{"id":48681,"date":"2019-11-18T19:05:53","date_gmt":"2019-11-18T19:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/merryjane.com\/outlaw-biographer-jimmy-mcdonough-on-80s-drug-culture-the-ghastly-one\/"},"modified":"2019-11-18T19:05:53","modified_gmt":"2019-11-18T19:05:53","slug":"outlaw-biographer-jimmy-mcdonough-on-80s-drug-culture-the-ghastly-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/merryjane.com\/culture\/outlaw-biographer-jimmy-mcdonough-on-80s-drug-culture-the-ghastly-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Sleaze, Smut, and Times Square: Outlaw Biographer Jimmy McDonough on &#8217;80s Drug Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Over the past two decades, author Jimmy McDonough has penned the definitive life stories of rock god Neil Young (<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2CzunHo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><u><em>Shakey: Neil Young\u2019s Biography<\/em><\/u><\/a>), sexploitation titan Russ Meyer (<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/33Iba2a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><u><em>Big Bosoms and Square Jaws: The Biography of Russ Meyer, King of the Sex Film<\/em><\/u><\/a>), country icon Tammy Wynette (<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/34UMgfJ\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><u><em>Tammy Wynette: Tragic Country Queen<\/em><\/u><\/a>), and R&amp;B overlord Al Green (<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2QdZXma\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><u><em>Soul Survivor: A Biography of Al Green<\/em><\/u><\/a>). In addition, McDonough co-authored the 2016 memoir of Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman John Fogerty, titled <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2qRGyMT\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><u><em>Fortunate Son: My Life, My Music<\/em><\/u><u>.<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Prior to covering A-listers, though, McDonough scoured the underworld of sewer-level entertainment. He co-edited <em>Sleazoid Express<\/em>, a legendary NYC \u2019zine created by a mad genius named Bill Landis that chronicled the 1980s Times Square grindhouse scene as it crumbled around its correspondents into crack-AIDS-and-Giuliani ruin.<\/p>\n<p>In that milieu, McDonough came across the work of Andy Milligan, a maker of no-budget schlock horror and sexual psychodramas that \u2014 no joke \u2014 make the films of Ed Wood look like Academy Award winners.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>With bizarre ambition and questionable talent, Milligan pumped out eyesores on the order of <em>Bloodthirsty Butchers<\/em> (1970), <em>Torture Dungeon<\/em> (1970), <em>Guru, the Mad Monk<\/em> (1970), and <em>The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here!<\/em> (1972).&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Still, as with Ed Wood, a unique vision permeates Milligan\u2019s output and McDonough picked up on it. Diving deeper, McDonough discovered that the director of <em>Gutter Trash<\/em> (1968) and <em>The Man With Two Heads<\/em> (1972) had also been a pioneer of gay cinema with his breakthrough short <em>Vapors<\/em> (1962). And, as the creator of the Caffe Cino theater, Milligan helped establish New York\u2019s Off-Broadway movement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"360\" width=\"640\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iH1OXnleits\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"1574115766479_Jimmy.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/files.merryjane.com\/uploads\/generic\/1574115766479_Jimmy.jpg\" style=\"width: 640px; height: 301px;\"\/><\/p>\n<p><em>Above, Jimmy McDonough<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In time, McDonough relocated to Los Angeles to live near Milligan. McDonough not only participated in making one of Milligan\u2019s last films, <em>Monstrosit<\/em>y (1987), he also acted as a caregiver while the sexually libertine director succumbed to complications due to AIDS.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>All this resulted in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theghastlyone.com\/about-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><u><em>The Ghastly One: The 42nd Street Netherworld of Director Andy Milligan<\/em><\/u><\/a>. It\u2019s an absolute masterpiece of a biography named after the director\u2019s 1968 effort, <em>The Ghastly Ones<\/em>. Alas, when initially published in 2002, the book did not shake the world as it properly should have.