Season 3 · Episode 4
Electro pioneer behind Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don't Stop) · producer, DJ and party promoter
Released 6 Jul 2023 · 1:12:24 as a podcast · AFTERPARTY launched 8 Nov 2026
166 references · 416 mentions
Man Parrish on the Continental Baths, his name from Andy Warhol, Klaus Nomi, a trapeze over Studio 54, Madonna and the UK tabloids, and his Sunday party at the Cock.
Navy tee, grey glasses, hoop earring
Navy T-shirt, grey rectangular glasses, long swept-back hair and a silver hoop earring, in his synth studio with a Klaus Nomi poster
Kansai Yamamoto corduroy jumpsuit and cape
Kansai Yamamoto corduroy jumpsuit with a cape - very slippery on a trapeze
Man's city from the 1970s on; 'a very small community'
Man first saw him sing the Samson and Delilah aria at Irving Plaza; Klaus sang on Man's album and Man worked his shows. Man later restored his vocals
FashionPlastic raincoat, smoke bomb, stockade costume
Heard as “class character / class was / Klaus”
Seen in the Funhouse booth; at Studio 54, Man says she had his costumes hidden. Then the UK papers called him her lover
Heard as “Madonna / madonna / Melanin”
Guest: electro pioneer behind 'Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don't Stop)', session player, DJ and promoter of the Sunday party at the Cock
Heard as “mainparents / Man Paris / Man Parrish / Mann Parrish”
East Village bar (87 capacity) where Man ran his Sunday party for 15 years; raided and fined twice after interviews, as Man tells it
Heard as “at the Cock / at the cock / the cock / the cot”
Straight fetish club across the street from Man's loft where he worked security; he says it taught him about the rainbow of sexuality
Heard as “hellfire / Hellfire”
Host; lived in the Hellfire Club building and quizzes Man on Studio 54, quaaludes and the Cock. Links to his own Night Fever episode
Heard as “James”
His 1982 electro hit, edited together with a razor blade from reels of outtakes; Man says he was never paid for it
Heard as “hip hop B-bop / hip hop, bebop / hip-hop b bop / hip-hop bbop”
Photographer friend who took Man's first modelling pictures for Interview
Heard as “Chris / mcgoz”
Man and a friend snuck in behind limousines; later his trapeze show at the Fiorucci party
Heard as “Studio 5 / studio 5”
Walked in at the Factory and renamed Manny 'Man' Parrish
Heard as “Andy / Warhol”
From An American Family; Man's boyfriend at the time, who brought him into the Vaudeville show
Heard as “Lance / lance”
Worked with Klaus Nomi, then with Man; worked at Fiorucci
FashionGreen and red hair at Fiorucci
Heard as “joey / Joey”
Before AIDS the bathhouses were everywhere; then the city shut them down
Heard as “AIDS / grid”
Kansai Yamamoto corduroy jumpsuit with a cape - very slippery on a trapeze
FashionKansai Yamamoto corduroy jumpsuit and cape
Heard as “corduroy / jumpsuit”
Ran the Cock with Man; Man says Mario's press interviews got the bar raided
Heard as “Mario / mario”
The Man 2 Man hit Man produced; climbing the UK charts when he flew over to remix it
Heard as “male stripper”
Man's Sunday party at the Cock, 1997-2013: meant as an art party, with weekly new decor, lasers and performers
Heard as “sperm”
Show at Irving Plaza where Man did a disco 'Anarchy in the UK' and first saw Klaus Nomi
Heard as “vaudeville / vault, we'll show”
DJ-only remix subscription service that released 'Heatstroke'
Heard as “disconnect / Disconnect”
Man made demos for his next record; Man says Sylvester didn't want electronic music
Heard as “Sylvester / to Wes's”
One of the records Man played on, made with a rented Fairlight
Heard as “Alicia / alicia / baby talk”
Man played shows in the Bronx around the same time
Heard as “flash / grandmaster”
Man tells a Hellfire glory-hole story about her and says she sat in her little wedding dress there
FashionHer little wedding dress at the Hellfire
Heard as “Hollywood lawn / Hollywood sit”
Designer of the graffiti jackets and Man's corduroy jumpsuit
FashionGraffiti jackets and a corduroy jumpsuit for Man's show
Heard as “conza / konzai / Yamamoto”
The label told the British press Man was sleeping with Madonna; he tells how it went on for a week
Heard as “fucking madonna / fucking Madonna / madonna longs / Madonna's lover”
Man says a dancer told him inmates at Rikers knew the Cock as the place to make money
Heard as “Rikers”
Co-host and co-founder of World of Wonder; Man says somebody should make a documentary on early New York electro
Heard as “Randy”
