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Rick Archer's Note:
Following my
visit to Cactus Club, I went numb with
depression. Now that I had seen a glimpse of what to
expect, the way I felt about Country-Western, forget it. I
would rather pull bubble gum off movie
seats.
For the time
being, Disco was doing okay, so there was no reason to jump
ship just yet. However, I refused to share my fears
with Patricia. The moment Patricia heard me admit that
Disco had been handed a death sentence in Houston, she would
needle me endlessly. The last thing I wanted to hear
was Patricia say "I told
you so! You should have listened to me when I suggested law
school!"
I hated to say
it, but right now I kind of wished I had listened. In
the privacy of my thoughts, unless something changed, I was
not sure Disco would make it past Christmas. The irony
was that Disco was going strong in New York, Chicago, Los
Angeles, Miami, Dallas, and so on. Houston was the
only city in the country being affected by Urban
Cowboy. I could not believe my bad luck.
Oh, well, you
know what they say: Enjoy it while you can. So that is
what I decided to do, dance till they turn out the lights.
Life is never easy, Love never lasts, I must carry on and
keep moving fast.
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JUNE 1979, the disco years, AGE 29
THE CLEAR LAKE SEVEN
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Clear
Lake, home of the NASA Space Center, is an
affluent suburb 15 miles southeast of downtown Houston. The
Clear Lake Seven was a group of
seven Clear Lake couples who would play an important role during the summer of 1979.
In January 1979, Lance
Stevens received a request from
the Clear Lake Recreation Center for someone to teach Disco.
They were having a hard time finding anyone down in Clear Lake who
could help. Stevens handed the opportunity over to me.
Ever
since the start of my Magic Carpet Ride,
my motto had been to accept every opportunity.
Unfortunately, I didn't have much free time. I called the man and
told him I was already teaching
five nights a week here in Houston. That is when he suggested Saturday
afternoon. I thought about it for a moment, then said okay, I can
do that. The man put me down for 4 pm starting in February.
To my surprise, I was greeted by a very
large, very enthusiastic group of students. Once I learned there were no other
dance teachers in the area, I understood why my class was so huge. There
are real advantages to being the only game in town.
The class
treated me like a Rock Star and hung on my every word.
Naturally I had a
lot of fun teaching.
However, at the end of my two-month commitment,
I was sad to announce this was our last class. Clear Lake was
an hour's drive away, sometimes longer. Not
only was it eating up my
Saturday afternoons, evenings with Patricia did not start
till 6 pm. This was a real sore point with her.
While I was standing around accepting thanks and answering questions,
four couples came up to ask if I would
consider teaching them as a private group on Saturdays. Led by
Dennis and Linda, they said they had a comfortable clubhouse
where we could hold lessons in this same time
slot or better yet one hour later, 5-6 pm.
At first I
hesitated. Clear Lake was a long drive plus I could use
the day off. On Saturdays I taught private lessons in the morning and early
afternoon at Stevens of Hollywood. I was already
tired by late afternoon when the Clear Lake gig rolled around.
And no doubt Patricia would object. On the other
hand, I had recently quit my Child Welfare job and did not think it
wise to turn down business, especially when they mentioned the
price they were willing to pay. Besides, the four couples were
so lavish in their praise, I could not help myself. I told them I would do the lesson.
Predictably
Patricia hit the roof. "5 to 6 pm? Our Saturday
night won't begin till 7!"
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I invited her to
come with me, but she said she had better things to do.
Okay, I nodded, suit yourself. So
what if Patricia complained that this new class sabotaged
our plans on Saturday? This is how I made a living.
I had the Upper Hand at the time, so she finally gave me
grudging permission to drive down each week.
Starting
in April,
I drove down to Clear Lake for my
first 5 pm private
group class.
Our classes were held in the
community center of a luxurious gated community known as Bal Harbour.
Situated next to Clear Lake Bay, there were yachts
everywhere.
I was surprised
to find the group had grown to seven couples. Apparently Dennis and Linda had recruited three other local couples to join them.
These people all paid me directly, so the money was fabulous,
especially considering there was no rent. I had
lucked into a great situation here.
