It is ok to link to this site. You should sign up for updates in the REGISTER box to the side. All contents (c) 2006 by Michael V. Flores
PROLOGUE
1979 and I'm looking at one of the hottest girls I've ever seen at NEO.
I'm not the only one that notices. She is alone. One by one every single guy goes up to ask her to dance. She turns them all down.
Which makes me very, very hot.
NEO is a punk rock club that looks more like a nightclub than a punk rock bar. But the music is everything I like but can't hear on my radio. The Clash. Patti Smith. The Ramones. I noticed her dress was label, her hair was done and her nails had been manicured. I immediately knew why she was turning the guys down. This was not a punk rock girl. I took a swig of my gin and tonic and walked over to her.
"Hi", says I.
She turns and smiles and says hi right back.
"You know, its really easy to dance to punk rock. I can show you how", I said eyeing her neckline and smooth soft skin.
"Wow", she says to me, " that would be great!" and with that we walked to the dance floor as the Ramones started to blast through the speakers.
I start jumping up and down. She starts.
"What's this called?", she says to me.
THE POGO!
We dance through a medley of Ramones songs. The DJ spinning would go on to have a fling with David Bowie, who would write the song I AM THE DJ for her.
The Ramones end, we go up for a drink, and every guy in the place is sitting staring at me! They are not nice stares either.
We drink and we talk. After graduating from the Art Institute I taught 20th Century art history and film history. That lasted 2 years and now I was in the apprentice union for film editing cutting Don Meier's WILD KINGDOM. We talked and she offered to take me to a bar I hadn't heard of before. It was called Steve's Blues Brothers bar. I said I was running out of dough and would have to call it quits, she laughed and told me her limo was waiting, and they never charged her for drinks.
A limo!
She told me the story of the club.
Chicago is a big city with a small Midwestern town feeling. Girls wear tops with spaghetti straps - but wear visible bras under them. (Try that in LA, Vegas, London, Berlin and people laugh at you). The Blues Brothers film shoot drew hundreds of people who would just stand around and watch. ( In any other city people would have been pissed a film shoot was blocking the roads!).
So the filmmakers asked Mayor Byrne for a place they could go to after hours where they wouldn't get stared at.
The bar had no license. No tax stamps. It didn't open until after 10 most nights and stayed open until the last people left! We drove down Wells Street in the limo and she whipped out a baggie that looked like it had a half ounce of coke. We did a few McDonald's spoonfuls each and came to a stop across from the Second City on Wells Street.
I had no idea at the time, but I was just feet away from where Del lived.
We walked down an alley to a house. I had walked by there a hundred times and never even knew there were houses behind the buildings on Wells Street.
There was Steve, seemed like a nice guy, opened the door for us like he had done it for Patti a thousand times.
We walked in at the tables and chairs area you entered into, just south was the bar.
There was John Belushi. Sweating. On either side of him was a stunning babe. I later found out they were from the Playboy Club on Armitage. In front of him was a dinner plate covered in a pile of cocaine. He pressed his face into it and sat up. His face was covered with the white powder.
The two girls licked it off him!
I decided right then and there, this was the best bar in Chicago.
He greeted Patti like she was an old friend. And offered us both lines.
Patti whispered to me that this was a slow night, wait until the cast and crew had ended a 14 hour shooting day and were ready to party!
This is a slow night? You must be joking! I thought to myself.
After a couple of drinks, Patti asked me if she could crash at my place.
So far, tonight was magic.....
