[Dixielandjazz] S.F. topless joints

[David Richoux]

The late Orville "Arf" Pitney (Drum Major General of the Los Trancos 
Woods Community Marching Band) told me he was the  clean-up guy and 
morning bartender at the Condor at the time. He was the one who first 
discovered the results of that infamous event... as I recall it was a 
bouncer (or maybe a manager)  and a dancer.   
http://www.condorsf.com/history.htm  says it was Jimmy Ferrozo and 
Theresa Hill (she survived.)

Some internet accounts say this was in the mid 60's but I am pretty 
sure it was in the late 70's or very early 80's... I can't find 
archives old enough in the San Francisco Chronicle website. I will ask 
someone I know in a California historical club for exact details ;-)

(BTW, a  friend of mine was a "Barker" at a different San Francisco 
topless clubs in the 1960s - he said it was the absolute worst job 
ever!)

OKOM content - there was a restaurant very near the Condor that tried 
to establish a weekday evening jazz show in the late 1980s. Barbara 
Dane was a regular, several other Bay Area bands played there on a 
rotating schedule, but parking was quite difficult and food/drink 
prices were way too high for the typical fan. It lasted a few months.

Dave Richoux
On Feb 14, 2005, at 11:05 AM, TCASHWIGG at aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 2/14/05 12:47:04 AM Pacific Standard Time,
> dixielandtom at comcast.net writes:
>
>>
>> Hello Tom,
>>    It is after midnight here on the coast  and all the children are 
>> in bed.
>> Since you were part of the North Beach Hippy set in San Francisco it 
>> might
>> amuse our list mates if you relate the story of the KILLER PIANO.  
>> The Fresno
>> Mardi Gras was a huge success with ten top flight bands and fine 
>> attendance.
>>
>>
>
> AHH. Yes, it was at the Condor folks where Carol Doda the First Topless
> Dancer , held forth nightly, Her act was to come down out of the 
> ceiling on top of
> a Grand Piano that had been installed on elevator cables to take it up 
> and
> down from for her entrance and exit to the stage.
>
> One night after the club had closed one of the bartenders and I 
> believe a
> waitress were closing the place and decided to make love on the piano, 
> somehow
> they either hit the switch or the elevator motor malfunctioned and 
> went into
> lift mode.  Not quite sure anymore, but the hole in the ceiling where 
> Carol
> normally went up was not as big as the entire piano, it was only a cut 
> out hole
> that would let her slide up and step off into the dressing room.
>
> The happy couple apparently were locked in the love lock lying across 
> the
> piano and got crushed against the ceiling by the weight of the piano 
> and killed
> one or both of them as I recall.  From that point on the newspapers 
> called it
> the Killer Piano, however it was never arrested and charged with the 
> crime ( I
> guess it got off as a crime of passion )  :))
>