Beemer memory 32: Biker days, Enrico Banducci & a hungri i

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The hungry i 

date & photographer unknown 

 

About this time every year I remember January of 1980, the last days of my dancing career at the hungry i nightclub on Broadway in San Francisco, more about this below.       

 

When the hungry i opened in 1950 it played a major role in the history of stand-up comedy and music in the US. It was launched by Eric "Big Daddy" Nord, who sold it to Enrico Banducci in 1951; Banducci also owned Finocchio's Club, an upscale nightclub where famous people, movie and stage celebrities, politicians, etc., came to see the drag shows staged there.   

       

Enrico Banducci - 1969 

photographer unknown

 

 

In its heyday the hungry i featured comedy and folk and other music, with acts such as Maya Angelou (as a Caribbean singer, early in her career), Woody Allen, Malcolm Boyd, Lenny Bruce, Godfrey Cambridge, Dick Cavett, Professor Irwin Corey, Bill Cosby, the Gateway Singers, Vince Guaraldi, The Kingston Trio, Tom Lehrer, The Limeliters, John Phillips (of The Mamas & the Papas led the house band), The Journeymen), Mort Sahl, Ronnie Schell, Barbara Streisand, Jackie Vernon, We Five, Jonathan Winters, and Glenn Yarborough, among others.           

A young Barbra Streisand begged Banducci for a single night at his nightclub, insisting that she would soon be a huge star. Banducci agreed to sign the singer, who had never performed professionally but was soon starring in I Can Get It for You Wholesale on Broadway. The resulting concerts (March–April 1963) were well-attended, giving Streisand nationwide acclaim.      

The hungry i moved to Ghiradelli Square in 1967, where it was primarily a rock venue; it closed there in 1970. When it opened in a new location at 546 Broadway at the corner of Romolo Place in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, it became a strip club.   

 

It would be six or so years later, during my early biker days, that I found myself dancing there. It's hard to believe this was over forty years ago.        

         

The hungry i is where I danced with Pillow, long past its glory days, it became our home base. But we also danced at the Roaring Twenties (where the first of the Dirty Harry series with Clint Eastwood was filmed), Big Al's, the Mabuhay Gardens (when punk bands weren't performing) The Garden of Eden and the On Broadway on the corner of Columbus and Broadway.  

 

I will never forget my time at the hungry i as it was an intrinsic part of my early biker days; I have so many wonderful tales from those days (link below); some I can and will retell; others I cannot and will not. I miss those days but their memories bring me great joy!       

 

The hungry i is still there. The barkers are still hawking on the sidewalk in front and the girls are still doing their thing inside.            

         

 

Viewfinder links:       
               

Joan Baez         

Lenny Bruce          

Bill Cosby         

Clint Eastwood        

hungry i articles       

The Kingston Trio         

The Mamas & the Papas        

John Phillips         
Pillow (She-Beast)       

Barbra Streisand          
Styrous®                

Jonathan Winters          
     

Net links:                    
      

MisterSF ~ Farewell Favorites: hungry i      
   
     
YouTube links:       
     
Hungry i Club, San Francisco - Video Tour     
                  
    
   
     

“Life moves on but memories linger.“
                           ~ Styrous®

     
     
      

Styrous® ~ Tuesday, Jamuary 1, 2021            

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