'The Roar of L'Amour'

GEORGE PARENTE - Owner - there would be no "Rock Capital" without him 

Where do I start with George?

If I was "the voice" of L'Amour, George along with his brother Mike were the faces.

I first met George when I was twenty years old and worked with a SI band called Fourplay (Shane and Rob from Law and Order). I remember advancing the gig with George and him telling me that I was very detailed for a local opening act.

He said it half-joking, but I found out later he respected that.

I stopped working with the band but hung out at the venue and became good friends with Sandy (stage manager).

George would see me on his guest-list and backstage a lot and one day in 1983, he says “Hey Chuck, you were the DJ at The Factory?” Why didn't you tell me? Maybe you can DJ here?”

I tell the story HERE

Long/short, I didn't get the DJ job, because I couldn't spin dance music(theclubhadaweirdrock/metalanddancehybridvibe)           but George saw my hard rock/metal knowledge and DJ skills and had me in mind for when L'Amour got rid of the dance aspect.

In June of 1984, George called me to do him a favor a fill-in at L'Amour East, and I did for 4 months.

George drove me there/back and that is when everything began.

Even though I didn't care to be a DJ, I had fun at East, but more fun was talking music with George during the ride, the nights and at breakfast.

George and I became very friendly. He helped me out with a situation involving one of his partners at East, advised me on a girl I was dating and we would just laugh about life.

He would play me White Lion's cassette constantly and ask my opinion and eventually I saw him picking my brain about bands. George was smart enough to know, he wasn't part of the scene (even though he owned the club) and if L'Amour was going to commit to be the venue for heavier bands, it needed a conduit.

He heard me talk about bands he was unfamiliar with (Loudness story) and later confided he was pulling out of East and wanted me to DJ in Brooklyn and grow into a bigger position.

I started in Brooklyn on 10/19/84 (my 22nd birthday) and I was introduced to his partners with Mike saying "that Fn guy?"

As I was sitting in on owner meetings, I realized that George was the heart and soul of the club and was who pushed to go rock.

Owner Frank Failace Sr. told me that he credits George with that move. And John Zampetti (owner) told me George was his best friend and believed in him to save the venue from the disco collapse.

Out of the 4 main owners, George was the closest in age to the crowd they were courting and the biggest rock fan. He loved Led Zeppelin and was genuinely excited about managing White Lion, but he wasn't a metalhead, so pushed for me to be involved.

When I first started, I was known as "George's boy" and that caused trust issues with the staff and it took a bit (and a few fights) to get past that and eventually I did.

For 4 years, I talked the most with George out of the four.

We even went to Roanoke Va. together to see White Lion open for Aerosmith and whenever I would get temperamental and quit the club, he was the one to always smooth things over and one night told security that I was not allowed to leave with my milk crates of albums ... I tried, I failed and I thanked him for having the cooler head.

During non-show days, George would be who called me about bands and my thoughts on how they would draw, who to book as an opener, etc.

As years went by, we were not as tight, but I always had respect for him.

When I quit the club in 11/88, we never kept in contact, but I will always cherish the respect he had for me and his efforts to bring me into the 'family".

In 2009, Donnie Tranchina who was running the Staten Island club for George/Mike asked me if I would come back for a night.

We threw around ideas and decided to do a 25th anniversary night of when I started.

He called George and told him and George was surprised. I turned down the L'Amour reunion a year earlier because I had scheduling conflicts, so George thought I had no interest.

Donnie told him that I was very successful in my current situation but agreed to this one night and George asked "How much does he want?

I didn't want a dime; I wasn't going down that rabbit hole again.

I see George at the door, and he goes "Hey it is the guest of honor" and we spoke like it was 25 years earlier.

He told me he was happy I was successful and I asked about his family, and it was awesome.

For the next 5 years we would speak on the phone.

One day he asked me if I was involved with the book Alex Kayne was trying to get published.

I told him, there was a chapter on me and that Alex would ask me about nights and situations, etc.

I told George I kept everything "PG" and we laughed and he said, "You have your story to tell and I trust it". That meant a lot (to me).

We lost contact in 2014 and reconnected when a filmmaker wanted me to do a documentary on the club a few years ago.

George passed on it and I didn't want to do it without his blessing.

Outside of a text exchange when his brother passed (RIP) that has been it.

in 2024, Mike Failace (RIP) tried to get me to be a surprise at an owner's reunion in Bayonne, but I sadly couldn't figure out the transportation.

If it wasn't for George, I would have NEVER been involved with L'Amour. He saw something in 21-year-old metalhead and trusted him to be "the voice" and the conduit to grow the club.

Heck if it wasn't for George, there would be no "Rock Capital" at all since he was who pushed it to go in that direction.

Frank Sr. told me that all the credit goes to George for the change.

THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING GEORGE

L'Amour rocks and so do you

Chuck Kaye

Ah Yes Indeed

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