How gay-porn super agent David Forest launched rock icon Stevie Nicks

[vivfox]

The Starmaker
Richard Burnett
[email protected]
March 24th, 2011

"I just love it that Stevie is a star!" says David Forest, the Hollywood porn super-agent who began his storied showbiz career managing gay and rock icon Stevie Nicks back in 1966.
Back then both Nicks and Forest were students at Stanford University.

"I was a freshman and social chairman of my dorm," Forest recalls today. "Seeing a chance to make money by getting other dorms and fraternities and high schools to book the top local bands that I was hiring at my dorm, I created the David Forest Booking Agency. Most of the little groups were happy if they made $125 for four 45-minute sets. I'd make a $25 fee on top of that. But not Stevie's band, The Fritz Rabyne Memorial Band [later shortened to Fritz]. They'd only do three sets and wanted $150 net. I had to get my $25 fee 'on top' and they refused to do the 'must-do' frat-gig songs Louie/Louie, Gloria and - most importantly - Satisfaction."

David Forest went on to work for legendary rock promoter Bill Graham (who owned the Fillmore) before David Geffen asked Forest to head up the contemporary music division at CMA in 1970. There they moulded the careers of Leon Russell, James Taylor, Carole King, Van Morrison and The Carpenters, who, Forest says, "I took from a little boy-and-sister act to international headliners."

While Forest flaunted his gayness, Geffen was publicly closeted. "But we were open to each other," Forest says.

In those heady years Forest also personally managed, among others, Stevie Nicks, Mickey Thomas
of Jefferson Starship, Elvin Bishop, Shaun Cassidy, Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe and Quiet Riot (whose singer, Kevin DuBrow, died of a cocaine overdose in 2007 and whose onetime guitarist, Randy Rhoads, died in a 1982 plane crash after joining Ozzy Osbourne's band).

But Forest - then one of the top concert producers in the western USA - lost his shirt in 1978 financing a TV special with Alice Cooper, The Kinks and Nazareth. So he turned to the gay-porn biz, literally turning Ryan Idol and Ken Ryker into porn superstars. Along the way he also became the world's most famous "male madam," arrested twice for pandering.

In other words, Forest went from rock to cock.

Now he's writing all about it, warts and all, in his upcoming memoirs. "I've just hired a writer, and I'm talking about everything - the arrests, prison, my famous clients. And there'll be a whole chapter just on Stevie."

Nicks appears to be the one client Forest was most fond of. "Fritz weren't as popular as Santana or Big Brother & The Holding Company, and [when] the Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service got recording contracts, Fritz was still playing high schools. But I knew Stevie would be a star the night Fritz opened for Janis Joplin and Big Brother at the Fillmore. After her band members left I told Stevie, 'Stay and meet Janis.' Stevie looked at Janis and she saw herself in her."

Eventually the egos of the male band members killed Fritz.

"The boys didn't want to have a 'lead' singer, let alone a female lead singer," Forest explains. "They resented Stevie being the centre of attention. I did everything possible to convince them they were missing the boat. In the end Lindsey [Buckingham] and Stevie [quit] and Fritz didn't survive their departure."

Forest put together a showcase of the newly named Buckingham-Nicks duo at the penthouse of the Hyatt on Sunset but, Forest says, "It didn't produce any [record company] bidders."

So Buckingham-Nicks split with Forest, scored a Polydor record deal and came back to Forest (temporarily) in 1974 when Fleetwood Mac came calling. "I got the call from Stevie that Mick Fleetwood wanted them to join [his band]. It wasn't a very good deal - no part of the publishing. They were just paid sidemen, really. But that changed real quickly."

The problems that broke up Fritz also plagued Fleetwood Mac as Nicks again became the band's undisputed star.

Now double-headlining solo with Rod Stewart on their current Heart & Soul tour that pit-stops in Montreal on April 1, Forest is proud he gave Stevie her start.

"I'm tickled pink! I also think this tour is a big step upward for Stevie because I believe she will come off this tour better as a co-star of Rod than as a member of Fleetwood Mac."

