Newsstands Offer a Reading on Trends in Dance, Lifestyle : A third store has opened in Ventura County selling magazines that will give fans their celebrity-charged fix.
You say you just can’t get enough of seeing Reba McEntire, the Judds or Clint Black and his wife, Lisa Hartman, on magazine, tabloid or TV Guide covers at the supermarket checkout line?
Well, you’re in luck. The Newsstands Magazines, Etc. . . chain just opened a third location in Ventura county. So now country fans can get their fix reading about national crooners, line dances and country lifestyles from a plethora of magazines sold at Newsstand stores in Thousand Oaks, Westlake and Simi Valley.
A few of the titles carried include: “Country Song Roundup,” “Country Guitar,” “Country America,” Country Woman” and two fanzines--”Howdy!” and my personal favorite, “Country’s Hottest Hunks,” a special issue put out by “Country Fever” magazine.
Johnny Cash even graces the cover of the June issue of “Pulse!,” a free rock-oriented music magazine available at Tower Record/Video stores. Cash is the subject of the cover story and there’s also an article on country star Rodney Crowell.
And the new country trend isn’t confined to news racks. For example, I tuned in a music video on Country Music Television the other night but thought I was watching VH-1. What a revelation!
Country pixie newcomer, Lari White was singing her hit, “He’s My Baby,” with a refrain so irritating that I had a flashback to the Archies’ pop bubble-gum hit “Sugar, Sugar.” White’s new ditty is one of the worst pseudo-country songs since Barbara Mandrell used Montovani string arrangements.
And speaking of crossover influences, have you heard the Gibson-Miller band’s remake of Willie Nelson’s classic, “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys”? The drum parts and disco bass on this new mix sound more like K.C. and the Sunshine Band doing “Shake Your Bootie” on a disco dance floor in 1978.
So there may be truth in the rumor that a new disco-driven dance called the Nouveau Hustle may be showing up soon on country dance floors. With lots of country swing dance fans learning it, maybe the Nouveau Hustle will show up soon on country dance floors. After all, Urban Cowboy choreographer Patsy Swayze has said there is no such thing as the Cowboy Cha-Cha. Yet we’re all dancing it.
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CLIP & SAVE: Here are some updates on club formats and personnel changes as well as ways to save money and still get your nightly dance fix.
Instructor Ron Miller is no longer teaching at the Ban-Dar in Ventura. And the club now closes on Sundays and Mondays. At Cousin’s in Simi Valley, Miss Ila has just introduced Two-Steppin’ Tuesdays with beginning lessons at 7:30 p.m. and intermediate at 8:30 p.m.
Women get in free at the Thousand Oaks Borderline on Tuesdays and anyone wearing a Borderline T-shirt on Wednesdays avoids the cover charge. Ladies free night at the Crazy Bull in Camarillo is Wednesdays and free Gents night is Thursday. The Crazy Bull has also introduced a punch card, good for a free admission on any night after 10 paid visits. And you can get in free on Sundays by wearing a Crazy Bull T-shirt.
I just heard that Logsdons in Santa Paula was full for line dance lessons last Wednesday, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., and there was no cover charge. But there were almost no fellas there. Hey, cowboys, are you waiting for a special invitation?
Schooner Time in Simi Valley has a new format. Dance lessons are on hold for a spell. But there’s tons of good live music Fridays starting at 9 p.m. and Sundays from 5 to 9 p.m. And they’ve introduced a $4.25 parking lot barbecue out front so you can eat outdoors or inside between noon and 6 p.m. Then enjoy the nice, new dance floor and live music. Best of all, there’s no cover charge.
Country Tuesday nights at Splash in the Radisson Hotel in Simi Valley are a good deal. Beginning at 5 p.m. you can pay a $3 cover charge that includes the dance lesson. Or between 5 and 8 p.m., $5 gets you everything including an all-you-can-eat tri-tip barbecue buffet. Deejay-instructor Rick Henderson reports that remodeling is complete and the dance floor has been extended and cleared of impediments.
You may have heard by now that Red Dog Saloon, which for my money has the best dance floor in Santa Barbara, has gone to a rock ‘n’ roll format and now calls itself The Underground. So John Sperry Reynolds’ Boot Camp country dance workshops held there during daytime hours and Lisa Kay’s swing night series have relocated. I’m tracking their whereabouts down. Meanwhile, watch for a Boot Camp country extravaganza weekend workshop in August that will include a session on the New Night Club Two-Step, a three-count dance designed to accommodate a slower Two-Step music.