This might be what Nelson Sullivan's cable TV show would have look like had he gotten the chance to put together a show himself. Imagined from Nelson Sullivan's video collection by Dick Richards.
It's so wild that this video was filmed just days before he passed away so abruptly and untimely. Nelson should have had the opportunity to see the love and adoration he's receiving from all around the world. He was a special man who was years ahead of his time. Never a more perfect man in the perfect place to document such an important era in urban society.
Yes! It was literally the day before he died. He went to bed on the 3rd and never work up. Imagine how proud he'd be of Rupaul. Emmy winning Mama RU! For love Nelson. Never forget.
A couple of hours ago I was suggested a video about visiting a Mc Donald's in the 80's. I was unsure what I was watching, but it was right up my alley of vintage restaurants and food service. Now two, maybe three hours later I feel weirdly connected to, and sad for that guy from that video. If he could impact my life 30 years from the grave, I can only imagine how he impacted those close to him. The love for his dog pulls at my heart strings too, because i just lost my relationship with my boy of ten years a couple of weeks ago. RIP my new, unmet, friend.
Keep watching and you will see all kinds of famous people. Nelson knew and ran into so many of the socialites of the 80's in NYC. Andy Warhol, Rupaul and all the Club Kids, Keith Herring and the list goes on and on.
All my love to you on the loss of your dear furbaby. I am video 3 in, same start. Same absolute delight in the absolutely astonishingly wonderful human that is Nelson. Imagine how bright he would have shone with 30 more years to do so!!!
Fascinating how the man that would pass two days after the first flash of this could unite people who were either children or unborn years later. I hope he would have loved this ❤
I hate the fact that only a couple of days later he'd be dead...I wish this man was alive now and blessing our lives. I feel like he'd be that cool 69 year old we are all in awe of.
He had such finesse with the camera. You almost forget he was the one holding it, walking through the streets with his arm outstretched. Its almost as if he knew how important and valuable these videos would be one day.
It’s crazy, as you mentioned is so flawless. He didn’t have gimbles, iPhones, cameras with built in stabilization, and they weighed a couple pounds. It’s almost hard to comprehend all he put into these video. It would have been easy to just stop doing it as he wasn’t getting monetized at the time from RU-vid. He probably had several batteries he had to keep charged, all the tapes, that where not cheap and he didn’t have a hard drive To transfer them over too. I heard he had something like 800 tapes when he passed. That’s very expensive. He wasn’t making a dime. He just had the love of vlogging way ahead of the game and he did it with such finesse. I’m just blown away by the whole thing. I really think he’s a time traveler with Doc!
I wished I could have met Nelson.. and black out too.... RIP to you..... much thank you for the videos....... you are a beautiful person with a beautiful dog... two beautiful souls.... black out and Nelson....
"Greenwich Village, I think the whole world wants to be here" I really felt that, I grew up in Ohio mostly but my mom had to work in New York around the time this was made (I was eight in 89) and really loved the the time I spent in Lower Manhattan and look back at that time extremely fondly. My mom being divorced and having to work full time she required a babysitter and it was hard to find someone she trusted that she could afford. She found a neighbor in the apartment building she was at that she became friends with that watched me while she worked. I remember how mad my family was at my mom when they found out I was being babysat by a gay man, but nevertheless he continued to be my babysitter while we was in New York. I never could understand why they had such a problem with it back then I had fun he sang, he took me to parks, and even cooked really good. And I'm proud to have grown up with a mom that couldn't see the problem with having him as my babysitter either.
when Nelson talks about how he'll miss Christina forever.....and wanted to dedicate his first cable show to her....it makes me rather sad, to know that Nelson himself died a little over a week after recording most of this video.....i never knew him, yet i miss him...how weird is that?
Margaret Finklestein me too weird I know I discovered Nelson only a couple of months ago but I'm addicted to his videos and his persona. What a ledgend!
Peg Schmuck you should feel even weirder now it was actually 2 days after this video on July 4 he passed less then a week from Christina one of his dearest friends, no one knew why, she was a weird one, and most found her unexceptable maybe that's why he was her friend, no one else was
This is surreal, very much so, 2 days before his death not a clue to what's about to happen A message to us all that we never know what tomorrow will bring, his videos and vision have effected me as well as many many others, Thank you Nelson for what you have given us
Nelson was a master with the camera. Considering the technology available he really produced quality work.. he had such a steady hand and molded the camera as though it were part of his body. What a loss. Thank you for posting his work, it's comforting to know that enough people cared to get his material out to the masses.
