In 1958,[1] the first Whisky a Go Go in the United States opened in Chicago, Illinois, on the corner of Rush and Chestnut streets.[2][3][4] It has been called the first real American discothèque. A franchise was opened in 1966 on M Street in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C., by restaurateur Jacques Vivien.
It owes its name to the first discothèque, the Whisky à Gogo, (à gogo, meaning, in French, "in abundance", "galore"), established in Paris in 1947 by Paul Pacini (d. 2017),[5] which itself took the name from the movie Whisky Galore! based on the British novel Whisky Galore which was released in France as Whisky a Gogo.
The Sunset Strip Whisky was founded by Elmer Valentine, Phil Tanzini, Shelly Davis, and attorney Theodore Flier and opened on January 16, 1964.[6][7] In 1966, Valentine, Lou Adler, and others founded The Roxy Theatre.[7] In 1972, Valentine, Adler, Mario Maglieri and others started the Rainbow Bar & Grill on the Sunset Strip.[8] Lou Adler bought into the Whisky in the late 1970s. Valentine sold his interest in the Whisky a Go Go in the 1990s but retained an ownership in the Rainbow Bar & Grill and the Roxy Theatre until his death in December 2008.[7]
Although the club was billed as a discothèque, suggesting that it offered only recorded music, the Whisky a Go Go opened with a live band led by Johnny Rivers and DJ Rhonda Lane, spinning records between sets from a suspended cage at the right of the stage. The group Gypsy was the house band at the club from September 1969 to April 1971.
Early Whisky matchbox. Note the alphanumeric phone number and French style.
The Whisky a Go Go was one of the places that popularized go-go dancing. Elmer Valentine, in a 2006 Vanity Fair article, recalled arranging to have a female DJ play records between Rivers' sets so patrons could continue dancing. But because there was not enough room on the floor for a DJ booth, he had a glass-walled booth mounted high above the floor.[7][9] A contest was held for the female DJ job but when the young winner called Valentine on the night of the opening and tearfully said her mother forbade her from doing it, Valentine recruited the club's cigarette girl, Patty Brockhurst. Valentine quickly hired two more female dancers, one of whom, Joanna Labean, designed the official go-go-girl costume of fringed dress and white boots.[9]
Rivers rode the Whisky-born go-go craze to national fame with records recorded partly Live at the Whisky. In addition, The Miracles recorded the song "Going to a Go-Go" in 1966 (which was covered in 1982 by The Rolling Stones), and Whisky a Go Go franchises sprang up all over the country.[10] Arguably, the rock and roll scene in Los Angeles was born when the Whisky started operation; because of its status as a historic music landmark, the venue was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.[11]
The Whisky played an important role in many musical careers, especially for bands based in Southern California. The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Smokestack Lightnin', and Love were regulars, and The Doors were the house band for a while. Van Morrison's band Them had a two-week residency in June 1966, with The Doors as the opening act. On the last night they all jammed together on "Gloria." Frank Zappa's The Mothers of Invention got their record contract based on a performance at the Whisky. The Turtles performed there when their newest (and biggest-selling) single "Happy Together" was becoming a hit, only to lose their new bassist, Chip Douglas (who had arranged the song), to The Monkees; guitarist Michael Nesmith invited him to become their producer (he returned to the Turtles a year later, to produce them). Neil Diamond also played at the Whisky on occasion. Metallica bassist Cliff Burton was recruited by the band after they watched him play a show there with his band Trauma. At one point, singer and actress E.G. Daily had a residency at the Whisky. On February 15, 1977, the Ramones played for the first time on this stage.
The Whisky a Go Go in 2007
Arthur Lee of Love immortalized the Whisky in the song "Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale". "Here they always play my songs," he would sing on the side-two opener of Forever Changes. The Whisky was located on the strip between the streets Clark and Hilldale. British rockers Status Quo also referenced the venue in their 1978 song "Long Legged Linda" with the lines, "Well, if you're ever in Los Angeles and you've got time to spare / Take a stroll up Sunset Boulevard, you'll find the Whisky there." Loggins and Messina sang about the club in their tune "Whiskey", found on their 1972 album Loggins and Messina.
