A Goddess Was Born!

This publicity shot, taken by Gordon Rainsford, instantly left an indelible mark wherever it was published, establishing the True Drag Goddess as a force to be reckoned with. Inspired by the girl groups of the 60’s, Millie’s look was an exaggeration of all things wonderful that these iconic women gave us; big hair, big eyes, lashes and lashings of liner along with the mini dress.

Millie had the longest, slenderest legs that went on for days and wore the shortest mini skirts that would have made even Mary Quant blush. It had been said that if her skirts got any shorter she would have had to get her second lipstick out!
Many a woman had been known to shout from the audience ‘I’d die for legs like that’. Not one to hold back, the Goddess’s short sharp retort? ‘Well die then’!

The Shaggy Lays...

Polly, Thelma and Millie; circa 1985.

The Shaggy Lays, a play on words after The Shangri-La’s girl group, won the second ‘Gong Show’ at Heaven in 1985. The original trio, Alice, Polly and Thelma were signed up by an agency and quickly gained a loyal following, lip-synching to the great 60’s classics that included; ‘Walking In The Sand’, ‘Give Him A Great Big Kiss’ and ‘One Fine Day’ amongst many. They too took their inspiration from the girl groups of that era; big hair, big eyes and equally big egos. Quickly establishing themselves as an integral part of London’s burgeoning drag circuit, the pressure of overnight fame proved too much for Alice and she graciously ‘hung up her wig’ (rumour has it she kept forgetting to hide it when dragging bits of unsuspecting trade back to her squalid bedsit)! Alice needed to be replaced, and quickly. Being a great friend of all three, the most obvious choice was not far away; The Goddess was asked, and duly accepted the challenge. Rehearsals were rapidly arranged; within a week, they were ready for the first of many ‘threesomes’…

The Goddess remembers the first ‘gig’ being in a venue with very low ceilings, somewhere in South West London. Naturally, the show was a success and the group went on to enjoy many more threesomes up and down the country. Regularly appearing at The Two Brewers, The Black Cap, The Vauxhall Tavern and The White Swan amongst many, the trio spent these show nights invariably sending the assembled throng into a state of girl group euphoria. From Bournemouth to Nottingham, The isle Of Dogs to Birmingham, who doesn’t LOVE to sing along to ‘Leader of the Pack’ and imitate the crash scene (‘No, no, no, no, no…look out, look out, look out’) whilst clutching their invisible string of pearls?

The Shaggy Lays enjoyed ‘international’ fame, The Goddess securing them a tour of Holland in 1986 (albeit a long weekend). From Groningen in the far north of Holland to The Hague and Amsterdam, the trio finally completed their weekend at The Gay Palace in Rotterdam. Wowing the audience in their fluorescent pink circle dresses with black polka dots, many were to fall at the feet of the trio; they themselves wanting to be the leader of this pack, The Shaggy Lays!

Hairspray...The Godess' Favourite Tipple!

The Original Door Whore!

Here are some rare photos of The Goddess in her 'Door Whore' days at Bang nightclub situated on Charing Cross Road, London. Once again, the Goddess set the precedent by becoming the first regular door host at a top West End nightclub. Described in Capital Gay (the then weekly freebie newspaper) as the 'ubiquitous Millie', she lived up to the title and could be found most Monday's and Thursdays sat at the main entrance, meeting and greeting an eclectic mix of people from London’s ever evolving Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender scene. Sipping delicately on a can of Holsten Pils through a straw so as not to spoil her lippy, Millie encapsulated the mood of the moment in one word…bona!

Millie would also compère for the party nights that were a regular feature at Bang. One of her favourite and most memorable nights was ‘The Prisoner Cell Block H’ night. Millie was overcome with excitement at the prospect of introducing and working alongside her heroines from the show. On the night, sharing her dressing room from the original Australian cult TV series was Val Lehman who played the inmate and top dog Bea Smith. Along with Maggie Kirkpatrick, better known as the evil villainess and leather gloved prison officer Joan ‘The Freak’ Ferguson, Millie sipped champagne with her heroines. As show time approached, Millie ascended the steps to the stage and the whole club descended into darkness. Dressed in overalls and boots with the stage set to resemble a Wentworth Detention Centre cell and lit by a single follow spot, Millie sang her own unique version of the shows theme tune, ‘On the Inside’. The atmosphere that night was electric, the crowd roaring their approval when Millie finished her rendition. Offstage, over the clubs sound system, the unmistakable voice of ‘The Freak’ was heard to say ‘Mopp’…the rest, as they say, is history!

For many, Bang was their first foray in to a gay nightclub and to be confronted by the Goddess, to say the least, was a little disconcerting, if not down right terrifying. Many that befriended Millie would later confide that she instilled this sense of horror and fear; a question many would ask themselves, and Millie…is gay life all about dressing up as a woman, shrieking at all in sundry like a demented hyena? With a flutter of her lashes and a flashing of her hoop, the Goddess would respond; ‘A woman? Look dear, you'd be hard pushed to find ANY woman looking like me trolling down the cold meats aisle in Tesco’s on a Saturday morning!’

Guided by the Goddess and her infinite pearls of wisdom, many would learn how drag was an integral part of the gay scene. Millie took time to explain the term drag queen originates from Polari, a subset of English slang that was popular in some gay communities in the early part of the 20th century. Drag meant "clothes", and was also theatre slang for a woman's costume worn by a male actor. Queen refers to the trait of affected royalty found in many drag characters (many started off as a princess, elevating themselves to fully fledged queen with time and practice). An alarming amount of people thought that Millie not only worked as a drag queen but also sought sexual gratification by parading around as this larger than life caricature. The disbelievers, and there were many, could not have been further from the truth. Unbeknownst to them and the majority, beneath the incomparable and camp exterior that was The Goddess, there lurked 6ft 1” of leather clad, cropped haired... creaturette!

The Goddess Goes Down...Down-Under For Mardi Gras 1997!

Rare archive footage of The Goddess in Sydney for the 1997 Mardi Gras. This footage was shot on the Saturday before the annual Mardi Gras Parade and party. Known at the time as 'Shop Yourself Stupid', it is an annual fundraiser for the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation, Australias equivalent of the Terence Higgins Trust. Millie could be found performing on the back of a vegetable truck outside Saks Leather on Oxford Street, assisting in raising thousands of dollars for this worthwhile cause. See if you can spot Millie’s heroine from 'Prisoner Cell Block H', Maggie Kirkpatrick. She too was their on that day in her capacity as a star of the Australian small screen, supporting the foundation...and Millie!