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Eerily in keeping with Milligan\u2019s work, though, those who discovered <em>The Ghastly One<\/em> have fought to keep it from fading into oblivion. Devotees include cult kingpin John Waters, who insists it would make a great Broadway musical, and <em>Time<\/em> magazine critic Richard Corliss who wrote, \u201cWhat a movie it would make! What a book it already is!\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Another <em>Ghastly One<\/em> champion is filmmaker Nicholas Winding Refn (<em>Pusher<\/em>, <em>Drive<\/em>, <em>Neon Demon<\/em>). Refn is officially reissuing an updated and expanded version of the book just in time for the holidays. Refn has also put McDonough in charge of his mind-blowing online culture outlet, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bynwr.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><u>byNWR.com<\/u><\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>With <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theghastlyone.com\/about-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><u><em>The Ghastly One<\/em><\/u><\/a> set to, at last, receive its proper due, Jimmy McDonough took some time to talk to MERRY JANE about the anarchic overwhelm of it all.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"1574115209610_TGOcover.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/files.merryjane.com\/uploads\/generic\/1574115209610_TGOcover.jpg\" style=\"width: 640px; height: 301px;\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>MERRY JANE: First off, tell us about <\/strong><em><strong>The Ghastly One <\/strong><\/em><strong>\u2014 the original book and its new reissue.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Jimmy McDonough:<\/strong> In my youth, I hung out in Times Square. There, I got fascinated with a particular filmmaker, Andy Milligan, who was then putting on plays in a fleabag theater on 39th Street. Andy was a misanthrope, a gay sadist, and a million other fabulous things. He\u2019d also made some of grimiest and oddest movies to ever grace the Deuce [as 42nd Street was called].&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I met Milligan briefly at his theater, became even more intrigued, and started researching his life. I eventually went out to Tinseltown to work on \u2014 and briefly be in \u2014 one of his last movies. And, unfortunately, to watch him die.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How did Andy Milligan come into your life?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d been obsessively digging into Andy\u2019s life, which he was very ambivalent about. But once Milligan started making movies again out in Tinseltown after many years away, who does he call late one night but his biographer?<\/p>\n<p>He said, \u201cHey, babe, want to come to Hollywood and work on a movie?\u201d I immediately quit my legitimate (and dull) freelance career working on big-budget mainstream movies in NYC to hightail across the USA in an old jalopy to work for Andy for 100 bucks cash a day. It was the best decision of my life.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The whole experience was incredible, and the book took on a different flavor, to say the least. It\u2019s one thing to research somebody\u2019s life by hearing about it from them and others; it\u2019s another thing entirely when they\u2019re doing their thing in front of you \u2014 and they\u2019ve invited you to jump in.<\/p>\n<p>My favorite creation came of it: <em>The Ghastly One<\/em>. How can it not be? It\u2019s a little jewel in the shit that is life.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"1574115332229_ANDY&#038;JIMMY&#038;HALBORSKEphotobyYaraCluver..jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/files.merryjane.com\/uploads\/generic\/1574115332229_ANDY&#038;JIMMY&#038;HALBORSKEphotobyYaraCluver..jpg\" style=\"width: 640px; height: 301px;\"\/><\/p>\n<p><em>Andy Milligan, Jimmy McDonough, and Hal Borske (Photo by Yara Cluver)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>What role did drugs play in Andy\u2019s life and work?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Zero. Andy hated drugs and drink. He was really a prude, which is funny considering how depraved the rest of his life was.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I\u2019ll name an Andy Milligan movie, you tell us which drug goes best with it and why.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Vapors<\/strong><\/em><strong> (1965)<\/strong> \u2014 Ex-Lax. A very constipated (but far from uninteresting) movie, this one. Life and love in NYC gay bathhouses circa the mid-60s. So much angst. The script wasn\u2019t by Milligan, but by one of his actresses, that regal question mark known as Hope Stansbury. Andy kind of laughed when I asked him about it. He had no idea what it all meant!