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It seems inconceivable at times that the openly-gay male vocal trio known as Gotham was once not merely one of the single bestselling cabaret acts on the globe, playing to sold out houses at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Country Cousin in London and the Wadsworth Theatre in Los Angeles, besides such 1970s hotbeds of the New York club scene as Reno Sweeney, the Bottom Line and the Grand Finale, as well as aboard RSVP cruise lines and recording several albums, but that besides their remarkable harmonies and rapport both on-stage and off, they stuck with it as a team for nearly two decades…until life intervened and they had to call it quits.
Still, the impact they caused upon both the cabaret genre and the immediate post-Stonewall movement, is even today being felt mightily by legions, and makes for fond memories, to say the very least. Comprised of Michael Pace, David McDaniel (who replaced original member Jon Morrow in 1973) and the late Gary Herb, no one who ever saw Gotham at the height of their powers, can ever forget that they were in the midst of greatness.
All three had their initial forays into the performing arts and live entertainment in their boyhood. Herb happened to come from a long line of 
performers (he was born in the Maryland town of Salisbury); his paternal grandfather played saxophone alongside John Philip Sousa, and his parents played with a Spike Jones-styled band as a sideline to their formal-wear rental business. Pace was born and raised in Kansas City (MO), into a tight-knit family that found itself motherless by the time he turned twelve. This didn’t deter his dream of a life on the boards, and he set out almost immediately towards working at the Kansas City Starlight Theatre. And McDaniel, a native of Washington, Iowa, whose father ran the biggest drugstore in town, caught the bug while racing home from school every day to catch "The Mickey Mouse Club," where children were allowed to sing and dance. Each of the trio had a fascination with close harmonies and the groups who sang them, including the Andrews Sisters, the Boswell Sisters, the Modernaires and the Hi-Los.
Herb and Pace were brought together in late 1972, through mutual friends when both were appearing in showcases, and grew completely enamored of one another’s vocal prowess. Discussions began about the two forming an act, at which point Herb brought in his friend Jon Morrow, not only as a third voice for harmony, but as the accompanist for the group. Herb often stated, "Jon possessed the one most important quality we needed at the time; he worked for free." Rehearsals got under way at Pace’s apartment on Restaurant Row, which largely involved comical arrangements of songs made famous by the Andrews Sisters, and here the name Gotham was chosen to represent the group; the moniker refers to the British fable of a mythical village dating back to the rule of Prince John, which was known as a city of fools, and later Washington Irving dubbed New York City Gotham, a city of fools. It seemed a perfect name for the trio. And after a spectacular debut, they were quickly installed as a regular act at the legendary club Brothers and Sisters.
Things began moving quickly after Bill Hennessy stopped by to catch their act there; Hennessy was the man who helped Bette Midler craft her Divine Miss M persona back in the glory days when she was appearing nightly on Broadway in Fiddler of the Roof, and at the Continental Baths after the show, ultimately leading to her debut album and breakout success. Accompanying him that night, was the equally-monumental Bob Esty, who would later craft some of Gotham’s most in-demand numbers, including “The Rhythm Medley” and a 1940s swing arrangement of the Supremes hit, “Where Did Our Love Go?” Hennessy wasted no time in putting his indelible creative stamp on his new discovery. He brought Morrow off of the piano bench and put him onto a microphone as a third front-man, he sent the group on the road immediately, to season the act and build an out-of-town following, he made the inspired decision to have them be themselves on stage as an openly Gay trio and he had both Herb and Pace (both naturally gifted with spontaneous senses of humor) talk between songs as though this was merely a party in their living rooms. Morrow, however, found himself growing discontented both with touring and the collective creative process, and would be replaced after Halloween night in 1973, by McDaniel, a friend of Herb’s who had just finished both the First National Tour and Broadway companies of No, No Nanette. Such was the true birth of Gotham, and they would dazzle audiences for nearly two decades. Their musical directors would come and go; Bob Esty toured with the group initially, followed by Joe Cannon and then the flamboyant and delightful Ron Abel came in from 1975 through the end of the decade. Ron was followed by Michael's friend and future collaborator, Rob Preston.
But in 1980, the group decided to take a short break; road work and living in such constant and close proximity took its toll. Herb and Morrow began doing a critically-acclaimed club act called “Herb and Potato,” McDaniel went into the company of The Pirates Of Penzance (at the National Theatre and Wolf Trap) on Broadway and the First National Tour and Pace found himself on Broadway in the jukebox revue Rock’n’Roll: The First 5,000 Years, portraying David Bowie in a company that also featured Lillias White, Jenifer Lewis and Barbara Walsh. Two years later, however, Gotham began experiencing a collective itch to launch anew, spurred on most largely by Pace and his dream of creating an Off-Broadway musical for the group, which never came to pass, alas. It did, however, lead to their show Harmony, a history of vocal harmonies from 1925 to the end of the disco era, and this time with Thomas Spahn as musical director. Shortly thereafter, the group incorporated as Gotham Productions, Inc., and signed with a new management company and the show took them all over the United States, to great success.
