Hello! wondering if anyone out there knows if there are any clubs here that spins 80's (retro) songs? Pls furnish with as much details as you can

Which leads to the question, what is retro in Shanghai? 1940's?

And since when did the 80's become retro?! (*checks for grey hairs*)

haha.. gd question..

i meant ENGLISH songs from the 70s, 80s to the early till late 90s.. songs from OMD, Depeche Mode, Queen, Inxs.. stuffs like that.. it cld be the remixed version whatsoever...

by any chance, does such a club exists here in Shanghai??

I believe Zapatas plays 80s music on Wednesday nights on Ladies Night. I won't tell you what I think of Retro stuff though :p
I just drink enough that I don't hear it.

Nelly’ bar at 162 Maoming Lu (next to House of Blues & Jazz) has a great selection of 80’s songs.

For example:
Culture Club, Do you really want to hurt me
Flock of Seagulls, I Ran
Human League, Don’t you want me
Iggy Pop, The passenger
Blow Monkeys, digging your scene
The Cult, She sells sanctuary
The Cure, Love cats
Dead or Alive, You spin me round
Duran Duran, Planet earth
Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Relax
Gary Newman, Cars
Heaven 17, Temptation
Joy Division, Love will tear us apart
Psychedelic Furs, Pretty in pink
Soft Cell, Tainted love

Plus many more great classics

Is this the sort of stuff you were thinking of?

Remember 20 kuai beer all night every night.

There's not a solid 80s club or night in Shanghai, other than by accident ... like Zapatas wednesday, just playing the same 50 generic pop party songs over and over again like YMCA every night. I guess some people still get a real kick out of that. I got sick of it about 20 years ago...

Anyway, look for future Antidote parties coming up, we'll be doing some synthpop and goth nights this autumn/winter, so lots of stuff from the 80s will be selected.

hey dartman, yeah.. those were what i was referring to.. thanks!
have u been there before? how is the crowd? is its a club sort of place where one can dance?

Hi Chicane

At the weekends they have to play a mix of stuff to cater for all tastes, but if you come in during the week and bring some buddies they will play solid 80’s. It is a small friendly bar but if you are in the party mood after a few beers just get up and dance. They have done it a couple of times late on Tuesday nights 11pm onwards and it went down a treat. If there are enough people interested they can make it a regular slot whenever you like?

How about some more of the same?

ABC, The look of love
Altered Images, I could be happy
Aztec Camera, Oblivious
New Order, Blue Monday
Bauhaus, Bela Lugosi’s dead (my favourite)
Belle Stars, Sign of the times
Classic Nouveaux, Is it a dream
Japan, Visions of China
Deacon Blue, Real gone kid
Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Come on Eileen
Erasure, Blue Savannah

I can see the saliva drooling from your mouth and the brain ticking over like Homer Simpson. ‘Mmmm decent music in Shanghai, Mmmm Nelly’s bar, Mmmm must get taxi, Mmmm cheap beer, Mmmm must tell all my friends’.

Ur choice of 80's music needs to be revised. u can't talk of 80's music without including soul,um talking, Kool and The Gang, James Brown,Aretha Franklin, Hugh Masekela,Whitney Houuston, Thelma Houston, Smokey robinson, The Jacksons(any of them),Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Shalamar,... if u need more suggestions, um willing to offer my services. I don't charge.

Dartman wrote:I can see the saliva drooling from your mouth and the brain ticking over like Homer Simpson. ‘Mmmm decent music in Shanghai, Mmmm Nelly’s bar, Mmmm must get taxi, Mmmm cheap beer, Mmmm must tell all my friends’.

Don't know about you but for some reason, this helpful advice is starting to feel like an advert to me.

In Response to Steelebunz

Kool and the Gang, Ladies night 1979
Aretha Franklyn, Respect 1967
James Brown, Sex machine 1965
Thelma Houston, Don’t leave me this way 1977
Smokey Robinson, The tracks of my tears 1969
Jackson 5, ABC 1970
Stevie Wonder, Superstition 1975
Diana Ross, I’m still waiting 1971
Shalamar, Take that to the bank 1978
Marvin Gaye, Got to give it up 1977

There are many categories for popular music Soul, Rock, Punk, Hip-Hop, Reggae, Heavy Metal the list goes on forever. Chicane asked for 80’s music and I presumed correctly that the said person was referring to the songs I listed earlier. Most of these artists could not be put into any genre apart from pop music so they are listed as 80’s. These artists I feel would be embarrassed to be listed as pop music as it would then put them in with the likes of Abba, Tweets, Dollar and such like. Some of the 80’s artists I listed could even be put into an alternative file such as Bauhaus, The Cult and Joy Division.

As a former avid reader of Blues & Soul magazine I often found it amusing to see how Soul was defined. The most common definition seemed to be ‘Black American Music’

Soul also branched off into various directions such as Northern Soul (‘feel the need’ Chuck Jackson), Funk (‘flashlight’ Parliament) and the infamous Disco Dross (‘love to love you baby’ Donna Summer).

I have at least one record in my collection of all the artists you mention, but I would never for one minute put them in a play list under the heading 80’s music.

My favourite Stevie Wonder track is ‘Uptight’, which he made when he was 11 years old. Thelma Houston’s (no relation to Whitney Houston as once reported in Thats, please see Cissy Houston) ‘Don’t leave me this way’ was a true classic soul track. It was copied by Harold Melvyn and reached further up the charts, but was just not in the same league as the gorgeous Thelma.

You would never see the likes of Culture Club, Specials or even The Thomson twins (and they had black skinned people in their line ups) on Soul Train or listed in the charts of Blues & Soul and Black Echo so why list Soul as 80’s?

In response to Kuldaen.

So I tried to insert a little humour into my helpful advice I didn’t swear or insult anyone so come on chill out get yourself to Nelly’s you may even enjoy it?

The band at Rendezvous in Xin Tian Di plays quite a variety of retro music, including some mo town. Now when I say variety, I've only been there half a dozen times over the last year, for all I know they play the same damn set every night. I've also remember a decent band at Paulaner (in Puxi) that played a great Pour Some Sugar On Me

Dartman wrote:In response to Kuldaen.
So I tried to insert a little humour into my helpful advice I didn’t swear or insult anyone so come on chill out get yourself to Nelly’s you may even enjoy it?

Fair enough dartman, but I was just saying how I felt. Your reply still sounds like an advert to me. I'm not offended or insulted. just not sure its appropriate or necessary.. As for visiting Nelly's, as I said above, I'm not the biggest fan of 80s music. Only time I don't mind listening to it is when I'm so drunk that I am deaf.

I arrived here from the UK 8 weeks ago and i was asking the same question.

I have not been to a place that plays it properly (no offence to anyone)

I have acted on this and have started a night called blush every Thursday, the dj is Joi and i will also be bringing a fantastic party dj from the UK in the next 2 weeks.

You will see one of the best party nights Shanghai has ever seen, i have worked in some of the best party venues in the Uk so i know exactly what to do to have a REAL party night!!!


In the meantime check out www.madamzung-shanghai.com

We should change this to the advert thread!