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Disco Music > Discotheques and Clubs Index > Club 1235
Club 1235
1235 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida
Prior to Club 1235 occupying 1235 Washington Ave. in Miami Beach, Club Z called 1235 Washington Ave. home, but not for long as one faithful night while recording artist "Prince" was in attendance, Club Z suffered damages from a fire, and while the fire damage was not at the level that burned down the Limelight in Hallandale years before, Club Z simply choose to go out in a blaze of glory.
In 1985 three New York native brothers, Gary, Robert & John Brandt brought back to life like a Phoenix while using the ashes of Club Z, a creature the likes no one had ever seen before, a monster named Club 1235 was born.
1235's dominance for about 5 years went unchallenged as the biggest draw in Miami, with it's near 30,000 square feet 1235 swallowed the competition in size and public appeal.
Sparing no expense the Brandt Brothers equipped 1235 with the latest state of the art sound and lighting weapons that disintegrated the competition with a flick of a switch while engaging 1235's artillery of intelligent lighting lead by a furious and massive laser light show.
The success of 1235 did not solely rest upon the shoulders of it's owners, it's staff was second to none as a highly experienced management and public relations team that included former Studio 54 members, intelligently were able to fill the juggernaut to capacity on both Friday & Saturday nights, by playing host to the underage crowd on Friday's then adults on Saturday nights, a concept not easily favored by adult clients and always almost away's fails to. successfully host adults and teens under the same roof, even if it's on a different night
While the move of having a teen night was risking 1235's reputation, it proved to be a wise choice that did not affect the adult Saturday night attendance numbers.
Prior to hosting an underage crowd, teens in Miami had only experienced venues catered to them at a much smaller scale, most of those venues could only accommodate 500 or so dance crazed teens while just a couple could cram in close to 1000, numbers that seemed to not favor 1235, as no prior examples were available about a venue as big as 1235 was, to prove that more then just a thousand underage club goers even existed, which added even more pressure to whether or not host an underage night, a very risky idea for 1235, do to it's need of hosting twice as many teens as prior venues had in the past because of the high expense involved of just opening the doors of 1235 while also taking a chance as being stereotyped by adults in the area as the club that let's kids in.
Luckily, none of the two worries saw daylight, the adults came back on Saturdays, while Friday's teen night out drew the average of 1800 adults by close to a thousand more, loyally each Friday.
The idea of hosting teens on Friday's came about soon after 1235 opened for business while attempting to fill the venue on back to back nights strictly for adults, something that was not easily achieved by any club the size of 1235's, yet again, there was also no recent example available for that, but none was needed as the attempt to host Friday nights for adults as well as Saturday failed, probably do to it's size, but Saturday nights maintained a steady course that grew with time in attendance to equal the numbers of teeny bopper night.
When freestyle music began to take over the dance floors laying Disco and Italo Disco to rest, 1235 had already established it's self as the club a new artist needed to perform at because of the influence 1235 had gained over local radio stations, if an artist performed at 1235, they were almost guaranteed to have their song played on rotation on some stations.
The stage at 1235 was filled weekly with some of the top named recording artist of the time, such acts who graced 1235's stage include Level 42, Dead Or Alive,Wham, New Kids On The Block and many other globally known Billboard top 10 charters.
Although many big time acts performed at 1235, surprisingly it is three freestyle artist that hold the records for most in attendance as the top three draws at 1235.
As an individual who closely worked with nearly every club in South Florida as a booking agent and promoter during that time, I am able to share with the public accurate numbers of attendance.
New Kids - 2900
Level 42 - 1900
Dead Or Alive 3200
Local freestyle groups from Miami hold the top 3 spots for attendance and very closely followed by New York acts.
# 3 Secret Society - 3400
# 2 Stevie B - 3700 - 4000 whenever he performed
The top attendance ever gathered at 1235 just goes to prove how massive in size 1235 was.
It wasn't just the size of 1235's interior, it was the clever design it had to be able to host so many people while still offering a decent amount of resting areas with furniture which also had a very good view of the stage.
On a night where a local radio station was hosting a concert filled with many headliners just a mile away from Club 1235 at the convention center, it was a group named "Will To Power" who blanketed every attendance numbers prior to their performance by drawing a whooping 5200 patrons on a Saturday adult night none the less , that night was also the first time Will To Power set foot on any stage to perform their smash hit "Dreamin", a song that helped launch the group from a freestyle act to highly recognized chart toppers with hits like "They say it's gonna rain" and the remake of the rock classic "Freebird".
After nearly 6 years and still doing well the Brandt brothers decided to sell 1235 which soon after became Deco's.
Like the Brandt's the owner of Deco's spent a large sum of funds, even far greater then what the Brandt's had spent.
1235 was completely remodeled, upgrading the sound & lighting to new heights,new furniture,bars,bathrooms you name it.
Deco's owner spent a fortune while giving Deco's it's own identity which helped separate 1235 from the new beast occupying 1235 Washington Ave.
Deco's had a decent run while continuing to offer the same format as 1235 had made successful.
Once Deco's closed, Passions quickly took it's place, and also holds the record for the fastest opening and closing of a club in that venue.
Other clubs that occupied 1235 Washington Ave. include Levels, Glam Slam which was owned by Prince, presently it is now Mansions, and right when you thought no one could out do the look and feel of 1235 and Deco's, Mansion has probably redesigned that venue better then anyone else while enjoying major success on a steady basis during every night that Mansions is open, which is almost every night, impressive to say the least.
Please feel free to link to this page by using this URL:
http://www.discomusic.com/clubs-more/7250_0_6_0_C/
COMMENTS ON THIS DISCO / DISCOTHEQUE / NIGHTCLUB
Please excuse some spelling errors,was late and didnt bother to spell check it.
Also forgot to mention the likes of Ciro Llerena and a dozen other top Miami jocks spun their magic at 1235.
I remeber many concerts at Club Z and 1235 but the best was Grace Jones, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Dead or Alive, Romeo Void, Ministry and an impromptu session by Missing Persons. The 1235 space is my favorite of all time. The building is massive, elaborate and beautifully decorated in true Art Deco style. Unfortunately, "Mansion" ruined the interior but my memories will be with me forever.
The writer references WILL TO POWER as the ALL-TIME attendance gathering. I am the one who created the contract with Bob Rosenberg, and convinced him to keep the date as he nearly pulled out. I actually had control of the club entertainment from late 1985 - early 1987. Just ask Bobby, Johnny, or Gary.
Tom Flood
Atualy, I have a question about the club 1235 are minors allowed to go? If they are, is it every night or certain nihts? And how much is it per person??
hey i need to know what the age minimum for teen night is, and iff not then i need to know if there are any other teen clubs in miami FL
Best concerts I saw at 1235 were Hazel Dean, Secret Society and Tito Puente. It was truly a great place to go, I loved the spacious dance floor. I had some great memories in that place. It was my alltime favorite place to go back in the 80's.
club Z Was The next best club after Backstreet and Casanova . But it was not the same. Fun Years
http://www.TeenNights.com
hey, whens the next teen night at 1235??
How can i get in contact with the nightclub?
Thanks!
Here is another club that I once worked at. This place ROCKED. When it was Club Z, I worked at TUTTLES in the Charter Club, and again, the MOB torched Z. When the Brandt Brothers bought the property, I was a "Guest" deejay once a month. I remember the booth was huge, the women outstanding, and the drug scene was everywhere.
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