Nearing its centennial, the incredibly unique, labyrinthlike space is arguably best remembered for its run as the venue for Frequency. Since its construction in the 1920s, the Hollywood Athletic Club has had many guises: awards hall, record company, recording studio, billiards club, restaurant. The Hollywood Athletic Club still stands, but its days as a dance club are long behind it. Until 2003, the Teaszer also hosted one of L.A.'s last great after-hours, Does Your Mama Know?, where you might find Marques Wyatt or Louis Vega on the decks and Grace Jones dancing in the crowd. But it was precisely that ramshackle quality that, for nearly two decades and especially throughout the ’90s, made the Coconut Teaszer such an appealing alternative to its more famous, touristy neighbors further down the Strip for then up-and-coming bands like Green Day, Weezer and Rage Against the Machine. The layout was too cramped and funky for any band larger than a trio, the stage felt like a postage stamp (though compared to the Teaszer's basement space, 8121 - later the Crooked Bar - it was vast). The rambling purple house at the corner of Sunset and Crescent Heights never felt quite like a proper rock club. Credit: Fragwurdig Fotograf/Los Angeles Public Library Texacala Jones of Tex and the Horseheads performs at the Coconut Teaszer.
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