It will be the last lookback this Thursday (3rd Dec) when we review 2008. What about 2009 you ask? Considering the girls are still using the 2009 music, it will be too hard to commemorate something which is still happening but be that as it may... However I'm sure I'll write a blog about this year regardless.

From a personal viewpoint, 2008 was a milestone year. After working my first eight years on Monday and Tuesdays only, I changed to Wednesdays and Thursdays which signaled a dramatic change in my attitude towards work. I will admit to not enjoying work at all at the beginning of 2008 and seriously contemplating leaving as I believed then I had no real hope of changing my work situation. So you can appreciate the surprise of a phone call late April asking if I would considering swapping nights for a mid week tenure. Consider? I believe I "considered" for all of 0.4 seconds. With a different crew who made it known to me how much they appreciated what I do, my despondent attitude lifted and the remaining seven months of 2008 were my most enjoyable in quite some time.

The crowds were still noticeably down on previous years and sometimes the weekend crowds were not always a guarantee. Hindley Street had changed - or had it? Certainly the media tended to emphasis the amount of drunkeness and crime but I would argue that the actual numbers of incidents has not dramatically risen, rather the media reporting has escalated due to various other news sources such as YouTube. Nevertheless, such negative reporting made the city a ghost town during the week. Simply put, there was nothing to bring people into the city anymore and of course this filtered down to us.

What of the girls themselves? This year we waved farewell to two clear cut favourites of the Horse for many years: Cindy Li and Dee. Both ladies had been on stage for a few years and became stalwarts and "faces" of the club (Dee herself was on most of the posters!). However Dee left due to more important matters, she was pregnant. Her exit was understated and unlike Livvy, no major fuss was overly made yet her presence was (and still is) very much missed the week after. Cindy Li on the other hand gracefully "retired" after a eight year stage career. Her last show was memorable as it included a shower-show, however instead of 'performing' she got one of her infamous tabloid magazines and sat down and read it while the audience looked on. I'm guessing they expected something spectacular to  happen but found nothing but a naked lady getting wet in a shower possibly reading about Lleyton and Bec Hewitt! Why not? It's not as though she'd get into trouble, this was her last night so fire her!

Ashlee Adams also left during this year but she would return in a more triumphant fashion early 2009 when she enjoyed a month of being a feature attraction as Penthouse Pet Of The Month. Her welcome was returned but unfortunately brief. To my recollection, Aslee is the first stage girl to leave and come back as a feature so congratulations to Ash! (Georgia James and Morgan joined The Horse as feature attractions for clarification sake).
We were joined on stage by Brooke, Nikita and Rose, three podium girls who made the grand transition easily. We were also joined this year by a returning Simone. Yep, THAT Simone who last danced on stage in 2002.

On a more sad note, 2008 also was the year that our owner John Monaghan passed away which was certainly a shock to everyone at the club. That following month were a anxious as well as sombre because the fate of the club remained uncertain. As you can read, we're still open but I do recall some serious talk from some quarters of either it being sold or shut down, neither of which I chose to believe at the time.

So that was brief summary of 2008 although lots more should be written while memories are still reasonable fresh. In summary, 2008 was a great year for me personally but perhaps not such a memorable one for the club overall. With the benefit of hindsight, maybe that year was the start of a brand new cycle of necessary change and with any transition, sometimes the changes are too slow and/or not understood. If anything, 2008 will be remembered as an extraordinary year.

MUSIC USED IN 2008 YOU COULD HEAR DURING THE BREAKS 3rd DECEMBER 2009:

GEORGIA  - Valerie (Amy Winehouse) / Cherry Pie (Warrant)

NICKY - Angel Of The Morning (Juice Newton) / We've Got Tonight (Ronan Keating & Lulu)

RIKKI - Here Without You 93 Doors Down) / Short Skirt Long Jacket (Cake) / Shimmer (Fuel)

TANIA - Big Spender (Remix) (Shirley Bassey) / Boy From New York City (Manhatten Transfer) / The Only Time (Nine Inch Nails)

TAYLOR JAY - Dangerous (Roxette) / The Longest Road (Morgan Page) / Like Only A Woman Can (Brian McFadden)

CINDY LI - Stars Are Blind (Paris Hilton) / Soldier (Destiny's Child) / So Sick (Ne-Yo)

NIKITA - Like This Like (Se La) / Never Say Never (Vandalism) / Don't Hold Back (Potbeleez)

