Disco Nights
I saw in the paper yesterday that the disco LP45 in Ordes has closed. The owners are converting the locale into a television set. Another one has bitten the dust and the memories of youth. Shortly after I arrived here, I would go out Saturday nights with a cousin and a friend or two. Some Saturday evenings in summer we would drive north, to Ordes. My cousin at that time had a boyfriend in that town, where she studied at a vocational school during the winter.
The disco was large, with a central dance floor, and bars on the first floor and the second. There was also a nice darkened seating area on the second floor. They had good music. But, back then, at the beginning of the 90's, most discos had good music. Those were days to dance. Most places had a mix of all the most popular songs. Queen, R.E.M., Tears for Fears, Alejandro Sanz, Mecano, OBK, U2, and so many others. Electronic music was beginning then but hadn't yet taken over, and you could even sing along with the lyrics on some songs, as you jumped and gyrated and tried not to knock anyone over.
There was also the small break around one or two in the morning, with between ten and fifteen minutes of slow songs. Every disco back then had that break. As soon as the lights went even lower, and the strobe turned off, with just occasional lights sweeping the dance floor, the love ballads came on. If you had a partner, you would spend the time with him, swaying to the different slow songs. If not, you waited by the floor until someone came by and asked you for a dance. The edges of the dance floor were the perfect pick-up spot. If you weren't interested, this was when you got a drink to cool off and sat down to gather more energy to dance again when the beat came back on.
LP45 had a specialty drink that only they knew how to mix well. I remember it involved Drambuie, Ballantine's whiskey, and Bailey's Irish Cream with plenty of ice. The nights I drove the car, I would only drink one at the beginning of the night and then dance it off. Every time we went to Ordes I took advantage of the opportunity to drink it. Yes, I have a sweet tooth.
Drinks were cheaper for women than for men. Even the tickets to get in were cheaper for the fairer sex. My husband says they did it so there would be more women to therefore attract the men. Chauvinism, yes, but it saved me money. It cost women maybe 300 pesetas, while men paid 500. With the ticket, you had one free drink. Drinks back then cost from around 200 to 500 pesetas. (The final exchange rate to change pesetas into euros made 500 pesetas the equivalent of 3 euros, or around $3.80.) The different combined alcoholic drinks were all usually called cubatas, and were generally unsophisticated. The specialty drink at LP45 was the most complicated one I've encountered. There were those who kept to their rum and Coke, others who drank gin and lemon-flavoured Kas, and the diehards of vodka and orange Fanta.
When we didn't go out to Ordes, we generally went to Boiro. There were a large number of discos there once upon a time. I visited three of them. They've all since closed. One closed before I moved here. Two others closed two or three years afterward. I still remember them. Suky was by the gas station, at the entrance to Boiro. It was torn down and a housing complex put up in the boom years. The other was in the middle of town in a basement, KGB. It was small and already half-empty when I went with friends. The other two were the ones that held on the longest. Frama was also in a basement, and small, but it was jumping. Across the street was Golden Fish, later made over and renamed Tonos. It was a weird warren of a place and made a stark contrast with Frama. Where Frama was chic, Golden Fish was funky. But now Frama is gone, and I think Tonos is sometimes rented out, but is not in regular service any more. Since I stopped going out on Saturdays, Scream opened just down the street. And quickly closed. I heard that the neighbors complained about its sound proofing and that the disco screamed too much.
Many others that we frequented have since closed. Bumerang in Pobla do Caramiñal, or Cus-Cus in Noia. Nic Bahía in Muros. When the construction boom came along, the strobe lights went out. The owners made more money becoming construction promoters, and tore down their discos to build housing. Others simply closed because habits changed, and young people started going to music bars instead of paying to get into the discos. (Music bars are called pubs for some strange reason, but have no similarity whatsoever to those venerable British institutions.) Each music bar has its own musical style, and people hop from one favorite to another all night long. Many others buy their liquor in supermarkets during the afternoon and then gather in large groups to drink, get drunk and then crawl home in the wee hours.
