Meet me baby down on 45th Street
The Nihilistics play the Peppermint Lounge
The Nihilistics had the good fortune to play a number of venues mentioned in now-classic songs (CBGB, Max’s Kansas City, Mudd Club) but only one club birthed a #1 Billboard hit and accompanying dance craze. New Jersey’s own Joey Dee and the Starliters – booked for a week that became a year – pushed Chubby Checker’s The Twist out of the number one spot and rode their modest success to not one but TWO schlocky movies. Not bad for some kids from Garfield. But let’s not forget: The Peppermint Lounge also brought us The Ronettes in the form of Ronnie and the Relatives, who were mistaken for the dancers meant to (Peppermint) twist behind The Starliters, hustled into the club and soon became a permanent act. The Nihilistics played the second iteration of the Peppermint Lounge after its “G.G. Barnum’s” phase. From Wikipedia:
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 Jim Fouratt and run by Frank Roccio and Tom Goodkind. The DJ was David Azarc. The club featured top international music acts from both alternative rock and the burgeoning hip hop scenes. Some of the regular featured acts were the Cramps, X, the Raybeats, 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".
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.
If the Peppermint Lounge moved downtown in 1982 it must’ve happened shortly after the April 4 gig shown above in a Village Voice ad. Which means we helped shutter YET another club. The evidence is in: the Nihilistics were not only death-obsessed, they were the death knell for NYC clubs hanging on by their fingernails.
I have almost no memory of playing the Peppermint Lounge, except for the nightmare involved with parking anywhere near 45th St. & Sixth Ave. to hump gear to the joint. Somebody out there has pictures, maybe a board recording or a video… who the fuck knows? After a recent conversation with Ron Rancid I’m hoping to arrange a visit to his extensive Nihilistics archives and do some more digging. And if you’re in the Cleveland area, the Nihilistics play No Class on Saturday, Nov. 4. And if you’re in the mood for schlock, here you go: Hey, Let's Twist and Two Tickets To Paris.