My Life in the Paradise Garage: Keep on Dancin'

Rating:
Summary: A Life witnessing cultural history unfold
Review: Mr. Cheren's book has brought the much-needed meaning to a period in my life that others had snootily regarded as an insignificant episode in an aberrant 'moment' in our cultural history. As Mel Cheren's book describes it was indeed a glorious albeit decadent time whose carefree spirit came crashing down with the onset of the AIDS epidemic. The decade which ran from mid to late Seventies to the Mid to late Eighties saw the flowering of the seemingly shortlived Disco culture. It sprouted first among the Gays and Blacks and slowly gained popularity and mainstream exposure. The music of those years will live on in our memories and especially in the fond nurture of those that survived it. Throughout much of that memorable time my most vivid recollections hark back to my ultimate favorite hangout and in my mind the best of the dance emporiums: The Paradise Garage. As a participant and "observer" of many Saturday nights there, I often wax nostalgic about it and wish that I could even now go to such a place. That's metaphysically impossible as it is a different time altogether. I try to tell youngsters of the place and how there isn't and has never been anything like it since. I feel like an ancient describing a mythical place, a legendary time. Mr. Cheren's book is a God-send, for in its pages at last is immortalized the place, its members and its zeitgeist.
It is an engaging tale, fondly nostalgic and sometimes tragic. My initial attraction to the book was its depiction of the era that I feel has heretofore not been properly represented. Not only was I enthralled on that account, but I was fascinated by Mr. Cheren's personal life story and his involvement in the popular music industry. It also traces the history of the Rock and Roll era all the way up to the demise of the Disco Era just after the sad swan song of the inimitable Larry Levan's innovative House Music mixes, born there at the Paradise Garage! The story about the owner's ultimately lonely and sad destiny and the treacherous chicanery of those that surrounded him as sycophants and leeches kept me turning the pages (shocked to learn what went on behind the scenes!) I only saw them occasionally and even so as acquaintances of acquaintances. I feel it is the stuff of thrilling screenplays and the intrigues are retold by one who was present and in the mix. As an account of the AIDS epidemic it is a heartwrenching work. I too have sadly lost many of the friends and acquaintances that populated that time in my life. But they're still very much there, very much alive at that place in time and that was reassuring to know. Please have Mr. Cheren know how grateful I am for his work and that the anecdote about the fate of the hanging sign over the King Street entrance with it's fabulous logo brought a tear to my eye.
I hope all who partook of the New York Gay scene, The House Music explosion and the After Hours Dance Club craze of that time treat themselves to this unforgettable revisit to a time they will be reconvinced was indeed more important than they recall.

Rating:
Summary: A Life witnessing cultural history unfold
Review: Mr. Cheren's book has brought the much-needed meaning to a period in my life that others had snootily regarded as an insignificant episode in an aberrant 'moment' in our cultural history. As Mel Cheren's book describes it was indeed a glorious albeit decadent time whose carefree spirit came crashing down with the onset of the AIDS epidemic. The decade which ran from mid to late Seventies to the Mid to late Eighties saw the flowering of the seemingly shortlived Disco culture. It sprouted first among the Gays and Blacks and slowly gained popularity and mainstream exposure. The music of those years will live on in our memories and especially in the fond nurture of those that survived it. Throughout much of that memorable time my most vivid recollections hark back to my ultimate favorite hangout and in my mind the best of the dance emporiums: The Paradise Garage. As a participant and "observer" of many Saturday nights there, I often wax nostalgic about it and wish that I could even now go to such a place. That's metaphysically impossible as it is a different time altogether. I try to tell youngsters of the place and how there isn't and has never been anything like it since. I feel like an ancient describing a mythical place, a legendary time. Mr. Cheren's book is a God-send, for in its pages at last is immortalized the place, its members and its zeitgeist.
It is an engaging tale, fondly nostalgic and sometimes tragic. My initial attraction to the book was its depiction of the era that I feel has heretofore not been properly represented. Not only was I enthralled on that account, but I was fascinated by Mr. Cheren's personal life story and his involvement in the popular music industry. It also traces the history of the Rock and Roll era all the way up to the demise of the Disco Era just after the sad swan song of the inimitable Larry Levan's innovative House Music mixes, born there at the Paradise Garage! The story about the owner's ultimately lonely and sad destiny and the treacherous chicanery of those that surrounded him as sycophants and leeches kept me turning the pages (shocked to learn what went on behind the scenes!) I only saw them occasionally and even so as acquaintances of acquaintances. I feel it is the stuff of thrilling screenplays and the intrigues are retold by one who was present and in the mix. As an account of the AIDS epidemic it is a heartwrenching work. I too have sadly lost many of the friends and acquaintances that populated that time in my life. But they're still very much there, very much alive at that place in time and that was reassuring to know. Please have Mr. Cheren know how grateful I am for his work and that the anecdote about the fate of the hanging sign over the King Street entrance with it's fabulous logo brought a tear to my eye.
I hope all who partook of the New York Gay scene, The House Music explosion and the After Hours Dance Club craze of that time treat themselves to this unforgettable revisit to a time they will be reconvinced was indeed more important than they recall.