The Bo Show

BEFORE THEY WERE STARS

(Audio Below)

Are you a virgin? It’s pretty safe to say Madonna probably wasn’t before she uttered the famous verse that helped propel her to the top of the pop charts. Before the glitz and glamour… and bottle of bleach… she walked the streets of New York City like so many other men and women before her.

John, a straight man (who has played a little tonsil hockey with other men), was one of these men. He grew up in the Bronx, and partied like it was 1999, before 1999 came and passed by. While growing up in New York City, he frequented many of the famous places which helped start the careers of so many stars that shine in our Hollywood sky today.

One night, while partying at The Roxy, his path crossed with the blond one herself, before the fame and nonstop reinventions. “I just remember seeing this woman who had that whole English look… blond hair, she had the rubber bracelets with a hat, all that stuff of her early look she was doing. She had her head down, and she kept bumping into people.” John says it wasn’t long before he was hearing a new song being played in the clubs, Madonna’s “Everybody.” He says, “I didn’t know it was the same girl, but I like the track though, and none of my friends liked it. I remember thinking… whoever this is, is going to be huge.”

Whether it was seeing Madonna’s first performance at Danceteria, or Cyndi Lauper in her first band, Blue Angel… he came as close as elbow to elbow with many of today’s A-list celebrities… so close, as to see their true colors. “Bruce Willis of all people served me drinks, before he was anybody… he was so cool.”

John was working with his band in one of the many New York City music buildings when he stumbled upon one of today’s hottest musical acts, Mariah Carey. “This girl comes out. She looks like a Brooklyn girl… she had acid washed jeans, she had curly hair, somewhat ethnic looking… she was sticking her chest out.” Although he wasn’t impressed with her demo tape, it wasn’t long before we were all hearing “Vision of Love” on our local radio stations.

He was there for many random events, that any of today’s paparazzi photographers would die for. One night while hanging out in one of the cities many VIP rooms, he saw one of the 80’s biggest acts walking towards the VIP/VIP room, “Boy George tried to say hi to Billy (Idol), Idol… kind of ignored it… George got a little p-o’ed and said… I remember when I once saw you selling your ass on the corner of so-and-so…”

You name the place or person… John was there or saw them… he’s your key to the New York City of yesterday: Studio 54, The Go Go’s, Debbie Harry and Blondie. In this episode of “The Bo Show,” John helps us take a big bite out of The Big Apple, with some of the best – before they were stars stories – you’ve ever heard.