Dancing with the Famous

It was 1987, I was visiting Maureen and Daniel in Manhattan. The Palladium nightclub was happening. Disco was surging and this was the place to be. I hit the dance floor and danced back to back with different partners of any persuasion or color. My only criteria was my rotating partners had to be able to dance. At one point, I was taking a break and someone asked if I knew who I had been dancing with? I hadn’t a clue. It was Nina Simone and yes, she can dance!

A few years before that, one of my hair clients had an extra ticket to Studio 54. It was exclusive. They didn’t just open their door to all. So, lickety-split I got a flight from SFO to LaGuardia to stay with Tina in Midtown. In my haste, I forgot to bring a jacket. NYC can be cold in November. As I’m leaving Tina’s apartment, she stopped me and tossed her new fur coat at me, saying, “I don’t care if you come back, but I want my coat back.” Gilbert, my hair client with the ticket, told me I’d be sitting next to ‘the Rabbi’. That’s all he said, no name. I find my seat and look at who’s seated next to me. On one side a woman, to the other a man with a beard. So, I ask the guy if he was the Rabbi? He was very offended and shouted that he wasn’t even Jewish! Sorry. The Rolling Stones were great! Mick Jagger appeared to have done a lot of jogging. After the concert, I retrieved Tina’s fur from coat check and got a little sleep before the reverse flight.

One of my hair clients once told me about going to Hawaii in the 50’s. That was obviously before it was a tourist hub. My trip to NY for the Stones was also a time-in-place event. Brown Sugar instead of Sugar cane.