A great time was had by all at last night's Polari Goes Pop night last night - including Paul Burston's mother-in-law Heidi, seated proudly with Paulo in the front row!
As befits an evening focussing on the pop music world (a nod in the direction of the Meltdown Festival), Paul was resplendent in Bowie t-shirt (and later glasses and a boa!), I dug out my hand-made Debbie Harry "punk" t-shirt, and the place filled with its usual eclectic mixture of faded gentry and enthusiastic homosexualist aesthetes...
Opening the show, John Lucas read his amusing short story about
Being Marc Almond - a modern-day fable of one man's obsession that overshadows the hum-drum reality of his boring real life - fab stuff!
Next up was a really bizarre performance - in video and live reading - by Polari regular Joe Storey-Scott, who in turn baffled and amused the audience with his eclectic avant-garde modern poetry. Gauge for yourself...
A little light relief was needed at this stage, and that was provided by the charming
Nick Field, whose chirpy campness made a pleasant contrast. He is currently working on a major piece called
Cosmos and Cosmetics, and the title alone should give an idea of what the man is about...
There are few adjectives that could describe the presence that is Laura Dockrill - effervescent, wild and slightly mad, a mate of Kate Nash and a headliner at the "Latitude" festival, she performed a few extracts from her new anthology
Mistakes in the Background. Her ode to the "try-hard middle class mums" (who desperately want to be streetwise and youthful again) was particularly hilarious! John-John purchased a copy of the book - with its doodles and handwritten texts, cartoons and cuttings - and I may have to borrow it when he has finished it.
Almost the headline reader of our evening was Tiffany Murray, described by
The Guardian as
"the glam-rock Dodie Smith". Her new book
Diamond Star Halo is Miss Murray's semi-fictional account of her own bizarre childhood at rural Monmouth recording studio Rockfield.
Appropriately for the occasion, not only did she do a couple of (very funny) readings from the book, but she brought along her own musician who set some of her words to his own music! I was enthralled and bemused by her anecdotes about praying to Otis Redding, her nonchalance at being surrounded by the great and the good of the music world, and her beautiful adopted brother who fulfils the dream and becomes a rock star himself. Enthralling and beautifully written - I loved her performance!
Last but by no means least, Steven Machat was another great coup for Paul. The legendary son of the legendary manager of Sam Cooke and James Brown, he was destined to enter the legal management of rock stars - but, as his convoluted and wonderful monologue uncovered, he soon discovered that behind the glitter and the glam was a world full of no-hopers, back-stabbers and bastards.
Screwed out of a fortune by Leonard Cohen, present at the hospital when Ozzy Osbourne was receiving rabies shots after eating a live bat on stage, messed around by the mob and the
"mental midgets with an MBA mentality" who run the major record labels - he has seen it all! And was more than prepared to talk about it... Figuring that this could be like a modern day
Hollywood Babylon I just had to buy a copy of his memoir
Gods, Gangsters and Honour, which Mr Machat kindly signed for me.
Another bloody brilliant night, with our friend Paul (who is himself becoming a bit of a regular), the lovely Jeannie (who sacrificed Ascot Ladies' Day to be there!) and of course Paul B's extended family... I am going to miss the fact that there is no Polari next month!
Polari
