donny knight

every good rock'n'roll band story
has the flamboyant gay manager chapter
and i'd almost forgotten the mf's
enter
sir donny knight
from a small town in oklahoma
sassy
black
lispy
our very first "manager"
donny was a true raver
always up
always smiling
that big old gold toothed grin of his
truly infectious
he almost bounced
with enthusiasm
my denton girlfriend c.m.
brought him to one of our shows
in denton
a real dive of a place
i can't even remember the name
the red rooster?
something like that
had the vibe of a barn
anyway
c.m. drags donny to the front while we're rocking out
long hair flying
i remember the acid washed jeans with holes on the knees
donny smiling really big and holding both hands to his chest
rockin' side to side like stevie wonder
after the show he tells us excitedly
that he's been clubbing in dallas for years
knows all the owners
he can help us get gigs
he wants to be our manager!
we look around
don't see anyone else standing in line
so we agree
a few weeks later donny's got us our first dallas gig
the starck club
at 2am
that's right
2am
we were a little perplexed
what kind of club starts music at 2am?
oh well
it paid well and it was dallas
so we took it

little did we know what starck was all about
it was an uber-trendy disco
dallas' attempt to mirror famous upscale new york clubs
coed bathrooms with the glass block dividers
and little TV's in the stalls
marble and pillars everywhere
the thump thump thump of pet shop boys
and other eighties dance giants blaring from large boxes
projected images on gigantic white drapes
cloth covered long white sofas
cold as hell
lot's of people on coke and X
we were totally out of place
they set us up on a makeshift stage right in front of these stairs
that led down to the dancing floor dungeon
our fog machine made the whole scene even more surreal
drugged discoers staggering up the stairs at 2am
to the sight and sounds of a long haired rock band
it was high comedy indeed

(to be continued...)