History of San Fran dance scene?

**jgilmore** · February 27th, 2003, 02:08 AM

Howdy...been lurking for awhile and thought I would post my fist message.

I was doing some web research on the SF gay dance scene, circa 1970s and 1980's (eg. the Troc and Dreamland, Patrick Cowley, Megatone, etc.) but didn't find too much out there. I know that there was a doco called "Wrecked for Life" but it dosen't seem to be available anywhere.

My question (strange as it may sound) is: are there stories to tell from that era and, if so, is anybody interested in hearing them?

**bobbchap** · February 27th, 2003, 08:46 PM

Hey jgilmore,
Welcome, sorry I don't have any stories of the San Francisco era of the 70's and 80's. BUT I MUST SAY I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR SOME STORIES!!! :D I lived in Ohio during those days, and had a great time I might add, but I bet it was great in SF during those days. One of my favorite films is "Tales of the city" starring Olympia Dukakis. That was such a good movie about SF in the 70's disco era. That was a great film. It was almost like they filmed it back then. I hope you get some feed back on your question. Take care. :D

**markydefad** · February 27th, 2003, 08:54 PM

Originally Written by jgilmore

Howdy...been lurking for awhile and thought I would post my fist message.

I was doing some web research on the SF gay dance scene, circa 1970s and 1980's (eg. the Troc and Dreamland, Patrick Cowley, Megatone, etc.) but didn't find too much out there. I know that there was a doco called "Wrecked for Life" but it dosen't seem to be available anywhere.

My question (strange as it may sound) is: are there stories to tell from that era and, if so, is anybody interested in hearing them?

Dear jgilmore,

I lived in SF from 1975-early 1984. There was a book titled ""Tribes" by David Diebold that examined the SF performers, DJs, clubs and record labels. It's out-of-print now...but maybe someone knows where a copy might be found.

Check out the Troc info at www.hyperactivemedia.com/5am .

Also check out Bernie's interview with Bobby Viterilli at this site.

We've told sooooo many tales of the good old Troc days here, I don't know where to begin.

**keefelc** · February 27th, 2003, 09:08 PM

Mark:
Who's Bobby Viterilli??!

John:
I bought a VHS of "Wrecked For Life" from Facets Multimedia (www.facets.org). Please note the documentary doesn't show any pictures or videos of Troc, only people reminiscing. It's still fun!

Also, you can search this site for our many past discussions about Aloha Records and Trocadero.

**Eclipse** · February 28th, 2003, 07:47 AM

David Diebold's book was "Tribal Rites". I knew David for years; I met him at the Troc. He slept on my sofa for a couple of weeks when he was between apartments. I remember when his album finally came out, because he worked so hard to get there.