The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 124

Mr; Vr I IV- Z' 'V'. "-s, Ni f.aiKf (X From left, Angie, Duke, Terry, Debbie, Linda, Chris and Sandy during a lull in business ar the Magic Touch. CLARA and brother John and two or three of their hardest-working employes came to Nashville early this year from Chicago where they had operated massage parlors. The fact that they got busted close to 30 times in Chicago (they couldn't get a license to operate a massage parlor there because of their police records) may have been a factor in their decision to move south. Doubtless, another factor weighing heavily in their considerations was the fact that Nashville in recent years has been a boomtown for massage parlors.

New ones seem to spring up all the time and there are reports that one which will cater exclusively to homosexual men plans to open soon downtown. Some massage parlors here have always been fronts for prostitution. The fact of massage parlors is not new in Nashville. What is different, however, is tlie proliferation of parlors which cater for the most part to these more specialized demands. "If you think about it," explained Clara, "you'll see that it makes sense.

Why should I run the risk of operating a house of prostitution? Sixty percent of our customers are married men who are afraid of carrying home some kind of disease to mama. Then, too, they don't feel so guilty about what we do." THERE are other things that are different about the massage parlors springing up over town, some of them in plush rooms (complete with fancy, wall-to-wall carpets and color TV) in office buildings. Some of them, for example, have recording devices which answer the phone when there's nobody in. Tlie silky, sexy voice on the recorder leaves no doubt as to what type of "massage" the parlor offers. House calls art another innovation long In nse at tlie old-line houses of prostitution here but something of a novelty In the massage parlor business.

And now Clara and John are investigating other ways to make it easier for the customer. They already accept checks and may soon start accepting bank credit cards. "Tlie only thing holding me back," says Clara, "is the cost. The banks want 5 to handle the credit Business is picking up at the Magic Touch and Clara, who loves making a buck, is happy again. She lights another cigarette, leans back in her chair and confides: "It ain't going to be a bad night after all.

Just when you think they've all gone home, business tfarts booming." OINCE tlie Magic Touch opened up in February in what used to be a warehouse, business has not exactly boomed. There is, after all, a lot of competition among the dozen or so parlors in Nashville which offer, well, certain favors in addition to what one normally associates with a massage. But Clara, who says she is 31, gets her share of the business and she feels that her shave is increasing. Recently, in faet, her brother and business partnertough, tattooed John Ashe, 30 opened up the Magic Fingers Massage Parlor next door to Tootsie's Orchid Lounge at 420'i Broadway, John says he's doing about as well as could be expected but he had thought he'd have more customers from the Grand Die Opry crowd that flocks downtown every weekend. "We can't complain," says Clara, who estimated that 20 customers in an evening Is "about average." Actually, Clara's estimate is probably on the low side.

Six customers showed up in an hour-and-a-half period one night recently. Another night, five showed up in less than an hour. And that wasn't counting the house calls. But both Clara and brother John are circumspect about such details as how much cash is rolling in each night. "I'd have to check my books," Clara told a reporter.

"Besides that's between me and the Internal Revenue Service." fVpTILE she is somewhat reluctant to give a do-? tailed rundown of her financial profile, there is precious little else that Clara is hesitant to talk about. And some of the things she talks about most are her massage parlor and why she is proud of it, why she biiiks it has redeeming social value, and why the Metro cops should stop hounding her. "I'm not ashamed of what I do," Clara ten's any. one who asks. "We run a gwtd business down here and we provide a service that is needed." For tlie record, Clara denies that her parlor Is a front for prostitution, which she defines as sexual Intercourse.

She freelv acknowledges, however, that her "girls" most of whom are in their mid-20s masturbate their customers. "And that's no crime. They can't convict you for that because it's not prostitution. We've been arrested four or five times since we came to Nashville and they ain't convicted us yet." TIIE parlors which John and Clara operate are dingy and dirty and the smell is rank. Pictures from Playboy and other male-oriented magazines are tacked to the wall, as are signs advertising the parlors' most recent innovation in service to those seeking a massage the much-touted "half and half." The girls who serve as masseuses In the Magic Touch and the Magic Fingers wear as little as the law allows and sometimes less.

Most have tie halters (easily untied) and short shorts, or filmy lingerie. cards. No, they don't ask me what kind of business I'm operating. All they care about is that 5." CLARA and brother John also try to offer something to suit virtually every taste. In addition to having about a dozen girls, they have a couple of men who give massages.

The men, Terry Thompson and Harvey (call him "Duke," please) Drouillard, will accommodate both men and women. "I was a blacksmith for seven years," said Drouillard, 27, "and I couldn't make a living. I've got a wife (Pat, 24, who also works at the Magic Fingers as a masseuse) and four kids. I got to eat, don't The Magic Touch and the Magic Fingers dont get many women customers, but Clara says they are welcome and that the management tries to meet their requests. "We get maybe one or two a week." she said.

"Sometimes we'll have a couple in. Most times, however, the women want you to make a house call." The parlors which Clara and John operate, unlike some parlors in town, don't discriminate racially. In addition to having two black girls whose professional names are "Hot Chocolate" and "Brown Sugar" several of the wlu'te girls have agreed to accept black customers. "If a black asks for one of the girls who dont accept coloi-eds, then I just tell him that she is all booked up," Clara explained. "That wav, you don't hurt his feelings." THE Magic Touch and the Magic Fingers seem have no problem In securing employes.

There is a high turn-over rate among personnel, but there are anywhere from four to eight girls at the parlors most of the time. There is nothing easy about the work. The hours are long. Hie clientele is often raffish. But Hie pay can be pretty good and $50 a day is not unusual.

For a $13 half-hour session, the masseuse gets $5 and the house $3. For tlie hour-long $25 session, the girl gets $10 and the house keeps $15. The girls say most customers are well-behaved. As intercom In the small rooms connects them to Clara's phone and help can be summoned when needed. In addition, those sitting in the reception areas of the parlor can hear much of what goes on la the massage rooms.

Anything above a normal tone of voice can be overheard. Still, mishaps do occur. Last week, for example, Duke Drouillard hobbled into the Magic Touch on crutches. Asked what had happened to him, he explained that while working tlie night before at the Magic Fingers, one of his male customers attempted a sexual assault. "Look at this," said Duke, showing scratches and bruises on his arms and back.

"And he like to broke some bones before I got away." Despite the dangers and' the sordidness of much that goes on at the parlors, there are always girls who seem to like the work. John says he has no trouble finding new employes in bars and restaurants around town when he needs additional personneL CLARA claims that once a girl is hired she is taught how to give a "real massage," that is, a conventional massage. That seems to be wasted effort, for the most part, because very few people request a conventional massage. Once, when a reporter overheard Clara telling a 11 8 2 'by the prettiest i girl's in town gauranteed to relieve EVERY STIFF muscle and aching joint get in line BEFORE IT GET'S TOO LONG. PEPSI.