In 1966, the Whisky was one of the centers of what fans call the Sunset Strip police riots. In the mid-1970s, the Whisky hosted stage presentations, including the long-running show The Cycle Sluts. During the early 1990s, the Whisky hosted a number of Seattle-based musicians who would be a part of the grunge movement, including Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Melvins, Fitz of Depression and 7 Year Bitch.[12] Tracks recorded from a February 12, 1992 concert of Hole appear on their EP, Ask for It (1995). In 1994, Oasis played a controversial set at the Whisky, with frontman Liam Gallagher visibly intoxicated. Immediately following the gig, lead songwriter Noel Gallagher temporarily left the group out of frustration, fleeing to San Francisco, where he penned the song "Talk Tonight". In 1997, System of a Down played at the Whisky. The band were unsigned at the time, and played songs from their early demo tapes, in particular containing the band's only live performance of the song "Blue".
On September 12, 2016, Whisky a Go Go launched an official TV channel on the RokuConnected TV platform. The Whisky a Go Go channel opens the Whisky's doors to a global audience with live music videos, full concerts and related content spanning its 60-year history.[13]
Honors
A gene that codes for a subunit of a common potassium ion channel was named for the establishment in the 1960s by William D. Kaplan and William E. Trout. The human Ether-à-go-go-Related Gene (hERG) was so named because when Drosophila flies with mutations in the Ether-à-go-go gene are anaesthetised with ether, their legs start to shake, like the dancing at the Whisky a Go Go nightclub.[14]
The Sunset Strip is the 1.7-mile (2.7 km) stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California, United States. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western border with Beverly Hills at Phyllis Street. The Sunset Strip is known for its boutiques, restaurants, rock clubs, and nightclubs, as well as its array of huge, colorful billboards.
Johnny Rivers is an American musician. He achieved commercial success and popularity throughout the 1960s and 1970s as a singer and guitarist, characterized as a versatile and influential artist. Rivers is best known for his 1960s output, having popularized the mid-60s discotheque scene through his live rock and roll recordings at Los Angeles' Whiskey a Go Go nightclub, and later shifting to a more orchestral, soul-oriented sound during the latter half of the decade. These developments were reflected by his most notable string of hit singles between 1964 and 1968, many of them covers. They include "Memphis", "Mountain of Love", "The Seventh Son", "Secret Agent Man", "Poor Side of Town", "Baby I Need Your Lovin'", and "Summer Rain". Ultimately, Rivers landed 9 top ten hits and 17 top forty hits on US charts from 1964 to 1977.
The Roxy Theatre is a nightclub on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, owned by Lou Adler and his son, Nic.
Go-go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at nightclubs or other venues where music is played. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s at the French bar Whisky a Gogo, located in the town of Juan-les-Pins. The bar's name was taken from the French title of the Scottish comedy film Whisky Galore! The French bar then licensed its name to the West Hollywood rock club Whisky a Go Go, which opened in January 1964 and chose the name to reflect the already popular craze of go-go dancing. Many 1960s-era nightclub dancers wore short, fringed skirts and high boots which eventually came to be called go-go boots. Nightclub promoters in the mid‑1960s then conceived the idea of hiring women dressed in these outfits to entertain patrons.
A go-go bar is a type of business establishment where alcoholic drink is sold and dancers provide entertainment. The term go-go bar originally referred to a nightclub, bar, or similar establishment that featured go-go dancers; while some go-go bars in that original sense still exist, the link between its present uses and that original meaning is often more tenuous and regional. Speaking broadly, the term has been used by venues that cover a wide range of businesses, from nightclubs or discotheques, where dancers are essentially there to set the mood, to what are in essence burlesque theaters or strip clubs, where dancers are part of a show and the primary focus.
Elmer Valentine was the co-founder of three famous nightclubs on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California: the Whisky a Go Go, The Roxy Theatre and the Rainbow Bar & Grill.
