By Lana Alattera
Back when I was still a wee lass (in other words -- my teens), I was spending time in group homes, squats and hotel rooms for a place to stay. I was part of a grouping known then as the Powell St Punks. The family of gutter punks and homeless who panhandled the tourists waiting for the cable cars and spent most of our time in L-Alley around the corner, that is if you drank, the abandoned Polytech High School, and Broadway or Farm shows along with little venues -- like say the ones in old delis or basements. When there wasn’t a show to go to, I spent many late nights at the floating clubs like Glashaus, 181, the Kabuki, Magic Club, Night Gallery, Zig Zags, Level Up, R.S.V.P, Deca-dance, Gotham City, Metropolis etc, and the more stable Club 9 where they had performance art rooms upstairs and the then-unknown Chris Isaak played acoustic downstairs.
Don’t ask how I got in the over 21 clubs in my mid teens as I’m still not sure myself... Those were some amazing clubs back then (that was before the raves). They were the exclusive clubs where you had to meet at various spots throughout the night to finally get the right location because they were trying to filter out the ‘undesirables’ and their locations were always illegal. This later led to the trend of rave etiquette. Most of the kids were rich artsy types and the rest were punks who attended them. It was a good place to network, as back then the clubs were friendlier and the rich kids would let whoever crash at their house afterwards, sometimes for the weekend, sometimes the entire week.
So that is how I met my good friend Julie P., a young model who was already a main feature in Vogue. These kids were so generous to us. So I fluctuated between the glitter and the gutter. I was lucky they accepted me, but as I said the club scene was pretension -free back then. There were very few ‘goths’ back then, some mods, but most were New Wave rich kids.
Julie P. it turns out was dating an older man back then. She wouldn’t say who at first, but it turned out to be a member of Berlin. I was so fascinated by the idea of her dating an older man. Especially when she was so sought after and clubbing every night. Yet she remained true to him. She called him at the same time every night to check in that she was OK. He mailed her hours of audio tapes of him just speaking about his day, talking to his pets, recording everything he was doing. Just so she could feel as if she was there with him, in L.A. He loved her very much, he adored her. I finally got to meet him, and he was very personable and real (it was John Crawford).
I was so envious. He sent her pictures everyday and most included photos of the band in rehearsal or Terri Nunn. When I first got to see her up close, she left me speechless as to her flawless, classic beauty. She looked unreal, like a porcelain doll. She struck me as genuine and very intelligent.
I remember when I finally got a job in a record store just after I had become really close to Julie. Within a few weeks of working there, they had hired a boy, a very pretty and very New Wave boy. He had Terri’s hair. The white with the black tips. I think his name was Joel. I befriended him quickly. When we were discussing his hair one day at work, he confided in me something he was a bit embarrassed of, though it was the show itself, not the performance. He told me that he had his hair like Terri’s because he had just recently done a Puttin’ on the Hits episode.
I don’t know if anyone remembers it but it was a fairly popular TV talent show where you did karaoke, sometimes singing in your own voice, emulating your favorite musicians. He had performed as Terri. I believe he lip-synced to ‘The Metro’ but I can definitely say it wasn’t the song ‘Sex’ since it was a conservative program. That song’s lyrics were brilliantly lascivious and yet considered deviant. I mean, men obviously found it erotic but it seemed they were uncomfortable with a woman asserting her sexuality like that. Especially a woman so big in the industry.
Joel had told me he only did the show because he wanted to prove what an extreme fan he was of hers. The show gave him a copy of the airing but I don’t think he won. I am assuming it was because of his gender bending on a family oriented station. I thought he was great. I was hesitant to tell him my best friend was close to the members of Berlin. So I discussed it with Jules. Jules talked it over with Terri and she was so flattered she asked me to invite him to her show in Concord at the time and to give him backstage passes. He almost fainted when he heard the news. This woman he lived for. I wasn’t sure if I should be afraid for her or excited for him. She was so good to her fans she didn’t really worry about that sort of thing; stalkers and such.
He went to her show, though sadly without me (I couldn’t make it due to unforeseen circumstances) and she had invited him to spend time in her trailer to watch his video tape of Puttin’ on the Hits. I had heard she really took a liking to him and they talked for hours. He had told me his dreams came true that night. They agreed to keep in touch. He said meeting Terri let alone having her witness his performance of her was the happiest day of his young life. That he could die happy after that. And I was never so pleased with helping his dream come true. That was one of the fondest memories I think I have from my teens.
She was and still is a goddess and one of the sexiest women to ever grace us with her musical presence.###