Update-o-rama

Last night's (9/22/2005) archive of WFMU's Aircheck show presented excerpts from the final broadcast (dated 8/28/69) of FMU's original freeform incarnation, featuring DJs Kevin Taylor and Danny Fields. It's a cool listen all around, but it holds particular fascination for me as it includes an announcement for the MC5/Stooges show at the New York State Pavilion. Contrary to the dates listed on an MC5 giglist page, Kevin and a fellow DJ named Bill announce it as happening on September 3, 1969. Here's a partial transcription:


Bill: Well, another thing I think is kinda really relevant right this minute is the fact that next Wednesday night, that's September 3, uh, the Pervilion, Flushing Meadow Park--
Kevin: [Corrects Bill on the proper pronunciation of Pavilion...]
Bill: Flushing Meadow Park, now I said that right, with my "bext accent"...Now this is next Wednesday night, you're gonna have the MC5, the Stooges, and a third group yet to be announced.
Kevin: David Peel and the Lower East Side'll be there too.
Bill: Probably the third group.
Kevin: No, there's a fourth group.
Bill: Oh really?
Kevin: There's one more after that.
Bill: And that's only for what, 3 bucks?
Kevin: 3 bucks for the whole night. Starts about 8 o'clock, 8:30.
Bill: And in case the, uh, the train, you're taking the Willets Avenue, the F or E or whatever it is and you get stuck four stations this side of Flushing Meadow, you'll still hear it, just open the window--
Kevin: Sure will--
Bill: Wow, that's gonna be somethin'.
Kevin: The MC5 come on hard and strong--
Bill: Hard and strong, and they don't stop--
Kevin: Right on...[brief discussion of MC5's sense of tuning and dynamics]...[T]he Pavilion is one of the nicest situations for music on the East Coast, man, it's just very together. It's in the old New York State Pavilion.
Bill: The State Pavilion, yeah, I remember being in there--
Kevin: It's all open, it's like a big carousel, and they have, uh, barbecue pits set up upstairs, food, and they have mango punch there, for those of you who are into mangoes--they're really exciting fruits--
Bill: Can you imagine freaking out on mango punch, man?
Kevin: Aw, it's goooood stuff--
Bill: Wow--
Kevin: And if you stay around long enough, they give it away free, so you don't have to spend any money buying it. After about 2 o'clock when they start emptying things out, then you wanna stick around and you get free mangoes and you get free hot dogs and junk, y'know--
Bill: Great!
Kevin: It's good. Plus Lenny the P works there, so--
Bill: Oh does he?
Kevin: Yeah, Lenny's the doorman.
Bill: I didn't know that.
Kevin: Oh sure, he's been there for half the summer now.
Bill: No kidding.
Kevin: Sure, Lenny's into, uh, working at rock & roll concerts now. He's doing a good job, man, y'know, he's uh, y'know, being as righteous as possible.
Bill: Yeah well, I'll never forget the photo of him in the, uh, priest's hat, he looked so righteous.
Kevin: Like Tim Conway in that photo--y'know, the guy from, um, McHale's Navy. BURP! That's something I've been wantin' to do for a long time, really. I did it one night, one night I had my dinner, I'd just finished my dinner and I had to turn the microphone on, and as a good Irishman always does, I always belch after my meals, and boy I let out one--hoo-wee!
Bill: Well, in many places that kinda shows appreciation for what you eat--it's not like, real bad, necessarily.

They go on to rap about the trials and tribulations that had recently faced the station and the importance of freeform radio--plus they thank their supporters, including staff members at the Fillmore East, Zacherle, and Richard Robinson.

Speaking of whom--yesterday I read a couple of recently eBayed back issues of Rock Scene. In the March '75 issue, Wayne County's advice column includes the following exchange:

Dear Wayne,
I'm a trendy made! [sic.--should be male.] When at Club 82 which lavatory should I use, men's or women's?
Jack Zipp, N.Y., N.Y.

Dear JZ: The 82 has changed a lot since it became the well-known hangout for the in-crowd and superstars. At the beginning, it was perfectly okay for men either dressed as men or women to use the same bathroom. Now all that has changed. The 82 has become famous and has been invaded by a younger, and much straighter crowd. Lots of complaints were made by the girls about the men coming into "their" bathroom. The main reason I used the women's room there was because the men's was so absolutely disgusting. Also, a lot of times, I was in full drag. Now that the 82 is no longer after hours and is trying to be more legitimate, they have stopped men from using the women's bathroom and have stopped drag queens from even coming into the 82. Apparently, the owners of the 82 are obeying the law after a friendly reminder from their local gendarme.

The same issue has a pic of John Phillips and then-wife Genevieve Waite seated beside "an antique organ--one used by Nico when she used to perform at Steve Paul's The Scene." The February '78 issue has a Debbie Harry spread which includes a few photos of the Stillettoes at Club 82 (in one shot the gals are backed by the Dolls). It also has a feature on bands from Toronto's Crash and Burn club--but that's beyond my purview.