When asked what it is about Stevie (whose new Dave Stewart-produced solo album In Your Dreams is out on May 3) that has made her a gay icon (there is even a famous all-star drag-queen tribute in NYC each spring called Night of a Thousand Stevies), Forest replies without missing a beat, "Gay men have always loved their dance divas, but Stevie has always appealed to the gay guy rockers. It's the outfits, the twirling, the persona. The gay guys just really dig her."

As for Forest - after seeing both the music and porn businesses decimated by the digital revolution - he keeps plugging away, writing his memoirs and looking for his next big star. Says the man I call The Starmaker, "I'll probably die at my desk."

http://www.hour.ca/columns/3dollarbill.aspx?iIDArticle=21424

[louielouie2000]

Hmm, I've never viewed Stevie to be a gay icon, though she obviously has a tremendous gay following. More than anything, Stevie is a female icon. I had a friend once say that "every girl goes through a Stevie period in her life." And indeed, most Stevie shows are largely populated by women, in my experience.

[AnthonyMI]

Hmm, I've never viewed Stevie to be a gay icon, though she obviously has a tremendous gay following. More than anything, Stevie is a female icon. I had a friend once say that "every girl goes through a Stevie period in her life." And indeed, most Stevie shows are largely populated by women, in my experience.

Yah I also don't "get it". To put her in the same boat as Cher, Judy Garland and Lady Blah Blah? really? that is insulting.

[SapphireSister]

Oh, I've always gotten the Stevie and her gay following thing. It's very obvious to me. It's not just gay men though...

On a side note, do you think there is a sex tape of Stevie from back in the day that this guy is going to sell to Vivid for release? I just hope Stevie gets a cut :thumbsup:.

Thanks for sharing, can't wait to read it!

[louielouie2000]

Oh, I've always gotten the Stevie and her gay following thing. It's very obvious to me. It's not just gay men though...

That's partially what I was getting at... I've always seen way more lesbians at Stevie's shows than gay men? :shrug: But mostly, I just see groups women having a girls night out, or women dragging along their begrudging boyfriends/husbands. :lol:

[J.Miller]

If anyone is sitting on some old Fritz video footage it would be this guy. I hope he shows Stevie in a good light.

[SapphireSister]

If anyone is sitting on some old Fritz video footage it would be this guy. I hope he shows Stevie in a good light.

Don't worry, that was way before the cocaine days. I'm sure she still had some shred of dignity back then.

(Y'all know I just be joking around...)

[Moz]

Wait, Stevie went to Stanford? I thought she went to San Jose...

That's partially what I was getting at... I've always seen way more lesbians at Stevie's shows than gay men? :shrug: But mostly, I just see groups women having a girls night out, or women dragging along their begrudging boyfriends/husbands. :lol:

That's because Stevie is hot. :sorry:

[markolas]

Yah I also don't "get it". To put her in the same boat as Cher, Judy Garland and Lady Blah Blah? really? that is insulting.

Why is it insulting?

[SapphireSister]

Why is it insulting?

LMFAO! I was thinking the exact same thing but I would also add Bette Middler, Babs, and Madonna to that list...

[markolas]

LMFAO! I was thinking the exact same thing but I would also add Bette Middler, Babs, and Madonna to that list...

Not that I necessarily care for most of them, but I would think Stevie'd be flattered to be lumped in with Judy Garland. The woman was an amazing singer.

[Gypsybecca]

I'm always surrounded by gay men at Stevie shows...and I love it, because they look good, SMELL good (unlike some of the old hippies...yikes!) and inevitably yell out, "We love you Stevie!". That always makes me smile.

I think Stevie loves her gays.

[Bubba Fleetwood]

Oh, I've always gotten the Stevie and her gay following thing. It's very obvious to me. It's not just gay men though...

On a side note, do you think there is a sex tape of Stevie from back in the day that this guy is going to sell to Vivid for release? I just hope Stevie gets a cut :thumbsup:.

Thanks for sharing, can't wait to read it!Are you kidding me. We can't even get a good nipple shot from her and you wonder if she did a sex tape ??????......not that I care.....(clears throat).

