Gary James' Interview With
Sir Monti Rock III
In the 1960s Sir Monti Rock III made quite a splash in the entertainment business. He appeared on The Merv Griffin Show. He was a regular guest on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson. He went on tour with The Rolling Stones in 1965. In the 1970s Sir Monti Rock became known as Disco Tex (And His Sex-O-Lettes). He released an album that produced two hits, "Get Dancin'" and "I Wanna Dance With Choo (Doo Dat Dance)". He also appeared in Saturday Night Fever playing a disc jockey. And now we have him telling his story!
Q - How do I refer to you in this interview? Monti Rock? Monti Rock III?
A - I always like Sir Monti Rock III. I was knighted by the Queen.
Q - I didn't know that.
A - She don't know it either. (laughs)
Q - Where did Monti Rock come from?
A - Okay. My real name is Joseph Montanez. I went to work in a shop. I must've been 17 or 18 years old. My first job. And the guy who hired me said, "What's your name?" I said, "Joseph." He said, "I can't hire you because I already have a Mr. Joseph. What's your last name?" I said, "Montanez." Then Monty was born with a y and then an e and then it became an i. It became Monti. When I became famous as a singer it became Monti Rock III, in my third career. Then Bob Crewe made it Disco Tex And His Sex-O-Lettes. I got mad at him and got lawyers. But basically I've survived the industry. I'm lucky enough to be alive to talk about survival.
Q - Well, you didn't die of a drug overdose that's for sure.
A - Almost.
Q - You were arrested for assaulting a police officer?
A - No, no, no. I've always lived a very elegant life.
Q - Now you're an ordained minister.
A - I do weddings.
Q - Did you have to go to some sort of school for that?
A - No. I got a licence from a church in Florida and I have a church here (Nevada) and the wedding business is very good.
Q - You could almost say you were ahead of your time. It was my father who alerted me about you. You had long hair and beads. This was before Tiny Tim.
A - I never followed anyone. I wore my long hair and beads. Basically I didn't know I was different, but I was very much madly in love with myself. I was self-absorbed before people were self-absorbed. My real name is Joseph Moses Montanez Jr. I'm Puerto Rican from the Bronx. My parents are Pentecostal preachers. They found out I was gay and they beat me up and threw me out of the house at 14, 15. I went to Manhattan where I became a male hustler. I can't explain to you, but on the streets I learned everything that I had to learn. By the age of 16 years old I went to beauty school and became a hair dresser genius and became the head of Saks 5th Avenue. I went to Paris with the collections and got bored. Got very bored with doing hair. Next I became a genius. I met a lady called Trude Heller. Trude Heller was a lesbian, a rabbi's wife who ran a club called Trude Heller's, and Barbra Streisand was working at the Bon Soir. I became like cafe society. Nobody came to hear me sing. They came to see me. I was able to get a press agent, get a car, but I knew I couldn't stay in the nightclub business, but I wanted to be on television. I began on the Carson show in '62, '63 and it worked. I did (Merv) Griffin. I did Joe Pyne. I did Alan Burke. I became a talk show fixture.
Q - When you were a hair stylist, did you cut the hair of anyone famous?
A - Yeah. Mrs. William Paley, Nancy Sinatra, movie stars of course. Famous society women. I did all the models. I did everybody. I was more famous for a haircut that was a mistake. I went to Europe. Vidal Sassoon sold the haircut and then at 24 or 25 years old I just couldn't stand being a hairdresser. My name was Mr. Monti. I became Monti Crespi and then I became Monti Rock III. But basically my talent was promoting. I'm not a band singer, but I'm a great promoter.
Q - You could have been a publicist!
A - Yeah. I'm a publicist now, but promoting is an art. I was famous for being famous. That was the idea. Plus, I was openly gay. Nobody talked about being gay then. It was no big deal. Now everybody is gay. I'm going back into my closet.
Q - I remember seeing you on Johnny Carson.
A - He was great.
Q - He really like you, didn't he?
A - Because I was a self-starter they called it. He didn't have to work hard. He was the best straight man. Griffin wasn't as good as Carson was. Arthur Treacher loved me, but Griffin never really got me. I used to come in with elegant cloths by limousine and turn into that character. He never got that it was a business to be Monti Rock.
Q - How did you get that first break? Was it being on Johnny Carson.
