Club Review : The Trend-Defying Ski Room

Ever since anyone can remember, the sign above the entrance to Hollywood’s Ski Room on Sunset Boulevard has read, “Sk Room.” The blue lettering, which still includes a star dotting what would the missing “i,” gives you an indication of what’s in store once inside the 50-year-old bar.

The decor is minimalist drab, at best. The one-room club is renowned for having arguably the worst pool table in Hollywood. The regulars--as well as a few of the bartenders--pretty much define the term “motley.”

So why is this venue, which was actually a “featured” watering hole in the Charles Bukowski-penned film “Barfly,” consistently attracting a youthful music-and film-industry crowd?

Certainly one reason must be that the Ski Room defies every trend that passes through Tinsel Town. Even if you haven’t ventured in for five years, you’ll find nothing’s changed much, except perhaps a few songs on the jukebox--the Ski Room’s crown jewel.

Four quarters gets you 11 selections, and if you’re big fans of Neil Diamond or Engelbert Humperdinck, there’s plenty to choose from. The jukebox also includes the Doors and Frank Sinatra, but as each year passes, the proprietors add a hit song or two and lose a Ski Room classic. Occasionally the losses are staggering.

At one point, Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” and Billy Idol’s cover of the Doors’ “L.A. Woman” turned up, presumably bumping the original Doors’ version of the latter and its B-side, “People Are Strange”--once a Ski Room anthem. Although the venue’s desire to march to the beat of its own drummer is laudable, this incident was a blight on an otherwise inflexible track record.

* The Ski Room, 5851 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, (213) 467-1261.