John Sex
Encyclopedia
John McLaughlin better known as "John Sex" was a cabaret
singer and performance artist in New York City
from the late 1970s until his death.
in New York City
where he knew Keith Haring
, and Jean-Michel Basquiat
. He often used the print studio there to create punk-style posters for downtown bands, and later for himself. He exhibited some of his word-based art at the "Beyond Words" show at the Mudd Club (alongside artists such as Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf
and Futura 2000
; and performers Iggy Pop
, Fab Five Freddy
and Alan Vega
), and at the "New York / New Wave" exhibition at P.S.1, both in 1981. He soon met Klaus Nomi
and Joey Arias
in the downtown New York scene and gave up painting, finding he could better express himself in performance.
lounge singer / MC. First along with other SVA graduates and students and Club 57
"Sex developed a persona that simultaniously masked and amplified his polymorphous self, elaborating a mythinc yet parodic rock-star figure of mercurial presence" (Frank & McKentie, 1987). His "Acts of Live Art" series there brought performance art into the club context. He was able to further refine the combination of performance art, drag act, gay go-go dancer, cabaret singer, lounge MC, etc. as a performance art dancer who performed at such legendary New York clubs as Club 57, the Pyramid Club
, Danceteria
, The Palladium, Paradise Garage
and Andy Warhol's Underground. His famous backup singers, The Bodacious TaTa's were often mistaken for drag queens but always consisted of female singers and dancers including Micki French, Wendy Wild
, April Palmieri
and Myra Schiller. His costumes were designed by the famous Katy K, who occasionally sat in with the TaTa's. John used to claim the surname Sex was an Americanization of his family's original name, Sexton, but in fact it was created for him by fellow performers Joey Arias
and Klaus Nomi
early in his career "during a period of rampant promiscuity" (Hagar). For the 1986 gay parade in New York City, he organized and helped build a float called the Go-Go Stars float which had go-go dancers
from various night clubs go-go dancing on it. His last public performance was at the club Mars in New York in 1989. He recorded a four song E.P for Sire Records
, produced by Mark Kamins
and Ivan Ivan, as well as 12" singles and music video
s for his songs "Rock Your Body" and "Hustle with the Muscle." Mr. Sex's trademark was his long, blond
hair which stood straight up, and which he claimed was kept erect by a combination of Dippity-do, Aqua Net, egg whites, beer, and semen. He also dressed in flamboyant costumes. He owned a python named Delilah that was often included in his cabaret act, and was a friend of artist Andy Warhol
. Sometimes he would leave the python on stage and come down into the audience and wrestle with patrons of the club. He died from AIDS-related complications.
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
singer and performance artist in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
from the late 1970s until his death.
Early life
He was born in Long Island as John McLaughlin. He was given the last name of Sex soon after moving to New York City. He attended the School of Visual ArtsSchool of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where he knew Keith Haring
Keith Haring
Keith Haring was an artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s.-Early life:...
, and Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist. His career in art began as a graffiti artist in New York City in the late 1970s, and in the 1980s produced Neo-expressionist painting.-Early life:...
. He often used the print studio there to create punk-style posters for downtown bands, and later for himself. He exhibited some of his word-based art at the "Beyond Words" show at the Mudd Club (alongside artists such as Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf
Kenny Scharf
Kenny Scharf is an American painter who lives in Brooklyn, New York. The artist received his B.F.A in 1980 at the School of Visual Arts located in New York City. Scharf's works consist of popular culture based shows with made up science-related backgrounds...
and Futura 2000
Futura 2000
Futura 2000 is a graffiti artist. He started to paint illegally on New York's subway in the early seventies, working with other artists such as ALI. In the early eighties he showed with Patti Astor at the Fun Gallery, along with Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Richard Hambleton and Kenny Scharf...
; and performers Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
, Fab Five Freddy
Fab Five Freddy
Fred Brathwaite , more popularly known as Fab 5 Freddy, is an American Hip hop historian, Hip hop pioneer and former graffiti artist...
and Alan Vega
Alan Vega
Alan Vega For several years other sources stated that he was born in 1948 – see 'Myth' section is an American vocalist, primarily known for his work with electronic protopunk duo, Suicide...
), and at the "New York / New Wave" exhibition at P.S.1, both in 1981. He soon met Klaus Nomi
Klaus Nomi
Klaus Sperber , better known as Klaus Nomi, was a German countertenor noted for his wide vocal range and an unusual, otherworldly stage persona....
and Joey Arias
Joey Arias
Joey Arias is a New York City based performance artist, cabaret singer, and drag artist.Born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, he was six when he moved with his family to Los Angeles. After singing with the rock band "Purlie" on Capitol Records and a stint with famed improvisational group the...
in the downtown New York scene and gave up painting, finding he could better express himself in performance.
Career as performance artist
As a child, John had a close relationship with famous pornstar, Christian Atkinson. After early work as a gay stripper, John Sex became an alternative performance artist, creating a character based on an exaggerated, cheesy Las VegasLas Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
lounge singer / MC. First along with other SVA graduates and students and Club 57
Club 57
Club 57 was a nightclub located at 57 St. Mark's Place in the East Village, New York City during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was a hangout and venue for performance- and visual-artists and musicians, including Madonna, Keith Haring, Cyndi Lauper, Charles Busch, Klaus Nomi, The B-52s, Futura...