Lights off, a glow stick at the door and one green laser: Man says everybody else copied them
Heard as “blackout”
Bathhouse in the Ansonia basement where teenage Man saw Bette Midler perform
Heard as “consonantal / continental / Continental”
White Morticia wicker chairs, palm trees, a pool, black lacquer floor and mirrors everywhere
FashionBathhouse glamour
Heard as “black lacquer / palm trees / wicker”
After Studio 54, Man ended up on the long couch in Halston's townhouse
FashionHalston's townhouse and long couch
Heard as “Halston / Holleston / Holston”
One of the electro records from the Vanguard scene
Heard as “freez / freeze a / freeze who”
The label's mail boy who took Man to the Funhouse and barked on the record with him
Heard as “Raul”
Jellybean's club; Man saw Madonna in the DJ booth. Later the Sound Factory building
Heard as “fun house”
What the Funhouse space later became
Heard as “sound factory”
Jazz label studio rented cheap by the night - Man calls it the Muscle Shoals of New York electro. Now the Gotham Comedy Club
Heard as “vanguard records / vanguard studios”
Purple hair, a masculine top, a skirt, yellow tights and blue Capezios
FashionPurple hair, skirt, yellow tights, blue Capezios
Heard as “cabizio / purple hair / yellow tights”
Man's YouTube series of unedited stories against a black screen
Heard as “Parrish stories / Stories on Youtube / that says stories”
Man's loft had been this after-hours club - a label boss recognised it
Heard as “toilet”
Man says he had to testify against some mafia guys; James mentions a rumour about the tunnel
Heard as “mafia”
Man's show on a trapeze high above the dance floor, with dry ice and a twisted ankle
Heard as “anniversary party / Fear Roochie”
David Bowie's manager; signed Man, then walked away when Elektra dropped him
Heard as “DeFries”
Ran the made-up Madonna story on its front page
Heard as “news of the world / News of the world”
Fetish boys' party at the Lure; its crew asked Man to branch out to the Cock
Heard as “pork”
Bubble wrap, fabric tents, a rabbit hole for Alice in Wonderland, lasers and mirror lights
FashionBubble wrap and fabric tents
Heard as “bubble wrap / made a tent / rabbit hole”
A glow stick at the door, fading by 3 a.m.; staff in luminous caps
FashionGlow sticks in the dark
Heard as “glow stick”
New York radio station; Man was the robot voice saying '92 KTU' and says it put his records in heavy rotation
Heard as “KTU”
Makos tried to get Man into its what's-happening pages
Heard as “interest magazine / interview magazine”
His first track, made for a gay adult film by director Joe Gage; the Anvil's DJ played an acetate of it
Heard as “heat stroke / heatstroke”
Meatpacking District club where Man first heard 'Heatstroke' played; he loved it
Heard as “anvil”
Performed at the Continental Baths the night Man snuck in; he thought she was going to be a star
Heard as “Midler / midler”
Andy Warhol said 'you work with Man Ray' - and Manny Parrish became Man Parrish
Heard as “man ray / Mann Ray”
Man lived in Brooklyn; one bathhouse was in Brooklyn Heights
James describes a quaalude high as three vodkas and a beer - 'very stumbly'
FashionStumbly disco nights
Heard as “quailu”
A big fan, Man says; he later heard 'Young Americans' off the 24-track
Heard as “Bowie”
Spinning in the giant Funhouse DJ booth
Heard as “Kelly Bean / Venitas”
Man and Raul barked on a test pressing for the Funhouse kids - and the crowd barked back
Heard as “bark”
One of the electro records made in the Vanguard Studios scene
Heard as “shannon / Shannon”
Electro and hi-NRG producer of the same scene
Man says he did all the keyboards on it
Heard as “I Am What I Am / i am what i am”
Cruising strip of the 1970s
Heard as “west side highway / Westside Highway”
Man's disco version for the Vaudeville show; Sid and Nancy helped with the chords, he says
Heard as “Anarchy”
His Vaudeville entrance: a joke-shop smoke bomb and a plastic raincoat
FashionClear plastic raincoat
Heard as “plastic raincoat / smoke bomb”
The aria Klaus Nomi sang at the Vaudeville show
Heard as “Samson”
Klaus's 'space people' backing singers, carried on stage mummified in cellophane
FashionCellophane-wrapped space people
Heard as “cellophane”
Bathhouse for businessmen at lunchtime
Heard as “Wall Street bats / Wall Street for businessmen”
Man describes each floor: lockers, showers, rooms, a truck on the ninth floor, fantasy rooms
Heard as “15 story / 15-story”
Crossdresser boutique in the same building: 'Let Lee dress you. He understands'
