TROY MARTIN SINGS ROCKY HORROR - "Absolute Pleasure"

The Tiffany Theater is located at 8534 Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood CA.
That's on the south side of Sunset Boulevard, just west of La Cienaga Boulevard.
The rear parking lot has one of the most spectacular views of Los Angeles.
The Tiffany was owned by Tommy Cooper. He also owned The Vagabond Theater.

There were 2 shows nightly on Fridays and Saturdays...at Midnight and at 2 AM.
And ROCKY HORROR was so popular, that for a few weeks it played on Thursday nights.
The Midnight shows were always SOLD OUT, and the 2 AM show was usually full, too.
It was unusual to get out of the theater before 4 AM.
Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, and Barry Bostwick all visited the Tiffany during ROCKY HORROR's run.

1979-1980 was a very exciting and creative time in Los Angeles.
The infamous L.A. Punk / New Wave / New Romantic / Hardcore scenes were still raging and evolving.
It definitely inspired and motivated us artistically, and as a lifestyle.
At that time, West Hollywood was still an unicorporated area of Los Angeles County.
That meant the LAPD would not hassle you, but you had to steer clear of the Los Angeles County Sheriff.
I got in trouble with them a bunch of times.
You could park across the street in the liquor store parking lot if you were hip to it and got there early enough.
One night we hung out in the parking lot with The Go-Go's.
Another night, we smashed a case of empty beer bottlles simply out of punk boredom.
We would also drink too much, and there was the occasional overdose.

In May 1980, Velvet Magazine did a 3-page photo spread on us for their up-coming issue.
We had no idea that there was going to be a photo shoot that night...we were "just dressed up for Rocky".
I don't know what made me want to ditch my Crim outfit for my tailcoat that night, but I'm sure glad that I did.
These photos truly captured a moment in time. I was 19 years old.

MICHELE MORRIS, CHRISTINE GRISANTI, & JAY
Tiffany Theater - West Hollywood - 1980

LORI RIZZO & CHRISTINE GRISANTI
Tiffany Theater - West Hollywood - 1980

Christine Grisanti was always first in line.
She was 9 years old at the time and she played Eddie.
I also met my dear friend, Lori Rizzo. She eventually became the Columbia for the Tiffany.

JILL McMANUS & MICHELE MORRIS
Tiffany Theater - West Hollywood - 1980

2 "GORGEOUS GALS", Jill McManus & Michele Morris came down from Thousand Oaks.
They were a great Magenta & Columbia team, and they were always second in line.
Devoted...honest...beautiful...fun...and full of spirit. I will love those 2 forever!
Jill & Michele are among the most hardcore ROCKY HORROR people I've ever known.

THE DENTON AFFAIR
BONNIE ROSE, KATHY BLUMEN, & CHELSIE KRAEMER
Tiffany Theater - West Hollywood - 1980

THE DENTON AFFAIR from The Cove Theater in Hermosa Beach were our friends.
They were Jim Cochrane, Gilbert Shannon, Kathy Blumen, Chelsie Kraemer, Patti Bockting, Laurie Wieland,
Steve Zlick, Bonnie Rose, Don Bliss and Mark Williams. They were organized and experienced.
The cast from Long Beach were our friends, too.
We also met a group from The Strand in San Diego that called themselves DREAM POLICE.

Steve Cartoon was another really cool guy that started turning up in line.
He always had good pot, great books and he really loved ROCKY HORROR.
He was my favorite of all the Transylvanians.
He's a mad genius, and just as freaky as the rest of us. He's one of my life-long "Rocky" friends.
One night, the manager of the theater refused to let Steve into the theater because of some petty conflict.
Steve was really pissed...so he waited until after the crowd went inside, and then he re-arranged the marquee
letters out in front of the theater. It originally spelled "Neighbors...Starring John Belushi".
By the time Steve was finished re-arranging the letters, it read "Nigors...Starring John Bushi"
He threw the remaining marquee letters into a mail slot of the adjoining office building.
It caused a tremendous stink, and Steve was banned from the Tiffany for a long time.
That's him on the right as "Beetlejuice".

RICHARD GIFFORD & STEVE CARTOON
(I know "Beetlejuice" was released in 1988, but this is such a great picture.)