"Sex developed a persona that simultaniously masked and amplified his polymorphous self, elaborating a mythinc yet parodic rock-star figure of mercurial presence" (Frank & McKentie, 1987). His "Acts of Live Art" series there brought performance art into the club context. He was able to further refine the combination of performance art, drag act, gay go-go dancer, cabaret singer, lounge MC, etc. as a performance art dancer who performed at such legendary New York clubs as Club 57, the Pyramid Club
Pyramid Club
__notoc__The Pyramid Club is a nightclub in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City. After opening in 1979, the Pyramid helped define the East Village drag and gay scenes of the 1980s...
, Danceteria
Danceteria
Danceteria was a well-known four-floor nightclub located in New York City which operated from 1980 until 1986 and in the Hamptons until 1995. Throughout its history, the club had seven different locations, three in NYC and four in the Hamptons...
, The Palladium, Paradise Garage
Paradise Garage
The Paradise Garage was a discotheque notable in the history of modern gay and nightclub cultures and in dance and pop music. It was founded by Michael Brody, its sole proprietor, and was located at 84 King Street, in the Hudson Square neighborhood of New York City. It operated from 1976 to 1987...
and Andy Warhol's Underground. His famous backup singers, The Bodacious TaTa's were often mistaken for drag queens but always consisted of female singers and dancers including Micki French, Wendy Wild
Wendy Wild
Wendy Wild, born Wendy Andreiev was an American singer, musician, and artist who in the 1980s was a well known presence in New York's downtown music and performance scenes.-Career:...
, April Palmieri
April Palmieri
April Palmieri was a musician who performed with a 12-piece all-girl percussion band, Pulsallama. During the early 1980s, the band played at such venues as the Mudd Club, the Pyramid, Danceteria, and Club 57 in New York's East Village. Palmieri was also a close personal friend of the well-known...
and Myra Schiller. His costumes were designed by the famous Katy K, who occasionally sat in with the TaTa's. John used to claim the surname Sex was an Americanization of his family's original name, Sexton, but in fact it was created for him by fellow performers Joey Arias
Joey Arias
Joey Arias is a New York City based performance artist, cabaret singer, and drag artist.Born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, he was six when he moved with his family to Los Angeles. After singing with the rock band "Purlie" on Capitol Records and a stint with famed improvisational group the...
and Klaus Nomi
Klaus Nomi
Klaus Sperber , better known as Klaus Nomi, was a German countertenor noted for his wide vocal range and an unusual, otherworldly stage persona....
early in his career "during a period of rampant promiscuity" (Hagar). For the 1986 gay parade in New York City, he organized and helped build a float called the Go-Go Stars float which had go-go dancers
Go-Go dancing
Go-go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at a discotheque. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s when women at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City began to get up on tables and dance the twist...
from various night clubs go-go dancing on it. His last public performance was at the club Mars in New York in 1989. He recorded a four song E.P for Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
, produced by Mark Kamins
Mark Kamins
Mark Kamins is a New York club DJ.He is best known for helping launch the career of one-time girlfriend Madonna by presenting a demo to Seymour Stein of Sire Records. He also produced her first single "Everybody" in 1982...
and Ivan Ivan, as well as 12" singles and music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s for his songs "Rock Your Body" and "Hustle with the Muscle." Mr. Sex's trademark was his long, blond
Blond
Blond or blonde or fair-hair is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some sort of yellowish color...
hair which stood straight up, and which he claimed was kept erect by a combination of Dippity-do, Aqua Net, egg whites, beer, and semen. He also dressed in flamboyant costumes. He owned a python named Delilah that was often included in his cabaret act, and was a friend of artist Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
. Sometimes he would leave the python on stage and come down into the audience and wrestle with patrons of the club. He died from AIDS-related complications.
Further reading
- In Touch magazine #77 March 1983 Portfolio of photographs of John Sex and interview with John Sex (Peter BerlinPeter BerlinArmin Hagen Freiherr von Hoyningen-Huene is a photographer, artist, filmmaker, clothing designer/sewer, model and gay sex symbol best know by his stage name Peter Berlin. In the early to mid-1970s, Berlin created some of the most recognizable gay male erotic imagery of his time...
on front cover) - Frank, Peter and McKentie, Micheal, New, Used and Improved NY: Abbyville Press, 1987.
- Hager, Steven. Art After Midnight: The East Village Scene, St. Martin’s Press, NY, 1986.
- Musto, Michael. Downtown, Vintage Books, NY, 1986.
- Warhol, Andy; Hackett, Pat (ed.). The Andy Warhol Diaries. New York: Warner Books, 1989.
External links
- http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/fales/palmieri.htmlGuide to the April PalmieriApril PalmieriApril Palmieri was a musician who performed with a 12-piece all-girl percussion band, Pulsallama. During the early 1980s, the band played at such venues as the Mudd Club, the Pyramid, Danceteria, and Club 57 in New York's East Village. Palmieri was also a close personal friend of the well-known...
collection of John Sex videos in the Fales LibraryFales LibraryNew York University's Fales Library and Special Collections is located on the third floor of the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library at 70 Washington Square South between LaGuardia Place and the Schwartz Plaza, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It houses nearly 200,000...
at NYU] - The Joy of John Sex - video clips of John Sex performances.