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These were well attended by a diverse, mixed-up crowd-older, younger, money, and fashion. “They started renting rec rooms in apartment buildings to have parties. She first met them at The Ports, then spent lots of time listening to music with the Assoons and other friends, and attended their early events. “They were great promoters,” says friend Charmaine Gooden of the brothers. The Assoons began to do parties at places like The Ports, on Yonge near Summerhill, and in a building on Sherbourne. “At that time, the whole new wave look was in so we’d dress freaky.” Nights, but landing a job at the Yonge and Bloor Le Chateau clothing store, conveniently located next to a modeling agency, connected him with a different crowd. He mentions checking our ’70s disco hotspots like Heavens, Checkers, and Mrs. Later, Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles also played.”Īssoon brought his knowledge and love of New York clubs, style, and music with him when his parents requested that he return to Toronto. A legendary DJ called Tee Scott played there. It was on the top floor of a loft and was a roller skating rink in the daytime. “One of the clubs that I hung out at a lot, that really influenced me, was called Melons. “I went to all kinds of places, like the Commodore Hotel, Night Owl, The Great Gatsby, Paradise Garage, The Loft, and Milky Way. “I was a club hound,” he laughs during our lengthy conversation. Tony moved back to New York during the height of the disco days. That’s how we started.”Īssoon says they produced a few successful parties, and the idea spread to other high schools before the brothers all graduated. It was funk music, a little bit of disco, and so forth. “We decided to have the first soul party ever in Toronto. “That was back in the day, when Soul Train was on, and we wanted to have something that was more in our culture,” describes Tony Assoon. During their high school years in Scarborough, the music-savvy siblings produced events in school spaces. The Assoon family moved from New York to Toronto in the 1970s. Tony, Albert, David, and Michael Assoon forever altered Toronto’s dance club nightscape with their Twilight Zone, but that venue’s reach was rooted in earlier efforts. History : Long before the Entertainment District was awash in condos, clubs, and restaurants-back when the area was still largely non-residential and known as the garment district-four brothers opened a venue that ultimately influenced the neighbourhood’s development. Those who were there lovingly explore its lasting legacy.Ĭlub: Twilight Zone, 185 Richmond Street W. Trailblazing 1980s nightclub Twilight Zone brought diverse crowds and sounds to Toronto’s Entertainment District long before such a designation even existed. This expanded history of the Zone was written in March 2015, and was exclusively available in the Then & Now book until this time.
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As the Then & Now series expanded in reach, so too did the length of each story and number of participants who contributed to each. The original Then & Now: Twilight Zone article was published Octoand was second in the web series originally developed for The. (L to R) Michael Griffiths with Albert, Michael, David and Tony Assoon.