Saturday, January 20, 2007

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Saturday, August 30, 1986

Martin called me in the morning and he wanted to give me his ticket to Madonna's play. He'd already seen it and was too tired to sit through it again, but he said he'd meet me afterwards and take me to the party at Sardi's. Worked till 7:00. Went to the Mitzi New house Theater (Cab $6).

The best thing about the play was the costumes which were done by Kevin Dornan who was once the fashion editor at Interview, our first. Madonna Changes outfits all the time, from one beautiful one to another one. And Sean Penn wore a gun holster and Fuschia socks and shoes. The play was like a Charles Ludlam, abstract. Madonna was good when she wasn't trying to be Judy Holliday or Marilyn. She chewed gum through the whole two hours and I did, too. She was blowing bubbles and everything. They didn't do any curtain calls. Liza was there and I went over and said hello, and after reading in the Enquirer that she weighed 200 pounds, she wasn't fat at all, really. Marc Balet was there and I got mad at Kevin because here he'd gotten Marc two tickets and hadn't offered me one.

After the play Martin met me backstage and there was a big candy chocolate leg there from Kron and everybody was eating it, and Martin was, too. And it's so sad, he has sores all over his face, but it was kind of great to see Madonna eating the leg, too, and not caring that she might catch something. Martin would bite and then Madonna would bite. I like Martin, he's sweet.

We went in Madonna and Sean's limo to Sardi's. The big bodyguards were with them and they said to the photographers, "If you take one picture we'll kill you." And there was Ron Galella and I felt bad, but what could I do?

Warren Beatty came over and said, "Hi, how are ya?" He looks old, he doesn't look good, but I think he looks unattractive on purpose, because if he did just a few things he could be a knockout again.

At 2:00 I left and went to Broadway myself and got a cab, and none of the photographers cared because I was alone (cab $6).

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Wednesday, August 6, 1986

All day people just whispered Happy birthday, they didn't say it out loud. Paige was getting together an advertising dinner for that night, which I was afraid was just going to be a birthday dinner disguised, so I told her she'd better have at least four advertisers there or there'd be trouble.

The day got strange when Kenny Scharf called and said that Martin Burgoyne was with his family in Florida, sick. That what they thought was the measles wasn't. And I said that the people we knew who had "it" had had the best care money can buy, and they were the first to go, so I didn't know what to say. And Florida seems like a healthy place to be. Madonna was in the papers buying books on Columbus Avenue for "a sick friend" so I guess that was Martin.

Got to Caffe Roma at 8:00 and it was Stephen Sprouse and Debbie Harry and Chris Stein who looked handsome, and Debbie had to leave early to go work on her new record. And there was a Polaroid guy there, and I finally told him that if Polaroid didn't advertise at this point, I was never going to use their name again in my life, and he said, "Oh, don't say that, don't let it mean we can't be friends." And he gave me something he said was very meaningful to him (laughs)--it was a Polaroid. Of a sunset.

Tama's going to be rooming with Paige when she comes up from Princeton University on weekends, she's going to be "in residence" down there. We bought the rights to all of Tama's stories in Slaves of New York about living with Ronnie--I mean, with "Stash," and Vincent is looking for financing to make it into a feature movie.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Tuesday, July 29, 1986

Joan Quinn called. She said, "When are you going to do my drawing and portrait?" and I said, "What do you mean?" And she said, "Well, you promised me and I've been the West Coast editor of Interview for seven years now." And I said, "Aren't you the West Coast editor because you're social climbing? And aren't you getting paid?" And she said that I told her in the Polo Lounge at the beginning when she first started that I would do her portrait. and I just would never mean that. Maybe I made some joke about it when she was wangling all these free portraits out of other artists, but I never said anything serious. So then I just told her point-blank that I wasn't going to. I mean, with art especially I always keep my word and I remember when I say things. And then I called Gael and Gael said, "Listen, I don't want to get involved." So that really upset me. And I don't know whether I get sick because I get mad, or get mad because I get sick.

And then this kid drops off fifty invitations to this soap opera party at Area that say "Andy Warhol invites you..." and I just got furious. I mean, he'd called once and asked if he could use my name along with a whole bunch of other names, so I said yes just to help Area out, and here I'm the only name! And I don't do that for anybody, so why should I do it for this kid I don't even know?

Then I had to go to Sue Etkin's loft for the Curiosity Killed the Cat video that Vincent and Don Munroe were shooting, and they had rented a half-block van. The group is staying at the Chelsea and loving it. They were such cute, fresh-looking kids.

Then cabbed to Mr. Chow's (cab $8) for a dinner with Gael and Paige and Steven Greenberg--he's invited us. And he had this big bruiser Irish guy, Bob Mulane, there from Bally Casino in Las Vegas and he said he collected autographs, like Mini Ha-Ha's and then he said he had Patrick Henry's, and he said the quotation, "I regret I have but one life to give for my country," and after he finished, Stuart said, "I have to tell you, that was Nathan Hale." So I (laughs) knew right then it was going badly. I could have it backwards, maybe it was the other guy and it was "Give me liberty or give me death," but anyway it was Nathan Hale when it should've been Patrick Henry or vice versa. I don't know. Stuart knew. And we were downstairs instead of upstairs and the noise was so loud, and I started to feel sick. And I really knew it had gone down wrong when I offered to pay and Steven Greenberg didn't stop me (dinner $300).

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Sunday, July 13, 1986 -- London -- New York

Got up at 7:30, I don't know how I did it. I'd been reading the biography of Cecil Beaton. I'm in it a lot when I knew him. and Sam Green was in everybody's life, such a big part--he's had Yoko Ono and John Lennon and Cecil Beaton and Greta Garbo and me.