Around 11:30 PM the doors would open.
Then would come the legendary "Tiffany Push". It was the most dangerous part of the night.
The crowd would surge towards the entrance in a frantic 10-minute non-stop "push" towards the entrance.
To this day, I am amazed that no one got pushed through the glass doors.
Many people passed out before they even got in the door, but it was worth it if you got in.

In the Tiffany lobby, you passed by a "He's The Hero...That's Right!...The Hero!" one-sheet poster for the film.
It had been signed by Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, and Barry Bostwick.
Then came the rush for seats. After everyone was seated, the show started.
We would de-flower any Virgins that were present, and do our pre-show down in front of the screen.
After that the lights went down.
The projectionist would crack jokes during the safety announcement, and ask "Are you ready?!!!"
A&M Records had sent over 2 promotional clips for Tim Curry's new album, "Fearless".
The girls would scream when these films would start, and they all got up and danced.

Then the film rolled. From here it got really nuts.
Audience participation was great at the Tiffany.
The Tiffany's screen was set at eye level, so during the film, the cast would perform on the sides of the screen.
Since the screen was so low, you could interact with the film with your hands and other objects.
One night, Hale rode his motorcycle inside the theater during "Hot Patootie".

There was one other very special thing about the Tiffany.
To the left of the Tiffany's screen, there was an alcove that led to an exit to the street.
The alcove had a curtain in front of it, and you had the area of small room.
It was a convenient place to "engage".
I lost my virginity in that alcove during ROCKY HORROR tripping on acid, in costume, minus my trousers.
She was beautiful. A Goddess in every sense of the word. I was a very lucky man.

I consider this period to be one of the happiest of my life.
I had a nice place, a gig, a job, and a beautiful girlfriend.
ROCKY HORROR was now becoming more and more "acceptable" and "mainstream".
The goons that wanted to kill us a year before were now showing us respect.
I think one reason was because we were drawing all the girls to our shows.
Another reason was because after they saw it, they realized it was a great show with great rock'n'roll music.
Either way, more and more people were no longer afraid to "give themselves over to absolute pleasure."
People were actually offering to pay us for advice on costumes.
We started seeing more families coming to the show. It was good for us and good for the theater.

But by the end of 1980, the original members of EROTIC NIGHTMARES were seeing less and less of each other.
We were not immune from the inevitable in-fighting, drama and natural growth.
Richard & I were very much enamored by the glamor, energy, and fast-living that Hollywood offered.
David and Julie were much happier doing ROCKY HORROR in RIverside.
Looking back, I can't say I blame them.
The Tiffany was very "Hollywood", and there was a lot less stress in Riverside.
Lisa was spending less time with us, and the other members of the cast were moving on to other things.
We were also sick of living together and being cooped up together.
We started fighting and arguing over petty bullshit.
I got so pissed-off one day that I jumped out of my second story window. (I won't do that again.)
David & Julie moved out, and Selina, Joe and Kurt moved in.
Kurt is cool. Kurt is another one my life-long pals.

Richard & I had made a strong impression on the Hollywood crowd, and we eventually joined the Tiffany cast.
We would ride the RTD 496 bus from Riverside to LA, and then catch the RTD 91S to the theater.
("It's The 91S...My Favorite Bus!...Fuck The 91S!...It doesn't go to Transylvania!")
We learned very quickly not to take the 91X bus.
It dropped you off at Santa Monica and La Cienaga Boulevards, and you had to hike up the hill to Sunset.
If you've ever made that hike, then you know what I mean.
We eventually figured out a way to ride the bus all the way from Riverside to West Hollywood for free.
We never got caught. It was a pleasant routine for a while.

One night, 2 girls named Tori & Brandi showed up at the theater one night.
Before you knew it, Richard & Brandi got married and they became the Tiffany Riff Raff/Magenta team.
Tori played Janet for a while.
We set up "The Secret Headquarters Of F.A.T.S.O." in the marquee room underneath the projection booth.
Sometimes, we would sleep in a storage bin in a carport across the street, or in the marquee room.
On Sunday mornings, we would take the bus back to Riverside.
Other times we would drive back and forth when we had a car.
The fog on the freeway was so thick sometimes that we could not see a few feet past the headlights.
One night, Richard & I went to The Starwood and we saw X and D.O.A. play.
Watching X play changed my life. We became good friends.
Billy Zoom inspired me to play guitar. And play guitar I did!

