STIFFED HELLOWEEN w/ BUS STATION JOHN (SF) \\ SAT OCT 25 \\ PONY

The STIFFED HELLOWEEN extravaganza at Pony is back with the Disco Daddy himself, DJ Bus Station John! We've got another thrilling evening lined up for you with: COSTUME CONTEST! PHOTOS! PRIZES! AND OTHER SPOOKY SURPRISES! Your UNDEAD GO-GO's Keegan and Timmy will keep your heart beating with their Pony pole antics! Bus Station John is the creator of the West Coast's longest running gay disco party, The Tubesteak Connection, and the main inspiration behind Stiffed. We're thrilled to have him back behind the decks this year for what will be another legendary STIFFED HELLOWEEN! DJ BUS STATION JOHN BIO: Since he first started creating mixtapes for homosexual house parties back in 1997---subsequently becoming a full-fledged DJ in 2001---San Francisco's pioneer underground disco revivalist Bus Station John has been a man on a mission: to rescue from musical oblivion late 70's/early 80's bathhouse-era dance classics & curiosities, the soundtrack to what he calls the post-Stonewall, pre-AIDS "Golden Age of Gay." An incorrigible vinyl addict with a passion for "lost" dance music, BSJ adores taking older gay men on a trip down memory lane while simultaneously inspiring new generations of queer ears. His sets are a trademark blend of rare gems unearthed from such genres as disco, hi-NRG, funk, soul, R&B, "boogie," electrofunk, euro/italo disco, new & no-wave, and encompass sounds from San Francisco's famed cha-cha palace Trocadero Transfer to Manhattan's legendary Paradise Garage---and well beyond.... Bus Station John currently rules the decks at his popular Tenderloin dance party / Thursday night institution The Tubesteak Connection, which celebrated its tenth anniversary last spring at Aunt Charlie's Lounge, making it SF's longest-running GLBTQQIXYZ weekly. It features b&w xeroxed decor & vintage vids incorporating a mixture of antique gay erotica & old Hollywood camp in homage to such retro-homo icons as Divine, Grace Jones, Candy Darling, Amanda Lear, Peter Berlin, Joan Crawford, & Mae West, as well as a renowned "no cell" policy which liberates the crowd to enjoy the music, and each other. BSJ's latest club creation, DISCO DADDY!, is a festive, inter-generational tea dance where he spins classic disco & hi-NRG ("the music of our people") at the first-ever dance party to be thrown at the venerable SF Eagle (3rd & 5th Sundays, following the beer bust). Indeed, a particular specialty of Bus Station John's over the years has been breaking in new party spaces across San Francisco, helping put such previously "virgin" territories as Deco Lounge, The Transfer, Underground SF, The Powerhouse, and Hot Spot on the map as viable club venues. BSJ's various nightlife endeavors have included The ROD @ Deco, a sleazy night of "heavy cruising & hard cocktails," complete with his resuscitation of the ancient gay tradition of the rowdy-'n-ribald Wet Jockstrap Contest as the evening's centerpiece; the much-missed Double Dutch Disco @ The Transfer, an old-school 8-hour disco-funk marathon celebrating the sweet, soulful sound of early-80's black Manhattan; LOVE WILL FIX IT: An R&B Funk Party For The Soul, where he showcased the best in "R&B from A-Z: Ashford & Simpson to ZAPP!," packing Stephanie Mills, Teena Marie & Chaka Khan-lovers into the (usually) straight sports bar/dive Hot Spot; MANQUAKE!, renowned for its only-in-San-Francisco mix of "trickin' chicken, tourist meat, & sexy senior citizens" at The Gangway, SF's oldest continuously-running gay bar (with many of its original patrons); Le Perle Degli Squallor ("The Pearls of Squalor"), where the queer "glamour-meets-gutter" set mingled with dollar-store disco-lovers (also @ Hot Spot); and his first weekly club, TRASH (which lived up to its name), a leather-scented evocation of the spirit of the fabled Miracle Mile (aka Folsom Street) at The Powerhouse Bar in SOMA, where he'd spin special 8-hour holiday marathon sets after Folsom Fair, Dore Alley & Pride. BSJ steadfastly avoids including played-out "wedding reception disco" (Funkytown, YMCA, McDonna) in his sets, so new recruits are advised to expect the unexpected. "There are literally hundreds if not thousands of amazing songs---both beautiful and bizarre, born from the creative imaginations of some very talented people---most of which never reached the charts. They're just waiting to be brought back to life." DJ Bus Station John was a recipient of the San Francisco Bay Guardian GOLDIE award in the field of music, as well as named "Most Original DJ" by the SF Weekly in its Best of San Francisco Issue. BSJ has spun in honor of or appeared on the same bill as Pierre et Gilles, Joey Arias, Flawless Mother Sabrina (star of 1968's "The Queen"), Ann Magnuson, Cindy Sherman, Bambi Lake, John Cameron Mitchell, Mark "S'Express" Moore, Soft Pink Truth, The Presets @ Folsom Fair (though he's still not sure who they are, ha ha) and The Hot Boxxx Girls featuring the late, legendary Miss Vicki Marlane, spreading his old-school gospel from the gutters of the Tenderloin to the heights of Grace Cathedral---and back again. He has also played in support of a wide variety of causes, ranging from advocating for LGBT youth & seniors to safe sex, an issue especially close to his heart: "About 95 percent of what I spin is on used vinyl. Sometimes I look at my records and wonder about their previous owners. So many were gay men---DJs and disco-lovers lost to AIDS---whose music ended up in thrift stores and bargain bins, their collections broken up and scattered like ashes to the wind. I'll their find names stamped or handwritten on the labels. I think of these men and try to honor them. I believe part of them is resurrected every time I play their songs...." "Bus Station John single-handedly launched the current vogue of retro-underground bathhouse disco....nothing can quench the fire in his disco-driven soul."---San Francisco Bay Guardian BSJ is looking forward to sharing his music with you, requesting that you refrain from using your hand-held electronic devices on or around the dance floor. Unplug from your phones & into the music...the moment...each other! :)