Strange Party

Later on in my 2001 Round The World In Drag journey - another New York adventure to mail about to my friend Jo,- Jo, If you can’t be happy, be busy. No, I’m happy. It’s Sunday and last night we went to a Strange Party. I told you about it, I think – I can never remember what I’ve put in these E-Mails. I was exhausted, we’d spent the day at Coney Island, heat in the 90’s, watching the Mermaid Parade. I said we’d missed Pride, didn’t I? Everybody said it was the next best thing in parades, camp ones anyway. Roger said I should get dressed up as a mermaid but I took one look at the sun and said, No. In that heat I’d die in costume, especially moving along at the pace of a snail. Sun-block and sun-shade and the little battery fan Karen gave me – that was what I needed. And I was right. We went on the subway which was hot enough in itself, over into Brooklyn, very bridge and tunnel. And out at Coney Island the place was over-run with folks, a big sea-side day, and all the New Brighton-y things like side-shows, rides and ice-creams. New Yorkers – and Brooklyners – aren’t altogether a pretty sight, but they’re all characters, and the whole thing was a fun trip out. I suppose I’d been expecting a lot of mermaid drag, and there was that, but it was really a dressing-up day for families and friends, like Dragstrip in L.A. with lots of jokes. We got the usual classic cars, and hundreds of different mermaids, on cars or carts or waddling along, and the Mer-mones (Joey died recently, didn’t he?) playing rock-music, and all the usual inflatable things, a boy in angel-wings which made bubbles when he ran about and a man wearing a costume in the shape of the big Coney Island tower with Barbie mermaids hanging off it. I don’t know who won the Best Float prize but it should have been the one full of queens doing “It’s Raining Men” who sprayed us all with water. The fire-brigade did too, but they seemed to run out too quickly. After the Parade had gone by – and it seemed to take hours – everybody congregated on the Boardwalk by the beach for photos and music and party. I sometimes think we should remember that anybody can dress up and have fun. Not just us queens. And bigots and bastards and the rest should be made to dress up for a day and parade round town with us all. Now is that a revolution, or what? (Mind you they tell me the Mayor has done drag in public too….hmmmn) And it would have been nice to have stayed but I had this Party to go to. “Strange Party, The East Village Eighties”. So back we went and I had a bite to eat and got ready. Jane and I were going, it was at CBGB’s, which is a famous rock club and gallery. Now I knew it was going to be a costume exhibition and that a lot of the clothes were from 80’s art-rock shows and had been lent by Joey Arias. Also knew there were going to be performances by famous people from the 80’s art-scene. So, I decided to go as art myself. With my limited travelling wardrobe that meant the full PVC and the blue hair and some strange make-up which didn’t quite do my cheek-bones justice but looked arty and dramatic enough. Art-drag for parties. Actually the flyer-invitation listed Dress Suggestions by lots of fashion designers from the 80’s I’d never heard of but I thought they’d be glad to have the Mandy “Round The World” look whatever. I went on to Jane’s and it rained – hooray for rain – so we arrived in a shower together. Entrance was a $10 donation to the costume museum they’re setting up. The whole night was dedicated to Klaus Nomi who was a famous performance artist who died of AIDS, and he was brilliant at the strange look and I found out Joey performed with him. There was going to be “Strange Performance” all night, introduced by Chi-Chi. When we got in it was all very Art, the people and the do, but for a girl like me really fun. The costumes were in one room and a lot of it was Joey’s collection, as well as things for Boy Sex, Klaus Nomi, Madonna and even Bowie, TV stuff as well as stage-rock stuff. I have to say that some of it looked a bit Blue Peter – cardboard and silver foil – but the rest was beautifully made and must have been a sensation back in the 80’s (what was I wearing then……?) After Jane and I had taken in the costumes and the crowd we set about drinking cocktails and looking out for friends of hers. We did catch Chi Chi and Johnny when they weren’t too busy, but only for a moment, and Lee who had come as a monk with his boyfriend Tommy, and there were lots of Jane’s friends to meet between Mudslides and Screwdrivers. I wanted to see the shows too. I wasn’t here in the 80’s, I wanted to know what it was all like. Maybe nothing’s so special when you go back to it. Maybe I’ll go back to Moorea one day and be disappointed – I hope not. Or maybe putting things back together as they were is really difficult. Like they say, - you had to be there. I suppose I’m getting round to saying that the 80’s must have been a funny time in New York. We had two famous drag-queens, Hapi Phace and Loretta B. Demille, reading a funny script called “Sleeping Through the 90’s” about all the changes that had gone on. After half an hour Miss Glamamore did a classic lip-synch that she’d done at the Boybar back in the 80’s. Later there was a video which was introduced by Man Parrish in a live video link-up of Joey, Man and another boy acting up to a dance-track, and a rare Boy Sex video. (I’ll be honest, I don’t remember Boy Sex, but he looked famous enough, and wasn’t there in person to show how he looked now). And they had some break-dancers from the time onstage doing their stuff while all that was going on. The last performance was a girl (girl-girl) called Katya Casio with her latest music which she got out of a lap-top onstage. She looked very punk. That was very late. In between the acts we moved about talking to people. And Joey Arias was there – not in drag and looking very laid-back and tired from travelling. He said he’d be at the Bar D’O tomorrow or Monday as usual. It was lovely to see him and I’d have loved Sherry to be there too, but I got a picture of us together. There were a lot of people from the time being videoed and photographed for this documentary they’re doing about “Jackie60” and the period. One was Miss Understood (another new name for me but she’s legendary and it wouldn’t be good to steal it, but I’m feeling very misunderstood lately). In fact everything about the 80’s was there except the sex. Talking of which there was this boy in very tall shoes and not much in the way of clothes and I had my picture taken with him and felt him up something rotten and I asked him his name and he said “Armando” and it was the little boy from Spa in big heels with no specs, and he was shy in all his nakedness which made me want him but afraid to take him. And I suspected a boyfriend round about. So before it all faded into the night, after Jane had gone home, I sat and talked to Yanna. And it turned out that her boyfriend was the bubble-boy from the Mermaid Parade, and we had a good talk about life and art and things. All those Mudslides though and I was on the unsteady side, and sort of found my way home, still looking very Art. Maybe I’ll be in a show about 2001 in New York one day. Love Mandy P.S. The next few days are going to be a bit hectic, but I’ll try to E you just before we come home. Boo hoo!