FashionCrossdresser boutique: 'Let Lee dress you'
Heard as “Mardi Gras”
Joey Arias worked at the store on 59th Street
FashionJoey Arias working the store with green and red hair
Heard as “Fear Roochie”
Worn by the dancers in Man's show
FashionGraffiti-print jackets
Heard as “graffiti”
Man did a hip-hop version; he says Jackson didn't like it and it sits in a vault
Heard as “speed demon / Speed Demon”
Called Man's father about the Madonna story
Heard as “Entertainment Tonight / entertainment tonight”
West Side leather bar where Man worked; its Wednesday party was Pork
Heard as “leather uniform rubber / the lore”
Gay nightlife weekly; Man says an interview in it led to the first raid on the Cock
Heard as “hx”
The rival bar; Man says performers had to work either the Cock or the Boys' Room
Heard as “boys room”
The hosts' production company
Heard as “world of wonder”
Co-host and co-founder of World of Wonder; asks about the bathhouses and the Vaudeville show
Heard as “Fenton”
One of the classics James lists in the introduction
Heard as “boogie down”
Adult film actor in the scene Man says he was in
Heard as “Casey Jones”
From Megatone Records; asked Man to make demos for Sylvester
Megatone producer; after his death the label looked for someone new for Sylvester
Heard as “Patrick Callie”
Hotel on Broadway at 74th; the Continental Baths were in its basement
Heard as “ansonia”
Part of the small downtown crowd Man hung out with
Heard as “bosque at”
Part of the small downtown crowd Man hung out with
Heard as “t's hiring”
Part of the small downtown crowd Man hung out with
Heard as “Busto”
Halston's boyfriend, at the townhouse that night
DJ of the later Sound Factory
Heard as “Vasquez”
Recorded in the same Vanguard Studios scene
Heard as “planet rock”
Producer of the same early New York electro scene
Man says the whole scene was a couple of hundred people
Heard as “Fran Lie”
Part of the easy sex of the 1970s, with the trucks and the West Side Highway
Heard as “peers”
Man went to the Ramble in Central Park after running away from home at 14
Down the hall at the hotel; showed Man the chords, he says
Heard as “Sid”
Track on his first album with Klaus Nomi singing; one of the hosts' favourites
Heard as “six synthesizers”
Where one of the six bathhouses Man lists was
Talked about the Toilet in her own episode
Heard as “jane county”
Man says a bootleg-era tunnel under Hellfire ran towards where the Tunnel club was
Heard as “tunnel club”
The bootleg-era railway under Hellfire is said to have run liquor down to 14th Street
Tough guys from New Jersey changed into wigs downstairs at Hellfire
No handholds on the trapeze, unlike Cirque du Soleil
Heard as “Cirque”
Built Studio 54's sound system
The song Man remembers her singing after jumping on the cake at Studio 54
Heard as “everybody i think it was everybody”
Madonna's brother; Man says he challenged him to come on his cable show in Chicago
Heard as “her brother”
One week the Cock became Alice in Wonderland with a rabbit hole entrance
Heard as “Alice in Wonderland”
Doorman at the Cock in new outfits every week; he had worked for Mother before
FashionNew outfits at the Cock door every week
A joke about a precious Armani sweater getting glow-stick goo at a blackout party
Mayor on his quality-of-life campaign when the Cock was raided
Heard as “Giuliani”
"You got to write a book" - Man tried several times, then told his stories to a camera instead; they came out as a book in 2024 (Volume One: Incredible Stories From A Remarkable Life)
Heard as “you got to write a book”
Studio where Man heard 'Young Americans' off the 24-track
Heard as “electric lady”
Man heard it off the 24-track at Electric Lady
Heard as “young Americans”
One of Man's YouTube stories: the FBI came in while he was counting a mob guy's money
Heard as “Fbi”
Man remembers RuPaul dancing on the bar at the Pyramid
Heard as “rupaul”
Where Man played with Lady Bunny
Heard as “the permit”
Man played the Pyramid with her
Heard as “bunny”
Navy T-shirt, grey rectangular glasses, long swept-back hair and a silver hoop earring, in his synth studio with a Klaus Nomi poster
FashionNavy tee, grey glasses, hoop earring
Heard as “On camera”
Black top with silver sparkle, black rectangular glasses, in front of his bookcase
FashionSparkly black top, black glasses
Heard as “On camera”
Striped T-shirt and rimless glasses, in front of sunflower wallpaper and red curtains
FashionStriped tee, rimless glasses
Heard as “On camera”
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