I
did not mind going alone. The
cacophony of complaints was pretty much non-stop by
the time April rolled around. The ride gave me
a much-needed respite from Victoria and
Patricia bitching at me all the time. I didn't
invite Joanne either. She was still sulking
after her mistreatment at Victoria's March Spring
Affair
Party. It was just me and the seven couples.
We had a blast.
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This
Clear Lake group was very serious about learning to dance.
Dance Fever was the hot TV show and
they wanted to look just like the couples who performed. They
asked me to ditch the Disco Line Dances that I had
taught over at the Recreation Center and switch to partner
dancing instead. So I rolled up my sleeves and
got to work.
The seven couples were so
appreciative, this became my favorite lesson of
the week.
The students
became my friends. I teased them, they teased me, we made jokes
and grew close. The dancing just added to the fun. Anytime someone asks me why I teach, I promise
it isn't the money, but rather the chance to interact with warm,
interesting people like the Clear Lake couples.
Teaching these enthusiastic students gave me tremendous satisfaction.
Age 29, I was
the youngest.
Dave and Mona were early 30s, Tommy and Hazel mid 30's,
Bruce and Margaret late 30's. The other four couples
were in their 40's.
What impressed me was how hard they concentrated.
I should not have been so surprised.
A person doesn't purchase a condo and a yacht in this luxury
community without having something on the ball. These
people were affluent professionals who were used to
excelling at whatever they did. That included
their dancing.
The Clear
Lake Seven wrapped their
Saturday evenings around my class. First they met for class, then
the whole group went to dinner together.
Afterwards they finished the
evening by driving to a nearby Disco for dancing.
The 5 pm time slot fit this plan perfectly.
By hanging out together every Saturday night, this group became
inseparable.
Considering my
broken home in childhood, I was very touched to see how
solid these marriages were. Maybe someday I could have
a marriage like that. However, given the chaos of my
current situation, that was not likely to happen soon.
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Each
week the group invited me to join them for
after-class festivities. Once or twice
I joined them for dinner, but cut out early to meet
a fuming Patricia back in Houston. Having
dinner together really solidified our connection.
One Saturday when Patricia went to visit her parents
for the weekend, I took them up on their offer to go
dancing afterwards. While I was there, I
noticed all seven couples were superior to everyone
else in the club by a wide margin. Watching
them dominate the dance floor, I could not have been
more proud.
June
marked our third month together.
Since no other dancers in Clear Lake could compete with them,
the
seven couples competed amongst themselves. They had a friendly competition
to see who could learn the new move
the fastest or who could best demonstrate the
pattern from the previous week. That energy
produced good results. Their learning curve was so swift
I was forced to teach intricate patterns I had never taught before.
While I helped them to grow as dancers, they forced me to grow as a teacher.
These seven couples
became the
finest group of dancers I ever taught. The Clear Lake Seven became a legend in
local
dance circles.
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SATURDAY,
JUNE 16, 1979
SUGAR CREEK COUNTRY CLUB
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Victoria's Dance
with the Devil in mid-May had left her very shaken. Victoria was still trying to figure out what
came over her that day at La Madeleine. Afterwards
Victoria found herself
in an awkward position. Once I put the kibosh on her
declaration of love,
she knew I had information that could ruin her marriage.
Now that I had regained the Upper Hand, I
pressed my advantage and demanded Victoria sign the
Affirmation letter eight days later on May 23.
Unfortunately,
during the Memorial Day weekend, Patricia discovered my
Affirmation letter in a drawer at my house. The Affirmation letter
not only confirmed to Patricia that Victoria was indeed after me,
it revealed I was pretty darn interested in Victoria as well. Somehow I got
Patricia to forgive me for the embarrassing language in my Victoria
Affirmation.
"Be lovers in spirit only... unless
permission is granted by both of our spouses either actively by their word or
passively by their departure from our lives."
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Patricia hassled me about that
phrase
every chance she got. She made my
life a living hell for a week. Finally I put my foot down.
