page_title: David Ferguson (impresario)
section_title: Early career
hierarchical_section_title: David Ferguson (impresario) / Early career
caption_attribution_description: English: .jpg pic of Andy Warhol to be used for David Ferguson bio. Licensing
context_page_description: David Ferguson was an American international outsider-culture impresario, activist, music producer and concert promoter. Over his career, most of which has been spent on the West Coast, he worked with musical acts such as the Avengers, John Lydon, Billy Bragg, Iggy Pop, Bad Brains, Black Flag, and Butthole Surfers and visual artists Vaughn Bode, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Barry McGee. Ferguson worked with multi-discipline artists such as avant-garde musician and spoken-word artist Lydia Lunch and the psychedelic drag queen performance group the Cockettes.
  The San Francisco Chronicle referred to Ferguson as the "godfather of the unorthodox", adding that Ferguson "...not only thinks outside the box — he crushes it, dances on top of it, reinvents it and calls it whatever he likes. He has spent his life making trouble." The East Bay Express wrote, "David Ferguson's life story reads like an encyclopedia of the underground."
  Ferguson founded and presently heads the Institute for Unpopular Culture, a San Francisco-based arts organization.
context_section_description: Ferguson was co-leader of the Union of Students to End the War in Vietnam and his activism lead to discussions of disciplinary action, the outcome of which is not clear. Ferguson had also arranged for Pop Art icon Andy Warhol to speak at the campus in 1968, an event that led to a professional association between the two.
  Ferguson moved to San Francisco in 1969 where he met the performance troupe the Cockettes, for whom he later produced and promoted live shows. Even in tolerant San Francisco, the Cockettes' performance antics presented thorny PR issues. A member of the group wrote about a tactic Ferguson used to sneak the troupe and its outrageous stage behavior by wary club owners:
  For nearly 20 years, Mr. Bimbo [ Agostino Giuntoli, owner of Bimbo's] had presided over his lavish and busy supper club five nights a week, and he was nervous about renting the place out...In fact, he was so nervous about that prospect that he asked David Ferguson to sign an affidavit of sorts—on the back on an envelope—swearing that he would allow no naked women to perform onstage.  It was only after seeing the show that Mr. Bimbo got the joke and realized how funny his prohibition was.  'David,' he said, as he approached the table, laughing.  'I can see that I have to be careful with you.  You promised me no naked women, but you said nothing about naked men.'
  Ferguson formed a lecture and appearance scheduling enterprise in 1973.  Through the agency, he maintained an association with the Black Panther Party by representing Black Panther Party then-chairperson Elaine Brown. The agency also scheduled lectures for   Jo Ann Little, Paul Krassner, Jerry Mander,and Beat poet Michael McClure.  "Ferguson's personal punk legacy includes helping promote concerts in the early 1970s for Iggy Pop and the New York Dolls."
caption: Andy Warhol & Viva, University of Miami, 1968.
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