Front (discotheque)
The FRONT is the name of a former popular house and gay disco in Hamburg .
Location
The basement rooms of the Kontorhaus Leder-Schüler on Heidenkampsweg in the Hammerbrook district have an eventful history that begins with completion in 1928. In 1937 the location was a Reichsnährstand. This means that the food distribution for Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein was located here, food was rationed here and given out through food cards. In the post-war period around 1946, the first dance hall with the name “Tangorett” was opened here after the war. A dance and dining room, managed by Anna Zetsch, which offered club rooms in connection with the ground floor in the basement. In 1965 the dance and dining room was replaced by the "COTTON-CLUB", which moved out of the underground bunker at Grindelhof 89b. In 1962 Danny's Pan opened by Dany Marino, the "ambassador of French chanson" in Hamburg. The location became the Mecca of the Hamburg folklore movement. Dany sang Georges Brassens in German, he was a role model and teacher for many young musicians who performed with him. Among them: Reinhard Mey , Klaus Hoffmann , Hannes Wader . Even Mike Kruger and Otto Waalkes celebrated their first success in "Danny's Pan".
History and everyday culture
The club was opened in 1983 by Willi Prange (1949-2006), who voluntarily resigned at the end of 2006, and his partner Phillip Clarke (died in 2003 of cancer). The FRONT existed until February 16, 1997. In the following four years there was an official revival party, organized by the original crew, which was celebrated orgiastically. Since the closure, 28 events have been carried out by the only third-party organizer Robert Günther with various original DJs up to and including 2011. At the current time of the FRONT, this organizer has worked with Lange, Dlugosch u. a. 32 events carried out, partly in collaboration with Prange / Clarke.
The audience had a remarkably high proportion of homosexuals who saw the club as their meeting place. On Saturdays and Wednesdays the audience was “mixed” (men and women), while on Fridays it was “Men Only”. Since then there has been a strong connection to the Hamburg gay scene, as well as a friendly relationship with the now closed lesbian disco "Camelot" on Hamburger Berg in St. Pauli. The Hamburg AIDS - charity -Veranstaltung red, hot & dance has its roots also in the community at the disco FRONT and was designed by Willi Prange and his confidant Lutz Kretschmann Johannsen significantly advanced.
The club was furnished in a very minimalist way, painted light gray on the inside, there was a small bar, a cloakroom behind bars and wire mesh, a video wall made of approx. 5 × 6 monitors - on which gay porn was played - and a DJ booth clad in stainless steel on the outside with darkened plexiglass, which only allowed a view of the dance floor.
The quadrophonic music system consisted of two record players, which were otherwise not at home in almost any dance temple. With the THORENS TD524, a huge Discotech drive, pitch variations of up to 25% can be achieved. This enabled smooth speed transitions between the speeds of 33.33 and 45 rpm. The technics 1210 MK II, which looked slim and plastic, was only available as an accessory, as a third turntable in the DJ booth. The mixer was a Stanford Silver Shadow II and four hard-suspended center-weighted speakers under the ceiling, centered on the dance floor. The interior decoration can be easily summarized: The walls were painted gray, partly bare plaster, steel and stainless steel dominated the interior. The colored neon lights arranged in a running light and the Danger light were remarkable.
DJs and music
In the front there was house music as the first location in Germany. Other musical trends such as B. Acid House were coined here. The disco housed the musical avant-garde of the metropolitan region until the mid-1990s. The club's first style-defining DJ was the later stylist and fashion editor Klaus Stockhausen . In 1986, DJ Boris Dlugosch started his international career at FRONT Stockhausen's “Eleve” . Michael Braune and Michi Lange are other DJs who have played “Resident DJ” in the front . The musical style of the Front has shaped the house music scene in continental Europe for years . Almost all the celebrities in house music culture have hung up in the front over the years . This includes artists like Frankie Knuckles , but z. B. also Masters at Work . The front is instrumental in the success of American house record labels , such as B. Strictly Rhythm or Nu Groove involved in the German market.
In the front itself, house was played almost exclusively, especially in its deep and garage varieties. Occasionally highly pitched disco classics found their way onto the turntable. Detroit, Chicago and Acid House were also part of the program for their respective weddings.
swell
- ^ Lutz Kretschmann: Big Spender eV ( Memento from June 11, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
Coordinates: 53 ° 33 ′ 3 ″ N , 10 ° 1 ′ 33 ″ E