We got lots of work, sold a lot of paintings in London--one to Carnegie-Mellon--and Anthony d'Offay even said he'd pay for Chris's hotel bill, which he'll die over when he sees that Chris made eighteen phone calls a day to New York. And Chris got five jobs over there--one from Polaroid--and he actually thanked me for the trip. I only wish I could think of a more deserving person to give these opportunities to. But in his own way Chris does take care of me.

The show. The show. I mean, walking into a room full of the worst pictures you've ever seen of yourself, what can you say, what can you do? But they're not the ones I picked. D'Offay "art-directed" the whole show--he'd tell me he wanted a certain picture, and then I'd think he'd never remember, so I'd do the one I liked instead, and when he'd come back to New York he'd say that that wasn't the one he'd picked. And he didn't want the big camouflage, he wanted the little ones. But he had class, he arrived at the hotel with his wife at 7:30 in the morning to say goodbye. I thought they were going to ride with us to the airport, but they didn't, so that was good. His hotel bill for us will be about $10,000, I think. Yeah, he was nice.

Oh, and God, Billy Boy turned out to be a nightmare! By the end of the trip everybody hated him. It was worse social climbing than anything Suzie Frankfurt ever did and as Fred said, at least Suzie was always an old friend. Everyone we'd introduce him to he'd have their phone number in a minute and be inviting them to lunch and giving them his earrings and everything! I mean, he was on my TV show for hours! One they did on me. And he was popping into every picture and one photographer told him to get out of it and Billy actually hit the guy (laughs) with his own camera. And I'd be up so late reading, like to 5 A.M., and then I'd get calls early in the morning--"Is Billy Boy there?" He'd tell people he could be reached in my room for breakfast! He did bring me flowers one morning, though. He's like a more together Jackie Curtis. And Chris really hates him now, too. They had a big fight because when we ran into Gloria Thurn and Taxis and her husband at Heaven, Billy was so sweet to them but after they left he said, "I hate those fascists," and Chris got mad at him. I guess Billy felt he should've been invited to their party or something.

Tried to make phone calls but my hands could hardly move. Fred said that all the chic people were in Europe, that they'd skipped the Statue of Liberty thing. Like Jerry Zipkin and Ahmet. How would that happen? do they call up Nancy Reagan and ask her, "Will the Statue thing be any good?" and she says, "No."

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Friday, July 4, 1986

Sam pick me up at 2:00 in an All-City cab and we rode down to Tenth Avenue and 23rd Street. Bought some souvenirs ($20). Didn't seem like the Fourth of July, there were millions of people all over town. The MTV boat left at 3:15. Everyone got drunk. There were no really big stars. Vitas Gerulaitis was there and Janet Jones, the actress from Flamingo Kid and American Anthem. No rock people except a Bananarama girl. Annie Leibovits took pictures but only of the boats. Vincent and Shelly were there.

I had to hit a gong and I was terrible. The food was horrible, Dorito chips and undercooked hamburgers from the Hard Rock and pork and beans.

The MTV boat was the only ugly one--balloons all over it. The other boats were all plain and elegant. We watched the president's speech on two TVs. At 7:30 Don Johnson came. A little boat brought him out to the MTV boat and he had fifteen bodyguards and he was in a big fat hat and he wouldn't come on board unless they put steps down. He was with a girl who looked like Patti D'Arbanville--but it wasn't--holding his baby, and then they came on board and went into a room and never came out to talk to anybody.

And at 9:45 the fireworks started, and we were pretty far away from it. Finally the boat docked and they whisked Don Johnson into a Limousine and we looked around and found a couple of gypsy cabs.

Oh, and the best thing was that when we were getting off, ZZ Tops saw us and took us into the ZZ Top room and that was fun, they want to visit us when they comeback in August (cab $30). Dropped Sam.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Sunday, June 29, 1986

It was Gay Day so the parade was on. Went down to the flea market and ran into Corky Kessler, who I haven't seen in thirty years. Maybe forty. She's the one who once gave me modern dance lessons. She's fifty-five or maybe even fifty-eight. She had a nose job and everything so she has that out-of-town look but she has a great young body. But then I don't know if her body is pulled together by bras and things. You never know. She asked me about the rest of the old gang.

There were millions of girls in the Gay Day parade.

Stuart called and said Mario Amaya died of AIDS, and he was so upset about it and I tried to make it light and he was just so upset saying Mario was the most important person in his life and that he'd taught him everything about art. And I said, "But Stuart, you're not gay, why are you so upset?" and for some reason I always forget that it was Mario who got shot by Valerie Solanas, too, the day she shot me--he just happened to be at the Factory visiting. Just sort of a skin wound, though.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Monday, June 16, 1986

A crew that was filming me for English TV was at the office and I told them that they should just follow me around the city and do it without sound, so they said okay, and so I took Brigid's dog Fame and we went around the block. Fame shit and I cleaned it up so that was a good scene, and then we walked to 27th Street looking for stores and there were two guys standing there and one said, "I took pictures of you and Brooke Shields," and the other one said under his breath (laughs)"Cocksucker." It was really good. I don't know if he really knew me or what, but there's a lot of color out there on the street.

Keith had a limo and I decided to go with him to the Carlyle for a party for the Ellis kid who wrote Less Than Zero. He graduated from Bennington. And as we were going in a bald girl with a fashionable ugly dress was going in. I wonder if regular nonfashion clothes are out forever, if these kids will ever dress normally like, you know, Phil Donahue again. It was such a cute party. I never read his book, but someone sent it to me. All the kids had the right fashionable hair and the fashionable right clothes. And I always think California kids are tall, but these kids were all three feet.

Nick Rhodes called from London and said to call him when I got there, and Julie Anne is expecting the baby in August. He said, "We're expecting a piece of sculpture."