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Behind The Music On Centerfold Babylon

2003-10-02 10:33:48

The Erik Himmelsbach journalism saga begins in a log cabin in San Francisco in the mid '1980s as an intern for Newsweek. It was the age of Reagen and sexual repression was in the air.

Fleeing from the grip of a harsh monetarist policy, Erik clawed his way to the highest reaches of journalism, writing for Rolling Stone, and serving as managing editor of LA Reader from 1993-96, managing editor of Spin magazine (1997) and managing editor of Bikini from 1998-99.

He later came to rest for a year at AVN Online, finding his true calling.

Now finally the story can be told, the lurid behind the scenes details at VH1's 90-minute special Centerfold Babylon. The women, the breasts, the sex, drugs and rockn'roll. And that's just Erik.

This story should not be read folks under age 18.

I'm a good deal sicker than you think. I think I need an operation. That's what my new doctor told me, Ethan Frome.

Employed at VH1 for over a year, Erik Himmelsbach, a non-Torah Jew, writes a fortnightly "Valley Boy" column for Valley Beat, a free weekly, about the travails of the secular Jew in the age of Bush.

We spoke by telephone over lunch.

I pushed aside my bowl of porridge and tried to unlock the mystery that is Erik McFarland Himmelsbach.

Luke: "How did the show come up?"

Erik: "The show was conceived (in March 2002) by the executive producer Justin Sterkin. They wanted to do a Porn Star Babylon. I think the president of the network, Brian Graydon, thought it was too risque and they countered with Centerfold Babylon.

"I began on the show in in mid-April.

"I was working on the editor of AVN Online (2001-2002). My past experience is primarily as a music journalist. I was asked to be a talking head on The Garbage Behind The Music episode.

"While I was there, I asked the producer how does someone get involved with VH1. He told me who to send my resume to. Coincidentally, they were staffing for a show called Ultimate Albums. People who were working on the show knew who I was."

Luke: "What surprised you in doing this show?"

Erik: "Nothing. I was touched by the naivete of the girls that do it. It was hard for me not to be judgmental. I wanted to tell them that if they wanted to, they had other choices. But I had to stay above the fray.

"A lot of them know exactly what they're doing. I don't think Teri Weigel thinks of herself as a victim. She feels comfortable about what she's doing.

"For every one of those stories you hear about how I was raped as a kid, molested, and I had no choice, there are those who chose. With the success of people like Jenna Jameson, and the mainstream acceptance of porn, it's become a business proposition for a lot of girls.

"If you look at sites like www.suicidegirls.com. I wish we could've done something with them. It's an alternative to the mainstream. They're keeping the pinup alive even though it's a niche oriented site. It's girls with tattoos and piercings, but it's done in an artsy way. It's not totally titillating but it's a popular site with kids of a certain generation. The girls feel empowered by it because they have a lot of control over the shoots. It doesn't have to be exploitation."

Luke: "You didn't mention in the documentary that Penthouse has gone bankrupt."

Erik: "We didn't learn that until the end of the production. We couldn't find a smooth way of describing it other than to talk in a general way that the magazines are in trouble and the centerfold is passe. It's all about the Internet and it's all about porn now."

Luke: "Did you get to interview any of the women who'd been meaningful to you when you were a teenager?"

Erik: "I was never a big porn fan. I was never a big Playboy or Penthouse fan. I know people in the office would see some of the girls like Cheryl Rixon or Teri Welles and they'd remember them. Personally, there was never that vicarious thrill. Even when I worked in that business, I never talked to the girls. This is my first experience with it.

"I guess I knew the right phone numbers. I think they asked me to do it partially because of my experience in the adult business. When I was in the adult business, I was chained to my desk."

Luke: "What was your role in this documentary?"

Erik: "I was the producer and writer."

Luke: "What was lost when the show went from 120 to 90 minutes?"

Erik: "There was an act on the attraction between rock stars and centerfolds and nude models. And an act on girls who'd been scandalized in the media and turned to Playboy and Penthouse to extend their fame (Elizabeth Ray, Jessica Hahn, Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones)."

Luke: "Do you feel sad that Penthouse has gone out of business?"

Erik: "My heart's in publishing. I feel sad when any magazine goes out of business and people lose jobs. Penthouse has a history. Bob Guccione was the Larry Flynt of his day. He opened a lot of doors. There was no pubic hair before Bob Guccione came along and he forced Hefner to reconsider his stance. For a while, there was a battle. That's another thing we lost on the show. The early battle between Penthouse and Playboy got cut as well as a Betty Page segment. A bunch of the history got pulled."

Luke: "Which interviews did you enjoy the most?"

Erik: "I had a great time with Bebe Buell. She's had such an interesting life. She's the prototype rockno'roll groupie. She was the model for Penny Lane in the movie Almost Famous. She's been around for 30 years.

"I enjoyed talking to Julie Strain. She had such a good attitude. She took it for what it was and she ran with it. She got into B movies. She started in Penthouse and now has a Playboy show, Sex Court. She married well."

Luke: "What percentage of the girls see it for what it is and are happy with their choice?"

Erik: "About half of them. It's such an unusual profession, so exposed, you can not know what you are getting into. I did some naivete but, maybe I'm wrong, but I think they know what they're getting into."

