Fabulous Strip Club Ruins of Detroit

[funjon1]

How about a thread about The Fabulous Strip Club ruins of Detroit? I'm talking about an era where these establishments were called by a lot of names, but never "gentlemens clubs"! I'm a life-long eastsider, so I remember mainly east side clubs. The 7-VanDyke area was a hotbed of stripper action. Vandys, The Duchess, Please Station were all in that vicinity. And what was the club at either 6 Mile or 7 Mile and Mound Rd.? Bensons, Biscoes, one of those. My semi-regular stop was The Royal Coach on Whittier between Kelly and Harper. I could go on and on but hopefully some others will have fond[[or not so fond) memories of these places.

[gnome]

I'll ask Vincent Chin what he remembers.

[eastland]

The one on Whittier was Sandcastles or Sandpipers in high school. All you had to have was a drivers license to get in. Later became the Pointe Athletic Club I think.

[funjon1]

The one on Whittier was Sandcastles or Sandpipers in high school. All you had to have was a drivers license to get in. Later became the Pointe Athletic Club I think.

You are correct about the name when you were going there, but in the early 70s it was known as the Royal Coach. It was owned by some members of a local bike club who shall remain nameless. After a little trouble there the name was changed, no doubt to erase negative images associated with the old name.

[alkiwat]

as someone mentioned,, it was the Royal Coach in the early 70s-- I remember those large JBL monitors hanging by chains from the celing .. --There was the half wall near the bar where you could also sit

[lester wild]

as someone mentioned,, it was the Royal Coach in the early 70s-- I remember those large JBL monitors hanging by chains from the celing .. --There was the half wall near the bar where you could also sit

The Royal Coach was one of my favorite places Those Jbl's kicked out some great sound. I'm glad those chains never broke. It was always busy in there

[exmotowner]

I'll ask Vincent Chin what he remembers.

Not funny :-[[

[reddog289]

Too young to have gone to any of the ones listed, But as a kid riding down 8mile and now as a 40 year old I think that there are ruins underneath some of the larger clubs. Speaking of names my one Uncle gets a laugh when he see's the "Go-Go Girls" listed on Bogarts sign.

[luckycar]

Maccombos and The Patio on 8 Mile were rights of passage for newly minted 18 yr. olds in the 70s.Such sights,I always wondered what those "young women" were thinking.I know what I was!

[tvaspen]

Maccombos and The Patio on 8 Mile were rights of passage for newly minted 18 yr. olds in the 70s.Such sights,I always wondered what those "young women" were thinking.I know what I was!

Ha, my brother got breast milk squirted in his face at Macombos by one of the 'ladies'. A bunch of us were there for a bachelor party, funniest damn thing I ever saw in my life. Classy place.

[tvaspen]

...@ Telegraph & 96, don't recall the names.

[gnome]

lucky, you didn't use the drum sticks did you?

The Macombo has changed its name but the old bat that owned it in the 70's is still running the dump.

[Tig3rzhark]

There's was a Foxy's Strip Club on Livernois north of Grand River. Despite the blight, it's still standing.

I'll take a pic of it and post it later.

[Sludgedaddy]

Let's not forget Benson's Boobs Galore on Davison just east of Mound. It's notable for it's exterior which was painted "titty pink".

Another existed on Conant Between Carpenter and Charles right next door to a store front cathedral. Don't remember the name back in the day, but used to pop in there every now and then for a pack of smokes.There was no vestibule and when the door was opened in the winter, the girls would get a cold blast to the ass. The place now is under going re-modeling and was recently known as The Adult Playground and was a Black owned establishment.

[EastsideAl]

Ahhh, the good ol' days...

The Duchess on 7 Mi. was a trip with all its pink neon outside and '70s wood and brass decor inside. Then, just to jack up the fun a bit more, they went and painted the place bright yellow. For all that gaudiness, the dancers often looked half-asleep.

Pointe Athletic Club is the place where a dancer once kicked me in the head for paying more attention to the Tigers game on TV than her frankly not all that attractive dancing.

Benson's Boobs Galore had a great name, but was a pit, and uncomfortably like watching your cousins dance half-naked around your aunt and uncle's not-very-clean basement rec room.

[Yooper]

>>>Ahhh, the good ol' days...

The Duchess on 7 Mi. was a trip with all its pink neon outside and '70s wood and brass decor inside. Then, just to jack up the fun a bit more, they went and painted the place bright yellow. For all that gaudiness, the dancers often looked half-asleep.

Pointe Athletic Club is the place where a dancer once kicked me in the head for paying more attention to the Tigers game on TV than her frankly not all that attractive dancing.