SIMONE - When I Grow Up (Pussycat Dolls) / From Paris To Berlin (Infernal) / Love In This Club (Usher)

ANNALISE - Just Dance (Lady GaGa) / Fade Into You (Mazzy Star)

VICTORIA - Don't Stop The Music (Rihanna) / Send Me An Angel (Real Life) / Low (Flo Rida)

ROSE - Candyman (Christina Aguilera) / Young Hearts Run Free (Kym Mazelle) / The Thrill Is Gone (BB King)

ARIEL GREEN - Vasoline (Stone Temple Pilots) / Low Rider (War)

DEE - What You Waiting For (Gwen Stefani) / No Ordinary Love (Sade) / Shut Up And Drive (Rihanna)

BROOKE - Cry For You (September) / Gotta Be Somebody (Nickelback) / Smooth Criminal (Michael Jackson)

NEXT WEEK - 2009 ("Oh my God, it's been Ten Years!!")

We're up to 2007 in our run through of the Crazy Horse in The Naughties, so once again we'll play the music of the girls who were working there that year this Thursday night (26th) - in between the current sets of course.

If 2005 and 06 was a party then 2007 was the hangover, waking up in the morning to find some party goers still lying on the floor while the "sensible" ones had long left. This was the year that smoking was prohibited inside the club in all areas. Music been used was becoming a problem and looking back at the contemporary hits and trends of the time, it's not hard to comprehend why. 2007 wasn't a great year in music! Girls like Ashlee and Georgia often came at loggerheads with the manager over choices of music made (don't forget this was the year of "emo"). Even I came under scrutiny from Joseph on Monday nights culminating in his statement that "men don't want to listen to rock music when they come to this club". A statement made even more ironic considering we advertised on Triple M Radio - a classic rock station!

This was my last year working exclusively on Monday and Tuesday nights. Crowds were noticeably down. On top of that, we had a new manager. Rob had left after Christmas 2006 and now we have Salvatore. Adjusting to a new manager is always difficult, made even more so by bizarre decisions and blind eyes to what was in the past offensive behavior on some podium girls' part adding to a sometimes poisonous atmosphere on some nights. However this year saw myself filling in on a lot of Wednesday nights with a different team working on the floor. I enjoyed those nights immensely which made it even harder to go back to the dreary Monday and Tuesday nights. So much so that I actively thought about changing clubs to our major competitor after an invitation from Emily. Needless to say I didn't take up the offer and the following year justified that decision.

That's not to say 2007 was all negative. Indeed there were some nights when the magic was back but those nights tended to be further apart. Maybe we were spoilt in the preceeding three years but I do not look back at 2007 in favourable terms. Something had to change and I'm glad to report that 2008 was considerably better but that's to discuss next week.

So what of the Crazy Horse girls of '07? During this year we rolled out the welcome mat to Rikki and Annalise. Annalise bought the 'fly girl' while Rikki bought back the rock of the nineties which one strict rule: no female singers! Both ladies assimilated themselves very well into the group dynamic, so much so that it's hard to imagine the remaining two years of the decade without them. If anything, they were 2007's saving grace.

However who was in the departure lounge? Miranda Moore left the stage for frostier pastures in Canberra but that was not the last time we would see her! Samantha left again after a more pressing problem; pregnancy! Livvy also left this year to a mighty fanfare and one hell of a send off proving how so very popular she was. Brianna Blake left a week afterwards to a less than raucous fanfare unfortunately.

Claudia would also leave in December 2007 a week before she intended which meant we couldn't give her a big send off as she would have deserved (long story, only those who need to know already know why). And our own Miss Nude World Morgan Summers took her final curtain call during this year. I assume that after that almighty career peak of 2002 that there wasn't anything she could do in realistic terms. However she certainly left her mark at the club with many staff and regulars still refer to her in glowing terms and sometimes with the inevitable question "Is she coming back?"

As you can assume with two new girls and no less than six dancers leaving, the stage girl troupe numbers was downsized dramatically. With the benefit of hindsight (a wonderful thing) there was no real need to be worried as new stage girls were dancing on the podiums and waiting in the wings.

