'The Roar of L'Amour'

THE L'AMOUR BAR STAFF AND WAITRESSES - From Ned to Dizzy to Jeff to others 

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"Chuck Kaye was the CAPTAIN of our team at L'Amour."- Frank Failace Jr. (L'Amour Mgmt) 

When Frank said the above, a large point he was making was the success of L'Amour was a team effort.

An article came out (about the club) that said the opposite, and that upset Frank and his family, and it inspired him to contact me to revisit the 80s era of the venue and tell stories he felt needed to be told. 

L'Amour was unique in that everyone from the bouncers/security to the bathroom attendants to the bar and waitstaff added to the ambiance and vibe that was presented. 

It was that way before I was hired.

As a semi-regular I was aware of the charisma of Joey Tab behind the bar and waitresses, Dizzy, Joie and Britta.

Heck Tab and Britta went on to star in movies.

Now this addition will piss people off because I cannot name everyone, but I hope you understand that I am at least using the focus on me to spotlight others.

Forgive me if you are not mentioned and understand I can only focus on my time and who I might have worked closely with

Here it goes ...

BARTENDERS 

The bartenders fn ruled.

As a regular they were awesome and when I got there in 84, I got to know them as people, and they were even more awesome to work with.

The bar manager was Ned.

Ned couldn't stand me at first.

He didn't understand that I was "more than a DJ" and thought I overstepped my position.

It took the owners telling Ned to give me the keys to the office for Ned to realize my status.

He was the only person to have keys up until then.

When the club gave me my own nights under the AYI Entertainment banner, the club let me run it without them being there.

That trust was huge and incredibly appreciated by me.

Ned enjoyed that because he could... well ... let's just say drink ... and drink ... and drink  ...

He had so much fun on my nights that he stopped bartending and had a bartender named Lisa tend most nights.

Ned would have so much fun busting my staff (Dave Gizzo and Pete Lomenzo) balls that he became a joy to work with.

It took a bit, but we were actually friends by the end.

The owners trusted him and once he realized they trusted me, we were able to work together to make everything better for everyone. 

Sadly, Ned passed ... RIP Ned.

There wasn't one bartender during my years who I had issues with.

When there was a bar by the DJ booth those bartenders were obviously who I hung with the most 

It began with Joe Tab and ended with Scotto (before they put in those fn bleachers)

Scotto was a confidante of George and Mike Parente, but still one of the boys.

When he realized I was the same, we bonded.

When they moved him to the back bar, he would call me on the intercom constantly and bust my balls if he saw a "hot chick" in the booth.

He would end it with "what is she drinking?" and have someone deliver it to the booth to help me get over.

One night he heard a very hot girl talk about how she liked me, so he told her to bring me a beer to the booth and she can have one too.

He buzzed my intercom to tell me I owed him ... I still do.

RIP Scotto

Thank you to every bartender I worked with.

You were an important part of making people feel at home in L'Amour. 

WAITRESSES

The L'Amour waitresses had their own fans/appeal.

Again, I can't name them all, but all were great 

The waitstaff were an area I didn't work with ... pretty much every other one I did, but not them.

I could have, but I never felt comfortable asking them to get me drinks. I wanted them to hustle for money and take care of the customers instead.

So from 9-4am, they did their job and I did my 3 jobs, oh but there were some legendary after parties.

I told a story about one at Cindy's in SI that I brought Slayer to and I know I brought crazies like Adam Bomb to Dizzy's and hung out at Karen's apartment with staff, but while I tell a lot of stories ... those you won't hear in full detail. 

During my heyday, Dizzy was the most known with Karen next. 

Check them out with Iron Maiden below.

Dizzy was a very pretty young lady with killer legs that would have a stuffed animal on her tray so people ( mostly guys) can find her amongst the crowd.

Dizzy, but not stupid.

When Details Magazine came to do an article on me and the club, the writer asked who else she should talk to. I said George (owner), bathroom attendants and Dizzy and Dizzy even got her picture in the magazine.

When we worked together, we barely spoke. Not due to any issues, but I had a lot of responsibility, and she was focused on being a money-making machine.

A few months after I quit, we got to talking and hung out and she was a sweetheart. 

Karen was another great girl. 

I remember driving her to SI after a staff party because her sister lived less than a mile from me and it was nice to talk outside of club and partying. 

Karen wound up marrying a regular named Charlie (bassist for Disciple) and they have two great kids.

Nice to see happy endings.

I apologize to all the others I worked with because I didn't mention everyone, but thank you for helping the vibe 

BARBACK

Jeff the barback might have been the nicest guy in L'Amour.

A few years younger than most of us and he worked his ass off.

One night he sees me running all over the club and rushing back to the booth and rushing out again and offers to spin a few songs. 

See, Jeff already had everything set up by ourb9pm opening and wasn't really needed until 10-10:30pm so it was perfect.

He got to have fun playing music and I got to do other work needed.

It became a regular thing on the more commercial nights and he would open the club in the booth while I worked in office and put out fires.

So, yes L'Amour was certainly a "team" and if an owner and his family thought I was "the captain" I couldn't be prouder, because they made me look good.

Thank you to EVERYONE who was part of my era.

I truly appreciate you.

Chuck Kaye

Ah Yes Indeed

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