And through it all, Gotham retained a very solid place in post-Stonewall history: they were the first performance group who were just 
themselves onstage, three openly Gay young men, who didn't have to hide behind the stereotypes of the brave giants of previous decades. Gotham didn't wear drag or appear in the familiar and obligatory camp or effeminate stereotype, nor were they forced into the opposite hyper male butch, girlfriend-at-home template. The threesome was not only the first openly Gay male vocal trio following the aftermath of the Stonewall riots and the subsequent revolution, but they were on the cover of an early issue of the Advocate during the Bicentennial. And through it all, they never felt the need to explain who or what they were or apologize for same. They did, however, experience a slight backlash from the Gay press, both nationwide and in London, who expected the group to be infinitely more militant about their sexual and socio-political stances, whereas the more mainstream press clasped the group to its collective bosom, which clearly accounts for their sold-out success in every major concert venue on the globe, as well as being beautifully received twice on the "Merv Griffin Show" in the mid-70s. There were also concerts with Bette Midler at both Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, and a 1989 A&E special celebrating Reno Sweeney, which took place at the The Bottom Line, in which they once again assumed the stage as a flash act with such bright lights of cabaret’s renaissance as Alaina Reed, Janis Ian, Phoebe Snow, Sally Kellerman and Jane Olivor. And the group was proud to perform in front of a crowd of almost a million LGBT, at the first ever National Gay Pride March, in Washington, DC.
Though there is no hope for a Gotham reunion without Gary Herb (both McDaniel and Pace contend that the gentleman is wholeheartedly irreplaceable), the memory of the greatness that was the group, will forever live on in the hearts and minds of all who were fortunate enough to bear witness. Gotham fans numbering equally straight and Gay of both genders, as well as Gay archivists, will be excited to learn that a book is in the works as an official memoir of the group.
For further information on Gotham, please visit:
http://www.queermusicheritage.
To view Gotham performing live in 1989 at The Bottom Line, please visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRi6KFzDAEI
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
I want to preface by personally saying that I am absolutely privileged to bring my monthly cabaret history column, IT ALL HAPPENED THEN, to the readership of NiteLifeExchange.com. It was, is, and will continue to be not only an honor but a singular pleasure to help shine a spotlight on so many vibrant cabaret artists from the community's glorious past. My most recent column, however, about the openly gay male vocal trio Gotham, received a far larger positive reaction than any of us, up to and especially including myself, could have possibly imagined. Both surviving members of the trio not only saw fit to graciously write to our publisher, the illustrious Scott Barbarino, with their praise of the column, but have received copious additional acknowledgments from fans of the group all over the world. I am personally humbled to think that so many are taking such delight from my work; in point of fact, all I did was write a column like I do every month. Trio member David McDaniel has given permission for Mr. Barbarino to print his letter here on the website, which follows below. Thank you all again for reading my work, and for giving me a chance to do one of the things I've loved most since the start of my adult life, which is to loan my talents to writing about New York nightlife past and present.
Most sincerely,
Andrew Martin
------------------------------
I understand my former GOTHAM partner, Michael Pace, has already written you about the recent article about us written by Andrew Martin and published in your Nite Life Exchange.com. Michael and I are still very close. After all, we were joined at the contract for almost two decades. But, I didn't know he'd written you already. Your Andrew Martin must have touched Michael somewhere deep in his heart for him to have written you so quickly. I know he touched me there. I don't know Andrew very well, but you've got a ball of fire in him.
Upon reading the published interview, I wrote Andrew, "Much of the picture you painted of GOTHAM's 20 years in the spotlight seemed like an out-of-body experience to me. The world is very different in the 21st Century for everyone, but for those of us in the GLBT community who came of age in the Post-Stonewall Party Decade, we might have been living in an entirely different solar system." Mr. Martin so accurately described what it was like to be riding that comet called cabaret, which for us included concerts, TV, international performances and recordings, I was reminded that at one time cabaret was quite a ride. Unfortunately, comets do fall to earth eventually. Ours did when one of our partners, Gary Herb, fell ill in the early 90s. He died just over two years ago.
Our story needs to be told. We were the first act Post-Stonewall to be openly gay onstage. To clarify that further, we were the first act to be just ourselves. We didn't have to hide behind the stereotypes of the fearless giants who came before us. And the public and the press embraced us without reservation. Well, they needed reservations. We were sold out most nights.
Thanks to Mr. Martin and you, it was fun grabbing a few old friends and jumping on that comet for another ride. I've already heard from dozens who have read the interview, and a good time has been had by all! In 2004, in our last radio interview together, we were asked how we would like the act to be remembered. Gary jumped in, "I'm just glad it IS remembered!"
Thank you for reminding your readers that we once made the world laugh.
Sincerely,
David McDaniel
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