There's one video with a snippet of him in the distance against the horizon. He holds the camera extended out on his arm and circles around effortlessly. He did an absolutely amazing job with a heavy hand held.
This man enjoyed life in so many ways. I’m not a gay man but I find this to be very interesting in that he had so much love for everyone. His peaceful ways sure could be used in today’s world. Rip to you and to all your many friends who left this world to early.
Captcha Neon you do realize that was the point of his comment. Starbucks did exist,however only in Seattle metropolitan area as it began as a local coffee shop then expanded.
Love to go back in time 30 years ago & have coffee with Nelson & Blackout..It saddens me😭 that he would be dead in 3 days..Thank U Nelson 4 the privilege of allowing us into your life through your videos...May U & Blackout continue to Rest In Peace!! 🙏🙏🙏
I must add that if you watch some of Nelson's later videos, particularly the ones near his death, he tends to yawn a lot. That can be a tell tale sign of heart failure or bleeding around the heart. Very interesting, but sad as well. Like many of us I try to understand how someone that looked relatively healthy and active died of a heart attack just a few days later. However, its likely there were signs and symptoms that he likely ignored. Tragic because he was a pioneer in videography and vlogging that people only now are starting to realize. I grew up at the same time as his videos, and I can tell you that what he is doing in these videos in terms of self documenting the life around him with video, and the first person perspective was unheard of. Amazing. What a visionary.
His father or grandfather died of heart trouble at the same age, so there’s a family history. He reportedly took cocaine shortly before he died according to Michael Musto.
@@bigtex9836 You can find the video he made the following day (July 3, 1989) on his channel, it's called Nelson's Last Video...he died in the early AM hours of the Fourth of July, 1989.
This is the (pen)ultimate Nelson Sullivan video. He finally explains a little about his feelings about his videos. Then he made another video the next day where he looked a little bit downtrodden and died that night. He truly would've become a cult favorite with that cable TV show.
“In the weeks and maybe months ahead. I’m going to bring you..” him saying that two days before his untimely death made me cry. I have been watching all his vids for a week now. And I love them and him and you know he would have created something so special. We are all blessed that we have these vids. But so ad that we don’t have such a beautiful hearted man alive today. R.I.P. Nelson Sullivan ❤️
I was thinking the same...live now not for yesterday nor tomorrow - in this minute today 😌 R.I.P Nelson & Blackdog & Christina and all the people in the gay community back in the day that is not with us anymore 🌈
I just want to get off drugs and live life to the fullest with smiling and laughing and hanging out with friends! - like Nelson did. Nelson is one of many inspirations for us to get out and live and make someone else happy. Even if that means just saying hi while passing someone on the sidewalk or street. Love someone today and tonight. It could affect someone way more than imagined.
Knew Nelson, his brother Marko and his family in Kershaw. Marko and I were several years older but I remember Nelson well as an interesting little kid. Did not know of his problems till recently. Really enjoyed his videos and glad that he held on to his southern way of speaknig.
The thing I love the most about these videos is the fact that I first entered here out of curiosity for a guy going Mc'donalds 30 years ago. But watching more and more videos, the "nostalgic feeling from a time I didn't lived on" erased completely. These videos are interesting as shit for themselves. If this had been a TV show in that time, it would have ended up being a classic.
It's almost been 53 yrs since the Stonewall riots! That's crazy because I remember 1989 like yesterday when it had only been 20 years. Crazy how time flys by!
I'd love to just sit and chat with Christina for hours in that room while drinking coffee, chain smoking and watching wrestling on her sideways t.v Nelson Sullivan was the first vlogger. He was years ahead if his time.
Fuck that. Christina was nasty, try too hard bitch who delighted in making people uncomfortable. Acting 24-7. Sure, she was obviously mentally ill..but most of it was a show and it should not be celebrated or encouraged in others. Come on..a sideways tv just so that people would say, 'ohh wow..'. Come on. Get real.