"Patricia, I did nothing wrong by writing that
Affirmation letter. All I was trying to do was
get Victoria to back off. Why do you always have to make
my life so difficult? I admit the language I used was
stupid, but the whole point of that letter was to tell Victoria
I do not want to have an Affair. Okay, so I handled it
poorly, but why can't you understand that pushing Victoria away
was an awkward task? Since Victoria has so much control
over me, I can't tell her what I really think. That is why
I used such ridiculous language."
Fortunately the
wording in the Affirmation document was ambiguous enough that Patricia
eventually decided to take my word for it.
Encouraged, I had more to say. "I want you and Victoria to sit down together and hash out your differences
and quit this goddamn bickering. I've had enough."
A horrified look
crossed Patricia's face. She despised Victoria. She
blamed Victoria for all our problems. Patricia had
suspected Victoria's crush on me as far back as November.
But she was unsure about the extent of my crush on Victoria. All
I can say is thank goodness Patricia had no knowledge of
Victoria's
Dance with the Devil. I doubt seriously our relationship
could have survived that information. The upshot was that
both women were more or less at my mercy... Patricia's Scorched
Earth, Victoria's Dance with the Devil. Desperate
for some peace and quiet in my life, I insisted that Patricia
and Victoria start speaking to each other again. I told Patricia if she wanted
to keep me around, this bickering had to stop. I said the same thing to
Victoria. To my surprise,
I got both women to the bargaining table.
On Thursday, June 7,
Victoria and Patricia had a peace talk. Both women had a
lot of forgiving to do. Over lunch,
the two women ironed
out their differences.
Afterwards, they both swore to me they would be cordial from now
on.
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I was skeptical. Victoria and
Patricia
had never played well together. Sure enough, just as I
feared,
the Detente
lasted only nine days.
On
Saturday, June 16, Victoria and I performed at a private party held at the
swanky
Sugar Creek Country Club. We did this as a favor to
Darya, the stunning wife of a wealthy lawyer. Darya was
Victoria's new best friend. Darya had
met Victoria in May when she and her husband took Victoria's
dance class.
Darya was nothing but
trouble. She brought out the absolute worst in Victoria.
Darya was a former sorority girl at the University of
Texas who came from oil money. Darya was a knock-out if I
may say so. Like Victoria, Darya was tall, blonde and
buxom, the perfect Trophy Wife. Darya had once participated in the Miss
Texas pageant and placed high. The moment Darya discovered Victoria had
also participated in Beauty Contests, they hit it off on the spot.
Standing side by side, Darya and Victoria made a striking pair.
When Darya learned
of Victoria's dreams of performing, she invited Victoria to come
dance at one of her country club functions. This
promised to be Victoria's first chance to see how well we
performed together. Victoria accepted on the spot,
then informed me I would be participating.
Due to my
anxiety about performing, I objected. "I really don't
think we are ready. Let's pass on this."
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Victoria smiled. "Halloween
Pistachio Party. December Pistachio Party. March Pistachio
Party. You owe me." What Victoria wants, Victoria
gets.
At this point,
Victoria and I had been training every Tuesday with Glen
since the start of April. Since Glen had a background in
acrobatics, Victoria insisted that is what we needed to
learn in order to perform. Although I was not a
natural dancer, my athletic ability allowed me to acquire
some incredible moves. Once Victoria and I mastered these
patterns, we were sensational. How I managed to learn those flashy (and
dangerous) moves I will never know, but maybe Victoria was
right.
It was time to take the show on the road.
Since Sugar
Creek Country Club was stomping ground to the rich, Patricia
decided she was
interested in coming along. I assumed she wanted to scout for
men who could afford her. Of course she didn't say that
out loud, but I could read her mind. Sensing trouble, I tried to talk
her out of it. No luck with that. As I feared, Patricia's decision to attend backfired. Victoria and I
performed so well, naturally Patricia was jealous.
However, that
wasn't the worst part. Following the performance, Victoria
looped her arm through mine. This was one of her favorite
tricks to irritate Patricia. Before I knew it, Darya came
up from behind and looped my other arm. I had just
acquired matching bookends. This left no place for Patricia. It happened so fast I believed this stunt was something the women had
coordinated in advance.
