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Oh No, Marlowe's Back!
Next was Marlowe West, mellow Marlowe, the dark-haired, handsome, laid-back hippie
whose trademark word was “beautiful.”
When West moved in as Volmer's roommate, he was already a seasoned veteran of the
counter-culture. During the late 60s and early 70s, the chameleonic West had shocked his
parents when he left Long Island, tossing aside his acceptance letter to Parson's School of
Design. Instead, he followed his dream to Hollywood. There, he spent his flower child peri-
od hanging with the rock legend Frank Zappa and his groupie entourage, the GTOs. 17 After
Hollywood,hemovedtoNewYork,whereheoftendroppedbytheChelseatovisithisclose
friend Jobriath, 18 for whom he was singing backup.
A decade later, West took the final step and actually moved into the Chelsea during his
own glam-metal rocker period as the lead singer of a band called Skin Tight.
West kept his day job, which, in this Bohemian milieu, was quite unorthodox. Every
morning he drove back to Long Island to work his steady nine-to-five job at a big defense
plant, General Dynamics Armaments and Technical Products. When his shift was over, he
would drive back “over to the Chelsea Hotel and be this mad superstar!”
Skin Tight's drummer and guitar player had already found a room there, where they met
upwithaChelseadweller,Nicholas(Nicko)Gentry,sonoftheAbstractExpressionistpaint-
er Herbert Gentry, a longtime resident. Nicko was an accomplished musician and became
Skin Tight's bassist.
Through Nicko, the band discovered that the bellman/night watchman Paul Volmer
needed a roommate. Marlowe went to meet Paul and their friendship was born.
West's reputation at the Chelsea preceded him.
MARLOWE WEST
What was funny was that people at the hotel's front desk remembered me from
almost ten years ago, when I used to hang out at the Chelsea with Jobriath. “Oh
no,” the front desk people said when they saw me, “Marlowe's back!”
PAUL VOLMER
Marloweisveryflamboyant.Hewouldmakeallofhisowncostumesforhisband,
wild things like sequined vests and leather pants with open gaps on the sides and
criss-crossed drawstrings up the gaps—all his own creations in the heavy metal
fashion.
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