether it was playing the “old” records or creating a state of the art sound board that merged with the lights, it was all done through the expertise of many.
When I first started hanging at the bar the only Dee- jay that stood out was Randy. Randy was oriental and so funny to talk to, but his music would have them dancing all night. I don’t believe people were as into the sound as discovering a place where they could be themselves. Dee-Jay’s got a bad rap back in the day; they were either drug addicts or alcoholics. They needed to feel the music through booze. No one really minded back then, but look at the songs. Many of the songs back then were Broadway hits put to a disco beat. “Memory”, “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”, “On My Own” and even Ethel Merman had the Disco hit LP. Now if you know those names you are over thirty and know what I’m talking about-if you don’t just know they are the heroes who made the life style easier for you.
Randy was there for quite a while and worked with Joel, our house light and sound guy, to update the club as much as possible on a shoe string budget. Randy also arranged for the shows and was responsible for the “We are The World” benefit and the Featherette’s. Randy moved to California and by the time he came back, it wasn’t the same place.
Brian was a Dee-Jay who suffered from epilepsy. He was a good Dee-Jay, but so insecure. He never trusted in himself, but the people loved him. Unfortunately, the lasting memory of Brian was when Michael, the assistant manager at the time, worried that something was wrong with Brian. He had not showed up for three of his shifts. He went to where Brian lived and had the landlord let him into the apartment. Brian had had a fit and hit his head on the side of the night stand. He died without even knowing.
Tony Finn was another Dee-Jay. He wasn’t a nice person. He resented working in River Edge, New Jersey, but no one else would hire him. Enough said. Then there was Dave, Chris Johnson and I remember we had a dowdy looking guy at the time of Brian and there were others whose name escapes me at the moment. Alex was a cute straight guy who came in with Lady Tita and John Rizzo. Alex was great and left a lasting impression on me.
Billy DeMarco was a Dee-Jay that not many remember, but you never forget—He actually created the Wednesday night format that is today’s most popular night at the bar. He had a fallen out with the management and the owner and became history. Billy was unique in the sense that he was the Dee-Jay, but also like one of the staff. Usually the Dee-jay’s stay in their own world, Billy popped that bubble.
AJ has been Dee-Jaying since they invented Vinyl! I remember going to a club called “Reflections” , owned by Kenny Diaz, and at the end of the night he would play “New York, New York” and the whole place would do a kick line. It was wild! I was so happy when they hired him at Feathers, but he never did his kick line. I never understood people who fight their own popularity. I was known for doing comedy on stage and as much as I wanted to be dramatic, I never did because I knew what my audience wanted, even if I didn’t want it. When you are paid by the public, you are owned by the public. Sad, but true.
Today the club is in the responsible hands of Steve Sidewalk, Lady Tita and the magnificent John Rizzo. The three of them keep the place hopping and have resuscitate it to breath the new life of this new millennium. They are constantly coming up with new and inventive ways to bring in the new and satisfy the old! Hats off to anyone who can do that!
So the next time you are dancing know that there are many heroes who made that dance floor jump and have yet to have the dance floor fall!
Till tomorrow, be kind

Back to the bar

I have been side tracked with my own drama I forgot to describe the atmosphere and attitude. As the years went on the new comers changed. When I first started going to the bar the drinking age was 118 years old. That changed and it became 21 years old. Many of us were “grandfathered” into being allowed to drink- legally once a right is given it cannot be taken away. My generation was probably the last that grew up with Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe and Jimmy Dean and Barbra Streisand. We grew up with the MGM musicals and Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. We believed in Santa Claus until we were in our teens and we respected our elders. We held doors for people and said “excuse me” if we bumped into someone. Girls came into a gay bar and knew that it was a place where men wanted to meet men. The dancers were gay and had fun with customers, there were never a group of women waiting for their man. Actually Hank never allowed dancers in the bar. He was against anything that demeanor the lifestyle. In his own way he was very protective of the gay life and the people. The bartenders were not allowed to flirt with customers, or date them. If we were dating someone they weren’t allowed in the bar when we were working. That changed when Eter and Oe started dating. The bartender and the assistant manager dating was big news and did cause its dramas. Eter wrote in his diary that he was cheating on Oe and Oe found it. That was the whole “Love on the Rocks” situation.
I don’t remember Hank dating anyone. Rumor was that Oe and Hank were lovers at one time. I could never see it, they brought out the worst in each other. They never thought about the repercussions of their actions. They would fire someone and not care that the person had bills. I would hear them giggle and laugh after they did it. Looking back those were such horrible years. I think I would have been a kinder person if I hadn’t experienced those years….
Till tomorrow, be kind

TERRY'S ADVICE

Terry made his grave and he had to lie in it. If I am unsympathetic it is because Terry’s meanness surpassed any that I had ever known.
Terry had gotten wind that I had given John a letter and it did not take long for him to use it against me. I was working the coatroom one night and having my usual banter with Lil Sal when Terry enter the club and commented on how close we were. Sal excused himself and I laid into Terry to stay out of my life! Terry reminded me how close we used to be and how he only has my happiness on his mind….”The sooner you are happy and out of this bar, the sooner I get my own shows!” When he put it that way it sounded like Terry. “You have my attention.”I listened to what he had to say.
“John feels terrible about the drift between the two of you. He doesn’t know how to approach you, he’s shy. He wishes you never gave him the letter and just told him how you felt.”
I was leery of Terry’s words, but when John came in that night he actually said hi to me! This was May and he hadn’t spoken to me since New Year’s Eve, maybe it was a misunderstanding? I asked John how he was and he smiled and said he was fine. I started to melt. Feelings I had not felt in months resurfaced. I blurred out that I am sorry I had given him the letter and I should have told him to his face how much I loved and needed him to complete my life, as I said the words I saw his face turn white and realized Terry had gotten me again. “Don’t waste your time on me I would never fall for a coat check queen!” He went into the bar.
I could see Lil Sal coming back to the coat room. I had my shoulder. He was cold and distant. “You will never be over that loser, if I thought for one moment…you lost tonight and you will never realize just how much,” was all he said to me and left. I was puzzled until Hank came up to the front door. “What happened up here? Sal just told me he can’t work the door anymore and had to leave.”
Sal left and I did realize what I lost. My heart was so heavy and ached and there was Terry smiling in his glory sharing a drink with John.
How much more did I have to lose? All I wanted was to give my friends their shows back!
Till tomorrow, be kind!