[SapphireSister]

Are you kidding me. We can't even get a good nipple shot from her and you wonder if she did a sex tape ??????......not that I care.....(clears throat).

Um, it was a joke Bubba...

[Bubba Fleetwood]

Um, it was a joke Bubba...I know that. I was just hoping somebody would prove me wrong and post a good nipple shot.

[Eponymous]

[QUOTE=Moz;954188]Wait, Stevie went to Stanford? I thought she went to San Jose...

You are correct. She attended San Jose State. I'm not sure what this guy is talking about, but it sounds a litle bogus to me.:rolleyes:

[SapphireSister]

I know that. I was just hoping somebody would prove me wrong and post a good nipple shot.

Ha ha, love ya Bubba!

[Nathan]

stevie loves her gays, yes. mos def.

but she's precisely as vocal about it as she should be.

stevie doesn't endorse anything. one of my favorite things about her.

she is far beyond that song.

[louielouie2000]

stevie loves her gays, yes. mos def.

but she's precisely as vocal about it as she should be.

stevie doesn't endorse anything. one of my favorite things about her.

she is far beyond that song.

Yeah, reminds me of how tightly leashed she kept the band's dialogue during Say You Will when reporters were speculating Peacekeeper was an anti-Iraq war song. She would interject and cut off anybody (be it a reporter or band member) who ventured anywhere near politics. Stevie has never once voiced her opinion on any social or political issues. She goes and visits soldiers at Walter Reed, but will not comment on the wars. She has a huge gay following, but isn't involved in any sort of gay issues or fund raisers, etc.

But I'm okay with Stevie keeping quiet about hot button issues. I think she realizes her place in the world is to drag people out of reality for just a short time. She'd render all the gold dust women and gypsies null and void if she were to start rallying behind volatile hot button issues. And that'd be unfortunate... we indulge in Stevie to escape from reality, not to be reminded of how crappy it is.

[Nathan]

we indulge in Stevie to escape from reality, not to be reminded of how crappy it is.

no question, though among other reasons.

[PenguinHead]

Hmm, I've never viewed Stevie to be a gay icon, though she obviously has a tremendous gay following. More than anything, Stevie is a female icon. I had a friend once say that "every girl goes through a Stevie period in her life." And indeed, most Stevie shows are largely populated by women, in my experience.

and every girl goes through that period monthly...sorry, clearly I'm bored.

[GoldDustOrphan]

"Icon: Stevie Nicks" was the first episode of series about gay icons that LOGO produced and aired in 2009. LOGO is the leading gay & lesbian themed cable channel and its owned by MTV. She talks about the Night of 1,ooo Stevies and her intention to show up at one and why she thinks the gay & lesbian community have embraced her.

You can watch it on the LOGO site:
http://www.logotv.com/video/misc/410452/newnownext-icons-stevie-nicks-part-1-of-5.jhtml?id=1616434

[Bubba Fleetwood]

[QUOTE=Moz;954188]Wait, Stevie went to Stanford? I thought she went to San Jose...

You are correct. She attended San Jose State. I'm not sure what this guy is talking about, but it sounds a litle bogus to me.:rolleyes:Yeah, there is a strong odor of BS to that whole article.

[Bubba Fleetwood]

Ha ha, love ya Bubba! Back at ya babe.:xoxo:

[mikebise]

In Dallas, there are many more gay men in the audience than lesbians! ANY gay man you meet in Dallas LOVES Stevie Nicks!!!!

[Pyewacket]

Yeah, Stevie is a gay icon, though she's not limited to that. But then again, neither are Cher, Bette, Judy et al. Being mentioned in such company is no insult, these are women, who for one reason or another, have a quality that says "diva" and whose work gays can relate to or find impressive in some way.

Maybe you're thinking it's insulting because Cher is cheesey and a has-been, but...I don't think gays (other gays, anyway) see it that way when they give her props. They see someone who's been down but gotten up again and again, and who looked and sounded great doing it. Maybe she has something in common with Stevie after all.


