Nightclub Survives Year--Barely--Without Alcohol or Dancing : Night life: The Country Club’s waiting period to reapply for its Los Angeles city alcohol and dancing permits expired last Sunday.

A disappointed Rita Lynn surveyed the crowd at the Country Club in Reseda last Saturday night.

“This place used to rage,” she said. “It was great. The best.”

About 300 people were there, sitting at tables and standing at the stage apron while the pop metal group Brunette pounded away. For nearly any San Fernando Valley venue, this would be a big turnout. But in the 982-seat Country Club, the crowd looked paltry.

“It used to be our favorite club,” said Lynn, 23, of Thousand Oaks. “Now with no alcohol, we don’t come here as much.”

“It’s not as good,” agreed her friend, Jennifer Bucsis, 22, also of Thousand Oaks. “You want to party while you’re spending your evening out.”

A year ago the Country Club lost its Los Angeles city permits to serve alcohol and allow dancing. A group of residents had complained that rowdy club patrons created disturbances in the neighborhood. When the permits came up for review, City Councilwoman Joy Picus, who represents the area, opposed an extension.

The club’s owners and its general manager, Scott Hurowitz, argued that they were being held accountable for a raucous period between 1980 and 1982, when Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, U2, Tina Turner and other stars performed there. At that time the Country Club was managed by Wolf and Rissmiller Concerts and security was inadequate, Hurowitz said.

But the council sided with Picus, and the 9-year-old club lost its permits. Booking agents stopped bringing in groups such as Warrant--acts with record contracts and wide appeal among lovers of so-called pop metal or melodic hard rock. The same was true of country and Western promoters. Ethnic community groups--Israelis and Iranians among them--stopped renting the club for dance parties.

The cavernous hall that had rocked with frequent sellout crowds began to limp.

“I think they’re in operation less often,” said Picus, who often drives by the club on Sherman Way. “I don’t look at their marquee every time, but it was about five nights a week and now it’s three or less.”

Hurowitz said the club, which hopes to get its city permits again, indeed has dropped from five nights of operation to about three.

“Everybody from those who fought us in the first place to our supporters throughout the music community really thought there was no way this could work without liquor,” Hurowitz said. “It’s working in the sense that . . . we’ve shown you can do shows without liquor and a promoter can make a buck. But keeping the doors open does not mean profit.”

He said the club has had a few big-name acts in the past year--Debbie Harry, the Replacements and the Ramones among them. But most weekend nights have been given over to unsigned groups that have loyal but small followings.

“I come to hear the bands,” said Christy Mead, 19, while ordering a Coke Saturday night. She had driven from Buena Park to see the Orange County metal group Razzle, which, with Zeus, was opening for the featured act, Brunette.

Hurowitz said that increased bookings of punk groups, which draw younger patrons, have helped the club survive.

“These kids can look pretty rough with their skinheads and mohawks,” he said, “but they’re just kids. They come in and have a good time and say, ‘Goodby, thanks for having us.’ ”

Picus backed up Hurowitz’s claim that the punk crowds--and all the other Country Club audiences in the past year, for that matter--have been well-behaved.

“We’ve had no complaints in that area,” Picus said. “Operating without booze has made a world of difference.”

Ironically, the clean report card may not work to the club’s advantage. In its vote last November, the City Council said the club could reapply for its alcohol and dance permits after one year. The waiting period ended last Sunday. Hurowitz and club owners said they are certain to reapply, although they do not know when.

“We have to,” said part-owner Elaine Landis, widow of the club’s founder, Chuck Landis. “We’re just barely making it.”

But Picus said she will not support the club’s application because the incident-free past year proves that alcohol was a problem. She has noted that there were 65 arrests near the hall during its operating hours in the previous two-year period. Country club officials say the number is misleading in that many of the arrests came because club security officers called police, forestalling problems.

Elaine Landis said the club’s four owners have talked of selling the facility but are awaiting the outcome of the permit application before making a decision.

“We’re trying to make up our minds now what to do,” she said. “We think one way one time and the other way the other time.”

She said she doubts that the club will continue to operate if the alcohol and dance permits are not reissued.

Loss of the permits has driven away much of the adult crowd. “People over 21 will just wait to see the groups somewhere else,” Hurowitz said.

Gregg Zilijan, 26, of Canoga Park said he no longer is a frequent customer.

“I came tonight because my friends are in Zeus and they’re playing,” he said. “But the place isn’t packed like it used to be. This place used to be happening.”

“I know lots of girls who won’t come here because it’s boring,” said Jimmy Marchiano, 25, of Hollywood. “If the girls stop coming, then the guys stop.”

But loss of the permits has been a boon to some minors.

Carrie Clark and Summer Gaudreault, both 15 and from Chatsworth, said that they visit the Country Club often and that their parents might not let them if alcohol was served.

“A lot of teen-agers like to listen to metal, and they don’t have a place except here,” Carrie said.

Summer said it doesn’t matter to her that patrons cannot dance.

“As long as we can stand close to the stage and be by the groups, it’s OK,” she said.

Hurowitz, who vowed last year to do everything possible to keep the club open, said he will continue to find revenue sources. He has had some success renting the hall to record companies that are showcasing bands or making music videos. The Beastie Boys and Skid Row have staged concerts taped for videos.

Hurowitz has rented the space as a nightclub set in television commercials. He has held onto client Ten Goose Boxing, which presents matches there, and occasionally rents the hall as a set in boxing movies.

“The Country Club has had its less prestigious times before,” he said. “This is a business with lean times. Every show can’t be Prince.”

Although there are occasional sellouts, there are nights when as few as 150 customers turn out.

“Put 150 in the Whiskey and it looks half-full,” Hurowitz said. “But put 150 in here and it looks like my cleaning crew.”