<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>The Ghastly Ones<\/strong><\/em><strong> (1968) <\/strong>\u2014 Arsenic. Andy\u2019s \u201cfamily-reunites-to-discuss-the-will\u201d movies ooze incredible bile. There are several of them.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Seeds<\/strong><\/em><strong> (1968)<\/strong> \u2014 Amphetamines, definitely. Frantic and hysterical, Milligan\u2019s prime-period sexploitation movies. Boy, he\u2019d chop my head off hearing that.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Bloodthirsty Butchers<\/strong><\/em><strong> (1970)<\/strong> \u2014 Cocaine. Ugly movie, ugly drug. I love the movie, by the way.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here!<\/strong><\/em><strong> (1972)<\/strong> \u2014 Xanax, so you can sleep through it. &nbsp;So much talking! Shut the hell up, everybody! I do not care that you\u2019re a werewolf! Not the most compelling Milligan movie.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Fleshpot on 42nd Street<\/strong><\/em><strong> (1973)<\/strong> \u2014 Oh, definitely heroin for this one. Times Square opioid death glow. One of Milligan\u2019s best.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Monstrosity<\/strong><\/em><strong> (1987) \u2014<\/strong> Nitrous oxide. Stupid movie, stupid drug. A million laughs to make, though. Andy nearly set me and the rest of the crew present on fire!<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"360\" width=\"640\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/L91fkmtqy4Q\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Russ Meyer was famously a two-fisted all-American World War II vet with no love of hippies. What was his specific stance on drugs and, in particular, marijuana? Did he ever indulge?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Not unlike Andy Milligan, Meyer was another prude. He was anti everything, including fun. Aside from all those \u201cchicks with no brassieres,\u201d Meyer thought the \u201860s were a commie plot. He ran his [production] crews like they were boot camps and kept the sexes segregated. Believe it or not, RM actually forbade sex on his sets, although Tura Satana demanded \u2014 and got \u2014 a sexual partner on the set of <em>Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!<\/em> And no, it wasn\u2019t Russ.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s the best Russ Meyer movie to watch while stoned? Why?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens. <\/em>The montages of Kitten Natividad\u2019s body \u2014 intercut with shots of radios, vibrators and squeaky bed wheels leaving marks on a garish carpet \u2014 play like demented sex industrials. Meyer liked to get into an obsessive visual groove and just stay there forever, kind of like a mentally ill version of the Hi Rhythm Section. Russ Meyer had such a crazed, fetishistic mind. It was the source of his greatness \u2014 and you could say it led to his downfall.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a funny drug fact about that book <em>Big Bosoms and Square Jaws.<\/em> I was on the antidepressant Wellbutrin at the time and on way too high a dose. It made my brain run like an overheated Chevy. That\u2019s why that book is so\u2026 feverish [<em>laughs<\/em>].<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"1574115481070_71i3ylTFnkL.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/files.merryjane.com\/uploads\/generic\/1574115481070_71i3ylTFnkL.jpg\" style=\"width: 640px; height: 301px;\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>We don\u2019t necessarily think of drugs when we think about Tammy Wynette and Al Green \u2014 yet the country and soul music of their eras were awash in all manner of them. Meanwhile, rock couldn\u2019t proclaim its drug allegiance enough. What\u2019s behind that perception?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Rockers were neon-billboard clich\u00e9s of drug abuse. It\u2019s part of the costume. Country\/soul people had more to lose. It had to be kept hidden. They were just sly about it, and didn\u2019t advertise their use. You\u2019re talking about slicker characters anyway, for the most part.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How did weed and hallucinogenic drugs play into their lives and careers of Tammy and Al?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Not much that I know of. Tammy, of course, was addicted to painkillers and it completely derailed her life and her sense of judgement about people she trusted, in my opinion. An epic tragedy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Reverend is just naturally psychedelic. But has it been a lifetime bad trip? Al will never tell you.