[EDIT] Oh yeah, in addition to Night Of A Thousand Stevies being evidence of Stevie's gay-iconicness, there was also the gay-themed movie "Edge Of Seventeen" starring Sara Rue.

[mikebise]

Yeah, Stevie is a gay icon, though she's not limited to that. But then again, neither are Cher, Bette, Judy et al. Being mentioned in such company is no insult, these are women, who for one reason or another, have a quality that says "diva" and whose work gays can relate to or find impressive in some way.

Maybe you're thinking it's insulting because Cher is cheesey and a has-been, but...I don't think gays (other gays, anyway) see it that way when they give her props. They see someone who's been down but gotten up again and again, and who looked and sounded great doing it. Maybe she has something in common with Stevie after all.


[EDIT] Oh yeah, in addition to Night Of A Thousand Stevies being evidence of Stevie's gay-iconicness, there was also the gay-themed movie "Edge Of Seventeen" starring Sara Rue.

Actually, her gay~themed movie is Gypsy 83, also by the same two Stevie Fans who did Edge Of Seventeen. They used to be on the old AOL Stevie Board, and we traded Stevie tapes like crazy circa 1995~1998!

There's a deleted scene in Gypsy 83 where the characters are in the car, singing along to "Julia"!!!!!!!! Yep, they filmed it with "Julia"!!! But, of course, they did not get permission to use that, or any of Stevie's songs (except a cover of "Talk To Me"!).

[Jondalar]

I don't know about this guy. He talks about stevie around 2:40

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cOnc-MdpOUw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

David Forest, The Starmaker
ON STAGE / How gay-porn super agent David Forest launched rock icon Stevie Nicks
Richard Burnett / National / Friday, March 25, 2011


“I just love it that Stevie is a star!” says David Forest, the Hollywood porn super agent who began his storied showbiz career managing gay and rock icon Stevie Nicks back in 1966.

Stevie Nicks performs in 2009.(Matt Becker creative commons)
Back then both Nicks and Forest were students at Stanford University.

“I was a freshman and social chairman of my dorm,” Forest recalls. “Seeing a chance to make money by getting other dorms and fraternities and high schools to book the top local bands that I was hiring at my dorm, I created the David Forest Booking Agency. Most of the little groups were happy if they made $125 for four 45-minute sets. I’d make a $25 fee on top of that. But not Stevie’s band, The Fritz Rabyne Memorial Band [later shortened to Fritz]. They’d only do three sets and wanted $150 net. I had to get my $25 fee ‘on top’ and they refused to do the 'must-do' frat-gig songs, 'Louie/Louie,' 'Gloria' and – most importantly – 'Satisfaction.'”

David Forest went on to work for legendary rock promoter Bill Graham (who owned the Fillmore) before David Geffen asked Forest to head up the contemporary music division at CMA in 1970. There they moulded the careers of Leon Russell, James Taylor, Carole King, Van Morrison and The Carpenters, who, Forest says, he took “from a little boy-and-sister act to international headliners.”

While Forest flaunted his gayness, Geffen was closeted. “But we were open to each other,” Forest says.

In those heady years Forest also personally managed, among others, Stevie Nicks, Mickey Thomas of Jefferson Starship, Elvin Bishop, Shaun Cassidy, Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe and Quiet Riot (whose singer Kevin DuBrow died of a cocaine overdose in 2007 and whose onetime guitarist Randy Rhoads died in a 1982 plane crash after joining Ozzy Osbourne’s band).

But Forest – then one of the top concert producers in the western US – lost his shirt in 1978 financing a TV special with Alice Cooper, The Kinks and Nazareth. So he turned to the gay-porn biz, literally turning Ryan Idol and Ken Ryker into superstars. Along the way he also became the world’s most famous “male madam,” arrested twice for pandering.

In other words, Forest went from rock to cock.

Now he’s writing all about it – warts and all – in his upcoming memoirs.

“I’ve just hired a writer, and I’m talking about everything – the arrests, prison, my famous clients. And there’ll be a whole chapter just on Stevie.”

