Outside the Crowded 360, Hopefuls Are Forced to Do a 180

The swarm of desperation surrounding the doorman at A Quick Fix, the Thursday-night dance club at the 360 restaurant in Hollywood, looked like something out of Vertigo (not the movie, silly, the ‘80s downtown dance spot). Something about the combo of Madonna (who was seen hanging out last week) and a visit by the fire marshal kept many from getting their weekly Fix. But hey, if it ain’t broken--surely, the same crowd’ll be angling to get in tonight. . . .

Meanwhile, back in Silver Lake, people are parking themselves at the Garage, a club which has been kicking some major night-life booty these days. Sunday has seen the return of Club Sucker, which is an early-evening showcase of some strong local and touring alternative acts, while the Friday-night lesbian club, Meow Mix, continues purring strong. Thursday night’s Cadillac Club is breathing new life into good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll, while Saturday is divided up into “Garageathons,” all-day events that occur on the fourth Saturday of each month, and the new night dance club Spit (which happens the third Saturday of the month). Spit was created by the creators of Dragstrip 66. . . .

Eye Candy Entertainment’s John Guzman, the guy behind all those “Naked Hollywood” parties, has been hired by the Key Club to “Hollywoodize” the venue. “They’re looking to make it raunchier, dirtier, more like a club on the strip should be,” says Guzman. Well, shiver me timbers, if they want dirty, they should have been at Marilyn Manson’s MTV Awards after-party at the Union on the strip, where one lass couldn’t wait for the gal’s room to clear out and decided to venture into the boy’s room and dropped her knickers in full view of all men present. Now that’s naughty. . . .

Speaking of smut, the reports that independent counsel Kenneth Starr was seen at the West Hollywood fetish club Sin-A-Matic on Saturday turned out to be false; however, President Clinton has been seen hanging at the Rainbow these days (OK, so it’s a photo of the president that’s been hanging at the Sunset Strip nightclub, but he’s in good company--also featured on the Rainbow’s wall of bad-boy fame are Ozzy Osbourne, Boy George and John Belushi). . . .

Fresh from his stint at the MTV Video Awards, actor Jack Black, who played the best friend of a Puff Daddy-stalking Bruce Springsteen (as performed by Ben Stiller), will be bringing his Tenacious D act back to the Key Club on Sunday (with opening act Convertible). . . . Toni Basil was caught getting her groove on at the Conga Room, where she revealed that she could salsa with the best of ‘em. The Wilshire club is such a pleasure even its investors enjoy hitting the dance floor, as towering actor Jimmy Smits proved on a recent Friday night visit. . . .

Lastly, Penelope Spheeris devotees need to mark their calendars for a weeklong screening of her “Decline of Western Civilization: Part III,” which kicks off at the Nuart Theater in Santa Monica on Nov. 13. The movie takes a gritty, realistic look at Hollywood street punks, tying the music to the culture as only she can (any of you who saw the director’s previous “Decline” movies know what we’re talking about here).