Condor publicity
- Condor Piano death articles (from: styrous.blogspot.com)
Photo 3
SF Chronicle Front Page
SF Chronicle detail
Beemer Memory 30 ~ The Condor Club, Carol Doda, her piano & Theresa Hill
~ 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 (aka: Theresa Jean Bell) a few years before it happened. 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 hydraulic motors lowering a white grand piano from the ceiling. 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 piano. 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! 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. 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. (Liberace visited the Condor Club one night and arrived just as the topless Doda descended from the white piano ceiling. Liberace remarked: “What a coincidence. We both use Baldwins!”) 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 that they didn't notice the movement of the piano.
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. At the same time, 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. 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.
See also Carol Doda and/or Condor Club
Sources
External links
- styrous.blogspot.com
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