Welcome to our community, David!
OMG, I had forgotten about the Pink Flloyd massacre! What was the song? My memory comes and goes...
I don't think there was a single person on our staff who didn't slap on a face, slip into something pretty and gallop across that stage... especially the tech boys like yourself.
I remember you David Ratt!
How the hell are you?
How the hell are you?
hey daddy i'm doin great....glad you are still on the planet...where is that god-forsaken slurpy-face? i miss her even though she stole my pink floyd idea...
anyway some of my best(and worst)memories of the pyramid were in the infernal "tech room", a sony trinitron,a couch,and mad debauchery...
when i started as a busboy it was me,hattie, big ole coke dealer robin,bobby,burt,kitty...i didn't have a place to live and it didn't matter because we would all just pile into bed together at the end of the nite in a drug stupor...
anyway some of my best(and worst)memories of the pyramid were in the infernal "tech room", a sony trinitron,a couch,and mad debauchery...
when i started as a busboy it was me,hattie, big ole coke dealer robin,bobby,burt,kitty...i didn't have a place to live and it didn't matter because we would all just pile into bed together at the end of the nite in a drug stupor...
here's a chuckle for you all,
i was a total white trash country boy 2 months off the bus from Pennsylvania when i picked up this pretty blonde artist at dean savards civillian warfare gallery (1983ish)...i was so taken with her i invited her to this dinner party on central park west...the guest list was stellar....lydia lunch,henry rollins,sonic youth,swans etc...the hostess commented on my dates "lovely deep voice" later at her place i said something suave like "what a pretty little girl you must have been" "actually i was a really confused,fucked up little boy" came the reply...after the initial shock wore off i remembered lou reed had a post-op trannie wife so i kept dating her ...
she was of course greer lankton...
i was a total white trash country boy 2 months off the bus from Pennsylvania when i picked up this pretty blonde artist at dean savards civillian warfare gallery (1983ish)...i was so taken with her i invited her to this dinner party on central park west...the guest list was stellar....lydia lunch,henry rollins,sonic youth,swans etc...the hostess commented on my dates "lovely deep voice" later at her place i said something suave like "what a pretty little girl you must have been" "actually i was a really confused,fucked up little boy" came the reply...after the initial shock wore off i remembered lou reed had a post-op trannie wife so i kept dating her ...
she was of course greer lankton...
David, you just wrecked me!
OMG
Double Wreck!!!
David you were (are) such a freak. New York needs more people like you.
I forgot about Burt. Where is he?
Here or there?
Double Wreck!!!
David you were (are) such a freak. New York needs more people like you.
I forgot about Burt. Where is he?
Here or there?
there Daddy.
Oh, I kinda thought so.
R.I.P / V.I P.
R.I.P / V.I P.
i just feel the need to express how much i love hattie....i don't ever want to lose touch again...i have more stories for your book...i will come back east this winter and we can visit ...
Awwwww David... I certainly don't ever want to lose touch with you again either. I am very eager to hear more stories.
That post was perfect because I used to always joke at the time-- with Greer and Hapi in particular-- that we should put up a card table at Port Authority bus terminal, right next to where those blue robed nuns used to stand, to welcome America's children into our wicked web.
Little did I know that Ms. Langkton actually was doing that.
I have one of Greer's few two-dimensional pieces hanging on my wall and truly think of her every day. What a genius!
And Dean Savard... because he died so early, he is often unfortunately overlooked by art historians documenting that time. In that tiny postage stamp storefront he called Civillian Warfare Gallery, he truly changed the course of history. IMHO, Dean, Gracie, Pat (Hearn) and Patti Astor and Bill Stelling (Fun Gallery,) really created that Eighties arts explosion.
Jog my memory a bit David, did Rat At Rat R ever perform at Civillian Warfare?
That post was perfect because I used to always joke at the time-- with Greer and Hapi in particular-- that we should put up a card table at Port Authority bus terminal, right next to where those blue robed nuns used to stand, to welcome America's children into our wicked web.
