I have resisted writing to this thread for fear of dredging up too many bad memories!

… but I must tell the tale of Monahan's Landing. I was playing Rhythm and Blues back in the early '80s and the local bars were making big bucks on the reduced drinking age in Massachusetts (it was dropped to 18 for a year or two until so many kids died and killed with their drunk driving, the age limit was restored to 21). The clubs had also discovered that many of their young patrons would flock to the Wet Tee Shirt, Amateur Strip, and Pro Stripper nights - both as participants and attendees! Playing those clubs during those days earned me a few interesting stories, but I must tell y'all about the night that we shared the limelight with Desiree, at Monahan's.

This local, here-to-fore, sedate little club on a waterfront, small town Massachusetts pond was jam packed with kids, mostly between 18 and 24. Desiree, a fine looking professional stripper, was older than many of these kids Moms! The place reeked of amil nitrate (sorry for the spelling) and it seemed to me that the entire room was totally drunk by the start of the first set. As well as we played our first set, the crowd responded to us, much the way they responded to the juke box - not at all! Then Desiree came out to whoops, cat calls, and the band playing Black Magic Woman (the 25 minute version!). I must say Desiree was a great dancer, and her show was perhaps even more inspiring from the band's vantage point, (behind her on the stage). Still she left to cheers, jeers and an obviously nasty comment from a young man at the stage corner, leaning back in his chair - for when Desiree walked past him, she never even broke her stride. She nailed him with a fierce back hander across the face and chest - and sent him sprawling across the floor; dazed and confused.

Break-time had us all in the kitchen with birthday cake for Desiree's 'nephew' (we all believed son). After singing Happy (21 year old) Birthday, we were interrupted by a growing din from the main bar room. I poked my head out just in time to witness a huge bar fight, the likes of which I've only seen staged for TV! Food and liquor was being thrown along with punches, chairs and tables spilled, a few noses bloodied, a few tears, and so on and so on. It seemed to me the entire bar was involved. We cowered in the kitchen for a bit, 'til the cops showed, in force, dogs and all. They emptied the club in moments, hauled a few bad boys and girls off to jail, and left within the hour. We never had to play the second set! In fact, we packed up and went home (paid in full, of course). As I re-tell this tale, I think it is more a gig from the "Comedy Channel" than a gig from hell. I wonder what Desiree is doing today. I wonder if Monahan's Landing in Hudson Massachusetts is still open for business, and I wonder how many times the young man sitting at the edge of the stage was sent sprawling on his backside by other women, before he learned to keep his nasty thoughts to himself!