While Darya
escorted us around the club to meet her friends,
Patricia was relegated to the background. Fuming, Patricia
was forced to stand alone while the two blondes paraded me
through the club on a victory tour.
As Darya marched us around making introductions,
every person in the room was bedazzled by the
considerable beauty
of the two women. As Darya
introduced Victoria, the club members bestowed generous compliments on the star of the show. Then Victoria would introduce me so they could extend the compliment
a bit longer. Victoria was beside herself with joy. Meanwhile Patricia
didn't exist. Completely ignored
by Victoria, Patricia was understandably
livid about being isolated. Outmaneuvered again.
With smoke coming out of her ears, that was the
end of Detente.
So much for my
peace-making prowess.
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SATURDAY,
JUNE 16
THE GIANT TEDDY BEAR
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My day was
not over. Following the Sugar Creek Country Club
performance, I still had to get down to Clear Lake.
As usual Patricia did not want to join me, so I dropped
her off at her apartment. Patricia threw a fit as
I drove her home. Thank
goodness I had an excuse to ditch her. It was a
welcome relief to use this long
drive to Clear Lake to clear my mind. I was very
upset to see Victoria up to her old tricks
regarding Patricia.
When I
walked into the Bal Harbour clubhouse to begin my
Saturday lesson, I was greeted by a life-sized Teddy Bear.
Holy smokes, this bear was five feet tall!
It was so big it could stand on its
own two giant feet.
I
immediately quipped, "Hey, can this bear dance?
Is this my new dance partner so I don't have to
keep stealing your wives to demonstrate?"
Tommy and
Hazel grinned at my remark. They were standing beside the bear. The bear was so big it was just as tall as Hazel. I was impressed.
With the
other six couples beaming with pride at their star
couple, Tommy and Hazel
explained they had won the bear in a contest. After
class last Saturday, the group had gone dancing at
Spats, a local Disco that had opened
recently. Every Saturday night Spats
held a dance contest as a way to draw in customers. Tommy and
Hazel were awesome dancers. Since they were without a
doubt the best of this talented bunch, their friends had encouraged the duo to represent them in the
contest. Apparently Tommy and Hazel won handily.
This giant bear was their much-appreciated
reward.
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SUNDAY,
JUNE 17
JOANNE LOSES HER TEMPER
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The
following night was Sunday evening,
June 17.
It was time for my Sunday evening Disco class at the
Meyerland Club with Joanne. At this point, I
was working every night of the week. With
Urban Cowboy looking over my shoulder, my
attitude was enjoy it while it lasts. One week earlier I had visited the
Cactus Club
with Joanne. I was still rattled about how awful the place
was. If the Cactus Club was indicative of
the coming Western Era, I was sick with fear that my
dance career was coming to an end.
As if my Cactus Club worries were not enough,
Patricia had spent last night and all day Sunday
complaining about how Victoria had snubbed her
at
Sugar Creek yesterday.
Understandably, I was in a foul mood. When I
met Joanne in the parking lot for our final Meyerland Club
class, she was in a bad mood as well. I
asked what was wrong.
"My boyfriend Fred broke up with me yesterday.
It's probably for the best. I think he's been cheating on
me. We never really hit it off, but it stung nevertheless.
Now I am mad because I miss him.
I'm sick of being lonely. I swear, this has been the worst year of my life."
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With that,
Joanne gave me a dirty look. I got the message. I felt
considerable
guilt over my role in her difficulties. Ever since
January, the Dangerous Liaison
had doomed us to what felt like a neverending path of misery.
After six
months of constant headaches, our nerves were
frayed. However, the show must go on, so we quietly
walked towards the Meyerland Club.
Tonight was the
tenth and final week of our Meyerland Disco class.
Although the
Clear Lake Seven made spectacular strides due to their habit of
going dancing after each class, not so for this Meyerland
class.
Judging by the lack of progress, it was pretty clear
no one ever practiced. In fact, I
seriously doubted anyone in this group of middle-aged Jewish
couples had
gone dancing a single time over the past two months. Still, they were
very nice to Joanne and me, so the time spent was pleasant. Everyone was
full of smiles as they thanked us for coming out these past
two months.
