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Location | 6th Avenue and West 9th Street, New York City, New York, U.S. |
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Coordinates | 40°44′03″N73°59′56″W / 40.734043°N 73.999025°W |
Type | Nightclub |
Event(s) | Rock and roll, rock music |
Opened | late 1950s |
Closed | 1980s |
Trude Heller's was a nightclub in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City and located at 6th Avenue and West 9th Street and operated from the early 1960s to the early 1980s. [1] It has been described as the only truly "in" spot in Greenwich Village. [2] Some of the acts that got their starts there were Duane and Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers, Cyndi Lauper, [3] and The Manhattan Transfer. [4]
The club began its days in the early 1960s as a swinging Greenwich Village discothèque, run by a tough entrepreneur named Trude Heller.
In the 1960s, go-go dancers could be seen dancing along the walls. Some of the people that danced on the floor there were Salvador Dalí, George Hamilton and Lynda Bird Johnson. [5]
The end of the disco craze in the early 1980s spelled the end of the club. [6] Nowadays, Lenny's sandwich chain is in the premises. [7]
Two of the house bands there were Barry and the Remains [8] and Benny Gordon and the Soul Brothers. [9] Some of the headlining acts were Ben E. King, Otis Redding, and Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. [10]
Other acts who appeared there include The Lovin' Spoonful, who played, rushed off to perform on television on the The Ed Sullivan Show and returned; the Beastie Boys in their early days; [11] Frankie Paris and the Purple Haze; [12] Funk Steady; [13] Goldie and the Gingerbreads (featuring Genya Ravan); [14] The Scoundrels; [15] Artie Stewart; [16] and Marion Taylor and the Reggie Moore Trio. [17] Jazz singer Anita O'Day and jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal also appeared there.