Top billing restored

The current rebirth of On the Rox -- the nightclub above the Roxy on Sunset Boulevard -- harks back to the days when the cozy room was a private playground for Hollywood players.

The one-room lounge, which began as the private watering hole for Roxy owner Lou Adler and his pal Jack Nicholson and evolved into a nightclub catering to the Hollywood jet set of the early 1990s, sank into the muck of scandal and excess by the mid-’90s.

Now, under the stewardship of Adler’s eldest son, Nic, On the Rox is re-emerging as a hot spot that offers fresh-faced scenesters a chance to party amid Sunset Strip history -- in a room whose intimacy still lends the feel of a private club, from the very moment you climb the stairs and pass the vintage mural of rock stars from the past.

Oh, to have been a fly on the wall when the paint was fresh.

Three decades ago, the senior Adler, a legendary producer-songwriter-manager, and Nicholson ruled the roost. They used to watch guests roll up on a closed-circuit television screen. If you were good company, you’d be invited upstairs. If they weren’t feeling you, you’d be left out in the cold.

Those fast times continued into the early ‘90s, when On the Rox made its debut as a nightclub for Hollywood’s new jet set. Wednesdays were promoted by Rick Calamaro, a club kid who grew up in the Playboy Mansion and went on to host such Hollywood hot spots as Grand Ville, Ivar, Nacional and Paladar. And Friday nights were most legendary. A celebrity madam named Heidi Fleiss teamed up with gal-pal Victoria Sellers to host a sexy, star-studded affair (ahem) each week, with A-listers clamoring to get in.

But by ‘94, the jig was up. Fleiss became notorious for her pandering, and Sunset Boulevard clubs got lost in translation. The heavy-metal mecca that ruled in the ‘80s got waylaid by the sludge of grunge. Such clubs as the Roxy and Whisky, which Adler co-owned, got outed for their pay-to-play ethos, and competition from newer clubs lured traffic away.

Six years ago, Adler relinquished the reins of the Roxy and On the Rox to Nic, and change was afoot.

Current developments in the main club might be accelerating the venue’s revival.

The Roxy just gained the Viper Room’s hottest promotion, Metal Skool (formerly Metal Shop), the rock ‘n’ roll comedy group that has been a hot draw a few blocks down Sunset Boulevard for the last four years. It made its Roxy debut three weeks ago to a sellout crowd. Among the opening night’s guests were members of the Darkness, System of a Down, Static X and the Used. And the Roxy appeared to be an excellent fit.

“We should’ve moved here a year ago,” says Josh Richman, the host of Metal Skool and the founder of the Alliance, a top event planning company. “The club is perfectly tailored for true rock shows. Everyone can see the band from all sides of the club. You’ve got the raised booths for people who want to sit down, grab a bite of food and still be a part of the scene.”

The Roxy, which made its debut with a performance by Neil Young and has seen the likes of Bob Marley and the Clash, is in many ways part of the heart of rock ‘n’ roll. The decades, however, started to take a toll on the venue, but Nic Adler has gradually given the aging club some notable nips and tucks.

First and foremost, he beefed up the air-conditioning system -- sorely needed in a room that used to make people sweat buckets in December.

Going for a “millennium-Deco” style, he gave the venue such updates as a remote-controlled velvet curtain shrouding the stage and added a spacious back-area bar with booth seating. A merchandise area no longer clogs up the club’s entrance; items are now neatly displayed on the Roxy’s east end.

One of the most important shifts under the younger Adler’s tutelage is the absence of outside promotion companies. Once simply a vessel for Goldenvoice, the Roxy now does its nightly bookings in-house.

“An outside promoter isn’t going to care for your club the way you care,” says Adler, whose mother is the famed Swedish Bond girl Britt Ekland. “We do all our own bookings, we treat everyone like family. It really is a new day here.”

As for On the Rox, it’s once again shaking and stirring. The lounge was recently repainted and a new sound system was installed. They also brought in Hollywood marketing guru Travis Andres -- a former Viper Room doorman -- to revive interest in the upstairs room, where DJs such as Kevie Kev play classic rock and musical mash-ups and a pair of stripper poles lining the dance floor encourage a bit of dirty dancing.

Both the Roxy and On the Rox walls are now lined with photos from the club’s recent past. Such bands as the Deftones, Incubus, Papa Roach, System of a Down and Audioslave are pictured throughout the venue, adding a fresh coat of history to a club that has pretty much seen it all.

“Nic has taken his flavor and created new history, and he hasn’t skipped a beat,” says Richman.

Hmm. “New history” -- call it a Roxymoron, a lovely coda to the first 30 years.

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The Roxy / On the Rox

Where: 9009 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood

When: On the Rox, Friday-Saturday, 10 p.m.-2 a.m.; the Roxy, nightly, 7:30 p.m.-2 a.m.

Who: On the Rox, 21 and older; the Roxy, all ages

Price: Cover charges vary

Info: (310) 278-9457 or www.theroxyonsunset.com

Heidi Siegmund Cuda can be reached at weekend@latimes.com