After class,
Joanne and I talked some more in the parking lot.
Nothing I said could cheer her up. That's when I had
an idea.
"Come
on, Joanne, let's go Disco Dancing over at Annabelle's.
It's not far from here. Since
tonight was our last class, I may not see you again for a while.
Let me buy you a drink and throw you in the air for old
time's sake.
Joanne immediately frowned.
"I'm sorry, Rick, but I'm just not in the mood. Maybe
another time."
Joanne clearly
needed a friend, so I insisted. "Look, Joanne,
thanks to John Travolta, we may not
have many more chances to dance Disco together. Besides, we did Cactus Club
last week, so you need to return the favor. Besides, I
miss dancing with you. Please?
It will cheer us both up."
Joanne shrugged. "All right,
Rick, maybe I'll go, but tell me
one thing. There is no way I am going to run
into Victoria or Patricia, correct? In the mood I'm in, I'm
ready to slug someone."
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One look told me
Joanne wasn't being sarcastic. She was fed up with me, she
was fed up with men and she was fed up with the two Divas.
I was in a pretty bad mood myself after listening to Patricia
bitch and moan all day about Victoria. Geez, is anybody happy?
"You have nothing to
worry about, Joanne. Those women will
be nowhere in sight.
You have my word on that."
Joanne looked at me
skeptically. "You promise?"
"Yes, I promise.
However there will be some people from the studio. A group
of students from one of my dance classes have become friends. They like to meet
at Annabelle's on Sunday nights.
They invited me to join them after I finished class tonight."
Joanne shrugged.
"I guess that's
okay as long as one of them isn't Fred and his new
girlfriend."
"I don't think
you will see Fred. He is not part of that group."
With that,
Joanne nodded okay. I was glad Joanne
was coming with me. This was better
than going home to face the dark walls and think about
Patricia's neverending litany of complaints.
This was one of those times when I figured things were
hopeless for Patricia. Why she continued to stick
around was one of life's great mysteries. I took a
long look at Joanne. What a shame things had broken
the wrong way for her. Without the constant harassment
from Victoria and Patricia, I think Joanne could have become
the most celebrated Disco dancer in the city. Not only
that,
I really missed having Joanne around. I was so sick of
Patricia right now that I was secretly hoping Joanne would enjoy
the dancing and perhaps end her Disco Exile. Maybe Joanne would come back to Monday nights with me.
During this stormy year, I always felt better when Joanne was
around. She was the only person I knew who truly had my
back.
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Annabelle's
was a pretty Disco located at the top of a major Galleria
hotel. The view of the city from this sky-high club was
fantastic. I loved the place. The beauty of this
classy club and the impressive panoramic view
of Houston's landscape made it one of my favorite locations.
Unfortunately
the club had never done huge business. As opposed
to most Discos where the walk from the parking lot to the club
was three minutes or less, getting to the top of this hotel was
a real hassle. It took at least 10 minutes wait time to
take the elevator to Annabelle's. Then there was
the dress code and a cover charge to deal with.
On the
other hand, there wasn't any danger of the club becoming
Western. Although Houston was in the midst of its Travolta-inspired
Western Transformation, Disco still ruled in every other part of
America. Out of respect to its
national and international clientele, the hotel had declined to
jump on the local Western bandwagon. Thank goodness.
Our cars
arrived at the parking garage at the same time, so Joanne and I walked
into Annabelle's together.
There were only a few
people on the dance floor, so I took Joanne directly over. What a relief it was to be here in this beautiful
nightclub tonight. I loved having all this room to dance with my
favorite partner. As we danced, I pretended last week's
Cactus Club visit
was a passing nightmare. What I wanted was to dance
with Joanne forever at this palace in the sky.
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Unfortunately, I could
not get the Cactus Club out of my mind. Recalling how
dreary the place was, I snickered. Big mistake.
Joanne stopped dancing.
"What's so funny?"
Uh oh. "Um, I was
just remembering how you were going to get someone to beat me up
at the Cactus Club."
Joanne frowned at me.