SONGS YOU COULD VERY WELL HEAR ON THURSDAY 26th (during the breaks):-

RIKKI - By The Way (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Losing My Religion (R E M), Runaway Train (Soul Asylum)

ARIEL GREEN - Arielmix (A Megamix of dance tracks), Slave To Love (Bryan Ferry)

TANIA - Save The Last Dance For Me (Michael Buble), Love Bites (Def Leppard), Gold Digga (Kanye West)

CLAUDIA - Light Years (Kylie Minogue), Chasing Cars (Snow Patrol)

CINDY LI - A Public Affair (Jessica Simpson), Stupid Girls (P!nk), If It's Loving You Want (Rihanna)

DEE - Get Together (Madonna), Listen (Beyonce)

GEORGIA JAMES - Objection (Shakira), Ain't It Funny (Jennifer Lopez)

ANNALISE - Fighter (Christina Aguilera), Chocolate (Kylie Minogue), Fergalicious (Fergie)

VICTORIA - Tainted Love (Pussycat Dolls), Yeah (Usher)

ASHLEE ADAMS - Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me (U2), Thnks 4 The Mmrs (Fall Out Boy), Girlfriend (Avril Lavigne)

TAYLOR JAY - I Was Made For Loving You (Kiss), In The Air Tonight (Phil Collins), Pour Some Sugar On Me (Def Leppard)

STICKY NICKY - You're So Vain (Carly Simon), Private Dancer (Tina Turner)

NEXT WEEK - 2008 ("A change will do you good - and Thank God for that!!")

We're up to 2006 in our look back at The Crazy Horse in the '00s - and of course we'll play the some of the songs used that year during the breaks this Thursday night (19th Nov).

2006 was, in my opinion, the absolute peak of The Crazy Horse in this decade. This year was really the last time we had a healthy audience every night and the vibe most nights was good. Put it this way, it seemed to be much more fun and an attitude of "anything goes" was apparent (hence the title of that year's CD). 2006 was also the year that the anti-smoking regulations kicked in and smoking was prohibited in the bar area and by the side. Yet smoking was allowed around the stage and VIP lounge which made no sense to me as I argued that smoke wouldn't know where the boundaries are (having said that, I was still smoking in the DJ box!).  The Horse finally finished renovating both bathrooms and yes, they looked rather good despite what actually goes on in there.

There's a couple of memories that stick in my mind. For those who were working on a Tuesday night towards the end of that year, will you ever forget the huge blackout? Yes the crowd was pumping, money was being made and the vibe was great then - BOOM! - the lights went out and we stumbled in absolute darkness save for two exit signs that tried in vain to shed some light. Out came the candles in the VIP lounge normally reserved for buck shows while I aimlessly walked around in the main area trying to shine a small torch onto the mirror ball hoping to illuminate it. Once our eyes adjusted to near zero visibility, we tried in vain to keep the customers there by saying the power would be back on soon (of course, we had no idea when the power was coming back at all) but even beer-in-the-dark couldn't persuade them. After 90 minutes the power was back on but with no audience we sent a waitress to The Rosemont to try and get people back into the club which unbelievably worked but it was nowhere near the crowd that was there originally. The one thing I still find amusing to this day is despite the club being grounded to a halt, one of our podium girls Roxy continued to dance for paying patrons in the VIP lounge by candlelight!

Shaquira, Amanda Kane, Misha and Jaimie took their last curtain calls and left in 2006. The Horse saw the return of Claudia and Samantha on stage (yes, THAT Samantha a'k'a Piper). Emily also left in controversial circumstances and made it even more controversial when she started to work at The Palace, our major competitor. The Palace was making serious inroads by this time into the market to the point of it being an "us-them" situation and having OUR Emily working down THERE soured a lot of opinions about her. Of course with the passing of time those opinions are toned down somewhat.

We said a hearty welcome to Ashlee Adams, Miranda Moore and Victoria, three ladies who left their mark and continue to do so even if Victoria is the only one still working there. In fact, when you peruse the list of names below next to their song choices, you'll have my most favourite line-up I worked with. You can argue that half of the ladies are still there but 2006 had a group dynamic that made this an eventful twelve months.

By the end of the year, metaphoric storm clouds began to brew and even I wrote back then that it felt like the passing of an era. Turned out I was right but that's to discuss next week when we look at 2007. For 2006, the party was at it's highest and like any good shindig, you wouldn't really want to be anywhere else.

