clubbing?

[tig]

where did you go clubbing/nights out in your younger days then?

ive been in loads all over the uk and europe but not much could beat pure at the barras(early 90's) or the omen in berlin(still going i think)

plus things like rezerection and global gathering to name but a few....i was into techno ish type stuff...
i even went to the big chill last year which was like a music fest for families and adults(no neds allowed) that played loads of Reggie and soul type stuff plus had one of the best chill out areas id ever seen

also been in places like cleopatras and the savoy to my shame

so where did u go in your "hip" days?

[Lachlan09]

Aha ! that’s a good question !

My clubbing days are over (after all, who wants to dance with a 57 year-old, except my wife ?), but in Muscat here, my wife and I sometimes go out to dance at The Safari Club (Grand Hyatt) or The Cellar (Radisson) or at Rock Bottom – all have live expat bands (usually US or Canadian) as well as disco (and food and booze !).

My heyday was the 1970’s -early 1980's. Did you know they used to have go-go dancers on stage about 1973 ! I went sporadic periods in ‘70’s but stopped during the onslaught of the US disco invasion period about 1977/8. My favourite time was 1980-82 (after which getting engaged put the lid on my carefree life). It was all in Edinburgh then. The clubbing scene in 1980-82 for me was:-

Favourite haunts:- Buster Browns (Market St) as well as a disco it hosted bands eg Spandau Ballet - my home from home No 1;

Mad Hatters (High St) magic parties - my home from home No 2;

Valentinos (near Tollcross) student nurses’ favourite haunt also became New Romantics’ hangout, loved it – lucky place for me;

(2nd tier) Okay for a change:- Annabels (Fountainbridge) full of Libyan guys, local girls looking for arab guys (not interested in Scottish guys) and frequently playing Libyan disco music, mind you some Scottish girls also went there not knowing it was all arabs and arab disco and wanted to meet a Scottish lad, so it worked out well sometimes; (btw a junior in my office, Dawn Reilly, was manager's daughter, got murdered by triads in annabels office while helping with accounts for her dad - sad)

Pipers (Lothian Rd) a bit rough – a tourist cabaret venue converted (no décor upgrades) into a disco; owned by the Waldmans aka "Edinburgh mafia"

Tiffanys (St Stephen’s St) – a big barn, but really good on Christmas Eve (different crowd to my first tier); aka Cindarella Rockefellers

(3rd tier) Went once but highly avoidable:- The Nite Club (Leith Walk – above Playhouse Cinema) a dump, supposedly for rude boys but no chance to meet girls;

The West End/100 Club (Shandwick Pl) a tip, decrepit hotel lounge with a record deck;

Clouds (Tollcross) (supposedly Mod Central but actually teeny boppers’ hangout, no seats, no alcohol – meeting girls needed ID age check first !) a barn where bouncers made punters walk a circuit round the hall – no stopping allowed ! ;

Flanagans – off Rose St (was okay in the early 1970’s but nose-dived later)

There were others which were worse and I would never go there – rough places, rough wummen.

The places I’ve clubbed in London – Odeon, Leicester Sq 1980 (my Edinburgh mates and I passing through on hols) huge place where girls danced with girls and guys with guys and went through some preening ritual before they could dance together – weird to the Scottish mentality – no tapping a burd on the shoulder here ! the place I was introduced to the floor-based Boat Dance (to the tune of Oops Up Inside My Head);

Then when I lived in London 1983-1992; some night-club with London mates in Shaftesbury Ave a few times (can’t remember name) even wore my kilt once after company Xmas dance (that was fun – I’ve got stories !);

Limelight (Shaftesbury Ave) Boy George’s hang-out, one mate blagged us all in;

Marquee (Wardour St) – my pilgrimage to dance in The Who’s first breakthrough venue;

Stringfellows (St Martin’s Lane) another blaggit;

Heaven Club (Craven Passage) – management refusal as we quote “looked too normal” (a gay night-club), though we were all straight, I felt a bit insulted at being refused from any club;

The Rooms (Ilford). Cool-suited East-End guys checking out each others’ designer threads and East-End girls checking out the guys’ threads and dance moves. Mod ethos alive and well ! Luther Vandross, Bobby Brown, Alexander O’Neill, Teddy Pendergrass, Gap Band, Fatback Band were the sounds. The crowd would sing all the words to “I Found Loving”.

