![]() ![]() “I dated a boy, named Dave Soulsby, who worked there from 1976 to 1977,” Peacock begins. Wendy Peacock was a Mississauga teen when she began attending David’s in 1976. I was 16-going-on-17 at the time, and was enthralled by it all.” I remember the first time I walked in it was like being born again, among people like me. David’s was a retreat, a place where you could be yourself. “It was difficult being out at that time, especially for teenagers. “David’s was home-away-from-home,” states Jacky ‘Jake’ Gabay, later to be known by the stage name of Vicki Sue. Given its 16-plus-door policy, David’s was a haven for queer and questioning youth. A membership policy was adopted and bouncers were on hand to keep an eye out, but in general, people mixed freely and easily. Some ads, in fact, promoted it as a bisexual club. While most gay and lesbian bars of the time were segregated by gender, and most social spaces were assumed to be either straight or gay, Club David’s advertised itself as open to all genders and sexualities. ![]() Months after it opened, David’s adopted a somewhat radical door policy. David’s also boasted a snack bar, pinball machines, and a high-tech coat check system, complete with revolving hangers. Of course a large mirror ball reflected the pink, purple and multi-hued lights, and the sound system is said to have been quality. There was also a stage, raised go-go platform, and a DJ booth that overlooked the dancefloor. Most famously, the stairs also curved around the club’s star attraction: a fountain containing a larger-than-life, and, by many accounts, excessively well-endowed replica of Michelangelo’s David. Two winding staircases led down to the dancefloor. Photo from The Body Politic, courtesy of Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives. George riding all-candidates meeting at David’s, June 1977. Knights.Ĭlub David’s added new possibilities to the mix when Jay Cochrane and Sandy Leblanc opened it in the spring of 1975. Charles Tavern were gay hotspots, as was intimate Isabella Street disco Mrs. Nearby Yonge Street bars The Parkside Tavern and St. Joseph was home to popular all-ages gay male dance club The Manatee. As with a number of neighbouring structures, it was also erected by Rawlinson. A small tunnel, thought to once hold a conveyor belt, connected it to the building directly north, at 11A St. Moving and storage company Rawlinson Cartage constructed the building at 16 Phipps in the late 1890s. Nicholas alleyway, to a barely-there street called Phipps. Here, we visit a prior decade to travel a short distance south, down a once-existing strip of the St. Joseph area once held for creatures of the night has been detailed in a number of previous Then & Now pieces, including those about early 1980s venues Voodoo and Club Z. History: The allure that the Yonge and St. In its brief lifespan, this ‘70s hotspot served as both a gay disco and punk-rock haven-before it all ended in a mysterious fire and murder. Photo courtesy of Wendy Peacock.Īrticle originally published Maby The Grid online (). Allan Bell a.k.a. Phyllis (left) with Sister Rock-On at David’s. ![]()
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