SONGS YOU ARE LIKELY TO HEAR THURSDAY 19th NOV (during the breaks of course):-

MIRANDA MOORE - School's Out (Alice Cooper) / Heroes (The Wallflowers)

CINDY LI - Hollaback Girl (Gwen Stefani) / When Doves Cry (Prince)

SAMANTHA - Common People (Pulp) / I've Been Thinking (Cat Power)

CLAUDIA - I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Human Nature) / Throw Your Arms Around Me (Hunters And Collectors)

TANIA - Thriller (Michael Jackson)

MORGAN SUMMERS - Cold Hard Bitch (Jet) / Walking On Broken Glass (Annie Lennox)

NICKY - To The Moon and Back (Savage Garden)

TAYLOR JAY - Lonely No More (Rob Thomas) / Broken (Seether)

LIVVY - Hump Di Bump (Red Hot Chili Peppers) / Let Me Be (Xavier Rudd)

ASHLEE ADAMS - Strange Magic (ELO) / Spank (Dirty South)

GEORGIA JAMES - Desert Rose (Sting)

ARIEL GREEN - I Love It (Sneaky Sound System) / Are You In? (Incubus)

DEE - S O S (Rihanna) / Drive (The Cars)

BRIANNA BLAKE - Winter In July (Bomb The Bass) / One (Mary J Blige with U2)

VICTORIA - Peaches And Cream (112) / Sweet Like Chocolate (Shanks and Bigfoot)

So be at The Horse either Wednesday or Thursday night. Our air-con works, I promise!

NEXT WEEK:- 2007 ("It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...")

Continuing our look back at The Crazy Horse in the 'noughties', this Thursday night (12th Nov) sees us hitting the halfway mark:- 2005! So all the 'in-between' music will feature songs that the '05 girls used for their shows that year.

From this DJ's point of view, 2005 was the start of the best two years so far in his ten year tenure inside a hot DJ box. It was probably the real last major hurrah in terms of audience numbers. Even during the early part of the week, crowd numbers were significant. Remember you could still smoke inside the club but the cigarette machine was moved towards the back of the room (which was a Godsend to this DJ climbing up the ladder as I now had a foot rest when I was trying to open the door!). The ever smelly old bathrooms were turning into ever smelly new bathrooms - but at least they looked nice. In general, the emphasis was on fun and there seemed to be a lot of that - probably a little too much for floor manager Rob's liking.

In terms of personnel, 2005 said goodbye to Sasha Moore, Destiny and Angelina. We also waved our first goodbye to Claudia at the beginning of the year. I write "first" because she returned early 2006. Georgia James started to share feature attraction duties with Morgan Summers (it's a point of useless trivia but Ms.James is the longest serving feature attraction at CH now - four years and counting!). In fact the stage girl troupe was very stable that year with just Georgia and Jaimie making debut appearances.

It was pointed out to me that Sticky Nicky was missing in last week's blog covering 2004. That was because at the time that year's annual was compiled, Nicky was on an extended break even though she had worked most of that year which is why her name didn't appear on last week's list. I should have clarified that a week ago I know. Of course she was back with us early 2005.

As far as the music goes, this was a real mixture! More chances were taken and each showgirl seemed determined to mine their own musical territory hence their choices tend to reflect their own personal tastes. Here's what you can expect to hear during the breaks on Thursday night:-

DEE - Throb (Janet Jackson) / Your Wildest Dreams (Tina Turner & Barry White)

ARIEL GREEN - I Want You (Paris Avenue) / Cool (Gwen Stefani)

NICKY - The Time Of My Life (Medley & Warnes), Cry Little Sister (Sisters Of Mercy)

JAIMIE - Roadhouse Blues (The Doors) / Diamond Dogs (David Bowie)

LIVVY - Love Rollercoaster (Red Hot Chili Peppers) / Free Falling (Tom Petty)

CINDY LI - What You Need (INXS) / Kitty (Presidents of The USA)

GEORGIA JAMES - Bad To The Bone (George Thorogood) / Fever (Kylie Minogue)

MISHA - Fantasy (Black Box) / Fever (Freeland Remix) (Sarah Vaughn)

SHAQUIRA - I Wanna Be A Cowboy (Boys Don't Cry)

TANIA - Devil Inside (INXS) / Golden Eye (Tina Turner)

MORGAN SUMMERS - Like A Feather (Nikki Costa) / Smooth Criminal (Alien Ant Farm)

BRIANNA - Wild Wild West (Will Smith) / Dont Cha (Pussycat Dolls)

AMANDA KANE - Glamorous Life (Melissa Tkautz) / Voodoo Child (Rogue Traders)

EMILY - Tight (INXS) / Hold Tight London (Chemical Brothers)

TAYLOR JAY - Joy To The World (Three Dog Night) / Hotel California (Eagles)

I wasn't sure why I look back on 2005 as fondly as I do until I read out who was working for us that year. I don't think I could find a more fun group of girls. That's not putting down any other year on indeed the current troupe but 2005 (and 2006 for that matter) seemed to be when The Crazy Horse got it absolutely right. You Shooda Bin There!

