An original poster and press release for ‘Danceteria’, a night in McGonagles (previously of South Anne Street) which was launched in October 1981.
Music policy was Stax, Talking Heads, Electronic, Roxy Music, Ze Records, Hot Reggae, 60s Classics, Stevie Wonder – all on a 3,000 watt sound system. Downstairs was the dance floor while upstairs had a wine bar, pool table, football table and a T.V. showing ‘specially compiled music and video tapes’. Compere was stand up comedian Billy McGrath and resident D.J. was Ross Fitzsimons of Hot Press magazine.
It predated seminal dance nights in McGonagles like Club Voodoo and Soul On Ice which came along in the latter half of the decade.
I’m not sure how long the night itself lasted.
Danceteria at McGonagles poster. (BM Collection)
Danceteria at McGonagles press release. (BM Collection)
Click on the book for more.
Click on the book for more.
Donal
Ciarán
Sam
Come Here To Me! 
Excellent. Thanks:)Remember climbing over the railings and going skinny dipping in Stephens Green after a McGonagles night. Not a good idea….:)
Good memories, thank you. Love your site too. I think Danceteria ran for six to eight weeks, inspired by club nights in London and New York, but it felt to us, rightly or wrongly, that Dublin wasn’t really ready for club culture at that point. By the time I migrated to the TV Club with Dennis Desmond a year later (for about nine months in 82-83) we had big crowds (about 400 to 900) dancing every Friday (rock) and Saturday (reggae and African) night to a mix of DJing and live bands – everyone from John Cale and Mari Wilson to Aswad and Osibisa played live, and the records were usually electronic, disco, funk, reggae and African. 12″ singles had caught on, and many of the crowd knew as much as or more than me about some of the music. We had a great 10k sound system courtesy of Tim Buckley and Joe O’Herlihy, and a lovely sprung maple dance floor on which hundreds could dance at a time. Billy and I also collaborated on many other projects, including the Dance Marathons at the TV Club over Christmas ’82 and again ’83, in aid of the Rape Crisis Centre.
I have this poster – the original 🙂