Little did I know that Ms. Langkton actually was doing that.
I have one of Greer's few two-dimensional pieces hanging on my wall and truly think of her every day. What a genius!
And Dean Savard... because he died so early, he is often unfortunately overlooked by art historians documenting that time. In that tiny postage stamp storefront he called Civillian Warfare Gallery, he truly changed the course of history. IMHO, Dean, Gracie, Pat (Hearn) and Patti Astor and Bill Stelling (Fun Gallery,) really created that Eighties arts explosion.
Jog my memory a bit David, did Rat At Rat R ever perform at Civillian Warfare?
nope,i did some carpentry work there and that's how i met greer,the next day someone took a photo of greer,dean and myself eating at life cafe....it took up 1/2 page in this east village eye article by carlos mc cormick...(still have it)i was so out of it though....i still hadn't figured out greer was TG even after we got it on..i just knew something was "different"...(go ahead laugh)
so i had been in town 2 months and i had accidently slept with a former guy and there was a huge photo of us in a magazine...
so....i got a job at the pyramid....
so i had been in town 2 months and i had accidently slept with a former guy and there was a huge photo of us in a magazine...
so....i got a job at the pyramid....
how did the japanese destroy the east village gallery scene? i never really understood...it was such a lovely time...i was such an art whore..
i'm still in love with keiko(sigh)
i'm still in love with keiko(sigh)
I have the GREATEST Patti Astor vs Chi Chi Valenti story of all time but I first have to get permission from my wife.
Hattie,
you ask her.
She likes you.
(It's a must for the book BTW)
Hattie,
you ask her.
She likes you.
(It's a must for the book BTW)
Hi! I'm looking for reminiscences about my late sister, Ann Craig, a Pyramid Club emcee/performer from that great '80s era. I think she also performed at Danceteria and other venues. Would anyone have any stories/images/video of her? (I have access to broadband and can download large files.) I'd love to know more about her performances from those years -- I only got to attend a couple of wonderful, wild Pyramid events. (I particularly remember one Father's Day night when our Dad was the 'guest of honor' -- more like 'centerpiece.') We're coming up on 20 years since her death, and it would be great to celebrate her life with memories (ALL memories welcome: the happy and the painful, too).
If you can help, or know anyone who can, I'd be very grateful.
Many thanks,
Bill Craig
preemptivehindsight.com
(Please excuse newbie posting to general board: I wanted to get to this topic but missed!)
If you can help, or know anyone who can, I'd be very grateful.
Many thanks,
Bill Craig
preemptivehindsight.com
(Please excuse newbie posting to general board: I wanted to get to this topic but missed!)
Dear Ann's brother-
Welcome to the motherboards, even if a sad reason brought you here. If you have a picture of your sister circa Pyramid, please email it to me and I will post it here - I think pictures help jog the memories for many of us..
Good luck with your search
Welcome to the motherboards, even if a sad reason brought you here. If you have a picture of your sister circa Pyramid, please email it to me and I will post it here - I think pictures help jog the memories for many of us..
Good luck with your search
Hello Ann's Brother, Bill!
Just the other day I was sitting in a parking lot in Fort Lauderdale and thinking of Ann and of writing a bit about her...
Ann's involvement with the Pyramid predated my own, believe it or not. She was the regular host of Bobby Bradley's brainchild-- a Sunday night performance art event called "Cafe Iguana." Gracious, chatty, and personable, Ann's introductions often began in a rambling and disconnected manner, but somehow she managed, during the course of her monologue, to brilliantly tie all these odd elements together into a wonderful and magical grand finale. She was definitely an inspiration to me and taught me quite a bit about working an audience and connecting with them-- valuable lessons indeed.
Ann was truly a personality and a definite EV fixture, and her kohl eye makeup, put on like it was thick magic marker, was often imitated by young drag queens and genetic females alike.
I know I, for one, definitely worshiped her!
