Blond Has More Fun

Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, and Boy George all took her tips for stardom

CHE introduced Michael k_yJackson to Tatum O'Neal. Cyndi Lauper used to make phony phone calls to her at three A.M. When Boy George won a Grammy Award, he thanked her on the air. And she got Sade, England's latest pop export, into Vogue before her record had even come out in the U. S.

"My job has always been to make other people famous," says Susan Blond, New York's foremost practitioner of pop P.R. "You have to be conscious that you're building a legend. ' ' She learned legend building practicing on herself. She attended the Boston Museum School and had a one-woman art show at Harvard, but the day she met Andy Warhol she stopped painting and went to work for Interview. Blond, a brunette, became an early public-accesscable star and figured regularly in The New Yorker's, "Talk of the Town." She played the housewife who tossed her baby out a high-rise window in Warhol 's Bad. She and her husband, Roger Erickson, were one of Details magazine's Best Couples of 1984. Ten years ago, she started doing record publicity at CBS, becoming vice president for press and media relations of its Epic, Portrait, and CBS Associated labels.

She has codified these rules for star survival:

"'If you re beautiful, you can get away with anything. If you're not that pretty, develop everything else. Michael, Boy George, and Cyndi aren't traditionally sexy. Sexy is becoming a new thing. You're interested because they have a personality. "Parties are not to have fun

at. Never sit down at a party. I mean Andy Warhol sits, and everybody comes to him, but until you get to A-level fame, work that room! When someone says how are you, have a line or two prepared. You can use the same one for six months, but it better be great. After two minutes, change the subject to them; they'll remember. Never tell anyone they look tired; it only makes people feel worse. And if you're thin, always order dessert so people won't hate you for not eating.

"Never be negative. The only way to say anything negative is by not answering a question. Only a saint can follow that rule, but it's still a rule. Put your enemies ill at ease by giving them a big hello. I bend over so far that if people are still offensive I know it's their fault.

" The best look is the straight look. The whole world is made up of little clubs. Wearing good clothes gives you access to the club of good-clothes wearers. Wear Chanel, but wear something beat-up with it. You can have a Kelly bag as long as the wallet inside is clear plastic from Woolworth's.

"Don't act self-important because you know a star. People like you because of that connection, but it's not an accomplishment in itself. The job you do is the accomplishment.

' 'Playing hard to get is a rule in all aspects of life. I believe in the illusion of inaccessibility.

"/ hate drugs. Paul Morrissey has a theory about drug trash: Anyone who takes drugs is trash.

"If you want something, ask for it. Michael's party at the Mu-

seum of Natural History was the invitation, the most wanted glove. People you couldn't believe—borough presidents, famous fashion designers— were calling up asking for tickets. If they were legitimate or famous enough or interesting or cute enough, we probably said yes. But the most fun parties are the ones you crash. I haven't done this lately, but when it's a few steps above you and you got in and you weren't really invited, then it's really thrilling.

"Have a life. It sometimes takes a while to figure that out. It's great to like being at home. Studio 54 was the greatest club in the whole world, but at the very end of the night, there was something so overwhelmingly lonely.

"Being behind the scenes is as exciting as being in front. You can get a good table in a restaurant even if you're not a star.

Michael Gross