The loft

Legendary NY Nightclub: Better Days

Better Days was a New York dance club which opened in the 1972 and closed in 1988. Re-opened and closed again in 1990 or 1991. It was located on West 49th Street. DJs Bert, Tee Scott, Bruce Forest, Francois Kevorkian, Kenny Carpenter, Larry Patterson, Shep Pettibone, and others played to a loyal, attitudeless black black crowd over a period of more than 15 years. Bruce Forest was the house DJ at Better Days from 1981 to 1988. Bruce Forest helped Shep, Dave […]

August 8, 2024 19

House History

DJ Tee Scott: Candy Store & Better Days

Let's go back before our most memorable dee-jays, Larry Levan, Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy. Before our most memorable clubs, the Garage (NYC), Warehouse (Orig Chicago) and Music Box (Chicago). There was another lost but not forgotten jock, a foundation upon which many others have built careers without even knowing it; DJ Tee Scott. If you are a true dee-jay and not a record spinner like so many today, if […]

August 8, 2024 11

DJ Interviews

Bruce Forest brought Better Days

Bruce Forest’s long residency at midtown Black gay club Better Days is one of clubland’s more unlikely stories. Forest was the white middle class kid who won over the hearts and feet of a tough New York crowd who didn’t take kindly to an impertinent upstart replacing their beloved Tee Scott. He eventually won them over and stayed until it shut down in 1988. Thanks to his fascination for […]

August 8, 2024 14

House History

David Mancuso Residence / The Loft

"The crowd was a rich mix of classes, colors, and sexual tastes with two key things in common: they were hard-core dancers and they were utterly devoted to the Loft. Their high spirits preserved the Loft’s house party atmosphere and helped establish its reputation." Vince Aletti, Village Voice, 1975 The Loft, the name anointed by attendees, was an invitation-only, private house party held weekly on Saturday nights from midnight […]

August 7, 2024 6

DJ Interviews

Interview: Timmy Regisford

"I started out at 14 years old. Somebody took me to the Paradise Garage. People were dancing and it wasn’t called house music then, it was just called club music or Disco. That was my introduction and my love just started" Timmy Regisford- There’s not many who can boast such a colourful career in the music industry as the legendary Timmy Regisford. From his early experiences at New York’s […]

August 7, 2024 10

DJ Interviews

Nicky Siano

No summary of New York City’s dance music history would be complete without Nicky Siano. As the owner and resident DJ at the Gallery, Nicky was electrified by a visit to the Loft and became hooked on New York’s emerging club culture of the ’70s. As a DJ, Siano pioneered techniques such as beatmatching, EQing, and using three turntables, creating the proto-disco sound via his preferred funky soul and R&B […]

August 6, 2024 3

DJ Interviews

Interview: David Mancuso

On November 14th, 2016, David Mancuso passed away at the age of 72. As the founder of The Loft, a party he organized in his own private New York City loft beginning in 1970, Mancuso was a true pioneer, a founding father of dance music both sonically and emotionally. Mancuso had a titanic influence in shaping core values of dance music that are now taken for granted, everything from an […]

August 6, 2024 5

House History

A Look Inside the Hi-Fi Equipment behind Paradise Garage

Introducing Soundsystems, an in-focus feature series on the Hi-Fi equipment of the past, and the notorious clubs and DJ’s that used them. The sound system at the historic NYC discotheque Paradise Garage revolutionized the nightlife experience. It spawned the era of dancing rather than talking. Its DJs, most notably Larry Levan, became centers of attention whose influence sparked the rise and eventual takeover of Disco. And the sound system was […]

August 6, 2024 4

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