Doug Malloy in Conversation with Tari Soummers

This audio tape dates from December of 1976. It’s an interesting conversation between Doug Malloy and a young man named Tari Soummers. You may be wondering why his name never surfaced before now. From listening to the tape, one might assume this was a treasure trove of body piercing lore. I personally found it impossible to take much of what he said seriously. To be frank, Tari was one of those people I took an instant dislike to and quickly sized up as a bullshitter. See what you think. No photo of him has surfaced in my archive. If there ever was one, it would have been amongst the photos Doug’s wife destroyed after his death. A Google search turned up nothing informative.

Did the ancient Egyptians pierce anything other than ears? I doubt it. Doug showed me photos of statuary in which he claimed navel piercings were obvious. They seemed to be visible only to him. The culture of ancient Egypt has been studied extensively, and to the best of my knowledge, no one has substantiated Doug’s claims.

As for the assertions made about Celtic piercing traditions, I remain skeptical.

On the bright side, here is another opportunity to hear Doug’s voice and an even bigger opportunity for scholars of piercing history to prove whether my impressions of Mr. Soummers were accurate.

As an aside, the Orange County BDSM couple Doug mentions on side two was Mistress Antoinette and her husband Master Zorro. She had a business in fetish clothing called Versatile Fashions. He was an M.D. who specialized in treating the overweight. The pair attended the Gauntlet studio grand opening in 1978. Here’s a brief bio you might find informative. I’ve wondered if Antoinette was dyslexic. That night she twice signed photos “Mistress Antionette.” Photo caption: Mistress Antoinette with Doug Malloy at the Gauntlet studio grand opening in 1978

Side One

Side Two