"You didn't like my place at all. In fact, you couldn't
wait to leave. How long were you there, 20 minutes?
You didn't give the club a chance. I never even got a
chance to show you the Polka."
Noting that Joanne was
very touchy tonight, I replied, "I'm sorry, Joanne, but that place gave me the creeps. Everyone looked
upset about something."
Joanne bristled. "Well, get used
to it, Richard. Country-Western is taking over."
Wow, her voice was
dripping with hostility. Joanne wasn't
kidding about being depressed. She was as low as I had
ever seen her.
"Come on, Joanne, give
me your hand. Let's dance to another song and forget our problems."
To her credit, Joanne
nodded and smiled faintly. We weren't interested
in showing off, so I skipped the acrobatics and showmanship.
We danced for the sheer fun of it for 10 minutes. Tired
now, we walked over to join
eight students from my studio. They were sitting at two
square tables placed together. They made room for us, so we pulled up two chairs.
Although Joanne had been out of sight for three months,
there were two people who remembered her from the days
of Camelot. They had
seen Joanne dance several times at the Pistachio Club, but
that's all they knew about her. Everyone
at the table
had watched us dance here at Annabelle's and were impressed.
Several people were very complimentary of Joanne's graceful dancing.
Joanne smiled
appreciatively and said thank you.
After ordering drinks for
the two of us, we settled in. It did not take long to realize the
mysterious closing of the Houston Discos was
the main topic of
conversation at the table. It started when Jim, the man to my left,
turned to me and said, "Hey, Rick, have you heard that the Mirage just
reopened as San Antone Rose?"
Mirage
had been an unusually popular Disco due to a prime location.
The club was located within walking distance of a dozen apartment projects catering to singles.
Mirage did a steady business because it was a perfect
place for singles to meet at night without having to drive
too far. In fact, many people walked over alone
hoping to
walk back later holding hands with someone they met at the club. The place was
always teeming. Considering the fantastic business that
Mirage did, this was perhaps the most perplexing closure
to date. Considering how popular this club had been, it crushed
me to see a premium Disco close its
doors.
I frowned. "No, I
had not heard that, Jim. That is not good news. It
doesn't make much sense, does it? The
Mirage did incredible business. Why do you suppose the
management would trade a sure-thing for a maybe?"
Jim replied, "It seems
like all the Discos are closing. We were discussing how we feel like
refugees. Thank goodness for Annabelles."
I did not particularly like Jim. He was always a bit of a grouch. But I
agreed with his sentiment.
"I feel the same way,
Jim. That's why we came here tonight. To me,
Annabelle's feels like sanctuary, sort of a place
Time forgot."
Jim continued.
"No kidding. It is one of the few quality Discos left.
I didn't care about all those stupid Discos, but Mirage
hurts.
Mirage
is the fifth major Disco to go Country."
I said, "Well, Jim,
what about élan? Did you hear they are
adding a western dance floor on one of the split levels?"
Jim rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, I heard about that. Isn't that ridiculous?
The Houston
Chronicle reported that élan is being featured
in a big Urban Cowboy scene as the 'hottest
Disco in Houston'. Now
élan is changing its stripes like everyone else.
Total hypocrisy.
What do
you think is going on, Rick? Is Disco dying before our
eyes?"
Talk about being put on
the spot! This was the last thing I wanted to talk about,
especially not with Joanne and her bad mood sitting right beside me.
When the entire table hushed and looked at me, I felt sick in my stomach. One
glance at Joanne confirmed my worst fear.
Sure enough, the darling of the
Cactus Club
was eyeing me suspiciously to see what I was going to say. Feeling uncomfortable due to her hostile stare, I really needed to watch my words.
How do I appease these eight Disco students without offending
Joanne?
"I wish I had an answer
to that, Jim. None of this makes a bit of sense.
Not only is Disco surging everywhere else in the USA, my Disco classes
have never been larger. Back in March, we had 300 people
pack the Pistachio Club for Victoria's Spring Affair party.
If it wasn't for all these Country-Western warning signals, I would say Disco
was doing fine here in Houston."
Jim replied, "Maybe
so, but there is
a growing rumor that these are the last days of Disco here in
Houston. Maybe you can help."
