Before the mid‐1980s, the bottom of Jarvis Street, along Queens Quay, was not a clubbing destination. Mentioned repeatedly by those interviewed here are the wax figures of John F. Kennedy and Jackie O. sitting in a black convertible Cadillac that hung suspended from RPM’s ceiling, surrounded by an epic related scene.

“[Yet] RPM really was a down and dirty, simple club, without a lot of bells and whistles,” recalls Mike Borg, who would later manage The Phoenix and co-own Gypsy Co-op. Eyes were also tripped out by loads of black light, bright psychedelic lighting, and a number of raised go‐go platforms.

[10] With the rampant trend of downtown Toronto buildings that house nightclubs being sold and then demolished to make way for condominiums, the Toronto Star reported during April 2013 about The Guvernment's fate already being sealed in the same manner. His Thursdays and Saturdays were also wildly popular. “I searched out records from my childhood, and I put the music together in a dance-mix fashion,” says Kelly of his approach.

“As Toronto’s Kenny Baird was dressing the cool clubs in N.Y.C., like Area and Limelight, Murray was bringing that vibe to RPM. I lost my Timex watch in the pit at one of the Ramone’s concerts, then waited until after the show, looked around and found it up against the stage still working – “Timex takes a licking, but keeps on ticking” 

12:49 pm on July 7, 2012, JDHalperin 
 Kelly—who went on to play a plethora of clubs and raves, host radio shows, record with Barry Harris as Top Kat, and release solo records on labels including John Acquaviva’s Underdog and Definitive—stepped out of the game after breaking his back in six places 10 years ago. Saved from youtube.com. “There was nothing like RPM at the time. It was incredible.

Deep Dish created a Global Underground compilation, Global Underground 025: Toronto, based on their performance at the Guvernment.

A week after its doors were chained, a crew of people largely associated with Yorkville hotspot The Copa (including Martin Arts and Neil Vosburgh), along with artist/entrepreneur Murray Ball, were the new owners. This alternative/indie showcase was always packed with a mix of college kids and Queen West crowds. He wanted every night, no matter what the event, to be a ‘happening’ of constant activity. Damn u John Smoltz! “Murray was a master of the art business; he could assemble people and their talents. I honed my danceskills on those nights. A professional DJ from age 13, Matt C was versatile and played a variety of nights at RPM between 1989-1995.

RPM was designed to blow minds; oversized art was everywhere. “I learned so much from that place and from Murray and Martin. “’One-two-three-four,’ blow your ears off. “It was a blessing of the times to play the best venues, and RPM was surely near the top,” Sheppard says. “RPM was really the first successful warehouse-to-club transformation in this country,” underscores Topp.

Here are my picks for the top nightclubs in Toronto's history so far. “Most of today’s players came by RPM to see how it was done. It was always a communal thing.” Sheppard—who also brought acts like Ministry, Skinny Puppy, and Chris & Cosey to RPM’s stage—became a genuine superstar during his years at the club. “Murray was a master of the art business; he could assemble people and their talents. Every week would blow up bigger than I thought.”. 132 Queens Quay East later became the Guvernment but from 1985 to 1995, RPM hosted countless concerts and was also one of the most important dance clubs in … “RPM truly helped make me famous as a DJ, and has contributed to the rest of my professional life as a realtor. In the mid-90s this Phipps Street club was a big, raw, warehouse space with a nearly 500-person capacity.

“We opened The Warehouse to accommodate concerts that were too big for RPM and The Phoenix, but too small for CNE Coliseum,” says Belanger. Resident DJ Mark Oliver along with Khabouth played the final track, Patrick Cowley's mix of "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer. What happened to it: Tellingly, no one I interviewed for this article worked at RPM to its very end, so the exact timing and reasons for its closure are a touch unclear. The Copa, Sheppard tells me, was also where CFNY (now 102.1 the Edge) program director David Marsden had heard the DJ blending rock and electronic music.

[3] Sheppard occasionally booked live acts for appearances during his club Sundays such as the time during fall 1986 when he brought on the still-not-widely-known Beastie Boys whose debut album had just come out.[3]. Ask any gay person who was clubbing in the 80s and 90s and they'll tell you Boots was the place to be.

Nick Cave TV Interview RPM Club Toronto, Canada circa 1989. I met so many women there just from dancing my face off.

