RESIDENTS, CLUB OWNERS SQUARE OFF ON THE STRIP

Battle lines are being drawn again on the Sunset Strip. On one side is Lester Hirsch, a longtime area resident who was recently appointed to the West Hollywood Business Licensing Board.

Representing neighbors irritated by litter, noise and parking problems associated with such Sunset Strip rock clubs as Gazzarri’s, the Roxy and the Whisky, Hirsch has spearheaded a campaign that has led to severe parking restrictions on side streets around the clubs and now is seeking to tighten club license-renewal procedures.

On the other side are the club proprietors, headed by Bill Gazzarri, who bills himself as the Godfather of Rock ‘n’ Roll and who has been doing business at the same Sunset Boulevard stand since 1961. Among the acts who have appeared at the club: Van Halen, Motley Crue, the Doors, the Go-Go’s, Ratt, Tina Turner and the Byrds.

Gazzarri claims the new regulations may drive him and others out of business. Responding to Hirsch’s actions, he has already sent an angry eight-page letter to just about everyone he could think of, including members of the West Hollywood City Council, the California congressional delegation and even the President.

“Mr. Hirsch has such hatred for rock ‘n’ rollers,” Gazzarri said. “He’s been living by the Whisky for years. To place a man on a commission giving him the power to display these prejudices is not justifiable.”

Countered Hirsch: “I am not against the nightclubs, but I would hope any commercial enterprise would not deny the residents their reasonable enjoyment of their homes.”

Councilman Stephen Schulte, who named Hirsch to the board, said the council is not “anti-business or anti-club,” but also stressed that people who live in the neighborhood have a “right to enjoy it. The residents live there year round and the (club) patrons do not.”

One Strip-area resident who asked not to be named said that since she moved into her $280,000 house 15 months ago, she has experienced such late-night disturbances as bottles thrown on her patio and youths urinating on neighbors’ property.

“Why should I pay a fortune in taxes and have to put up with this kind of garbage?” she asked. “We knew the clubs were there (before we moved in) but we didn’t drive around at 3 a.m. so we didn’t know they’d be so offensive. I used to go to rock clubs, but it wasn’t like that when I was a kid.”

Paul Koretz, deputy to West Hollywood Mayor Alan Viterbi, lives near the Strip himself and acknowledged that trying to balance the rights of the residents and the needs of the clubs is a tricky proposition: “We’re treading a fine line. The clubs are an important part of the city and its flavor and we don’t want to drive them out.”

Among the proposed solutions for the parking problems, according to Koretz, is the use of some of the nearby office building parking structures, though later this year the City Council will discuss a permit-only parking plan for the neighborhood.

However, Bill Gazzarri believes that there are already plenty of regulations to keep the Strip peaceful. “The kids that are rowdy are in the vast minority,” he said. “There are ordinances against loud noise, littering and handbills. It’s a law enforcement problem.”

SON OF %!: Just when you thought you’d heard the last word in controversial record titles with the Leaving Trains’ new release (its title is simply “f-word”), here comes “Drive By Shooting,” a six-song EP by Henrietta Collins & the Wifebeating Childhaters.

Henrietta is really ex-Black Flag singer Henry Rollins, and the title song is a waggish Jan & Dean spoof mocking what Rollins sees as the media’s trivializing of gang-related incidents. It was recorded in Britain last October--well before the current rash of freeway violence. Nonetheless, the song is perfectly in tune with recent headlines.

According to Susan Farrell, co-owner of the Texas Hotel record label, none of the company’s distributors have balked at carrying the title, and the record’s promotional campaign--centered on “Drive By Shooting” bumper stickers--has received only positive responses. In fact, she reported, people have been trying to peel them off of her car. No need--you can get one by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Texas Hotel, 122 Broadway, Santa Monica 90401.

AT THE MOVIES: It’s taken three years, but “Border Radio” has finally made it to the screen--though so far it’s been visible at just a couple of screenings last week. The dark comedy-mystery is set in the local music scene, and was filmed in local clubs and other Los Angeles sites as well as in northern Mexico. There’s no distributor at the moment, but producer Marcus De Leon, who just completed work on it last week, will be taking it on the film festival circuit.

“Border Radio’s” cast includes local musicians John Doe, Chris D. and Texacala Jones and features a musical score by Dave Alvin, with contributions from Doe, D.’s Divine Horsemen, Steve Berlin and the Lazy Cowgirls. A sound-track album is out on Enigma Records.

And yes, that’s Chris D. playing a government hit man in the current thriller “No Way Out.” D. said that he got the role after the film’s star, Kevin Costner, met D. at one of the singer-producer’s poetry readings and suggested he read for the part. D. is involved in one of the film’s thrilling chases, but reported that his best scene (in which he kills the character played by model Iman) ended up on the cutting room floor because it was “too grim.”

As for Divine Horsemen, “Snake Handler,” a new album featuring the recently added guitarist Peter Andrus, is due any day.

MOVE OVER, TELSTAR: Wrestler Records has just released “Earthless,” the debut album by the Satellites 4, an instrumental combo composed of guitarists Casey Dolan and Doug Wieselman, drummer Danny Frankel and bassist Marvin Etzioni. Among the titles are “Brian Jones,” “Train on Mars” and a version of “You Only Live Twice.” The group has already started recording a second album.

RECOMMENDED READING: For a fast and free feel of the local scene, check out Endless Party, a 9-month-old free fanzine available in more than 100 record stores and clubs locally. The tri-weekly tabloid has some of the flavor and style of the first issues of Slash, but instead of punk polemics providing the tone, it’s publisher Chris Amouroux’s longstanding love affair with the local glam scene.

And like Slash, a record label is soon to grow out of the magazine. Starting this month, Amouroux plans to release the first limited- edition singles from Endless Party Records, highlighting bands she feels “deserve to be heard.”

Some of Endless Party’s contributors deserve to be heard, too--both Cramps singer Lux Interior and head Circle Jerk Keith Morris have written for the ‘zine. But not everybody is happy about the fledgling paper’s existence. One of its rivals, the fanzine L.A. Rocks, recently ran a blistering diatribe against Amouroux and warned advertisers against going to the competition.

NEWS ‘N’ NOTES: After a decade on the local club scene, Top Jimmy & the Rhythm Pigs’ debut album will be out on Down There records Sept. 25. Titled “Pigus Drunkus Maximus,” the LP was produced by Steve Berlin and features the work of group founders Carlos Guitarlos and, of course, golden-throated Jimmy himself. . . . House of Freaks, the raucously tuneful guitar and drums duo that relocated here from Richmond., Va., is set to record for Rhino Records, with a single due in November and an album projected for January release. . . . Ilene Markell, formerly of New York’s Wygals, has taken over the bass slot in Wednesday Week, while Mike Guarracini has filled same role for the Dancing Hoods.