Habits change, and the discos are receding into the haze of time. Maybe by the time I have grandchildren old enough to spend Saturday night on the town they'll be back. Maybe.
The disco was large, with a central dance floor, and bars on the first floor and the second. There was also a nice darkened seating area on the second floor. They had good music. But, back then, at the beginning of the 90's, most discos had good music. Those were days to dance. Most places had a mix of all the most popular songs. Queen, R.E.M., Tears for Fears, Alejandro Sanz, Mecano, OBK, U2, and so many others. Electronic music was beginning then but hadn't yet taken over, and you could even sing along with the lyrics on some songs, as you jumped and gyrated and tried not to knock anyone over.
There was also the small break around one or two in the morning, with between ten and fifteen minutes of slow songs. Every disco back then had that break. As soon as the lights went even lower, and the strobe turned off, with just occasional lights sweeping the dance floor, the love ballads came on. If you had a partner, you would spend the time with him, swaying to the different slow songs. If not, you waited by the floor until someone came by and asked you for a dance. The edges of the dance floor were the perfect pick-up spot. If you weren't interested, this was when you got a drink to cool off and sat down to gather more energy to dance again when the beat came back on.
LP45 had a specialty drink that only they knew how to mix well. I remember it involved Drambuie, Ballantine's whiskey, and Bailey's Irish Cream with plenty of ice. The nights I drove the car, I would only drink one at the beginning of the night and then dance it off. Every time we went to Ordes I took advantage of the opportunity to drink it. Yes, I have a sweet tooth.
Drinks were cheaper for women than for men. Even the tickets to get in were cheaper for the fairer sex. My husband says they did it so there would be more women to therefore attract the men. Chauvinism, yes, but it saved me money. It cost women maybe 300 pesetas, while men paid 500. With the ticket, you had one free drink. Drinks back then cost from around 200 to 500 pesetas. (The final exchange rate to change pesetas into euros made 500 pesetas the equivalent of 3 euros, or around $3.80.) The different combined alcoholic drinks were all usually called cubatas, and were generally unsophisticated. The specialty drink at LP45 was the most complicated one I've encountered. There were those who kept to their rum and Coke, others who drank gin and lemon-flavoured Kas, and the diehards of vodka and orange Fanta.
When we didn't go out to Ordes, we generally went to Boiro. There were a large number of discos there once upon a time. I visited three of them. They've all since closed. One closed before I moved here. Two others closed two or three years afterward. I still remember them. Suky was by the gas station, at the entrance to Boiro. It was torn down and a housing complex put up in the boom years. The other was in the middle of town in a basement, KGB. It was small and already half-empty when I went with friends. The other two were the ones that held on the longest. Frama was also in a basement, and small, but it was jumping. Across the street was Golden Fish, later made over and renamed Tonos. It was a weird warren of a place and made a stark contrast with Frama. Where Frama was chic, Golden Fish was funky. But now Frama is gone, and I think Tonos is sometimes rented out, but is not in regular service any more. Since I stopped going out on Saturdays, Scream opened just down the street. And quickly closed. I heard that the neighbors complained about its sound proofing and that the disco screamed too much.
Many others that we frequented have since closed. Bumerang in Pobla do Caramiñal, or Cus-Cus in Noia. Nic Bahía in Muros. When the construction boom came along, the strobe lights went out. The owners made more money becoming construction promoters, and tore down their discos to build housing. Others simply closed because habits changed, and young people started going to music bars instead of paying to get into the discos. (Music bars are called pubs for some strange reason, but have no similarity whatsoever to those venerable British institutions.) Each music bar has its own musical style, and people hop from one favorite to another all night long. Many others buy their liquor in supermarkets during the afternoon and then gather in large groups to drink, get drunk and then crawl home in the wee hours.
Habits change, and the discos are receding into the haze of time. Maybe by the time I have grandchildren old enough to spend Saturday night on the town they'll be back. Maybe.
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