Nicks appears to be the one client Forest was most fond of. “Fritz weren’t as popular as Santana or Big Brother & the Holding Company, and [when] the Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service got recording contracts, Fritz was still playing high schools. But I knew Stevie would be a star the night Fritz opened for Janis Joplin and Big Brother at the Fillmore. After her band members left I told Stevie, ‘Stay and meet Janis.’ Stevie looked at Janis and she saw herself in her.”

Eventually the egos of the male band members killed Fritz.

“The boys didn’t want to have a ‘lead’ singer, let alone a female lead singer,” Forest explains. “They resented Stevie being the centre of attention. I did everything possible to convince them they were missing the boat. In the end Lindsay [Buckingham] and Stevie [quit] and Fritz didn’t survive their departure.”

Forest put together a showcase of the newly named Buckingham-Nicks duo at the penthouse of the Hyatt on Sunset but, Forest says, “it didn’t produce any [record company] bidders.”

So Buckingham-Nicks split with Forest, scored a Polydor record deal and came back to Forest (temporarily) in 1974 when Fleetwood Mac came calling. “I got the call from Stevie that Mick Fleetwood wanted them to join [his band]. It wasn’t a very good deal – no part of the publishing. They were just paid sidemen, really. But that changed real quickly.”

The problems that broke up Fritz began to plague Fleetwood Mac as Nicks again became the band’s undisputed star.

Now double-headlining solo with Rod Stewart on the current Heart & Soul tour that pitstops in Toronto on April 2, Forest is proud he gave Stevie her start.

“I’m tickled pink! I also think this tour is a big step upward for Stevie because I believe she will come off this tour better as a co-star of Rod than as a member of Fleetwood Mac.”

When asked what it is about Stevie (whose new Dave Stewart-produced solo album In Your Dreams is out on May 3) that has made her a gay icon (there is even the famous all-star drag-queen tribute in NYC each spring called Night of a Thousand Stevies), Forest replies without missing a beat: “Gay men have always loved their dance divas, but Stevie has always appealed to the gay guy rockers. It’s the outfits, the twirling, the persona. The gay guys just really dig her.”

As for Forest – after seeing both the music and porn businesses decimated by the digital revolution – he keeps plugging away, writing his memoirs and looking for his next big star. Says the man I call The Starmaker, “I’ll probably die at my desk.”

Here's a vid from Forest's YouTube channel. It's a bit long, but he starts talking about Nicks at about 2:40.

[Jondalar]

oh sorry never saw this thread. I think this guy is going down the sleaze root.

[louielouie2000]

I think this guy is going down the sleaze root.

Agreed. He seems very drunk and/or on some sort of substances in that video. His credibility kinda goes out the door as soon as he started talking: Stevie very obviously does not live in Texas (to my knowledge!).

[mikebise]

Stevie very obviously does not live in Texas (to my knowledge!).

Stevie owned a beautiful house here in DALLAS on Inwood Road, a very exclusive part of University Park in Dallas, from 1982~1986. Gordon Perry told me she bought it in 1982 when she was recording songs for The Wild Heart here in Dallas with him ("Wild Heart", "Julia", "Destiny", "Gate And Garden", "All The Beautiful Worlds"). She kept it while initially recording Rock A Little here in 1984, until that little dream of hers all fell apart. Stevie also co~owned a nightclub here in Dallas, The Starck Club, from 1984~1987.

Gordon said she sold it circa 1986. But it's beautiful, lots of trees...

At least, from what I've seen of the outside dozens of times! :)

[GoldDustOrphan]

A convicted felon who spent two years in jail for pandering, David Forest is a loathsome human being who claims to be a powerful talent agent when he's actually a pimp for two or three "gay-for-pay'" escorts that appear in porn to advertise their hooker biz. Many club owners and managers boycotted Forest because he assisted the crimes of his biggest star, a repeat offender and steroid dumping ground named Mark Dalton, who was terrible at transporting drugs but really effective when it came to beating women he met at gay clubs. A few national mags printed stories about Forest/Dalton. I'm happy to report that Forest was arrested last September on various drug charges, but I won't even address his claims regarding Stevie because its so revolting that I won't be able to edit myself.