Hong Kong 1990’s

Joe Bananas (Wanchai) – very popular with expats and locals; hot, sweaty, mobbed, big fun !

It Club (Wanchai) – popular with Filipinos/as, famous for its 2 glass doors saying ITIT when looked at, but coming from other side said TITI which is a rude Filipino word. That word gave hours of fun !

Indonesia 1990’s:-

Jakarta – Tanamour Disco – amazing big industrial venue, lots of techno and fast ‘90’s disco (songs sometimes had x rated words ! One techno/disco song featured a US woman singer repeating the line “F*** My P***y”), a feature was naughty exhibitionist out-going ladies dancing on a high gantry/bridge dance floor, mini-skirts and sometimes no undies !! You could see everything right up from the main dance-floor ! Jakarta’s most famous, popular and outrageous disco (and sure-fire place to meet girls) – I think it still has its own website !

Hard Rock Café – Very popular – mobbed even. Everyone who wanted to be seen went there, expats and locals. Often people were dancing there earlier then moved on to Tanamour later.

Bandar Lampung, Sumatera – Kartika – the only regular disco in town, a busy place where local guys n' gals would go there but it was also where lonesome expats could pay for pleasant company to dance away the evening (I wasn’t allowed to by my wife !). The ladies were behind a glass screen and the gentlemen would pick their favourite number as pinned to each young lady’s dress. That arrangement was known as the Goldfish Bowl.

Surabaya – Desperados (at Shangri-La), the place to go at weekends. Mobbed by expats and locals and also working girls attracted by expats. Good live bands from NZ, Canada, US as well as disco. Great Mexican food, great cocktails and the hotel rooms an elevator ride away after a hard night’s jigging.

Philippines

Manila – despite the fact we have a house there, we have spent a fair number of holidays there etc, we’ve never danced in Manila (which has some good discos). My wife and I have danced however in escort/karaoke bars with dance floors as well as gay escort/karaoke bars with dance floors !

Batangas – The Ritz Club – basically a big ritzy revue club with lots of girls employed to sing, dance and also party with guests (for a fee). But you can go there too with your wife, hubby, g/f, b/f whatever. The owner was the mayor’s brother who our company was sooking up to. As a result, us expat managers were invited as free guests to the club's birthday parties, ensconced in the VIP room, young lady companions provided (my wife let me go to these and said I could look but don't touch ! I obeyed, because she has this amazing CSI-stle attention to detail and had I partaken, she would easily have smelled any minescule traces of other women's perfume or lipstick on me !)

That’s about it really. The old days !

[tig]

bloody hell fire.....you got about a bit eh

ive been in heaven and limelight...early 90s methinks during my rave days.
it wasnt really about pulling then, more about the music so it never bothered anyone if it was a gay club or not

[Lachlan09]

Originally Posted by tig

bloody hell fire.....you got about a bit eh

ive been in heaven and limelight...early 90s methinks during my rave days.
it wasnt really about pulling then, more about the music so it never bothered anyone if it was a gay club or not

Your post brought all back ! I really count my serious clubbing time as 1980-82 though, also the most enjoyable. Dancing every week. Like you say, the music and the dancing was the most important part (I was into the electronic new wave/new romantics sounds then), but when the chance to link up with nice young women arose (I was lucky and seemed to click somehow, I never knew why and didn't try to analyse it !), I was happy to dive in !! I loved the thrill of meeting someone new and the passion that could follow (at least that night or on a date ! LOL ! BTW they weren't slappers, they were really nice smart women - who wanted fun too). But I didn't want full-time g/f's then, no commitments, just fun - dancing and meeting women - very hedonistic. If I didn't meet someone that night, no probs, I still liked just the dancing A pal of mine, Bob, was a real lady-killer and he was asked "Do you take precautions ?" Bob said "Aye, I give them a false name !"

Alcohol wasn't so important either, in fact I didn't used to drink beer if going dancing, as it made me feel too bagged up. A glass of vodka or Southern Comfort/American Dry was more practical. I also never used drugs (not even speed or dexy's) even though I adopted parts of Mod, Rude Boy and New Romantic culture at different times, I found I had loads of natural adrenalin and energy for dancing, no drugs needed. It also kept me really slim !

BTW a Dutch friend/colleague of mine in the mid-late 1990's was seriously into techno/trance. As well as the UK etc trance, I think he was into the Belgian/Dutch techno/trance scene which I think had its own sound.