"Help with what?" I
replied.
"Can you explain
why these Discos are closing? None of us can figure out what is so damn special
about Urban Cowboy. Right now we are down to
Pistachio, Annabelle's, élan and
Tingles as the last holdouts for Disco format.
If this trend continues, pretty soon we won't
have a place to go Disco dancing.
What is
the point of learning how to Disco dance?"
I flinched noticeably. As if I wasn't
depressed enough already, that comment hit right on top of my most
sensitive nerve.
"What do you want me to
say, Jim? I agree with you completely. I am just as
worried as you are. Things are changing fast. It
makes no sense to me.
Urban Cowboy
isn't supposed to debut for another year. However for some
reason the expectations surrounding the movie are dominating
Houston's dance scene. I have no idea why these Disco
clubs feel the need to change their spots a year in advance.
Something must be happening behind the scenes, but I
am in the dark."
Jim nodded. "By
closing the Discos and reopening as Country, it feels like
they are shoving Country dancing down our throats."
There was a murmur of
agreement. Everyone at the table nodded... except Joanne.
Joanne had her arms crossed and had a smirk on her face. I wondered if anyone noticed
her demeanor besides me. Yes. Jim noticed
and stared at her suspiciously.
A woman named Susan
spoke up. "I don't want to learn country dancing. I
don't like the music. And I don't understand why they are
making such a big deal out of this movie. I don't
know a single person who even knows what the dancing looks
like and..."
To my surprise, Joanne
interrupted Susan. "I know what country dancing looks like
and you have nothing to worry about.
Kicker
dancing isn't so bad.
I've been hanging out at a western club near
my apartment. Country dancing is very different than Disco, but it's
fun."
I looked at Joanne in
surprise. This was uncharacteristic of her.
Joanne rarely spoke around people she didn't know. Nor had
I ever seen her interrupt someone. The irony was
unmistakable. The one time Joanne finally
said something, I wished she had kept her mouth shut.
Although Joanne had the right to offer her opinion, I thought
discretion was called for. This crowd
was not in a receptive mood. Sure enough,
I could see them tense up. By
touching a major
nerve, Joanne had made herself a lightning rod for their
resentment. These Disco dancers were
understandably fearful that their favorite hobby was about to be
snuffed out. AND FOR WHAT REASON? Why did the
appearance of Country necessitate the end of Disco?
What was the reason 90% of Houston's Discos had decided
to change their format to Country? Since everyone at this table felt like Western dancing was being rammed down
their throats, everyone
glared at Joanne with hostility. Uh oh, here we go again.
Sure enough, Joanne froze
up. No doubt those glares reminded her of Victoria's
Spring Party where everyone had given her hateful stares.
Well, it was her own fault. Joanne always seemed to have a
knack for doing or saying the worst thing when I was around.
Jim wasted no time
escalating the problem. "So
I have a question for you, lady. Disco
is disappearing before our eyes and we feel helpless to stop
the momentum. I watched you dance. You are really
good.
Why would someone like
you who is such a fabulous Disco dancer want to switch to country
dancing?"
Joanne answered, "Well,
it isn't about the dancing really. I just needed a change
of scenery, make some new friends."
Jim got a little
snippy. "Are you serious? I find it hard to
believe a woman who can dance like you prefers hanging out with
a bunch of rednecks over Disco dancers."
Jim's hostile comment rankled
her, but Joanne replied evenly. "Like I said, it isn't
about the dancing. I agree the dancing is pretty tame
compared to Disco. But there are some good features.
For example, a guy puts his arms around me and he takes
me for an enjoyable ride around the floor. We aren't moving
fast, so we have time for a conversation. If he's cute, I
let him
do a little belly rubbing along the way. I like being
held. Then we have a
beer. It is a much
different scene than Disco. The people are definitely
nicer. They make me feel welcome."
Jim retorted, "Sounds
boring to me."
Joanne resented that
remark. "Well, you
better get used to it. They say this
time next year everyone in Houston will be wearing cowboy boots.
You wait and see."
