Heh, the long-live Zachary’s (still in business) that I mentioned above matches that nearly description nearly perfectly, except the adjacent chain pharmacy is a Rite-Aid, not a CVS, and there’s no free-standing Little Caesar’s in the strip, but it does have a chinese takeout and a pizzeria. The tanning salon is 3 stores down from Zachary’s )
I was going to respond to polar bear’s comment on the “recent” emergence of house/electronica/techno by stating I clearly remember dancing to L.A. Style’s “James Brown is Dead” at (suburban) Malibu Night Club in the early 1990s, about 2 decades ago (the crap you remember - I recall that around 1:00AM or so, they would play a set of techno in the ‘Punk’ section of Malibu, and that was my introduction to such music).
I didn’t mean to say the music is new to the US, it’s just that it hasn’t been that popular for a few decades; unlike in many places in Europe. Plenty of the big names, will point out how awesome it is that they are becoming more popular in the US, as it is the place where house originated (the last one I heard this say was Afrojack, I think).
I know exactly what you’re talking about. Probably because we are about the same age (if you are referrencing “James Brown is Dead”) and I also grew up within the broadcast radius of NYC’s 103.5 KTU.
In the 90s when I was in my early 20s, we used to go to places like Tuxedo Junction in Danbury, CT, The Ivy in Whereeverthefuck, NY and a bunch of other random spots I can’t remember the names of. They were usually big, isolated, and often broadcasting some “hip hop DJ house party remixxxx!” on the local dance station.
Sure, there is always a “club scene”. But I assume you are talking about this specific type of dance club that isn’t in an urban entertainment district or part of a Jersey Shore vacation scene. Like someone took a spring break nightclub and plopped it in the middle of an industrial park behind a strip mall in Paramus, NJ.
I don’t know. Electronic music has always seemed like it’s been on the verge of taking off for like the past 20 years. Every few months or years, there will be a new Moby, Fatboy Slim, Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, Paul Oakenfold, David Gutta, Deadmou5, Skrillix or whoever that’s supposed to usher it into the mainstream.
Probably I’m a bit older (46), as I was still clubbing rather late for my age group…
Think there was a club “Streets” in Westchester, late 1980s, that was like the only one I went to up there. I didn’t get into the Dance scene in Westchester, there were plenty of Long Island clubs around then. And our broadcast was on WDRE/WLIR - “LIR Saturday Night Dance party at the Malibu with the Mighty Maximizer!”
There were a few of those clubs. However, lots of clubs fronted on main streets but were abutted in the rear by housing, and I can see why they folded due to whiny NIMBY’s (oddly, a number of these still are among those still open); many were in strip malls as described above; A fair amount were stand-alone on commerical streets, surrounded by parking lots; and finally a number were somewhat isolated or in commercial/light industrial areas (like Cyberia), and these ones closing are the most perplexing to me - the area still lookslow-rent, no neighbors to complain, decent enough parking - why?!?
So far, the only real good lead to the die-off we have is increased vigilance against drunk driving (which isn’t that new- in the early 1990s 007 gave free Soda to the “designated driver”). There must be something else.
Dang, I like most of those bands/guys, didn’t realize how scene I really am :p. I predict Electronica will be the new music paradigm shortly after we achieve sustained energy-positive nuclear fusion (which is always only 10 years down the road)
Yeah, a lot of the stuff on pop radio sounds very close to dance club EDM. All it needs is some remixing (and often another singer and/or remove a couple verses) and I’d dance to it.
-More people using the internet for booty calls instead of trolling the clubs.
-Insurance costs too high. A lot of those clubs attract a certain “element”. Every so often you would hear about “stabbing at this place” or “drug bust at that place”. That’s got to raise premiums.
-Changing social trends. Dance music might be popular, but a lot of people don’t actually like to dance to it. Or they don’t want to be jammed packed into hot, sweaty nightclubs. There could be fewer suburban dance clubs for the same reason there are fewer “raves” and a lot more beer gardens in NYC. That’s just where people like to go.
-It isn’t actually fading. Those clubs come and go all the time. And I’m not really in the “meat market” club scene these days. So I really have no idea if there are any more or less of those places than there were 15 years ago.
Oh I’m sure you can find a Skrillix or Benny Benassi remix for most of that stuff.
I’ve never known any young people today “trolling for booty calls” via the internet, and if I was back in my 20’s today it would never occur to me to do the same. I would get all dolled up and go to a club with some girlfriends to have a drink, meet up with friends, maybe meet some new people, and, duh, dance. Not sit in my room looking for some hookup to screw me. Isn’t that the point of dance clubs? To do something fun with other people, have a good time, get out of the house? Maybe that got to be too much work, too much time, trouble and money, if the ultimate goal was to just meet another body so as to get laid. How sad.
In addition to drinking and driving laws, I know smoking is on the decline, but I know when the anti-smoking laws went into effect, regular bars if not nightclubs REALLY suffered. My neighbor is a bartender and he said two places he’d worked at for over a decade both closed within a year because the regulars who smoked simply stayed home.
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