The Rainbow Bar and Grill is a bar, restaurant and grocery store on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, United States, adjacent to the border of Beverly Hills, California. Its address is 9015 Sunset Boulevard.
Lester Louis Adler is an American record and film producer and the co-owner of the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California. Adler has produced and developed a number of high-profile musical artists, including The Grass Roots, Jan & Dean, The Mamas & the Papas, and Carole King. King's album Tapestry, produced by Adler, won the 1972 Grammy Award for Album of the Year and has been called one of the greatest pop albums of all time.
Live at the Whisky a Go-Go on the Fabulous Sunset Strip is the seventh album and first live album by American rock band X, released April 29, 1988 by Elektra Records. The album was recorded on December 13, 15 and 16 in 1987 at the Whisky a Go Go nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States.
The Starwood was a popular nightclub and music venue in West Hollywood, California from early 1973 to 1981. Many punk bands and heavy metal bands started their careers playing at the club. The Starwood was located on the northwest corner of Santa Monica Blvd. and Crescent Heights Blvd.
The London Fog was a 1960s nightclub located on the Sunset Strip in what was then unincorporated Los Angeles County, California. It is most notable for being the venue where The Doors had their first regular gigs for several months in early 1966 before becoming the house band at the nearby Whisky a Go Go.
Joel Larson is an American rock drummer and percussionist who is known as a founding member of The Merry-Go-Round and for being associated with The Turtles and The Grass Roots.
Gazzarri's was a nightclub on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California. The venue was a staple of the Los Angeles music scene from the 1960s until the early 1990s. The Doors and Van Halen were featured house bands there before being signed to major record labels. It was the backdrop for Huey Lewis and the News' short form promotional music video for their 1984 hit The Heart of Rock and Roll.
CHARLOTTE is an American hard rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1986. Currently, they are signed to indie label, Eonian Records, under which they released their debut cd, Medusa Groove, in 2010. Notable Charlotte songs include 'Siren', 'Little Devils', 'Medusa Groove', 'Miss Necrophilia' and 'Ocean Of Love and Mercy'. In 1987, Charlotte started playing on the famed Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, CA. They've played at The Roxy Theatre, The Whisky-a-Go-Go, and most recently The Cat Club in 2010, also on the Strip. They were both a headlining act and support act for the likes of Vixen, Ezo, and XYZ. The rock quintet disbanded in 1996, some members continuing to work in the music business, and reunited in 2009 after the deal with Eonian.
Cold Forty Three is an American pop and punk band from Los Angeles, California. The band consists of vocalist and guitarist Moises Cruz, vocalist and bass guitarist Joshua Cruz, and drummer Ricky James Acosta. With original lead guitarist Alex Sayes, the band achieved mild acknowledgement from participating in a local TV station in Los Angeles called fuse.
Cory Wells & The Enemys are best remembered as a group fronted by Cory Wells before he joined up with Danny Hutton and Chuck Negron to form Three Dog Night.
Pandora's Box was a nightclub and coffeehouse on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California. It was at the center of the Sunset Strip curfew riots in 1966.
Live at the Whisky a Go Go: The Complete Recordings is a live album by Otis Redding, recorded at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles, California, in 1966. Encompassing shorter previous releases, this digitally remixed edition includes all of Redding's performances from his three-night engagement at the venue. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Album Notes.
Mesner were an Irish indie band that grew to prominence in the 1990s, reaching the top of the Irish indie charts. The band's success elsewhere was muted till the mid-2000s when a new following emerged in the Los Angeles suburbs. The band consisted of Brendan McEvoy, Mark Alfred, Ger Ryan (Bass/Keyboards) and Siv.
Edward Donald Rubin was an American jazz and rock drummer, and composer. His repertoire included rock, jazz, pop, R&B, folk, and blues, although he had a preference for jazz drumming. Rubin is best known for his performances and recordings during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s with artists Neil Diamond, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Johnny Rivers, Dexter Gordon, Ornette Coleman, Paul Revere & The Raiders and Don Randi.
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