Listen up 8TRAX fans! I am now authorized to tell you exciting news about 80's Night at The Groove: 70's Music!!!! 8TRAX was sorely missed when Pleasure Island closed in September, 2008. CityWalk was quick to capitalize on it in many ways and one of them was by introducing 80's Night at The Groove last January featuring former 8TRAX DJ Doc Wells! The result has turned Thursday nights at The Groove from just another so-so evening to a popular new night, especially during tourist seasons. My only disappointment was that they left out the other half of what really made 8TRAX great and that was the 70's anthems. I'm told that 70's music has now been added! So come on out, support this night and help it continue to grow. Relive the 70's, relive the 80's and relive 8TRAX! (This Thursday the wacky 80's band Switch also joins the fun at The Groove as they will every 3rd Thursday of the month.)
You know I was never a fan of the eventual introduction of '80s music at 8-TRAX. I know that it was a big hit, and that's why they continued to increase the frequency of the '80s songs as time went on, but it just seemed like (to me) that 8-TRAX had lost its soul (literally) towards the end when the '80s music was more common than the original core '70s disco music. They should have renamed it from '8-TRAX' to 'CASSETTES'. There were some nights when 8-TRAX and Rock & Roll Beach Club were playing the same exact '80s hits !
ReplyDeleteWoohoo! Celebrate Tonight...at CityWalk!
ReplyDeleteI don't really agree, there were some DJs that played more 80s music, but I know DJ Eric always played a nice variety.
ReplyDeleteI Never liked 8-Trax! I am a big time Mannequins Fan the old Mannequins the first 7-8 years was the best! the last years of Mannequins where ok at times
ReplyDeleteGod you need to do a poll or something to how many people had sex in the parking lot of PI........
ReplyDeleteThis is fantastic news! I will always miss the "sunken in" dance floor, "props", and "color" of 8TRAX, but this will definitly suffice! Bravo!, Universal City Walk for this decision, you (and Atlantic Dance Hall) have my entertainment dollars. Thanks for the announcement KingBob!
ReplyDeleteMajorhitwaves, I preferred the 70's mix too but it made sense to do the 80's as well because that was the music to yet another generation. I think if 8TRAX were open today they would be adding early 90's stuff. In fact, we can expect some early 90's during Thursday "80's Night at The Groove" along with the 70's.
ReplyDeleteJoe, this is worth celebrating!
Zulemara, there was a DJ Nick at 8TRAX who I liked. He'd also backup at Mannequins occasionally and was really into Jungle.
Anon#1, I was a Mannequins person too although I'd usually put the first hour in at 8TRAX. We want The Groove to be successful with this Thursday-night venture because it's the closest thing we have to what was lost at PI. Maybe one they'll bring a Techno night back to The Groove.
Anon#2, I know 1 person.
Daisy, need to meet you in person sometime!
Giddy with excitement; this news will be well received by the masses. Is adding 70's effective immediately?? They should just name it "8Trax II".
ReplyDeleteYes, it is now in effect. But not only can they NOT name it 8TRAX II, I should point out that Universal goes out of its way to NOT make any associations to Pleasure Island or Disney with everything they do.
ReplyDeleteand yet they copy the "club hop non stop" slogan that PI used.
ReplyDeleteI thought that Motion and Rock & Roll Beach Club did a fine job with '80s and '90s hits. I didn't feel like hearing them again inside 8-TRAX. I went in to 8-TRAX to escape the '80s, '90s, and '00s and flashback to the Polyester Disco '70s and see the cool retro videos on the screen. THAT'S what they were made for.
ReplyDeleteFor the record I spent a majority of my Pleasure Island time on the big revolving dance floor that was Mannequins.
I would consider this news as one of KingBobs' Top 5 all-time blogs for the site. RAISE UP FOR A TOAST; we officially have an adequate replacement for 8TRAX. Everything in the world seems right again! Not that any1 asked, but my "island rankings" were as follows:
ReplyDelete#5, (tie, all others.)
#4, Motion
#3, Mannequins
#2, Comedy Warehouse
#1, 8TRAX!!!
Thank you KingBob! Keep up the great work!
I would have to say in my opinion! that Mannequins was #1
ReplyDeleteit took Disney over 10 years to rehab Mannequins! (after the county made them) the other clubs had been rehabed 2 times before Mannequins and 8TRAX was "the cage" and before that it was "videopolis"! Mannequins has allways been 21 and up! disney put a 2 mil light show in Mannequins a round floor that spun around and a sound system that would kill any club anywhere........... ! so if 8TRAX was so great why was it smaller than Mannequins?
and yes Disney was going to move 8TRAX to where motion was (after the secouind year) but never did so you can like 8TRAX more than Mannequins but I know a bunch of people who loved Mannequins as #1 they liked the other clubs as well but would allways come back to Mannequins! I am just saying that I loved Mannequins the best!
Like KingBob, I always started my club hopping with 8 Trax. It use to open at 8pm, so sometimes I'd be there as early as 8:30pm. After it started to get really crowded, somewhere between 10pm and 11pm, then I would head over to see my favorite bartender Tom (he tended the outdoor bar across from PI Live), then over to Mannequins. Sometimes I would check out Motion and BET, and once in a great while RRBC. However, when the Jazz Club existed, I would check out the entertainment there first before anything else.
ReplyDeleteHey gang, there is no right answer for which club was your favorite. Everyone has/had different tastes. Everyone is right when it comes to a favorite. By all means Mannequins was my fave!
ReplyDeleteEveryone had their favourite club(s) to hang out in at Pleasure Island. That's what made it so koolness - whatever your personal tastes were they had something for you.
ReplyDeleteMannequins got most of my P.I. time - followed by 8-TRAX and then Rock & Roll Beach Club. Motion catered to a much younger demographic than I was comfortable with.
There were quite a few nights where I was out on that GINORMOUS revolving dance floor up until the very end of the night - when all of the bright lights were turned on. No more dance. No more music.
majorhitwaves, I know about those lights, it always seemed like I'd hit Mannequins after an 8TRAX closing because you could get an extra 10 minutes on that revolving floor.
ReplyDeleteMannequins had to have had the most extensive lighting system compared to other clubs in the country!
ReplyDeletewhen (PI) Mannequins opened they had 2 Mil in lights thats when they opened 20 years ago!
ReplyDelete$2M in lights? What is the source of that statistic? Seems way too high.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't there in 1989, but as far as I know Mannequins, Comedy Warehouse, and maybe even Adventurers Club were the only 3 clubs that were there for opening day that remained open during the entire 19½-year lifespan of the Pleasure Island clubs. All of the other clubs were added after the fact. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)
ReplyDeletewell there was the neon armillo it turned over to BET. there was the fireworks factory. Disney knocked to down built the wild horse then Motion. RRBC had roller skates got rid of them! videoopolis then there was the cage then 8-TRAXX. and that was it well the others that where there from day one!
ReplyDeleteThe buildings were there but as far as the clubs themselves, Mannequins was the only DANCE club that lasted the entire life of the island.
ReplyDeleteAs noted, Videopolis East became The Cage and then became 8TRAX. XZFR Rockin Rollerdrome became Rock'n'Roll Beach Club. Neon Armadillo became BET Soundstage. Fireworks Factory became Wildhorse Saloon which became Motion. And Pleasure Island Jazz Company became non-club Raglan Road.
Dang, another new record for the number of comments in one posting.
ReplyDeleteyeah Bob it shows the love we had for PI!
ReplyDelete