“I’m more comfortable here than anywhere else in the world”

An Interview with Trash and Vaudeville’s Jimmy Webb

By: Sarah L. Myers
All video and photographs by Dan Gendelman

A Rock n’ Roll Haven

The top level of Trash and Vaudeville is filled with racks of t-shirts, jeans, jackets, and, at the very back, light bondage wear. A case near the door holds shelves of buttons and patches, the top of which is bottomless in its display of fliers and postcards. Posters hang everywhere. One of The Ramones is even signed.

“See? Joey’s wearing a Trash and Vaudeville shirt,” Jimmy points out. In the poster, Joey is sitting on a fence outside the White House in 1977, the store’s black and white logo printed across his chest. It’s the same photo hanging near the back of the store, this one fixed with a pair of angel wings. Joey lived around the corner from Trash and Vaudeville and used to come in for jeans, sometimes bringing his mother along.

Jimmy takes us all the way through the store, picking out favorite pieces along the way. There are 1960s-style printed jackets, leopard print jeans, studded purses and belts, and fingerless gloves. Skull-and-crossbones adorn everything from packing tape to airy scarves tied to support beams. The dressing rooms occupy a stretch of wall on the left side of the store, near the back by the baby clothes (screened images of Iggy Pop stretched across tiny t-shirts). Each dressing room is decorated with leopard or fur, silver or chains, one blazoned with the word “Trash.” The store smells kind of like a brand new leather jacket - not surprisingly, they hang all over the place.

"We still get Debbie Harry, Alice Cooper and Steven Tyler, but we also get the new guys like My Chemical Romance," Jimmy says when asked about his famous customers.

Behind the desk is a wall of photographs and dedications, ranging from Jane Fonda to Dee Snider to Avril Lavigne. All of them are handwritten and addressed to Jimmy and the staff. Jimmy’s favorite is the one of him onstage with Iggy Pop. They’re mirror images of each other - sweat drenched and glorious, leather pants hanging off their asses, blood running down Iggy’s chest. His second favorite shows he and Steven Tyler embracing each other. Tyler’s eyes are closed and his arm is tight around Jimmy’s shoulders. It’s a touching picture and the one moment of quiet in this pulsing place.

It’s pretty impossible to imagine Trash and Vaudeville without Jimmy Webb.

"It's my baby. It's my heart. I'm more comfortable here than anywhere else in the world," he says. It’s started to get a little dark so he throws his cigarette out and turns back to go inside. Behind the register is a stack of cubby holes where Webb keeps his jacket, bag, and various items he pulls out to show us. A stack of CDs sits next to the stereo, and he turns the music down. Every story he tells is rife with rock n’ roll symbolism. Everything means something to him, and he keeps beloved objects close. He shows me a postcard of Iggy he used to carry around in his pocket. When it was time to pass it on, he gave the original to Iggy’s manager, Art Collins. Collins passed away in 2005.

Heading back down the staircase after our interview, Jimmy is out to meet some friends, talking excitedly about the upcoming Iggy Pop show at the United Palace Theater. When his letter arrives a few weeks later, he’s enclosed a scan from the New York Times. It’s a photo from that same show. Iggy’s onstage surrounded by 50 or 60 people, his chest thrust out, arms up in the air, pants hanging off his ass again. To his direct left is a shirtless, sweaty, glistening figure totally caught in the moment. It’s Jimmy. Underneath the photo he’s written, “God bless Iggy Pop! We had a ball!”

Tattoos, Stars and Views