Benson's Boobs Galore had a great name, but was a pit, and uncomfortably like watching your cousins dance half-naked around your aunt and uncle's not-very-clean basement rec room.
<<<

Love it. Perfect.

[kathy2trips]

[Cass1966]

Let's not forget Benson's Boobs Galore on Davison just east of Mound. It's notable for it's exterior which was painted "titty pink".

Another existed on Conant Between Carpenter and Charles right next door to a store front cathedral. Don't remember the name back in the day, but used to pop in there every now and then for a pack of smokes.There was no vestibule and when the door was opened in the winter, the girls would get a cold blast to the ass. The place now is under going re-modeling and was recently known as The Adult Playground and was a Black owned establishment.

I remember going to Benson's topless bar. I think I read somewhere that it was the first licensed topless bar in the city when the law was changed to allow them. Does anyone know if that is true? The old place looks pretty rough today.

[Hermod]

Detroit strip clubs probably died for two reasons:

1. Failure to ensure parking lot safety for patrons

2. Too many of the dancers were "motorcycle discards".

[pgn421]

I would frequent Pointe Athletic Club. Anyone remember John who was the manager, there? How about Monkey, from Duchess? Would also go to Biscoes.Those were the days!

[Philbo]

The Gold Door on E. 8 mile Road was a good place in its day. My buddies Dad owned it until a bunch of bikers took it over. A couple of guys I knew got thier asses kicked when they got into it with one of the dancers. You did'nt start trouble there.

[Goose]

The Gold Door on E. 8 mile Road was a good place in its day. My buddies Dad owned it until a bunch of bikers took it over. A couple of guys I knew got thier asses kicked when they got into it with one of the dancers. You did'nt start trouble there.

philbo, who are you, message me, i graduated with the guy who's dad owned the place.... gpn class of 1986

[RickBeall]

I don't think those clubs ever close. They just change names.

Mocambos was the first place I ever went. A friend took me when I turned 18. I met the female proprieter you mentioned. on that trip.

[professorscott]

Ah, it practically brings tears to the eyes of your kindly old Professor, reminiscing about the days when he was young, single and stupid enough to blow his stack of cash in such wonderful old dives.

We recall the Please Station on Seven Mile just west of Van Dyke, which was perhaps the worst strip club in the history of the world, but the owner was a neat old guy. The women were sort of comically ugly, and there were never more than three or four people in the place.

Then you had the "Zoo" on Eight Mile not too far from the fairgrounds, a little bit east I seem to recall, where your friends could pay to have you mud-wrestle in your underwear with the ladies. The announcer, DJ or whatever you'd call it, was a scream, he would tell you which college this or that dancer was attending, for instance "gentlemen, please be generous in tipping the lovely Shondra, she needs the money for her sophomore year at Wayne State", whereas Shondra had actually attended Wayne State thirty years prior.

The Foxes Den was the name, I think, of the dump on Livernois not too far from Davison, south of Davison if I recall correctly. They had a pool table, which was nice, because your Prof in those days was a bit of a hustler and could use the pool table to raise the money for the rest of the evening's festivities. The dancers would get irked because if there was a hockey game on [[which there often was), most of us would be watching it and not them. The game was more interesting.

Then there was Sassy Sandy's on east Davison near Mound, and the Sax Club on McNichols not far from Hamilton, one of those lovely establishments where you could use the standard dive topless bar formula to estimate a dancer's age [[count the teeth and subtract from fifty). The Sax promoted itself as the "oldest" topless club in the City, to which the Prof adds: no doubt.

I can almost see a dissertation here for a Ph. D. student in sociology. Fascinating times, they were.

[vetalalumni]

Then you had the "Zoo" on Eight Mile not too far from the fairgrounds, a little bit east I seem to recall, where your friends could pay to have you mud-wrestle in your underwear with the ladies. The announcer, DJ or whatever you'd call it, was a scream, he would tell you which college this or that dancer was attending, for instance "gentlemen, please be generous in tipping the lovely Shondra, she needs the money for her sophomore year at Wayne State", whereas Shondra had actually attended Wayne State thirty years prior.

The Foxes Den was the name, I think, of the dump on Livernois not too far from Davison, south of Davison if I recall correctly. They had a pool table, which was nice, because your Prof in those days was a bit of a hustler and could use the pool table to raise the money for the rest of the evening's festivities. The dancers would get irked because if there was a hockey game on [[which there often was), most of us would be watching it and not them. The game was more interesting.

Was The Zoo around in the mid 80s?

And I seem to recall a real dive on southbound John R near Remington.

The Foxes establishment rings a bell as well. West side of Livernois correct? Open in the early 90s?

I recall 1 or 2 establishments in the little triangle bordered by 8 Mile, Greenfield Road, and the Lodge Freeway. Circa 80s. Dangerous.