A RENEWED WAVE ON THE CLUB SCENE [excerpt]

By STEVE HOCHMAN
Los Angeles Times
January 29, 1989, Sunday, Home Edition

Copyright 1989 The Times Mirror Company

You hate to use a word like this too lightly, but it looks like a r-e-n-a-i-s-s-a-n-c-e might be starting in the local club scene -- at least the local funky, casual alternative music club scene.

"I don't know how or why, but it seems to be happening," said Jack Marquette, who is booking the shows for the newly reopened Al's Bar in downtown L.A., one of several new or revived clubs that has a stated commitment to cultivating an active local music and art community.

Other clubs include the Gaslight (a self-described "dive" in Hollywood that has flowered lately after a year of hosting rock and acoustic acts), King King (newly opened at 467 S. La Brea Ave.) and the soon-to-debut China Club (at the Argyle and Selma site of the punk-era Cathay De Grande).

Add to the list the always intriguing Lhasaland and the revitalized (i.e., enlarged capacity after hassles with the L.A. city fire authorities were finally resolved) Club Lingerie, and local club life definitely seems to be on the upswing. Marquette believes this sudden flurry of openings is largely coincidental -- Al's only recently corrected the fire law problems that had kept it shut for more than a year. But, he said, these clubs wouldn't be in business if the climate wasn't right.

"The new talent out there is exploding," he said, comparing the current atmosphere to that of the old punk/new wave days, which produced the likes of the Germs, X, the Blasters and the Go-Gos. "I don't see any distinct musical directions, but I see a lot of people groping for something. . . . It might be too soon to say, but I do feel a sense of grass-roots emergence like 10 years ago."

Gaslight manager Doug White has noticed the same thing. "Oh yes, definitely," he said. "There's much more of a community now than a year ago."

[later in the article:]

Cathouse proprietor Riki Rachtman has formed Heart of Chrome, a band featuring himself as lead vocalist. He's joined in the line-up by Jeff Johnson, former bassist of Nashville's Jason and the Scorchers.

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