Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco
| Address | 7561 Sunset Boulevard Los Angeles, California United States |
|---|---|
| Type | Nightclub |
| Opened | 1972 |
| Closed | 1975 |
Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco was a widely noted Los Angeles nightclub at 7561 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip from late 1972 until early 1975. It catered to the glam rock movement.
In late 1971 music industry publicist Rodney Bingenheimer moved to London after becoming fed up with the American music industry. While in England he saw the birth of the glam rock movement and David Bowie suggested Bingenheimer open a glam club in Los Angeles. In October 1972 he and his record producer partner Tom Ayers opened the E Club on Sunset Boulevard. In late December they moved the club further down the strip to 7561 Sunset Boulevard with the new name, Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco. Kim Fowley later recalled, "The English Disco was more a public-toilet version of the E Club. The new location gave it the teenage stench it needed. Everybody had great hair and great make-up, and there were Lolita girls everywhere. People worked at it." It soon became the center of the new glitter rock movement in Los Angeles. Bowie's biography noted, "The crowd at the club ranged in age from twelve to fifteen... nymphet groupies were stars in their tight little world. Some dressed like Shirley Temple; others wore dominatrix outfits or 'Hollywood underwear,' a knee-length shirt, nylon stockings, and garter belts. These stargirls streaked their hair chartreuse and like to lift their skirts to display their bare crotches. As they danced they mimed fellatio and cunnilingus in tribute to David's onstage act of fellatio on Ronno's guitar."
Watney's Red Barrel beer imported from England was served on tap at the club, but the underaged groupies' favorite drink there was cherry cola. Sometimes the house DJ Chuck E Starr would perform a striptease down to a gold or silver lamé bikini.
In November 1973 writer Richard Cromelin reported, "Once inside, everybody's a star. The social rules are simple but rigid: All you want to hear is how fabulous you look, so you tell them how fabulous they look. You talk about how bored you are, coming here night after night, but that there’s no place else to go. If you're not jaded there's something wrong. It's good to come in very messed up on some kind of pills every once in a while, and weekend nights usually see at least one elaborate, tearful fight or breakdown. If you're 18 you're over the hill.
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