Teenage Hormones Buzzby's, San Francisco and The Supremes
1963 and it’s gay adolescent hormone time. On the radio is “When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes.” It has that Bo Diddley afro-cuban rhythm that is pervasive in so much adrenaline inducing music. It was also that period in Motown turntable hits when the hit factory was also inspired by Gospel influenced muse and the sound is very big for the three minutes or so that it emanates from a transistor radio. It is also the first time the Four Tops sing with The Supremes supplying a huge masculine call back feral sound during the musical bridge that couldn’t possibly come from Florence or Mary. The idea that some guy would give someone “the eye” was a very titillating prospect indeed and illegal if you are a fifteen year old boy in 1963. The ensuing summers were full of Motown and big hits from The Supremes among other great songs, raging hormones and unfulfilled desires.
Segue a mere twelve years later to San Francisco. Along with Supremes those of us who are living in the life have had many ups and downs. The Supremes were re-grouped and re-invented that year and were coming to The Fairmount Hotel for a show. It was also the year of much hormonal expression and male feral sounds. It was, therefore, a year full of “giving the eye” and making good on that visual promise. Buzzby’s was briefly the place to go to. It was small but punctuated with Mylar beams behind the bar and a black and white art deco illustration of a naked man reaching for the sky over the outside marquee. It was a great place where many fun mistakes were made—a fun place to work, if Polk Street was your main playground. Living with fellow employees a short distance away, you could take your mistakes home with you. Sometimes the mistakes were there waiting for you. Two or three mistakes were made in the form of blotter acid one evening at the encouragement of one important roommate—the one who escaped his wife and three children in Arkansas to tend bar in San Francisco. He w the one who told me The Supremes were coming to Buzzby's and then he went to work. Not trusting at all I called the bar.
No, they weren’t! Well, the response was that they indeed were.
Well, if it is not believable, not to go would make it very disappointing if they were to show up. Drat, the acid was crazy making.
Making entrance into the club, an ice bucket with a bottle of champagne was making its way above the heads of the crowd. It was heading toward the back where Mary Wilson was holding court with what appeared to be young handsome men in tuxedos. It is the kind of moment when LSD can render you speechless. Overheard was someone saying, “He got him too high.” In the meantime Mary did sign a t-shirt. Speech still was not coming.
Well, who needs to talk when you can dance. Cindy and Scherrie went out to the dance floor with me, where we danced. We danced to their songs and for a few minutes I was a Supreme.
“Where Do I Go From Here” was a big song written by the same guys who wrote “When the Lovelight …” It had a lot of bass, Scherrie’s emotive lead and poignancy. The dance floor at Buzzby’s had me in the middle flanked by two Supremes, raging hormones and a lot of guys giving me the eye.
Segue a mere twelve years later to San Francisco. Along with Supremes those of us who are living in the life have had many ups and downs. The Supremes were re-grouped and re-invented that year and were coming to The Fairmount Hotel for a show. It was also the year of much hormonal expression and male feral sounds. It was, therefore, a year full of “giving the eye” and making good on that visual promise. Buzzby’s was briefly the place to go to. It was small but punctuated with Mylar beams behind the bar and a black and white art deco illustration of a naked man reaching for the sky over the outside marquee. It was a great place where many fun mistakes were made—a fun place to work, if Polk Street was your main playground. Living with fellow employees a short distance away, you could take your mistakes home with you. Sometimes the mistakes were there waiting for you. Two or three mistakes were made in the form of blotter acid one evening at the encouragement of one important roommate—the one who escaped his wife and three children in Arkansas to tend bar in San Francisco. He w the one who told me The Supremes were coming to Buzzby's and then he went to work. Not trusting at all I called the bar.
No, they weren’t! Well, the response was that they indeed were.
Well, if it is not believable, not to go would make it very disappointing if they were to show up. Drat, the acid was crazy making.
Making entrance into the club, an ice bucket with a bottle of champagne was making its way above the heads of the crowd. It was heading toward the back where Mary Wilson was holding court with what appeared to be young handsome men in tuxedos. It is the kind of moment when LSD can render you speechless. Overheard was someone saying, “He got him too high.” In the meantime Mary did sign a t-shirt. Speech still was not coming.
Well, who needs to talk when you can dance. Cindy and Scherrie went out to the dance floor with me, where we danced. We danced to their songs and for a few minutes I was a Supreme.
“Where Do I Go From Here” was a big song written by the same guys who wrote “When the Lovelight …” It had a lot of bass, Scherrie’s emotive lead and poignancy. The dance floor at Buzzby’s had me in the middle flanked by two Supremes, raging hormones and a lot of guys giving me the eye.
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