Peppermint Lounge

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Coordinates: 40°45′26″N 73°59′0″W / 40.75722°N 73.98333°W / 40.75722; -73.98333
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The Peppermint Lounge was a popular

discotheque located at 128 West 45th Street in New York City that was open from 1958 to 1965, although a new one was opened in 1980. It was the launchpad for the global Twist craze in the early 1960s. Many claim The Peppermint Lounge was also where go-go dancing originated, although this claim is subject to dispute.[1][failed verification
]

Original Peppermint Lounge

The Peppermint Lounge opened in 1958 at 128 West 45th Street in Manhattan. It had a lengthy mahogany bar running along one side, many mirrors and a dance floor at the back, a capacity of just 178 people, and a gay clientele.[2]

As the Twist craze hit in 1960–1961, celebrities swarmed into the Peppermint Lounge –

Miami Beach. The proprietor Ralph Saggese appeared as a contestant on What's My Line?
in 1961.

During 1961,

Shout – Part I
". Other albums released during this time were Doin' the Twist at the Peppermint Lounge, which was recorded live at the venue, and All the World's Twistin' with Joey Dee & the Starliters.

The Beatles were filmed visiting the club during their first U.S. visit in 1964.[4]

Artists who performed at the Peppermint Lounge include the Beach Boys, the Ronettes (who made their professional debut here in 1961), the Crystals, the Isley Brothers, Chubby Checker, the Younger Brothers, Liza Minnelli and the Four Seasons. In the mid‑1960s, the house band was the Wild Ones. The Denos, a traveling roadhouse band, were another featured act. Members of the Starliters later went on to form the Young Rascals.

Both the NYC and Miami clubs were sold in 1965. The New York club was run by Genovese crime family captain Matty "The Horse" Ianniello, who managed numerous gay bars and strip clubs in Manhattan. It closed when it lost its liquor license on December 28, 1965.[5]

Hollywood

The 128 West 45th Street venue reopened as a gay bar called "Hollywood", most notable for the 1970s DJ residency of Richie Kaczor, who went on to great success at Studio 54.[6]

G. G. Barnum's Room

The 45th Street space reopened as G. G. Barnum's Room on July 20, 1978, and continued until November 1980.

homosexuals
. The "G.G." was a reference to the Ianniello-owned Gilded Grape located at 719 8th Avenue, a notorious gay bar which operated from the early 1970s until 1977.

Second Peppermint Lounge

In November 1980, after G. G. Barnum's closed, the Peppermint Lounge name was revived for a new music night club sparked by Rudolf Pieper and

the Go-Gos, Duran Duran, Marshall Crenshaw, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Big Country, Billy Idol, Afrika Bambaataa, the Bangles, the Waitresses and Joan Jett. VIP guests such as Mick Jagger and David Bowie added to the club's cachet. In March 1981, Yoko Ono visited the club in one of her first public appearances after the death of John Lennon, personally delivering a copy of their last single, "Walking on Thin Ice".[10]

In 1982, the Peppermint Lounge moved downtown to 100 5th Avenue. It closed in 1985. The building at 128 West 45th Street was torn down in the mid-1980s.

Racketeering case

In 1986, Judge

topless bar called the Mardi Gras, all in Manhattan) secretly owned by Ianniello, his business partner Benjamin Cohen and seven associates.[11]

References

  1. ^ "Showtime! The 10 Greatest Rock Venues of All Time". .gibson.com. 1962-07-12. Archived from the original on 2014-02-20. Retrieved 2014-07-30.
  2. ISBN 978-0-8021-3688-6
    .
  3. ^ Wolcott, James (November 2007). "A Twist in Time". Vanity Fair. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
  4. ^ "The Beatles at The Peppermint Lounge". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2014-07-30.
  5. ^ "Peppermint Lounge Goes Dark; May Lose Liquor Permit Today". New York Times. December 26, 1965. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
  6. ISBN 978-0-8021-3688-6
    .
  7. ^ History of Gay Clubs in New York, with pictures of the outsides of the clubs:
  8. ^ Miezitis, Vida Night Dancin' New York:1980 Ballantine (Photography by Bill Bernstein) "G. G. Barnum's Room" Pages 94-102--Has pictures of male go-go dancers go-go dancing on trapezes above a net over the dance floor
  9. OCLC 972429558
    .
  10. ISBN 9780312581787
    . Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  11. ^ "Ianniello Is Sentenced In Racketeering Trial". The New York Times. February 16, 1986.

External links

40°45′26″N 73°59′0″W / 40.75722°N 73.98333°W / 40.75722; -73.98333

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