Luke: "If they are naive, it's willful naivete."

Erik: "It's a crapshoot."

Luke: "What struck me from the show is that these girls are so lazy that they think that after doing a Penthouse or Playboy layout, these magazines owe them a living."

Erik: "True. That's part of it. It is an easy profession. Their selling point is their attractiveness but as Ken Marcus said, 'If you can't act, you're not going to be a movie star.' If all you can do is take your clothes off and look pretty when you pose, that's as far as your career is going to go."

Luke: "On the other hand, by doing a centerfold, they've forever altered their position in the general workplace."

Erik: "In most cases, they have. There are a few who've made a profession out of it - Anna Nicole Smith, Pamela Anderson, Julie Strain... But you do have to work it. It's not like sitting at Schwab's drug store waiting to be discovered. Even Tera Patrick was smart. She's like the multi-national corporation. She started with the magazines, then did porn, but kept her foot in the magazines. She had her own show on Playboy."

Luke: "Tera and Alex Arden came across as particularly photogenic."

Erik: "Alex Arden was great. I had no idea that she was going to be so honest. I picked her because she was a recent Pet and she had an interesting look about her. She just opened up. I had no idea."

Luke: "Becoming a centerfold creates a flow that carries you into a certain stream? It forever changes your life."

Erik: "There's this inertia that carries you on. It's so interchangeable now. A lot of strippers want to be centerfolds to make more money on the road. It's the same with porn stars. They all use it to enhance another aspect of their career. It seems that there are few who do a centerfold and that's it.

"The Playboy models stay out of the fray. They get married. They have low level modeling careers. We found a few Playmates who had gone astray. With Penthouse, it's all a blur. They will photograph porn stars.

"I think someone will buy Penthouse on the cheap. It's a solid brand name."

Luke: "What do you miss about working in porn?"

Erik: "I enjoyed working in porn. I liked the environment. I liked the people who work in porn. There was an all-for-one and one-for-all in the AVN office. In a lot of businesses, there are hidden agendas and everyone goes their own way.

"I'm glad I did it. I don't miss it. It opened my eyes. It humanized the business. It was more of a digression than a career path. I feel silly that I didn't use my real name.

"I feel more comfortable [in mainstream]. I know the players better. I've been a professional since 1989. With porn, I felt completely overwhelmed. It's an insulated world where everybody knows everybody. I always felt on the outside.

"On the other hand, AVN wanted that non-adult eye. They wanted AVN Online to become more consumer oriented. The magazine was so tech-heavy. I oversaw a redesign and content change. I still talk to a bunch of people over there."

Luke: "How did you choose Monica to profile? What's the latest on her? What's her porn name?"

Erik: "We followed several girls, all of whom were suggested by Earl Miller or Suze Randall. Her porn name is Monica Temptem. Last I heard she was back stripping in Amarillo, as well as doing internet porn and asphyxiation videos. Apparently, the Japanese love to see pretty blond American girls pretend to be killed.

"We followed all the girls with the hope that they would be selected as a Penthouse Pet. None of them were, and Monica seemed the most interesting in a car crash sort of way."

From VH1.com:

From the moment an obscure magazine called Playboy unearthed its ripened chromes of Marilyn Monroe in 1953, the centerfold girl has occupied an exceedingly warm place in the loins of the red-blooded male; they're as enduringly American as a pack of Trojan ribbed condoms.

The women who grace centerfolds become an object of desire for the month they're on the newsstands, but what happens to Miss July when October rolls around? Centerfold Babylon is a 90-minute documentary that will undress the nude modeling industry to reveal the life-changing odyssey of girls who take their clothes off for money and their hopes, their dreams, the lengths (surgical, pharmaceutical, sexual) they will go in order to land in the pages of Playboy or Penthouse.

Centerfold Babylon will get under the skin of former Playmates and Pets to reveal that membership in the flesh trade comes at a heavy cost. For every Pamela Anderson who finds mainstream fame, there's a Teri Weigel or Victoria Zdrok, who unceremoniously vacate Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion for the cold beds and hot lights of hardcore pornography. Others have turned to prostitution, drugs or suicide to cope with a life where their objectification is their most marketable skill.

Throughout the program, we will follow Monica, a stripper from Amarillo, Texas, as she follows her own centerfold dreams.

Centerfold Babylon is a 90-minute journey that strips away all the layers of pinup culture -- from the glamour to the gutter.

Those who appear in the show include former Playboy Playmates Angela Melini, Teri Weigel, Rebecca Ferratti, Terri Welles, Victoria Zdrok, Linn Thomas, Bebe Buell, Rebekka Armstrong and Devin Devasquez. Featured Penthouse Pets include Julie Strain, Cheryl Rixon, Alex Arden, Aria Giovanni, Sunny Leone and Tera Patrick. Photographers interviewed include Playboy's David Mecey and Ken Marcus. Penthouse is represented by Earl Miller. Authors Legs McNeil and L-ke F-rd are featured as well. Former Playboy executive Cindy Rakowitz also chimes in, as do adult performers Ginger Lynn and Sharon Mitchell.

When the show got cut from two hours to 90-minutes, Tod Hunter's appearance was axed. Tod and Mark Kernes from AVN helped VH1 with the research. AVN publisher Tim Connelly was invited to appear but declined.