The club attracted a stellar team of staff, DJs, visual artists, and live music bookers. As another famous early club district space, System Soundbar was home to quality underground house, drum 'n' bass, hip hop and techno nights, but closed in 2005. I worked there then and was the hostess/organizer for the birthday rollerblade parties at Warehouse. [2][4] Initially, TK played Mondays (billed as 'Psychedelic Mondays'), Thursdays ('Disco Thursdays'), and Saturdays ('dance‐music Saturdays' blending house, funk, and new wave), while Sheppard was hired away from his popular alt-rock Sunday-night gig at The Copa to recreate the same energy at RPM. The legendary Dovercourt and College dance venue was an after-hours country, rock, and blues club for years. Initially kept, The Warehouse name got changed to Kool Haus by 2001. It was just before their first album went commercial. It was an extremely exciting time of my life where I was embraced by a truly amazing and loyal crowd.”. Torontoist has been acquired by Daily Hive Toronto - Your City. Artist Jamie Osborne created many of the club’s visuals and drove its shuttle bus for some time; National Velvet vocalist Maria Del Mar was an early cigarette girl; and infamous lighting man Tom Doyle created incredible effects. The Garys also booked in the Ramones for a three-show stint. I barely remember psychedelic Monday’s…but they were truly remarkable and nothing else like it in the city at the time. Marilyn Manson and Trent Reznor were fans of the space. Mondays became a wild animal that I almost had no control over. Among others, its star DJ, Chris Sheppard, participated in booking acts for live gigs at the venue, bringing Ministry, Skinny Puppy, and Chris & Cosey throughout 1986. Champ was a great doorman and he always let us skip the line.

[3] The club's sound system was installed by the Canadian audio engineer Ted MacDonald. Great article, I have loved reading this entire series.

If anything is RPM, that is.”. RPM was designed to blow minds; oversized art was everywhere.

Join the conversation DJ/producer Chris Sheppard was the second resident DJ hired at RPM. “Billy Idol was in one night; on another, Roger Waters and David Gilmour from Pink Floyd got in a fistfight at the bar and had to be separated. [14], In late March 2015, at a presentation attended by Toronto mayor John Tory, The Daniels Corporation announced plans of building a C$700 million development named City of the Arts that is to include two mid-rise commercial towers, two sky-high residential ones and post-secondary academic space.[1]. “The busboys were wild,” agrees Kelly. If you were a teen and did not go to RPM and line up around the block, then you were just not cool. “Most of today’s players came by RPM to see how it was done. You can read into the facts make your own decision up. Additionally, 'Spin Saturdays' (later known as 'Alive till 7') played host to many international DJs such as Above & Beyond, Armin Van Buuren, David Guetta, Ferry Corsten, Marco V, Markus Schulz, Deadmau5, Sasha, Paul Oakenfold, and Carl Cox. [11] The official confirmation occurred over a year later when, on 1 May 2014, The Guvernment's parent company, INK Entertainment, announced plans of closing the entertainment complex effective 31 January 2015.

“It slowly became house music and all rave culture, and we left those dated rock sounds behind. A week after its doors were chained, a crew of people largely associated with Yorkville hotspot The Copa (including Martin Arts and Neil Vosburgh), along with artist/entrepreneur Murray Ball, were the new owners. Our liquor licensed was illegally transferred in one week and they put in armed force to lock us out. 
Their Toronto debut was at “Heaven” in the Hudson Bay Centre at Yonge & Bloor. However, Fresh did not do well and was quickly sold by late 1985. This was once billed as the "highest nightclub in the world" when it occupied a section of the CN Tower's main pod between 1979 and 1991. Now. Sparkles in the early 1980s.

Denise Benson has been covering Toronto’s fluid nightlife landscape for almost 40 years, documenting the changes for various publications across the city. “Murray was a master of the art business; he could assemble people and their talents. The Ramones at RPM in a 1987 concert. [17], Khabouth has indicated his intention to build a bigger venue of approximately 100,000 square feet to replace the Guvernment while admitting that it would probably have to be outside of downtown Toronto due to difficulty of finding a suitable property of that size in the heart of the city. The all-ages Sundays generally reached capacity well before 9 p.m. each week. He too shaped, and was shaped by, the club. The place went nuts.”. We had no money – nursed a G&T all night, along with the dollar sodas. “At first, the music was a hybrid of all things dance,” Sheppard recalls. [3], Within a few months, by March 1986, well known local DJs Terry "TK" Kelly and Chris Sheppard were brought over from The Copa to be RPM's residents.

I can still remember Jamie working on multiple art displays in the back room. Film, music, fashion, and the idea of celebrity drove the club.

“I always felt, and still do, that I am so lucky to have been involved in something like RPM,” says Terry Kelly.

Sometimes RPM concerts by stadium-sized bands would be announced at the last minute, as was the case with Bon Jovi, Guns N’ Roses and, most famously, The Rolling Stones, who played RPM on July 19, 1994 as a warm-up for their Voodoo Lounge tour. His mix of house, rave, drum ‘n’ bass and hip-hop—combined with a free buffet—was explosive.

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