Place

The Loft

Not who you're looking for? Others named The Loft: architectural structure in Lansallos, Cornwall, England, UK · 2014 film directed by Erik Van Looy · Danish musical group · 1969 novel by Marlen Haushofer

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Overview

The Loft was the location for the first underground dance party (called "Love Saves the Day") organized by David Mancuso, on February 14, 1970, in New York City. Since then, the term "The Loft" has come to represent Mancuso's own version of a non-commercial party where no alcohol, food, nor beverages are sold. Mancuso's vision of a private party is similar to, and inspired by, the rent party and house party. Unlike conventional nightclubs or discotheques, attendance is by invitation only. In the late 1970s, Mancuso abandoned the generally accepted and expected practice of beatmatching, preferring to play songs in their entirety on his renowned audiophile-quality sound system. The Village Voice wrote that Mancuso's sound system was the best in New York and even described him as "more of a party engineer than a DJ." Mancuso required that the music played had to be soulful, rhythmic, and impart words of hope, redemption, or pride. History When Mancuso threw his first informal house parties from 1965-70, the gay community (who comprised much of The Loft's attendee roster) was often harassed in the gay bars and dance clubs, so many gay men carried bail money with them to gay bars. But at The Loft and many other early, private discotheques, they could dance together without fear of police action thanks to Mancuso's underground, yet legal, business model. Vince Aletti described it "like going to party, completely mixed, racially and sexually, where there wasn't any sense of someone being more important than anyone else". Alex Rosner, Mancuso's primary sound system engineer, reiterated this: "It was probably about sixty percent black and seventy percent gay...There was a mix of sexual orientation, there was a mix of races, mix of economic groups. A real mix, where the common denominator was music." Location changes 647 Broadway The initial Loft was Mancuso's own home at 645-647 Broadway. The first "Love Saves the Day" party was held at the Broadway location and was attended by around 100 people. After the first event, parties were unofficially established on a weekly basis and ran from midnight until six in the morning. Admission was $2.00 to pay for rent and overhead, but attendees were never turned away for lack of funds. Organic dishes, breads, and freshly-squeezed fruit juice were freely available for attendees. Nothing was sold on the premises to keep the parties commerce-free operations.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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Not who you're looking for? Others named The Loft: architectural structure in Lansallos, Cornwall, England, UK · 2014 film directed by Erik Van Looy · Danish musical group · 1969 novel by Marlen Haushofer

Overview

The Loft was the location for the first underground dance party (called "Love Saves the Day") organized by David Mancuso, on February 14, 1970, in New York City. Since then, the term "The Loft" has come to represent Mancuso's own version of a non-commercial party where no alcohol, food, nor beverages are sold. Mancuso's vision of a private party is similar to, and inspired by, the rent party and house party. Unlike conventional nightclubs or discotheques, attendance is by invitation only. In the late 1970s, Mancuso abandoned the generally accepted and expected practice of beatmatching, preferring to play songs in their entirety on his renowned audiophile-quality sound system. The Village Voice wrote that Mancuso's sound system was the best in New York and even described him as "more of a party engineer than a DJ." Mancuso required that the music played had to be soulful, rhythmic, and impart words of hope, redemption, or pride. History When Mancuso threw his first informal house parties from 1965-70, the gay community (who comprised much of The Loft's attendee roster) was often harassed in the gay bars and dance clubs, so many gay men carried bail money with them to gay bars. But at The Loft and many other early, private discotheques, they could dance together without fear of police action thanks to Mancuso's underground, yet legal, business model. Vince Aletti described it "like going to party, completely mixed, racially and sexually, where there wasn't any sense of someone being more important than anyone else". Alex Rosner, Mancuso's primary sound system engineer, reiterated this: "It was probably about sixty percent black and seventy percent gay...There was a mix of sexual orientation, there was a mix of races, mix of economic groups. A real mix, where the common denominator was music." Location changes 647 Broadway The initial Loft was Mancuso's own home at 645-647 Broadway. The first "Love Saves the Day" party was held at the Broadway location and was attended by around 100 people. After the first event, parties were unofficially established on a weekly basis and ran from midnight until six in the morning. Admission was $2.00 to pay for rent and overhead, but attendees were never turned away for lack of funds. Organic dishes, breads, and freshly-squeezed fruit juice were freely available for attendees. Nothing was sold on the premises to keep the parties commerce-free operations.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).