The Crossroads
Of The World is located at 6671 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.
This is the first place I lived in Hollywood, and it was where we had
our Transylvanian Party Castle.
And it's the place where I learned a LOT about people, poverty, and
"the business".
Other than it being a place to stay in Hollywood, my living situation
pretty much sucked.
At times, I was an emotional wreck because I was so broke all the time.
But it was also here that some wonderful things that happened to me.
I must admit, I did enjoy being recognized from the show while walking
down Sunset Blvd.
Built in 1936 by Robert V. Derrah, Crossroads
was one of the first open-aired shopping centers in the United States.
It looks like an ocean liner surrounded by a small village of cottage-style
bungalows.
I always called it our "Transylvanian Fishing Village".
(Which makes no sense, since Transylvania is land-locked...but it sounded
cool.)
Today it's private offices, just as it it was when we invaded the complex
in April 1981.
Hale,
Jason, and I opened up Van Nuys Freight & Supply Co. at the complex
as a telephone sales boiler room.
Our neighbors were The Knack, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and Andrew
Gold.
Since we were all ROCKY HORROR fans, it became "Rocky HQ"
for The Tiffany cast.
We never really got any work done and we had some hellacious parties.
The booze flowed, and the reefers were always lit. Quaaludes, cocaine,
and LSD were other favorites.
We
had 2 adjoining rooms. The main office, and a larger room with tables
and telephones.
The main room was where all the fun usually took place, and the other
room was the "Private Area."
We strived at all times to keep it all fun. Everyone
was welcome, although I did have to throw out Buddy Miles.
I don't care if he played with Jimi Hendrix. He was a loud-mouthed douche
bag and a bully.
In
July 1981, Rick Sloane produced, wrote, and directed "Clown Whores
Of Hollywood".
We shot most of it outside Crossroads in about 3 hours.
Rick later integrated this into his first feature, "Blood
Theater".
It was the first film I ever did. That's me getting the pie in the face.
"CLOWN
WHORES OF HOLLYWOOD"
ALISON ARNGRIM, TROY MARTIN, JOANNA MORALES
DIRECTED BY RICK SLOANE
MAKEUP
BY RICHARD GIFFORD
Hollywood
- 1981
Richard
& I also appeared in "Invasion Of The Garter Belts",
which Rick also wrote and directed.
He would later show these films at his ROCKY HORROR Conventions.
"INVASION OF THE GARTER BELTS"
RICHARD GIFFORD, TROY MARTIN
DIRECTED BY RICK SLOANE
Hollywood - 1981
And
of course, there was the music.
Down the street was the Florentine Gardens, where I saw numerous
punk shows.
Most notably, X, The Blasters, Circle Jerks, Dead Kennedys,
Oingo Boingo and Suburban Lawns.
It
was at Crossroads that I fell in love for the very first time
in my life. I mean really fell in love.
I was walking air and on Top Of The World. My life was perfect
in some ways.