I'm a 58 year old guitarist who grew up Hendrix influenced above all. All my years of playing professionally in many different bands, being the only white with Mohawks and Dominicans in their gigs opened me to many attitudes and stage moves, most of which are now commonplace today. Here's my favorite crotch-grabbing story, from Welland Ontario.
I was invited to play guitar at what was described as a new music studio. It looked like one. But a lot of Italian neighbours started congregating, and it became obvious I was set up for humiliation and ridicule, because I ran for mayor as a protest candidate, saying people who were now Hell's Angels shouldn't be involved in local government, immigration and citizenship. I already had been put in a psychiatric hospital twice, making me miss the public debates, and was arrested twice for federal libel. Of course, other newspapers outside of Welland broke that open and charges were dropped.
Don't get me wrong, I say Italian because that's how they described it to me, with the new Italian, out-of-town, mayor. Do you have the home-boy in the hood vibe yet?
Instead of listening to talk of me grabbing my crotch in front of a twelve year old downstairs, with men starting to look violent towards me, I started bopping up and down with the guitar, grabbing my crotch, going ah, ah, ah, yeah, and then I started going a va Maria, which could be desecration in Italian, but means where are you going Maria in French. My sly moves with the guitar, my crotch-grabbing and a va Maria inflamed almost everyone in the room, setting them back, and I was able to rap, accusing the instigators of lying and just wanting to bring everyone down, slipping out before the tide started to rage against me again.
If crotch-grabbing seems "cultural" or "hip-hop" to you, I suggest you haven't been getting out to see different live acts at all. And you should try it. I'm not into pants with a pocket missing with a female singer reaching in, not yet.
From my perspective, the most grabbed crotch has to be Joel Grey's in Cabaret or some of Bob Fosse's female chorus hand participation. Yeah, all that, uh, jazz.
