L'Amour was a music venue in Brooklyn, New York, run by Mike and George Parente (along with Frank Failace sr. and John Zampetti). L'Amour opened as a disco club in 1978, transformed into a rock club in 1981 and closed in February 2004 after several attempts to regain the glory days of 81-91 with smaller capacity rooms.[1] It was promoted as the "Rock Capital of Brooklyn". Commonly pronounced "La-Morz" by patrons,[2] the venue hosted many of hard rock and heavy metal's biggest artists, including Iron Maiden, Type O Negative, Kiss, Megadeth and Metallica, as well as frequently featuring underground bands from across the country and across the globe. The original L'Amour in Brooklyn remained a relevant part of the rock-metal scene for almost 25 years.
L'Amour spawned two spinoff rock clubs in the mid-1980s: L'Amour East in Queens and L'Amour Far East on Long Island.
L'Amour East (also known as “The Edge” for some years) (DNZ Korean supermarket, currently), located on Queens Boulevard (77-00, specifically) in Elmhurst, Queens (Newtown, formerly), south Queens, New York City, NY 11373, existed for several years (circa 1983–1988), riding the coattails of the Brooklyn club's fame. The Queens club not only showcased rock performers and some of the top glam metal bands of the era, but as a dance club, also hosted many freestyle music acts. From October 21st, 1984 on, the club was not affiliated with the Brooklyn venue.
L'Amour Far East, situated in Commack on Long Island, folded soon after its 1987 opening. The club was never affiliated with the Brooklyn venue.
A new L'Amour existed in Staten Island from April 2006 to December 2009, dubbing itself the "Rock Capitol of Staten Island" (three of the Brooklyn owners were involved).[3][4]
Paramount Theatre
The historic Paramount Theatre in Staten Island, which opened as a cinema in 1930, was converted to a rock venue in 1980, operated by the owners of L'Amour. The club enjoyed success for several years, hosting bands like Venom, Metallica, the Rods and Vandenberg during 1982 and 1983. When the Paramount closed after several years, the owners opened L'Amour East.[5][6][7]
A 2017 article about the property states that it was used as a location for concerts for a short time but closed in 1980. Some restoration was started after 2008 but was halted; it restarted again in 2016. Some scenes for movies were filmed here. The plan was to "turn it into a restaurant, catering hall, and events venue".[8] A 2018 report added that the restoration was still far from being completed at that time.[9]
Mike Pace, a disco DJ who stayed with the venue until early 1983 when he opened up a rival nightclub called The Brooklyn Zoo. Pace recommended another disco DJ in Alex Kayne (who helped him with the "metal" programming that Pace was not familiar with) to take over his duties when he quit.
Alex Kayne, a Brooklyn native came to L'Amour in 1979 as a regular, began as resident DJ there from 1982-1984, and subsequently deejayed there on and off until the venue closed. He was the venue's original metal DJ, and its first VJ,. Kayne also worked at L'Amour East, and was the only resident DJ at the Staten Island L'Amour. Noting his influence, Metal Hammer said that Kayne "played a big part in breaking American and European metal bands".[10] Kayne continues working the U.S. club and concert venue scene.[11] and runs the internet radio station The Slaughterhouse
Chuck Kaye was known as "The Roar of L'Amour" as nicknamed by Mike Tramp of multi-platinum act White Lion in 1987 due to his command of the microphone and aggressive personality. Kaye was the house DJ/VJ/MC/Host at L'Amour from October 1984 to November 1988, when the owners replaced Kayne/Rokstaar. Prior to that he was DJ/VJ at L'Amour East until the owners wanted him in the legendary Brooklyn club instead. He was the DJ most remembered for his 1980s influence and appearances on radio stations 92.3 WXRK (KRock) in NYC and WSOU in NJ, national magazines Details, Faces, Hit Parader, New Yorker and others, industry trade papers Billboard, Concrete Foundations, The Hard Report and others, MTV, VH1, etc. He also was booker, promoter and MC. He recently came on Facebook to tell the true stories of the L'Amour metal scene with lengthy post on behind the scenes stories with bands like (Iron Maiden, W.A.S.P., Slayer, Megadeth, White Lion, Overkill, Cheap Trick, etc.), the excess partying and why he quit. After he quit, various DJ's split the duties until the original club closed 2 years later. In 1988, Details dubbed him "Mr. Personality" in a long article on the metal scene and who influenced it, citing Chuck as "the guy the kids related to".