When I asked John Peluso what he’d be wearing while performing as front man for The United Booty Foundation’s long anticipated reunion show, he said he would have a costume change between sets. “You can do a costume change too,” he added when I showed him some of my shimmer-shammer style considerations.
I ended up wearing a retro-seventies inspired maxi dress from the company Farm Rio with my Stuart Weitzman platform mules. The “congregation” (read- Booty faithful) were assigned little disco ball necklaces as VIPs.
He wore rose-colored glasses and glittery platform shoes with his two suit looks and, along with the father-of-all-disco-balls around his neck, he looked AMAZING!
“JT” (John’s UBF stage name, T for Travolta) is all about the tongue-n-cheek fun that disco music provides. He always brings that energy to The United Booty Foundation. in all its timeless, and timely exuberance. While the other members of this fabulous band play elsewhere, John prefers the loyalty and camaraderie of the original crew and hasn’t performed since the one-night gig they’d played in 2015 and before that for many years in the ’90s in venues around Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo among other regional concerts.
I love the way these talented musicians support him and allow him to do his thing and that thing is truly magical. They are the best of the best locally and nationally (drummer Jeff Tortora performs with the Blue Man Group in Las Vegas, which is why UBF gigs are so few and far between).
On May 20th, 2023 at a place called Sharkey’s, Liverpool, New York came alive with the sounds of Saturday Night Fever, KC & the Sunshine Band, Diana Ross, EW&F, and so many more great dance tunes, including Barry Manilow and even the theme from The Jeffersons (a ’70s TV sit-com).
It was nostalgia at its finest for those of us who ventured into discos circa the late ’70s (I was under age, btw), as well as those who enjoyed that memory more fully in the ’90s via UBF. In my case – both. And for the twenty-somethings who experienced it for the first time, I will add a collective you’re welcome.
So incredibly fun! It was my dream come true, for sure, for sure.
If you missed it, stay tuned. Because JT, Hutch, Starsky, Dr. Fever and the gang will be back at Sharkey’s for a disco Halloween bash – on October 21, 2023. Follow them on Facebook for the deets.
https://www.facebook.com/unitedbootyfoundation
If you are searching for the joy in life, it is all packaged here. The United Booty Foundation will rise again to shake, shake, shake their proverbial “Caucasian” booties and continue to live the disco dream.
Love, love, LOVE you times infinity, Booty man. <3
