Every time the worlds of drag and rock ’n’ roll come together, an angel gets its wings. Which is probably why the feathers will be flying June 30 at the Manhattan Room for Circus, a rock ’n’ roll party and concert featuring DJ DeeJay, Philadelphia’s own Tommy Hottpants with his band Machinebird and the notorious Miss Guy spinning tunes.
“I sort of fell into it by accident,” Miss Guy said of how he got into the DJ game. “It ended up working out.”
Guy’s accidents have a history of working out, as a similar happy accident led to the formation of Guy’s supercharged punk band, The Toilet Boys.
The Toilet Boys, fronted by the gender-bending Guy, were supposed to be a one-time thing to open for Guy’s idol, Deborah Harry, at a New York City show back in 1995. The audience response was so overwhelmingly positive that they ended up sticking around.
The Toilet Boys were an amazing live experience, packing everything you’d expect to see in an arena rock show into tiny punk and rock clubs with lasers and pyrotechnics primed to blind and singe the eyebrows off the sweaty drunken masses. They also had the musical chops to back it up with a sound that was equal parts Ramones, New York Dolls, Motley Crüe and Kiss, creating a frenzied buzz among rocks fans and musicians alike and touring with bands like Orgy and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who let them do a full production as an opening act (which is practically unheard of).
But just when it seemed like the band was about to break through, events completely out of their control pushed them off the map.
“We haven’t played any shows in a few years,” Guy said. “In 2003 we decided to stop because we couldn’t do our show in the U.S. with the fire and everything.”
That was the year the band Great White shot off a sparkler effect at a show in a Rhode Island club that ignited the soundproofing and the resulting fire ended up killing 100 people.
“We were in Europe at the time and it didn’t affect us there,” Guy said. “We continued to do our show. When we got back to the States, it obviously was much bigger news here. We had a tour scheduled that summer in the U.S. We didn’t want to do a half-assed show, so we just decided not to do it. I was prepared to go on tour without the fire even though it was a big part of the show and it was fun for us and the crowd. I thought we had a lot to offer without that musically and visually. I was down with doing it, but [Toilet Boys guitarist] Sean [Pierce] was against it. It was all for the best that we didn’t do it. We never really officially broke up. We just said we would not doing anything unless something amazing came along that we couldn’t pass up.”
After four years of inactivity, it looks like the Toilet Boys are laying the foundation for a comeback.
“We do have a new record coming out,” Guy said, referring to “Sex Music,” due out in September. “It’s both new and stuff we demoed right before we stopped working. We re-recorded some of those songs and did a few weird fucked-up remixes. Debbie Harry, John Waters and a few other friends of ours appear on the record. They’re good friends of mine and they’re also fans of the Toilet Boys.”
But will the band ever be able to do the full-on explosive rock shows they’re infamous for?
“We could do it again,” Guy said. “It cost a lot of money to do it legally and professionally. Although we were really safe and knew what we were doing, we weren’t doing it with professional ... um, nevermind. I’m not going to finish that. We weren’t doing it legally. We were getting permission from the clubs and they knew what they were getting into. We had everyone’s OK. So I guess it was legal in that sense, but we weren’t doing it with hired fire marshals. I don’t know if I should be saying that. One day we’ll play again doing the full show and it will all be proper.”
In the meantime, we’ll have to get our trashy glam rock ’n’ roll fix with Miss Guy, the DJ.
“I’ve gotten known as a DJ playing more rock and punk but I’ve liked all different types of music personally, and while I was working I’ve tried to mix that as much as I could,” Guy said. “I’ve never really had to succumb to the masses and play what I don’t want to hear. I do know a lot about music and you can throw me into pretty much any setting and I can pull it off with the exception of modern country or techno. I’ve always been lucky and been able to play really cool gigs where people really appreciate my weird mix of music, but it’s rock-based.”
For more information on the Circus party at the Manhattan Room, 15 W. Girard Ave. call (215) 288-8863.