Skoochies Reminiscing

[dj dovan]

Hi Friends,

This is Dovan the person responsible for all the mixes at Skoochies in early '80. I am now back in Vietnam in Hanoi to help my people and to start an IT Training center for People with Disability of Vietnam. I lost an arm and a leg when I was 14. So I was the only one arm DJ in the US for many years. Hopefully through this forum we can talk about the good old time and also discuss about any songs I used to play at Skoochies.

You can also email me at dovand@yahoo.com.

Miss you all very much

[mygreen]

[quote]Originally posted by dj dovan
[br]Hi Friends,

This is Dovan the person responsible for all the mixes at Skoochies in early '80. I am now back in Vietnam in Hanoi to help my people and to start an IT Training center for People with Disability of Vietnam. I lost an arm and a leg when I was 14. So I was the only one arm DJ in the US for many years. Hopefully through this forum we can talk about the good old time and also discuss about any songs I used to play at Skoochies.

You can also email me at dovand@yahoo.com.

Miss you all very much
[/quote]

Welcome Friend - First and fore most GOOD FOR YOU! I think that is great that you can take an experience like yours and try to help others.

I lived at Skoochies on the weekends from 83- 84. I was really young like 13. I think I remember that you had to be 16 to get in? I mostly hung out at the bottom where the big video screens were. There was a lot more room to dance. Only once in a while would I dance on the big speakers. (If I only had time during the week to practice my moves, hee hee). I remember Madonna's burning up and Holiday. The Psych Furs and of course Tin Tin.
I am happy your on board. You should get a lot of good responses.[:)]

[dj dovan]

Hi MyGreen,

When 'Like a Virgin' came to Seattle to play her 1st 'live concert' at the Paramount, I gave away ton of tickets. The opening act was Beasty Boys (Cookies Puss) and they came and trashed my booth. Guess who was there too Russell Simmons. RS was their manager I am sure everybody knows who he is now.

Skoochies was a skating ring and Skooch asked me for help. I helped install video projector with nightly RockAmerica VHS clips and mixed them songs in and out to keep people dancing until 4:00.

This is great! I have been looking for a forum to keep in touch with all my friends. Thanks NWO!

[human clone]

Skoochies must have been a helluva club. People certainly do talk of it fondly on this site.

Kudos to you dj dovan for your humanitarian efforts. You are an inspiration to us all!!!

[mygreen]

Sckoochies was one of a kind! Really the best time of my young life[:)]

[dj dovan]

[quote][i]Originally posted by mygreen[/i]
<br>Sckoochies was one of a kind! Really the best time of my young life[:)]
[/quote]

I played for many clubs in Seattle from 1974 to 1992. Skoochies was the best, especially Wed. nites where I was able to play lots of RockAmerica video clips from England (4AD stuff), less 'bubble gum'
[:D].

[dj dovan]

[quote][i]Originally posted by kimiiii[/i]
<br>dj, I went to Skoochies in 84-85. I was wondering what the owner went on to do after the club closed down?
[/quote]

Stacy P (Skooch) and Dorthy C retired from the club biz. I went down to Portland to help with the Club down there and few months later Skoochies in Seattle got closed down. The owner of Celebrity Bar and Grill took over and called DV8.

You can just call me Dovan
Cheers

[mygreen]

Hey Dovan- Do you remember The Monastery,the club on Boren Ave in the mid 80's? I never went there and was shocked to hear the stories about what went on behind closed doors. I guess they finally put a wrecking ball to the old church in the late 90's.

[dj dovan]

[quote][i]Originally posted by mygreen[/i]
<br>Hey Dovan- Do you remember The Monastery,the club on Boren Ave in the mid 80's? I never went there and was shocked to hear the stories about what went on behind closed doors. I guess they finally put a wrecking ball to the old church in the late 90's.
[/quote]

Yes, I read all the posts and all of them are corrected and more. This place ran by a guy from Spokane (G***** Fr**man). They preyed on young kids mostly boys. They sent kids to Skoochies to recruit ran-away kids for after hours. One of my gay DJ friends was a DJ there Dana A. He passed away in late '80 from you know what. Also a place for s last 'try' after 2:00 AM for adults to prey on young boys. SICK!!!

[mygreen]

I must be a really naive person because I really didn't hear about these stories until after it had closed. Was this a big deal before it closed or did it make news after? I just think that it is so odd that I never really heard how bad this place was and I am thankful that I never went! but still just really curious. Did Skoochies have any stories like this or am I just really that naive?

[hexicon]

Goings-on at the Monastery were in the news quite a lot. I went there a couple of times as a college freshman, when my friends and I had decided we were too old for Skoochies but we couldn't get into the Vogue. The most significant thing I noticed is that there were a lot of older men there (in contrast, I distinctly remember a night where Skoochies refused to admit a guy who seemed really old--I suppose he was in his late thirties!).

Also, there were open sex acts taking place in the bathrooms, which were unisex.

[dj dovan]

[quote][i]Originally posted by hexicon[/i]
<br>Goings-on at the Monastery were in the news quite a lot. I went there a couple of times as a college freshman, when my friends and I had decided we were too old for Skoochies but we couldn't get into the Vogue. The most significant thing I noticed is that there were a lot of older men there (in contrast, I distinctly remember a night where Skoochies refused to admit a guy who seemed really old--I suppose he was in his late thirties!).

Also, there were open sex acts taking place in the bathrooms, which were unisex.
[/quote]

The DJ booth just like a watch tower I can see as far as the Boeing plane panel. If there were fights (which was rare) or even rough body slamming (especially when I played 'Eighties' I immediately inform security guards to stop them.

Do you guys remember my shows were broadcasting live on C89 or KYYX.

How about the KYYX Cheer Leaders contests!!! When I have time I will post stories on how and why I started playing wave and alternative video stuffs.

Cheers

[Murmur]

I went to Skoochie's in Portland all the time in 83-84, but it sounds like you are talking about a Skoochie's in Seattle, is that right? I didn't know there was another one!

I have great memories of Skoochie's. We went on weeknights because it was more for dancing and there were more "cool" people there than there were on the weekends when it was a crowded preppy meat market. At least that's how we felt about it.

Good times!

[dj dovan]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Murmur[/i]
<br>I went to Skoochie's in Portland all the time in 83-84, but it sounds like you are talking about a Skoochie's in Seattle, is that right? I didn't know there was another one!

I have great memories of Skoochie's. We went on weeknights because it was more for dancing and there were more "cool" people there than there were on the weekends when it was a crowded preppy meat market. At least that's how we felt about it.

Good times!

You are right! ''crowded preppy meat market" is the right word to describe the weekend crowd not only in Seattle but also Portland. But as a DJ I used weekend to trick them into new 'alternative cool' music which I enjoyed the most. I went to Portland to re-introduce what should be played instead of bubble gum music or so-called cross-over. Most DJ's learned how to keep the crowd dancing by playing the stuffs that people heard thousand times on the radio already.

Cheers


[/quote]

[dj dovan]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Murmur[/i]
<br>I went to Skoochie's in Portland all the time in 83-84, but it sounds like you are talking about a Skoochie's in Seattle, is that right? I didn't know there was another one!

I have great memories of Skoochie's. We went on weeknights because it was more for dancing and there were more "cool" people there than there were on the weekends when it was a crowded preppy meat market. At least that's how we felt about it.

Good times!

BTW my favorite song by Ministry is Revenge. I forgot his name (somebody help me!) from Chicago at one time Ministry was a candidate to perform at Skoochies besides UB40, Nina Hagen, Gang of Four...etc

[/quote]