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"1574115676214_3a9d0c86-1e14-4c1d-974b-af0e45948f9f_1.cfde47e495db83025c1c45f9aae003d0.jpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/files.merryjane.com\/uploads\/generic\/1574115676214_3a9d0c86-1e14-4c1d-974b-af0e45948f9f_1.cfde47e495db83025c1c45f9aae003d0.jpeg\" style=\"width: 640px; height: 301px;\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>You were the co-editor of the legendary 1980s NYC zine <\/strong><em><strong>Sleazoid Express<\/strong><\/em><strong>, which chronicled trash movies and the Times Square theaters that showed them during one of the city\u2019s most notorious \u201clow\u201d points. What role did drugs play in creating the zine?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Well, in the initial creation of it, nothing. But I came along at the same time as the opiates did, and it coated everything in sight with a glittery, intoxicating loser dust like a Montana 7-Eleven on Christmas Day.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Granted, it was fun at first, but it quickly veered down a dead-end street. &nbsp;I wrote about all this in <em>Ecco: The Story of a Fake Man on 42nd Street,<\/em> the last real issue of <em>Sleazoid<\/em>. It seemed like the right ending at the time \u2014 at least for me.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>How did drugs work in \u201980s Times Square \u2014 what was the trade like? Who used what? Who sold what? How did the cops deal (or not deal) with it?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I never, ever bought drugs in Times Square. Too many ways to get ripped off. &nbsp;The rule of thumb was: Get high first, then hit the Deuce. For a while, it was a roller coaster of depravity. You could bounce from one side of the street to the other, watching movie after movie after movie, all while observing the best and worst of the human condition unfold in the streets and seats around you. And, sometimes, cats walked in front of the bottom of the invariably torn screen! Rat patrol.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"1574115696238_JimmyandLandis,42ndstphotobyYaraCluver.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/files.merryjane.com\/uploads\/generic\/1574115696238_JimmyandLandis,42ndstphotobyYaraCluver.jpg\" style=\"width: 640px; height: 301px;\"\/><\/p>\n<p><em>Jimmy McDonough and Bill Landis on 42nd Street (Photo by Yara Cluver)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Finally, let\u2019s imagine you\u2019re casting a <\/strong><em><strong>Ghastly One<\/strong><\/em><strong> biopic to be made right now. Who would you hire to play Andy Milligan?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Oh, that one\u2019s easy. Nicolas Winding Refn. He\u2019d need to gain a paunch a la De Niro\/LaMotta in <em>Raging Bull <\/em>and add a few whiskers, but he\u2019s got the attitude nailed, trust me.<\/p>\n<p>But wait, let me provide a drug experience of my own before I disappear into the night. Psychedelics were never my thing. I shouldn\u2019t have taken them, ever. And the last time I did acid was at the NYC Macy\u2019s Day Parade sometime in the\u2026\u201980s? I split a tab with a friend, got the bulk of the hit, and the last thing I remember was a giant underdog looming over me.<\/p>\n<p>Next thing I knew, I was in St. Vincent\u2019s Hospital and some bum with the DTs was in the next bed talking me down. And there was this cop telling me, \u201cHey, buddy, you can\u2019t walk around here naked, screaming.\u201d I had no idea what I had been doing, but my hospital gown was pretty much off and people were staring at me like I was a circus animal. So, I very calmly got dressed, walked out, and nobody stopped me. And that was it for me and LSD.<\/p>\n<p><em>For more on Jimmy McDonough, including where to order the reissue of \u201cThe Ghastly One,\u201d visit <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theghastlyone.com\/about-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><u><em>the book\u2019s website here<\/em><\/u><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Mike McPadden on <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mikemcbeardo?lang=en\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><u><em>Twitter<\/em><\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The premier profiler of Neil Young, Russ Meyer, and Al Green talks rock star drug trips, Times Square sleaze sex, and the reissue of &#8220;The Ghastly One,&#8221; his shock bio of cult filmmaker Andy Milligan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3035],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - 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