Comments on: Then & Now: Tazmanian Ballroom

By: susan lynne schwenger

susan lynne schwenger — Fri, 09 Aug 2019 16:41:11 +0000

Graphika Studios remembers,
Chrysalis Group & the incredible Tom Kristenbrun
who granted Norm, Gary, and, myself a contract
to design The Logo for The Copa
which was, as, i remember,
NO easy feat – getting that neon placed into that sign
it truly, was a lighthouse to a landmark in Yorkville,
for dance, as, well as concert venues
that was the place in Toronto to be,
they were ‘good’, ‘happy’ and ‘fulfilling’ times,
Tom Kristenbrun, big thanks for your knowing,
we could do the job, on short notice !!!
and, deliver it !!!
i once heard our LOGO work won an award
~ so, many good times are always fondly remembered
GOOD STUFF MAGiCALLY HAPPENS
when you work with good people, great organizations…
and, DiSCOVER concepts and ideas that can eXpress !!!
by, creating THE MAGiC that WEAVES iTS ENERGiES
INTO Totality of THE WHOLE MiX & FRAMEWORK of THE WORK !!!
also it was at The Bellair Café., in Toronto, Ontario Canada
where we crossed paths to pick up ideas & checks
it was all ‘good work’ – THANK YOU !!!
Much love, as, well as Blessings to Everyone,
incredible pages in the book of eXpressions of my life !!!
~susan lynne schwenger

“we are all notes in the song,
just different melodies,
iMAGiNE when we sing together,
it will be SUM THiNG”

By: The Untold Story of Mary Macfarlane’s Hotel – Lively Legacy of Lombard Street

Mon, 23 Apr 2018 00:48:53 +0000

[…] published by J.H. Beers, 1907; Goad’s Fire Insurance maps as captioned; 1871 Canada Census; Then & Now: Tazmanian Ballroom, by Denise Benson, September 24, 2014; Toronto City Directories; Toronto Daily Star and Globe and Mail Historical Newspapers via […]

By: Older and Wiseless

Older and Wiseless — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 04:30:15 +0000

Wow… I was just listening to Plastic Dreams and remembering Colby’s before I met the man I’ve been with for 21 years. Hard to imagine that as a gay couple we were both going to these places and experiencing an entirely new trend in music but hadn’t met yet, before home computers were common place and cell phones were something you saw on Star Trek… I was single when I went to RRFB! Well not really, I was dating a mod at the time and we both looked so cool with our parade boots on, baggy faded jeans rolled up and no underwear on wearing tight leather jackets and wet-look hair with “SMITHS” spray-painted on one of our jackets and artwork by Fiona Smyth on the other. Fiona is now a prof at OCA! Who’da thunk it. But the reason why I liked to pretend I was single was the basement with its single strobe light bouncing of sluts in the close-dark and crazy sexy music forcing a boner to show in my jeans – I guess underwear is practical… The Black Eagle still has a fun Friday Night Dance Party, but nothing is like it was back then. We didn’t have wrinkles, we had lots of time, no money and were perpetually bored and horny; RRFB kept us off ManLine phone chats, out of the parks before 2am and inside a world of fantasy for what seemed like a short time. Thank you to the trail blazers for taking chances and providing these places that helped us build our characters, make memories and find God! (LOL)

By: Steve Shitchurch

Steve Shitchurch — Fri, 29 May 2015 11:17:35 +0000

…fantastic times at the Ballroom. I DJ’d a few times upstairs and on a Rock n Roll Fag night and danced and shouted out “ACEEEED” many a time downstairs. I fell in love with suit of armour. Any one remember that bit of deco upstairs? And the mushrooms were good too Mark Oliver.

By: Sarah Wayne

Sarah Wayne — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 18:36:34 +0000

All comments in the string below have been republished from their original appearance on The Grid website. We're including the readers' comments as they add to these Then & Now stories. We look forward to reading new comments here as well. Kirk   Fond memories of this place, would be good to do a reunion! Sorry to hear about Johnny’s recent passing.   5:24 pm on October 2, 2014        Naomi   Great article. I was the one that sold Maxwell the ‘Parachute’ outfit lol those were the days! Toronto needs a good jolt of some ‘old school’ back in the game.   11:25 am on April 7, 2012       Sean   LOL: I had a Parachute out as well-think I got it Boomer. I used to party with Gilbert but lost touch-didnt know he opened a Taz in Hong Kong   8:53 am on September 29, 2014        Anthony van Osch   I don’t know…sounds like the kind of place that would have been filled with what would now be called douchebags.   7:26 pm on April 1, 2012       like it is  Not really Anthony, because they wouldn’t have let you in.   12:11 am on April 8, 2012        Karen Young   Nice work Denise! For those of you that want hear a blast from the past, I threw together some selections of what I was spinning in the basement at the time. Enjoy! http://kymedia.com/TazFlashback/   3:24 pm on March 30, 2012       michael andy poolhall  Loved the Ballroom! The first time i ever heard Milli Vanilli was in the Basement during a fetish night LOL   3:24 pm on March 30, 2012       james vandervoort  Wow. another stunner–the pics alone! But as usual, I recall the music and the madness in that basement. And Mark Oliver had the back page of ICE magazine, for a DJ chart entitled “On theWay Out”, which of course, featured only the latest, greatest and newest of Dj track listings–drove me crazy! How does he get these records so fast i wondered? I fell for the ruse completely….Having also been to NYC’s Rock n Roll fag Bar and also Nell’s–I can tell you, the Taz–basement and top floor–were way more outrageous–and never bettered—the space was notorious–the sounds were untouchable!   2:59 pm on March 30, 2012       Anonymous   Hey Denise – Thanks for this incredibly well-researched piece. The Taz was a beautiful piece of toronto dance culture. It felt truly international which is what I loved about it and now that I’ve read about all the influences I understand why.   2:48 pm on March 30, 2012       TJ  I will buy the book.   1:36 pm on March 30, 2012       Mike Waldorf Astoria   ICE Magazine! Crucial! I remember picking one up as a 14 year old Scarberian, thinking, “Must Get Downtown…”. Thanks again, Denise. These columns are amazing. Can’t wait until you get into the 90′s!   1:24 pm on March 30, 2012       yum  fuck maxwell is so cute. wonder where he is now.. okay, fine. wonder if he’s single. but seriously, there’s only like a 20 year difference? NBD.  P.S. LONG LIVE BENSON.   1:15 pm on March 30, 2012       MLS   I remember Max Blandford when he was the manager of Louis — the student pub at the University of Saskatchewan c. 1983 wearing a nice Parachute outfit !   2:46 pm on March 30, 2012