Alexandre

Also recently discovered a song from Crosby, Stills
(Not Nash or Young, at the time) wrote a song about the Mutiny. Mentions The Monkey on the dance floor
(referring to Monkey Morales--smuggler).

Went to the Mutiny after Alexandre closed. Got involved with the major ongoing offshore industry at the time. Met everyone at the Mutiny from Ted
Kennedy to Rick James to Jorge Ochoa. Also Faces,
Cats, Ensign Bitters. Later on, Club Nu on Miami
Beach...Any chance you met another guy named Bernie
at the Mutiny? He was ex-C.I.A., Bay of Pigs Vet, etc.

Hey, what about Faces, CATS, Mutiny, they rocked out as well. Great times there...

RQ

I bartended there with Frank and old Miquel. Any way
to talk? Currently working on a book about the era.
owenband
bandowen@yahoo.com

Setting the record straight:

When Club Alexandre first opened (sometime in '78 or '79 the resident DJ was George Mencio, the alternate DJ was Joel Hernandez.
At the time George had set up a company to provide DJ's to several clubs in the Miami area. He had the Charter Club, The California Club, Scamps, Daphne's and a few others.
Although this is quite a list, you have to keep in mind that the lifespan of any one club at the time could be measured in weeks. Not all clubs were successful but George was doing quite well. He was also going to law school. I believe that in his last year of law school he let Joel take over the company. Thus Joel became the full time DJ at Alexandre.
At some point Joel had an argument with the management (not surprising since Alex and Rene had their own ideas as to how and what music to play) and he left.
I had been working with George since "La Disque" (please let's get the spelling right...but that's another posting) and had played in quite a few clubs in Miami since 1973. I would play on a part time basis (I was also going to school at the time).
Alex (the main owner) offered me the job as resident DJ. I took it with the condition that I would revamp the sound and light system....and so I did.
A few weeks later a marching band lined up outside the club on the sidewalk while about two hundred people waited for the chance to get in. That was quite an opening night, the limos were lined up all the way to the MacArthur overpass...

This post is quite long already... I'll continue the story at some other time...

PS. Andy and Marivi (who were dating at the time) did come often to the club, came into the DJ booth all the time to talk, hang or request songs...
I never did let him play with the lights...

Hi, my name is Luis C, I was DJ at this club for a while, I think 1978, loved the elevator dance floor, great crowds, lots of good times with friends, Anita, Belinda, Adriana, Ray & Lourdes, Sergio, Craig

I worked at Alexandre as a bartender until it was raided and several of the owners arrested after "operation Black Tuna" I an currently working on a memoir. If you have any memories you want to share...

OYE SUCIO, A supper club?? Who do you work for B & A?? As for the "pond" being SCARAMOUCHE, NO. That club was on the TOP floor of the OMNI hotel, right in front of the elevators. Is there going to be music at this "Supper Club?"

I think it may end up as a restaurant or hopefully a "supper club". I'm an architectural engineer and my firm's doing a condition survey of the place. The moveable dance floor is a trip,and some of the mirrored wall panels are still up. Let me know if you want some pics.

By the way, is the space next door with the little "pond" Scaramouche?

Now if ever there was a club that SHOULD have been fantastic, it was this one. A great sound system, fantastic light show, and drew very well. The problem was, that the Hotel would request that the music be lowered constantly. It never had steady management, and the deejays came and went pretty quickly, couldn't stand the management hassles. I should know, I four times worked there for a few months at a time. Easy access to Hotel rooms and South American women was a HUGE plus, as was the spacious DeeJay booth. At one time, it brought in name acts, such as France Joli at age 15, and little Freddie James from Canada. It also was a showcase for up-and-coming DISCO groups. Finally in 1982, the Omni Hotel decided it wasn't worth the trouble to keep it open. on a scale of 1 to 10, it only gets a 5 because it failed to meet it's potential.

Bit of trivia guys..

If you partied at Alexandre in the early days chances are that Andy Garcia, yes the actor was playing around with the lights and elevated dance floor controls before he left for California to pursue his acting career, his brother ran the place and they also owned the next door classy and famous restaurant “Los Violines”.

Boxing Champ Roberto “Mano de Piedra” Duran in various occasions would visit the club right at closing time with his large entourage and pay off every one to keep it privately open, he had cooks preparing special meals for every one and the DJ spinning his favorite requests until the wee hours of the night…..

The place closed down for the same reason they all do (with few exceptions), people move on to the latest club, the same location later reopened as Allegro and after that I believe a short-lived Reggae club made it home, the area is currently experiencing a resurgence and about a year ago (2005) I was in the area and walked over to the Doorway which still is boarded up and looking the way it was.. Talk about De Ja Vu…..

went there with my friend carlos one night back in 79. met 2 chicks and i told her i i drove a ferrari. we left to scaramouche and on the way,,,, in front of the place was parked a ferrari i had seen on the way in. I pretent to open the door in front of the girls and then we just went to scaramouche. later around 3 in the morning went down and told the girls bye after getting their # then,,,,,,, my chick went up to the ferrari and open it. i flip, carlos wanted to hide under the building. her name was cathy, she was from sunrise, i end up dating her for a while, the car was her fathers. now that was embarrasing. I never did that again. in reference to both clubs,,,,I had very nice times there. I also spend new years there in 79. they were the place to be at the time.

Spent Haloween in 1979 as well as New Year. Scaramouche was also in the same hote. Great Place.

Alexandre played great hi-energy music, anyone know why it closed?

It was called Club Alexandre. I went there in 1979/80. It was beautiful - very upscale and glittery. There were mimes walking around the club. Interesting thing about this club - was it was not one big dance floor - but rather small mirrored rooms throughout the place.