Today's Blind Items - He Dated The Dancing Boy

I've been a regular reader of CDAN for years so I'm used to wild and crazy stories, but I have to say it goes to a whole new level of strange when you make one of your daily visits to the site, and there's a blind about someone from your own past. Followed by others... You see,  I was the dancing boy's mid 90s boyfriend. I have a story that I think may be of interest to some of your readers.

Back in high school, my older brother was an aspiring a&r guy and sometime road manager for various bands. It was then that I learned what you might call the Epstein effect, by which I mean Brian not Jeffrey. This is the rule which states that while the band might not be gay someone with the management often is. So, if you're a fan boy/autograph collector like me, and liked to get backstage for that reason, it was better to make contact with them, rather than the band. It's how I got in to meet everyone from Aerosmith to a now recently deceased permanent A list musician/bandleader who had come up from the swamps. The latter show was where I met the dancing boy.

I was in college in Nevada at the time, and visiting the Bay Area just to see this long running benefit concert where the musician was performing. ***** was there as a fan too but also because he had known the musician's daughter and her boyfriend from college. At the moment we first made eye contact backstage though he was talking to the daughter of another permanent A lister, this one a foreign born but English speaking comedian, who had appeared as his screen offspring in a certain movie/comedy in the 80s. She was also a friend of the musician's daughter. I guess they had all met in college.

In fact, he was asking her if this rumor from a couple years back was true. The story was that her dad had come to visit her on campus, and had gone to the right room number of the wrong dorm. It happened to be the room for the son of a disgraced 80s Wall Street financier/ inspiration for the famous movie villain, who was I guess known to regularly cavort with the campus rapists. Her dad knocked on the door, and the young man said "come in." Apparently he was expecting it to be a girl he had invited over to expose himself to, as the son was lying naked on the bed, masturbating. Upon seeing the young man's "tiny hands," and understanding he was up to no good, the comedian purportedly/mockingly said "I'm terribly sorry," and left. The daughter laughed out loud, which I took to be a confirmation.

Anyhow, sensing an in, I asked her for an autograph. "Sure sweetie," she said, pinching my cheek. I handed her my autograph book, and ***** whispered something in her ear. For a second I thought they might be dating, but then read what she wrote. It was an autograph with a postscript, which said, my friend ***** thinks you're cute. I'm thinking to myself what is this the 8th grade, and we're passing notes to each other? But I played along. I wrote that I liked him below it, and handed the book to her. She read it and handed it to him, which made him blush.

I never got to meet the daughter of the musician, as she had I guess already left with her boyfriend for an after hours shooting club frequented by Bay Area rappers, athletes, and Silicon Valley execs. One of the members was that legendary CEO. He had apparently started carrying after being robbed at gunpoint with his former business partner. The daughter herself had started carrying after an attempt was made on the life of her father, and the family. In their case it was an arsonist. They barely made it out of the house, which was quickly engulfed in flames. That crime remains unsolved. And yeah, there's a song about it.

One thing I will say about the dad is that the recent revelations about not only the cause of death, but the origin/timeline of the problem, are very probably true. With respect to the latter, often these are bs stories put out by the family or lawyers to conceal a decades-long addiction. But in his case I can tell you from what I saw he was stone cold sober back then, refusing even the champagne and weed being offered to him by the press and hangers on backstage. And everyone going back there was screened for track marks on their arms, because he didn't want that around.

After exchanging pleasantries - wasn't that a great show, where were we from and what were we doing now - he asked me if I wanted to go to a party in the City. I said sure.
He drove an Austin Healey 100-4. I once read that this car back in the day used to be called "the widow maker." Apparently there was a small epidemic of speed-related traffic deaths, most of them involving young men. And by the way he was driving I was afraid we might become latter day casualties. I asked him if it was really necessary. He said we'd be late otherwise. I told him I didn't want to become a martyr for punctuality. He said they wouldn't let us in if we were late. I said I didn't care. Finally, he slowed down.

The party, it turned out, was at this Mission District club and bar which officially closed at the designated time, 2am, but unofficially re-opened as an after hours venue for local and visiting celebs and their guests. The doors stayed open for just fifteen minutes. That was the case not only because they continued serving booze after closing time, but what else was on the menu, namely the stuff of that famous 80s rap tune they didn't let you play at jr. high dances. The A or A+ list and then still alive area rapper was rumored to be one of the stakeholders. ***** was on the guest list because his old friend and then current housemate was dating the singer of a certain influential but never very successful SF emo act, the one with the hard candy name. We got in with less than a minute to spare.

TO BE CONTINUED...