Ann was also able to take many of the traditions we had inherited from the Sixties and Early Seventies-- such as Astrology and Eastern Mysticism-- and translate them very adroitly into the new punk idiom of the early 1980s.
Her weekly "Astro-flash" where she discussed astrology while the sound guy played with the reverb and echo was a perfect example.
She was a very private person, and like a will-o-the-whisp, would disappear for most of us when the Pyramid closed its doors on Sunday night, only to reappear, like an apparition, the following week.
And I most definitely remember the Father's Day moment with your father. That, in itself, was groundbreaking!
I will look atound for pics of Ann, though her time on the Pyramid stage occurred before we even thought about documenting this clubland phenomenon.
Just the other day I was sitting in a parking lot in Fort Lauderdale and thinking of Ann and of writing a bit about her...
Ann's involvement with the Pyramid predated my own, believe it or not. She was the regular host of Bobby Bradley's brainchild-- a Sunday night performance art event called "Cafe Iguana." Gracious, chatty, and personable, Ann's introductions often began in a rambling and disconnected manner, but somehow she managed, during the course of her monologue, to brilliantly tie all these odd elements together into a wonderful and magical grand finale. She was definitely an inspiration to me and taught me quite a bit about working an audience and connecting with them-- valuable lessons indeed.
Ann was truly a personality and a definite EV fixture, and her kohl eye makeup, put on like it was thick magic marker, was often imitated by young drag queens and genetic females alike.
I know I, for one, definitely worshiped her!
Ann was also able to take many of the traditions we had inherited from the Sixties and Early Seventies-- such as Astrology and Eastern Mysticism-- and translate them very adroitly into the new punk idiom of the early 1980s.
Her weekly "Astro-flash" where she discussed astrology while the sound guy played with the reverb and echo was a perfect example.
She was a very private person, and like a will-o-the-whisp, would disappear for most of us when the Pyramid closed its doors on Sunday night, only to reappear, like an apparition, the following week.
And I most definitely remember the Father's Day moment with your father. That, in itself, was groundbreaking!
I will look atound for pics of Ann, though her time on the Pyramid stage occurred before we even thought about documenting this clubland phenomenon.
God, what a gift your memory of Annie is! Putting out my request after stumbling across the Pyramid and Danceteria discussions, I don't think I realized what it would be like to actually read a post such as yours. It's wonderfully moving, to think of you thinking of her -- and your specific memories are like clues to recreating that fabulous and fractured time. Thank you! I DO remember her descriptions of Cafe Iguana, though I never caught a regular show. I know she thought of her job description as "urban shaman," and truly felt that her mission was to offer a sense of community and healing along with the humor and theater. She brought my Dad in, that Father's Day night, as a stand-in for all the fathers who might not be so accepting of everyone's choices and adventures. (OK, and he was a pretty funny centerpiece, too!) I'd love to know more about everyone involved -- yourself, Bobby Bradley, and performers I remember (Little Stevie Taschen[sic?]; the girls in the faux-country band who sang "I'll be Damned If I'll Go Home With a Wild Turkey Like You"). I've read a couple of references to a memoir/history of the club that might get written... I'd sure love to see it, as I've been writing about Annie, too. Of course, like you, I worshipped her. Many thanks, keep any thoughts or pics coming, Bill
Thanks, Chi Chi! I've always wondered who the Absolute Empress is, and it's great to know she's a Benevolent Power! And you know, it's not sad? I'm already so happy to have this unexpected opporunity to think and learn about my beloved big sister! I'll find, scan and post a pic asap.
quote:I've read a couple of references to a memoir/history of the club that might get written... I'd sure love to see it
There are a lot of people waiting for that book!
Hi Ann's brother..I don't think I knew Ann but I was a photogrpher in the 70's and 80's and I've just come across the pyramid files..Bobby bradley is there along with so many others. If you do post a picture of Ann I'll look through my archives and see what I can find. She sounds like she was a "fierce ruler". That's Jackie 60 speak for fabulous!