Back in the ’80s and ’90s, whenever glamour photographers and models were in Palm Springs, California, photo shoots at poolside were at the top of the day’s call sheet. And with Joey Karson steaming up the lens, the heat was on even when shooting in the air-conditioned house.
Joey was not one to dance or pose with a detached expression. In 1993, this writer caught one of her four daily shows at the New York Dolls club and interviewed her at a nearby restaurant between shows. She had been absent from the strip circuit for a year so this was a kind of comeback for her. When we describe how the girls seen in SCORE and Voluptuous attract massive attention wherever they go, we’re not kidding. Several waiters rushed to our table to take Joey’s order. Not mine, of course.
Wide-eyed men in business suits sat frozen, staring at her at New York Dolls as she did her strip show. “I like to look at the men,” Joey said. “Into their eyes. Some dancers avoid eye-contact. That’s not me. I like to feel their eyes all over me. I like to focus my attention on them, and if I can see that a guy is hard, that really excites me.”
