On that day in 1980 - 18 July

My best friend from high school, Dan Winter, and our friend Phil Call had characters we would play; Dan was Jim and I was his "little woman", a happy little homemaker called Honey. (I didn't have a name other than that, and I called Jim "honey" too.) Phil was Fred; Fred worked with Jim at Rockwell Corporation along with a young new upstart, Joe Albuquerque. Nobody ever played him; he was just referred to a lot. Sometimes we'd stay in character for hours, which could be difficult as they had absolutely nothing in common with us really. But it was fun! (Once when I was in England, Phil wrote a letter to me, or to Honey, as Fred.)

Still, I can't see the real Honey and Jim going to see Jonathan Richman, much less going to a nekked ladies joint!

Speaking of which, I googled and googled, but could find no evidence that the Silver Slipper ever existed! I also could find no mention of my childhood Keyboard Club, but the building that housed it is still there and is still a strip joint called Starz.

18 July 1980

Tonight Honey and I had a big date. And Fred came too! First time I'd seen Fred since the airport at the end of last year. Well, Honey drove and we went to go see Jonathan Richman at the Roxy. We sat in the balcony and Honey bought me a Singapore Sling. Almost all my housemates came; Jason and Cindy sat on the balcony too and Cindy talked to the boys and thought Fred was kinda cute. Well, she's a nice little woman... Too bad she has a nice big boyfriend!!!

Rick Gershon was there but besides him, Shawn, Mark and Adam [the Stern brothers], there was no one else I knew.

The first act - jerk singer - [no idea who this was!!] was one of the worst things I've ever heard. At least we had an alright time laughing at him!

JR (ha ha) was fantastic!! It was just him and a keyboardist. He could have maybe done more older songs but his new ones are so good that it doesn't matter. In the middle he stopped and sang "Happy Birthday" to Joe Nolte - it was great!! He's about the only one who could get away with something like that. [Strange that I didn't mention any of the Noltes or the rest of the Last when I was listing who I knew there... I mean Joe must have been there! By the way, Dan/Jim/Honey had been in the Last for a while.]

We probably would have stayed for the second set if not for that opening geek.

Saw Peanut Killer outside. [Danny Shades; have I related how he acquired that moniker?]

Honey didn't want to go over to the Manor [my home in Hollywood; I would have been staying at my parents' place in Manhattan Beach this night.]

We drove by UCLA and heard a big party in a dorm so we stopped. Potato chips were soggy; band was almost funky; people were all jerks. Lost the boys for a long time after I went to the bathroom - panic time!!! - but finally found them and Fred and I danced our way to the car. It was so fun!

Fred is crazy! On the freeway he was riding with the door open and waving to people. It didn't seem real.

They said something about going to the naked lady place but then decided to go and eat instead. But I talked them into it! It (the Silver Slipper) [what a fantastic name! My childhood naked lady joint was called The Keyboard; for a long time I associated piano keys with bare boobies... Not that I ever went in there of course but I was fascinated by the place. One of my Barbies - she had a split personality so was Beth the librarian in the daytime and Brenda at night - became a dancer there.] was right around the corner from our old house! [And also near the former site of the Keyboard; this was the county strip, not Gardena proper, so they could sell fireworks and have naked lady clubs on that section of the boulevard.] They let me in free.

Though once I was in there I wondered, what in the world am I doing here?! But it was hilarious! We saw three or four girls and they'd each dance to three songs: in a bikini, then topless, then bottomless. I was the only girl in the audience. In between dancing they would be waitresses, and "Candy" chatted to Fred and asked him how I was liking it.... Well... uh ... the funniest thing I ever saw ...

When we left these two big sisters were trying to get in - they weren't about to "pay to see any white trash girls" - and the guy wouldn't let them in so I went and yelled at him. He said that it had been a mistake letting me in - said that he had thought I was one of the girls!! Yeah, right. I told him where he could stick it. Then we gave the girls a ride to Lemoli Avenue and went and ate Mexican food. Fun night!