RIP Dean Johnson
just got a sad post from Althea on myspace... Dean Johnson, "NYC's most famous six foot six bald drag queen," and frontman(?) of The Velvet Mafia died last week.
those of you who were Bottle Rocket regulars probably heard me play Poppies In Springtime and Mona Lisa Is A Drag Queen on more than a few occasions. when i lived in nyc, Dean was not only one of my favorite local performers, but a good friend too. I've missed him for a long time now... and sadly it looks like i'm going to have to go on missing him.
can people please stop dying? i'm really getting sick of it. the phonebook in my cellphone is starting to look like a cemetery - and not the sort that's fun to hang out in.
Daily Intelligencer
Edited by Jesse Oxfeld and Chris Rovzar with Michael Idov
intel@nymag.com
Intel
9/28/07
5:00 PM
Promoter and Queer Icon Dean Johnson Dies
Photo: Patrick McMullan
Downtown icon and gay performing artist Dean Johnson died last week, friends just learned. The 6'6" promoter was found dead by authorities in Washington, DC, but remained unidentified until this week. Police are still investigating the cause. Johnson, 45, founded the iconic weekly party Rock and Roll Fag Bar in the late eighties, and also started HomoCorps, a monthly gay music showcase at CBGB, before the punk club closed. At times a porn star and at other times a rock star (he fronted Dean and the Weenies and later The Velvet Mafia), he was always recognizable by his height (often augmented by heels) and brazen eyewear. Friends say he helped shape the growing East Village art and club kid scene in the late eighties, continuing through to today, with popular and notoriously raunchy parties he's hosted at dive venues like The Hole and The Cock. He had battled drugs "historically," said his longtime friend Joe Birdsong. "Bit in the past year he had cleaned that up." Friends will celebrate his life next week at Rapture Café and Books on Wednesday at 8 p.m
more articles/history here
those of you who were Bottle Rocket regulars probably heard me play Poppies In Springtime and Mona Lisa Is A Drag Queen on more than a few occasions. when i lived in nyc, Dean was not only one of my favorite local performers, but a good friend too. I've missed him for a long time now... and sadly it looks like i'm going to have to go on missing him.
can people please stop dying? i'm really getting sick of it. the phonebook in my cellphone is starting to look like a cemetery - and not the sort that's fun to hang out in.
Daily Intelligencer
Edited by Jesse Oxfeld and Chris Rovzar with Michael Idov
intel@nymag.com
Intel
9/28/07
5:00 PM
Promoter and Queer Icon Dean Johnson Dies
Photo: Patrick McMullan
Downtown icon and gay performing artist Dean Johnson died last week, friends just learned. The 6'6" promoter was found dead by authorities in Washington, DC, but remained unidentified until this week. Police are still investigating the cause. Johnson, 45, founded the iconic weekly party Rock and Roll Fag Bar in the late eighties, and also started HomoCorps, a monthly gay music showcase at CBGB, before the punk club closed. At times a porn star and at other times a rock star (he fronted Dean and the Weenies and later The Velvet Mafia), he was always recognizable by his height (often augmented by heels) and brazen eyewear. Friends say he helped shape the growing East Village art and club kid scene in the late eighties, continuing through to today, with popular and notoriously raunchy parties he's hosted at dive venues like The Hole and The Cock. He had battled drugs "historically," said his longtime friend Joe Birdsong. "Bit in the past year he had cleaned that up." Friends will celebrate his life next week at Rapture Café and Books on Wednesday at 8 p.m
more articles/history here