Jim frowned. "Okay, you
seem to know
what is going on better than I do. Can you explain why all these clubs are
turning Western?"
"Sure.
People expect John Travolta to do for country dancing what he
did for disco dancing. The dance clubs figure they
better line up now
so they can cash in later. If they turn country too
late, they will be last in line for customer loyalty. You probably don't know this, but there are a lot more
country people in Houston than you think. In fact,
I've been told there are more people in Houston who listen
to country on the radio than disco music."
Hmm. Now that
Joanne pointed it out, she was probably right that country music
was more popular than disco. I had never realized that
before. Given the popularity of western music, this was
the first time I began to realize why all these new
country-western clubs were popping up.
Susan asked
a question. "Is there really much dancing to country music?"
Joanne nodded.
"Sure. In fact, the Texas
Aggies all know how to western dance. Right now they
are having the time of their lives visiting these new dance
halls. They have
the dance floors all to themselves and they like to show
off."
I was surprised at
that comment. This was news to me. I also groaned.
Why mention the Aggies? Now Joanne was really asking for trouble. Considering
the Aggies were the least popular people in Texas, her comment wasn't going to win her any points.
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Sure enough,
Jim did not like Aggies. He replied with a bite in his voice.
"So now you're hanging out with the Aggies too? You like
Aggies, you like Rednecks, you like shit-kicker Cowboys,
they're your best friends. If you like country so
much, what are you doing here?"
Jim had
crossed a line. I resented his comment. I
was about to speak up, but Joanne beat me to the punch.
"Guess
what, mister? You left out the Mexicans.
They grew up dancing the Mexican Polka and I like
dancing with them too. Last time I checked, this is a free country.
I can go wherever I want and dance with whomever I want.
If you learn how, I might even kicker dance with you some
day. But don't count on it."
Jim answered testily, "Save
your breath. If you
want to jump ship, that's your business, but you're never
going to see me dancing in cowboy boots."
With that, Joanne
lost her temper. She stood up and glared at Jim.
"You
know what? I
guess I thought I would be welcome here, but maybe
not. I'll make a bet
with you, buddy. I bet at this time next year, everyone at
this table will be dancing country. Country is taking
over. It is happening right now whether you like it or
not. So y'all better get used to it!!"
Joanne was
hopping mad. She formed an
imaginary pistol with her fingers and fired it at Jim.
Then she blew a hostile goodbye kiss to the
other people. Clearly agitated, Joanne turned her
back and
stomped out of the room. She was gone so fast that I sat there in shock. I had
never seen Joanne act like this before. Things had gotten out of
hand too fast for me to intervene.
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Recovering from my
shock, I got up and chased Joanne
out the door. When I caught up to her at the elevator, I gently touched her arm.
Joanne pulled away in anger. She glared at me
and snapped, "What did you bring me up here for, Rick?
Those people are no different than Victoria and Patricia and all
the rest of those Disco snobs. I should have known better.
You spent 20 minutes with me last week, then turned your back
and left me standing there. Now you set me up for all this
bullshit. What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Calm down, Joanne.
I didn't expect to see you get ambushed. So you ran
into a major jerk. I'm sorry about that, but the rest of the people weren't being rude."
"Oh my God,
you're so blind. This
kind of crap happens to me every time I go to a Disco.
You just don't know how nasty these people are. Jesus, I
didn't think my day could get any worse, but it did. Thank you very much for reminding me why I quit
Disco in the first
place. I'm
heading over to the Cactus Club. At least I'm welcome
there."
And with that,
Joanne turned to leave. I tried to follow her into the elevator,
but Joanne put her hand up.
Joanne barked, "No!
Don't bother. Thanks for the memories, but
I'm done. Leave me alone."
She stared daggers at me as
the doors closed. Suddenly she reached her hand out and stopped the doors for one
final word. "I swear, you and your stinking Disco crowd has brought me more
misery than I have ever experienced in my life. Adios,
Amigo."
And with that,
Joanne let the doors close. The knowledge that Joanne had
walked out of my life for good ripped me to shreds. I
stood there staring at the elevator with tears in my eyes. This woman had once been in love with me.
Look
what she had to show for it.
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