A - No. I had managers, Ron Delsener and Don Frietman. They had Woodstock. That would have made me. So, I was so angry and so disappointed that I went a different route. I knew if I got on television that I would make it. I really worked maybe for a year and a half and ended up nationally famous. It didn't work because there was no way I had discipline. I sang great, but I couldn't stand being a one hit wonder or whatever it was. Then Griffin got me. Every time I got suspended I would do Griffin. I would do Mike Douglas. Then I bought a brownstone and bought a beauty shop. I had a fashion line. Then I had many famous lovers. Very, very famous people who helped me finance my careers. I got married twice to a woman, but I was famous. But I also knew how to promote an image. The image has to be changed every few months. Never let them see you in the same outfit twice. And being gay was no big deal in the '60s.
Q - Nobody talked about it.
A - Nobody talked about it. That's right. It was very private. It was very wonderful. We had some beautiful private clubs we went to. Very elegant. Somebody like me who was a TV star, nobody bothered me. There were those private nightclubs where the rich, rich millionaires would come in. It was fantastic. It was incredible. Then I ended up in Hollywood and my gig didn't work because I'm a New York guy. Hollywood you had to be blonde and muscles. I don't have muscles. I don't look good swimming in a pool. Hollywood wasn't good for me. Hollywood was very hard on me in the early '70s until I met Bob Crewe and recorded Disco Tex and seven million records, three albums.
Q - You were on the same bill as The Rolling Stones.
A - Yes. I opened. How did you know that?
Q - I believe I read it in one of those books on the history of The Rolling Stones.
A - That's a missing link in my career. I was the opening act along with Patti LaBelle and The Blue Notes.
Q - You were at the Onondage County War Memorial with The Rolling Stones on October 30th, 1965.
A - That was my debut.
Q - That was the first gig?
A - The first.
Q - What do you remember about that tour?
A - Mick Jagger became a fan.
Q - Did you have a record deal at that point?
A - No. My first deal was with Mercury Records. Then I went to Kama Sutra. I had maybe five recording deals and finally Bob Crewe got me to be a Disco Queen, which I hated.
Q - Sylvester was already out there.
A - Sylvester stole my act and Little Richard. Give me a break. I was the first.
Q - Little Richard was in the '50s. You were in the '60s.
A - Yeah, yeah, yeah. I knew him very well. Please. I've never been a tacky queen.
Q - You were in the movie Saturday Night Fever.
A - In 1976.
Q - What, if anything, did that do for your career?
A - It made me legit in many ways. Robert Stigwood liked me basically. Freddie Gershon got me the role. It changed my life actually. I had three years of premieres and talk shows and I made a lot of money. I did a few other bad films. I met my partner/manager then. Don't forget, I was only 35 or 36 when I said I can't do this anymore. So, I opened a nightclub in Florida. I sang there. I had a business there where I did their hair, fixed their tits and went to dinner. (laughs) And I had a good run with that. Ten years.
Q - Then you became Disco Tex.
A - In 1973.
Q - You were going to take that act to Broadway. Did that ever happen?
A - We're still going to do it. The problem basically is my partner passed. I need new management, a new agent. I need new blood. I need new, elegant people. I've lost the love of my life. I've lost my manager, my agent, my parents, my soul mate. I'll be honest, he was the only person I trusted in my life. It's been very hard.
Q - You have a "name." Wouldn't it be easier for you to get through the doors of all these talent agencies?
A - No. I know them all. It's like I know the business. I'm show business. I'm Mr. Show Business. I'm Vaudeville. I'm Variety. I'm an entertainer.
Q - So, what then does a guy like you need to do?
A - Finish a movie. I have a publishing deal, my life story. It's almost finished. The book is about how you can make something out of nothing. You have to believe so much in yourself. You have to believe no one is going to believe what they're seeing and to prove yourself you have to be thick-skinned and fabulous.
Q - Thick-skinned yes, but as I look around I don't see too many fabulous performers.
A - In my time there was no one like me. There was nothing like me on television. There was no openly gay guy. There was no social media in the '60s. There was no Instagram. There were three channels, my dear friend.
Q - I realize that.
A - It wasn't about something. It was about those of us who were unique, non-threatening, who could live in the straight world and function. You had to fit in. On stage, always very, very elegant.
© Gary James. All rights reserved.