I love the way this man talks... not just his mesmerizing voice, but the way in which he speaks, so effortlessly and it all just flows the way he tells a story. None of this "it was lit" or "woke" bullsh*t. This is all classic, amazing, and inspiring to watch and listen to.
He didn’t have gimbles, iPhones, cameras with built in stabilization, and they weighed a couple pounds. It’s almost hard to comprehend all he put into these video. It would have been easy to just stop doing it as he wasn’t getting monetized at the time from RU-vid. He probably had several batteries he had to keep charged, all the tapes, that where not cheap and he didn’t have a hard drive To transfer them over too. I heard he had something like 800 tapes when he passed. That’s very expensive. He wasn’t making a dime. He just had the love of vlogging way ahead of the game and he did it with such finesse. I’m just blown away by the whole thing. I really think he’s a time traveler with Doc!
I can only imagine the kind of quality work Nelson would have produced today had been alive right now. This is good stuff with the tech that was available at the time. To think a few days later he was dead but in a way he succeeded in the here and now he has the audience he sought.
great job making this its never tiresome watching Nelson and remembering those times. I always think how he would have fit in now. iIm so glad he was who he was.
I absolutely love seeing all the old school graff legends like tracy168 and cap and like so many more! Ahh nostalgia at its most raw moments, thanks Nelson Sullivan, luv ya bud!
Ru doing Nelson’s make up is sorta beautiful. It shows sorta how much respect ru had for Nelson and even now hearing Ru talk about Nelson there is such a fondness and he tries to keep up the tradition started by our forequeers of educating the younger generation of our struggles and triumphs and letting them Know it can all still be taken away and we must be proud and show people who we are. Nelson was amazing and i have spent so many hours just watching old nyc on tape. I live near saint marks and just seeing how much has changed is sorta sad. Nelson is a historian, and he captured something so important in terms of the gay rights movement. Even befriending people like Christina he showed just how open and kind he was. I came to nyc to find my story many years after this and i was born a few months after Nelson passed but you can feel him here. You can feel that old New York and it’s electrifying
i know, he never mentions him by name in interviews, just saying "there was a guy that did videos". rupaul was actually at sullivan's place the night that he died...
i have heard only one interview in which ru discusses nelson's last video. other than that i have not heard him mentioned by name.... perhaps i am mistaken
RuPaul has mentioned Nelson many times over the years. He credits Nelson for mentoring him during his early days starting out in the entertainment industry.
He was so patient with Christina, I always find it amusing when he asks people questions and they begin to answer and he walks away, still pointing the camera at himself, but not with her. He let her finish her sentences (most of the time) and she brings grins and even smiles to his face. Also it was good to see Gay Day where the people get together to support a cause and have camaraderie where now it has turned into a sleazy shit show. RIP Nelson and Christina.
Can't believe I've just discovered these videos. Lived on 5th St between A & B in the mid 80's. Started watching to see a lot of places I used to go. So poignant when I found out Nelson died.
@@Tauva not necessarily true.... People were fascinated with webcam sites in the late 90s and really 00's. Not everything video related was only RU-vid... They just gave a cleaner UI at the time and knew how to design it in a way that was more pleasing to people. They were not the first to start up video uploading sites.
I definitely enjoyed watching these, I was born in 85' so it really gives you a glimpse back in time, my very first years on this planet ya know, yea you see it in movies from back then but seeing the everyday lifestyle in a vlog from the 80's is so much cooler!
Please keep these videos up for a long time. I love watching them so much. Nelson was a genius with a camera and so much the kind of person I would have just loved to have met in my life. So sad he is gone.
Sad but thank you for sharing; I remebering asking my friends for quarters for a punky guy trying to get pizza- quarters for some sliced- I thought cool we all have some quaters- he had a cup. I think now wow that probably was RuPaul! Small world. ❤❤❤❤ love the video- loved Bleecker st. 😢
Love you Nelson!! 😘 I just tried to imagine had he been here today what he would be creating or what he would be the owner of thinking of today's technology and social media.
***** there's actually an upload of a video of his on the very day he died. He's having a 4th of July BBQ with friends including RuPaul. He died that night.
I noticed in the two videos 2 days before he died, he looked very tired and was yawning a lot. A warning sign that is heart was stressed and not functioning properly.
