Kisi Disco Mein Jaayein ....!!!

Park Street in Kolkata is synonymous with nightlife and dining … and opulence. It’s still the place for the most happening nightlife and nostalgia for those who grew up during the?Licence Raj era.?Waterholes like Kewpie, Tantra, Peter Cat, Trinca, Moulin Rouge … and of course, the first nightclub in India – Mocambo.?

Started in 1956, this was the place where it all started along with the East India Company … European décor & food, singing and dancing and of course the destination for the who’s who of Kolkata to be seen at. Years passed, the Commies came and stopped the dancing and music.?So Mocambo it is … Yes, that was the first nightclub (In those days, popularly know as "Discos" in India).?

Two things that were beyond the reach of the common man during the 80s were (a) An entry into black tinted air-conditioned coaches of Indian Railways (b) An entry into one of the nightclubs. As an adolescent, I was always mighty curious to know what lies behind that darkness.?

While Bombay was brewing the pub culture famous among the dock workers in those days, the discos quickly caught up with the pace. It was April 1980 when Mumbai (then Bombay) was gearing up for massive transformations,?and leading the charge was this tiny, members-only nightclub?called Studio 29 that came a little ahead of its time! Sound systems, turntables, lighting equipment, and the quintessential big disco ball had been imported from England. Sabira Merchant, the brain behind this project had undying?willpower to gift India its first discotheque and help people move over the typical idea of dancing with the orchestra in the background. Scarlet walls, scintillating curtains, velvet chairs, and Monroe memorabilia,?Studio 29?indeed took the party scenes in Mumbai a notch higher! Foreign DJs used to play chartbuster songs from disco, rock, and heavy metal, and the nightclub became a huge hit with the kind of love and swarming footfall it started garnering.

Night clubs transformed both the music and musicians. As Farrokh Bulsara became Freddie Mercury,?so did the flavour of nightclub kind of music.?The nocturnal topography of Maximum?City?began?shining with the tunes ' shiny disco balls".?

My memory traces back to "Sheetal again",?one of the primitive "clubs" (not night clubs ) somewhere near Bandra. This was more of a hang out-cum-dance floor. Then came "Camp" adjacent to it. The vibe changed by the time Hotel Ramee International opened one of the first "day time discos" in Mumbai called "Madness".?This paved way to attract college goers and teenagers, who would escape their parent's vigilant eyes and steal some?'us'?time to let their hair down. Thereafter,?the day time dance floors somersaulted overnight and gave birth to?the?"Night Club".

There was something very peculiar about these nightclubs then.?Each one of them carried their signature vibe and tribe.?"Three flights?Up" behind Taj Mahal Hotel, "Earthquake"?near Tardeo,?Cope -Cabana near?Marine?Drive, were meant?for townies and essentially played?English numbers,?and as we move?North,?Razzberry?Rhinocerous, J49 and Poison in Bandra were better known for their Bollywood numbers.?And those who didn't know J49 stood for "Juhu Pin Code 49". Phrases like Cover charges was in vouge and Pub Hoppin was something that defined our weekends. These nightclubs apparently had some "Setting" with the local cops which allowed them to operate from dusk until dawn. And on some rare occasion,?if the Cops had to shut down the club, the crowd would then float around at Juhu Beach.?

Bollywood numbers would be in a nail-biting competition to?Western?Pop and?House?Music. Thanks to pioneers like Gudas Mann, Steven Kapoor (Apache Indian), Alisha Chinai?and Baba Sehgal.?DJing spun up as a new profession among many aspiring youths. As few made it big names (Akbar Sami, DJ Akthar)The food menus shrunk and liquor menus looked fancier with tongue twister names. Music became the new mantra.?The audio digital revolution kept up with the pace with ever-growing demands from LD players, DVDs to Vinyle Discs. Dr Manmonhan singh's liberalisation got a new meaning among the youth of the city.

And then Dec 6th happened. Things came to a grinding halt. The clubs were quite handicapped to open beyond midnight. The teenagers of "madness" were now corporate office goers. House Music Paved way for EDMs to suit the appetite of millennials. "Dead Mou5e" no longer denoted a dead rodent.?

Fastforward to today, those day-time socials teen are now middle-aged and reminiscence fondly of those times when they became the pioneers of disc patronage and when Saturday nights meant dance and drink till you drop!