~ 
Condor Club - piano raised to ceiling As we danced so close to the Condor Club, Pillow and I knew Carol and I knew Bobby from my high school days in the fifties.
The event happened on November 23, 1983, when a stripper, Theresa Hill, tried to get it on with James
"Jimmy the Beard" Ferrozzo, the Assistant Manager and bouncer of The Condor Club.
They decided after hours to have sex on the famous white piano
on which Doda made her entrance. They accidentally hit the "on" switch,
and the piano
rose to the ceiling, trapping them. Apparently they were so engrossed in
their activity they didn't notice the movement of the piano.
Condor Club - piano
date & photographer unknown
A very bizarre event happened on this date in 1983 at the The Condor Club which was just a few doors up the street from the Hungry i where I danced with Pillow (link below) a few years before it happened.
date & photographer unknown
During the time Pillow
and I danced there many incidents occurred and there are dozens of
stories I have to tell, some hilarious, some not. This one falls into
the "NOT" category; it would have been in the "hilarious" category if it
hadn't ended tragically.
Carol Doda
was the headliner at The Condor Club at the time, she had been for many years. Her act
began with a white grand piano being lowered from the ceiling by hydraulic motors.
The piano was pressed up against the ceiling but there was a hole in
the ceiling just big enough for Doda to stand in on top of the piqno.
Doda would then be on top of the piano dancing,
as it descended from the ceiling. Considering the weight of the piano
and Doda dancing on it, the motors must have been extremely powerful!
date & photographer unknown
She go-go danced to The Swim and other dances of the time which were performed by a rock and roll combo headed by Bobby Freeman
as her piano settled on the stage.
Liberace visited the Condor Club
one night and arrived just as the topless Doda was descending from the ceiling on
the white piano. Liberace remarked: “What a coincidence. We both use
Baldwins!”
Ferrozzo
rolled off Hill at the last second, but was pinned against the ceiling.
He was asphyxiated by the pressure of the hydraulic motors pressing the
piano to the ceiling
while Hill lay next to him screaming and survived only because she was
thinner than Ferrozzo. When the Condor opened at 7 am in the morning,
the janitor found Ferrozzo’s body draped over the naked, screaming
woman. Attempts to lower the piano were unsuccessful, as its motor had
burned out during the night. The San Francisco Fire Department had to destroy it in order to free Hill. She was taken to a local hospital, and treated for bruises.
Needless
to say, the newspapers had a field day with the incident! It appeared
on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle the next day.
SF Chronicle - November 24, 1983
SF Chronicle - November 24, 1983 detail
Shortly after the incident the Condor Club
began serving a special cocktail, 'Sex on the Piano', to commemorate
the gruesome incident. Tony Seymour later said, "I had a huge beef with
Jimmy....dude was not all that I cool at all. i knew him well. Didn't
cry when he died. Ain't gonna cry for him now."
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
Aintnowaytogo ~ When the Music's Over - Aint No Way to Go
AP News ~ Where Topless Dancing Debuted In 1964
Condor SF ~ The History of Condor Club
Found San Francisco ~ Postwar Sex District
LA Times ~ Condor--made famous by Carol Doda & infamous by killer piano NY Times ~ Condor Club | North Beach, San Francisco
Press Democrat ~ Story of topless dancer Carol Doda and the Condor
SF Chronicle ~ Topless club death a bizarre SF tale
YouTube links:
Bobby Freeman ~ C'mon And Swim
"The minute I knew I existed in life
was the night I started the Condor thing.”
~ Carol Doda
Styrous® ~ Monday, November 23, 2020
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