[12][13] Chuck has been paid tribute by various notables: * Chuck Kaye sounded like a rocket taking off or a hungry lion. One night, I belted out "there he goes again, The Roar of L'Amour" and it stuck. - Mike Tramp (White Lion) * Chuck Kaye was the heart and soul of metal at L'Amour. - John Connolly (Nuclear Assault) * Chuck Kaye goes down in history. I think anybody that ever played L'Amour knows who Chuck is. - Steve Brown (Trixter) * Chuck Kaye was an institution, he was probably more well-known than many of the bands. - Sid Falck (Overkill) * When you thought of L'Amour, you thought of Chuck Kaye. - Shane (Law and Order) * Anybody who hung out at L’Amour knew when Chuck Kaye started talking, it was time to pay attention. Chuck truly was the voice of L'Amour. - Danny Schuler (Biohazard) * Chuck Kaye's booth was a snipers nest. He had a great sense of what the crowds wanted. - Greg D'Angelo (White Lion) * When it comes to L'Amour, there was one voice, 'The Roar of L'Amour' - Chuck Kaye. - Metal Joe (Old Bridge Militia) * Chuck Kaye was the CAPTAIN of our team at L'Amour.- Frank Failace Jr. (L'Amour Mgmt). During Kaye's tenure, he had various back-up DJ's including DJ Alex Kayne, Michel Gutman (see below), Ken Kriete, who later went on to manage L'Amour after Chuck left and his main back-up in WSOU's David Gizzo (who by 1987 worked as DJ when Chuck promoted and hosted events as part of his AYI Entertainment brand). Chuck Kaye is now retired and currently disabled with a dire heart condition. A website called 'The Roar of L'Amour', opened on January 5th, 2026 that pays tribute to Chuck Kaye, L'Amour and the classic era.
Tony (Bones) Mecha. After Chuck Kaye quit in November of 1989, L'Amour tried a rotating crop of DJ's including Ken Kriete (who went on to manage/book), Alex Kayne, Steve Aprea of WSOU, (Kid) Dom Deluca (MTV) and eventually settled on Mecha. Mecha was the regular DJ the last year of the original club's existence and was hired when the club re-opened in the 90's with a much smaller capacity.
Jo Roxstaar (billed as DJ JoRoxstaar!), was given the job of DJ for L'Amour East in Queens by DJ Alex Kayne after he left East. Prior to that Jo worked the VJ position at L'Amour in Brooklyn. Jo had worked alongside Alex Kayne at L'Amour in Brooklyn and later went on to DJ at the Cat Club in Manhattan, (handing the DJing gig at L'Amour East to Alex Rude, who spun for about one year) followed by DJ Taso.
Michel Gutman was L'Amour Far East's only DJ (after the opening night, when WBAB's Fingers hosted the show), spinning a mixture of all types of metal and hard rock. Michel was originally hired by Chuck Kaye in 1985 to be his back-up DJ in Brooklyn and held that position until he left to work at Far East.
Prominent Security/Bouncers
Frank Failace Sr. Co-owner and head of security. Failace was security at the legendary Copacabana (nightclub) on West 51st in Manhattan. He was instrumental in opening L'Amour in 1978 as a disco and stayed with the venue for decades. He was head security and hired all the bouncers/security and oversaw that aspect of the venue. Known for being gritty, no nonsense and fair, Failace eventually brought his two sons (Frank Jr. and Michael) into the venue with both eventually co-managing the club on "AYI Entertainment" promoted nights alongside DJ/VJ/MC/Host/Promoter Chuck Kaye. [14]
Big Sal Valvo. Valvo was born in Brooklyn, but resided in Staten Island for decades until he passed in 2008. Sal first came to Failace attention when he was head of security for Twisted Sister and they played the venue. Valvo worked there from 83 to 87, with some months away while touring with various acts including Twisted Sister. Known for his threatening presence, Valvo was known for being a "cooler", who would stop incidents, just being there. [15]
James Gheida. A Brooklyn native who was security and promoter at the legendary 2001 Odyssey on 64th St. in Brooklyn. The Odyssey was famous for being the disco in the 1978 film Saturday Night Fever. Gheida brought various rock bands to the Odyssey and eventually convinced L'Amour to do the same in 1981 and was hired to do security at L'Amour. Famous for his long Indian like hair a big moustache, Gheida worked on/off at L'Amour and their various off-shoot venues for decades. Gheida received national press when he was accused and later acquitted for the "moshing death" of a patron in 1994. [16]
Big Joe Larsen. A Staten Island native and known member of "The South Beach Sickies" of South Beach, Staten Island [17]. Larsen came to L'Amour in 1986 and was introduced to DJ/VJ/MC/Host/Promoter Chuck Kaye and when owner Frank Failace saw his size, he immediately hired him. Larsen worked steadily until 1990 and then returned when the venue re-opened a few years later with a much smaller capacity. In the mid 90's, Larsen went on the road with Warner Brothers/Roadrunner recording artist Biohazard (band).
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