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The Cathay de Grande was a Chinese restaurant[1] and nightclub in Hollywood that featured mostly punk rock bands but also other styles of underground/alternative rock in the 1980s.[2] It was almost as well known for rockabilly, cowpunk, the Paisley Underground bands, and the beginning of the garage rock revival.
| Address | 1600 Argyle Ave. Los Angeles USA |
|---|---|
| Opened | 1973 |
| Closed | 1985 |
History
Under the ownership of Jack Chin, the Cathay de Grande restaurant and its underground basement nightclub opened in December 1973, serving Mandarin cuisine.[3][4]
Notable acts
Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs played every Monday night for three years. Violent Psychosis joined every Thursday.
Red Hot Chili Peppers performed their very first show under that band name at the Cathay after going by the name Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem for their two previous performances at another Hollywood club. They would play the Cathay a few times during their first tour in 1983 and once in 1984.
Other bands who frequently played the Cathay included The Minutemen, Bad Religion, Tex and the Horseheads, Geza X and the Mommymen, Dr. Know, The WILD, Entropy,[5] along with regulars from Orange County Social Distortion, T.S.O.L., The Vandals, Agent Orange and Love Canal. The Knitters played their first gig at the Cathay. The Cathay was dubbed by one newspaper in 1984 as "The most dangerous club in America".[citation needed]
In 1983, The Mentors released an album entitled Live at the Whisky A Go-Go/Cathay De Grande" which consisted of two live shows, one recorded at the Whisky a Go Go and the other at the Cathay de Grande.
Closure and legacy
Due to problems with neighbors, violence caused in part by punk gangs such as the LADS gang, Suicidal Tendencies, FFF and HRP, and legal problems related to business conflicts, the Cathay de Grande closed in 1985 with Violent Psychosis, The Mentors with El Duce, and Circle Jerks performing the farewell show. Shortly before, Danny "Dobbs" Wilson, a booker at the Cathay de Grande, started Raji's a block to the north on Hollywood Boulevard.
In the song "The Desperation´s Gone" from the NOFX album So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes, Fat Mike sings "Cathay de I miss your smell".
In 2014 a nightclub featuring craft cocktails called The Argyle opened at the location.
Notes
- ^ "Latest New Wave of Music Finds Finds Cozy Home in LA Nightclub". Oakland Tribune via Newspapers.com. May 21, 1981. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
- ^ "La Dee Da on the Streets". LA Weekly via Newspapers.com. July 9, 1981. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
- ^ "Advertisement". The Los Angeles Times via Newspapers.com. December 1, 1973. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
- ^ "An Oriental Adventure". Valley News via Newspapers.com. February 15, 1974. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
- ^ David M. Hinnebusch. "Los Angeles Entropy ARCHIVE". Retrieved 21 March 2015.