Life was good.
But then almost overnight, things began to change.

In November, Ronald Reagan was elected president.
The assassination of John Lennon on December 8, 1980 sent shock waves around the world.
I was at home with Kurt when we first got the news. I was shocked. John had been a part of my life since I was 3.
I saw him give a live performance in NYC in 1972. I took part in the 10-minutes silence on December 14.
1980 had started off with so much fun, creativity and optimism, and it had ended in saddness and sorrow.

On February 21, 1981, I met Sal Piro, President of "THE ROCKY HORROR OFFICIAL FAN CLUB".
He introduced himself to me in the Tiffany projection booth.
The next day, we attended another of Rick's events, the "Semi-Annual Transylavanian Convention".
The day of the convention, I met a beautiful Trixie from San Diego.
She was wearing a buton that said "Lick It!" So I licked her button.
She stared at me in shock for a moment and then giggled.
She said her name was Gail. I thought that she was the perfect Trixie.
I got to co-host the convention, and in the middle of one of my bits of banter, Richard pantsed me.
It got quite a reaction from the crowd, and it established our reputation fun-loving ROCKY HORROR fans.
But it was also the last time we appeared in public together as EROTIC NIGHTMARES.

THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW
AQUARIUS THEATER
Hollywood - 1981

On February 24, 1981, an "Original Production" of "THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW" opened at the Aquarius Theatre. "Original Production" meant that it used Sue Blane's costumes, Brian Thomson's set design, along with other elements and aspects of the original London, Roxy and Broadway productions.
We were so excited...we had never seen the play before!
We all went on opening night. There was a lot of press. We wound up on TV! I also met Lou Adler that night.
Frank Gregory played Frank, and he electrified the audience.
The rest of the cast was Steve Lincoln (Narrator), Frank Piergo (Brad), Marcia Mitzman (Janet), C. J. Critt (Columbia), Pendelton Brown (Riff Raff), Lorelle Brina (Magenta/Trixie), and Kim Milford (Rocky).
The cast came out to greet us afterward.
We hung out with Steve Lincoln and drove him back to his room at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
It was great to finally see the play! We went back several times, and managed to get front-row seats.

As for me, I wanted out of La Sierra. I felt stifled and I knew I would never grow as an artist by staying there.
I also knew that EROTIC NIGHTMARES was a thing of the past.
Our time as a group had passed, and it seemed that our best days were behind us.
But I will never forget the impact that EROTIC NIGHTMARES had on people.
We were, at that time, one of the pioneering and most visible of all the ROCKY HORROR groups.
We did not start ROCKY HORROR, nor were we the only ones doing ROCKY HORROR at that time.
But we certainly inspired and motivated people that loved ROCKY HORROR.
I'm so grateful for the experiences I had with EROTIC NIGHTMARES, and I will always love everyone involved.
If any of you are reading this, I just want to say:
"I am, and always will be, very proud to have been a member of EROTIC NIGHTMARES."

A new manager was hired at the Gold Mine, and he was an evil, intolerant, psychotic freak.
He was a genuine self-righteous, 'Praise the Lord, and let's criticize others!' hypocrite scumbag.
He made it clear to me that he did not like "you weirdos that go to that punk-rocker funny picture show".
Company funds started disappearing about a month after he started working there.
Everyone eventually got fired because of him, including me.
I wish I had known more about workers rights back then.
I heard about a year later that he got caught red-handed and he was on his way to some lawsuits and jail time.

And then, my girlfriend broke up with me. I never saw it coming.
That shattered me, and brought me back into the "real" world.
And to top it all off, the Tiffany had dropped the 2 AM shows on Fridays by the end of the year.

In March 1981, our "Official Rocky HQ" in La Sierra closed up shop for good.
It was a good 15-month run.
Richard had moved to Hollywood with Brandi, and I was stuck with an apartment that I didn't want.
I had to move away in order to get rid of people who had moved in and thought that it was "their" place.
They did nothing but consume, and contributed nothing other than drugs and drama.
Moving out was the only way I could get rid of them.
I moved to a smaller place for a month, and Kurt joined me, but I could not stand living in Riverside any longer.
I wound up back in Mira Loma living in an abandoned chicken coop.

In April 1981, I moved to Hollywood.

This page is not affiliated with nor endorsed by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.