I'll be in the box, whose appearance hasn't changed since 2005 - or 1985 for that matter - this Wednesday and Thursday nights. I know it'll be a hot one but trust me, the air con system works now. It didn't four years ago! Come on down.

As usual, all comments are welcome. Next week:- 2006 ("...and we're still having fun...")

Continuing our look back at The Crazy horse in the noughties, on Thursday 5th Nov it's 2004's turn to be reminisced.

2004 was a great time for me in my fifth year of being DJ/MC/Lighting Guy/Whipping Post at The Horse. Changes were afoot and people were still going out in their multitudes on a Monday and Tuesday night when I was working. New carpet for the club was very much welcomed. New stage girls added an injection of life into the club. All in all, it was a start of a golden era when work was fun simply because of the staff.

This year we were joined on stage by Livvy, Dee and Destiny while we also welcomed back Shaquira and Angelina. Piper was back just as a podium girl but now known as Samantha (Cindy even used some of Sam's old sets until a couple of years later when Sam was back on stage but more of that when I discuss 2007). Georgia James won Miss Nude SA and Miss Nude Australia and even came second in Miss Nude World so I you can assume 2004 was a highlight for her and yet she didn't join us until the following year. I had thought she was with us in 2004 but maybe Georgia can set me straight on that one. And during 2004 we said farewell to stage girls Shayla Laveaux, Sherry Lyn, Tammy, Brittany Blue and long time favourite Tiffany.

I managed to find a list of dancers, waitresses and other staff who were working there in the latter half of 2004. And who were they?
Alexis, Amanda Kane, Angelina, Ariel Green, Brianna Blake, Carol (door bitch), Cindy Li, Claudia, Clover, Dee, Destiny, Ella, Elise, Emily, Gail (VIP lounge hostess), Jade, Jaimie, Jayda, Jazz, John(owner). Joseph (manager/head supremo), Karen (office), Krissy, Lewi (DJ/MC), Livvy, Marie (VIP lounge hostess), Matt (barman), Matty (barman), Misha, Morgan Summers, Rob (manager), Roxy, Samantha, Sasha Moore, Shaquira, Sherie (door bitch), Tabatha, Tania, Taylor Jay, Vogue, Vonny (manager) and me (Dazz)

Waitresses included Therese, Belinda, L.A., Sandy, Kelli and Monica (among many others).

Yes it certainly was a fun year. The music itself was improving and varied as you'll see by the following list of tracks you are likely to hear in-between-current sets on Thursday night:

EMILY - Here Comes The Hotstepper (Ini Kamoze)

CLAUDIA - The Horses (Daryl Braithwaite), Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry), I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Whitney Houston)

MISHA - Stop It I Like It (artist unknown to this day!), Disco 2000 (Pulp), Down By The Water (PJ Harvey)

LIVVY - Invisible Touch (Genesis), She's So High (Tal Bachman), Scar Tissue (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

TAYLOR JAY - I'm Not In Love (Enrique Iglesis/Kelis), Heaven (Bryan Adams)

AMANDA KANE - Flashdance (Deep Dish), She Wants To Move (N E R D)

ARIEL GREEN - Girls Can Be Cruel (Infusion), My My My (Armand Van Helden), Black Betty (Spiderbait)

SHAQUIRA - Keep Your Hands To Yourself (Georgia Satellites)

ANGELINA - Tilt Ya Head Nack (Nelly and Aguilera)

MORGAN SUMMERS - Rubberneckin (Elvis Presley)

DEE - Whatever Lola Wants (Sarah Vaughn), Reckless Girl (The Beginnerz)

TANIA - Right In The Night (Jam & Spoon)

BRIANNA BLAKE - Sick And Tired (Anastacia)

DESTINY - Going Under (Evanescence), Live And Let Die (Guns N Roses)

CINDY LI - Crazy In Love (Beyonce), The Love Cats (The Cure)

SASHA MOORE - It's My Life (No Doubt)

The music definitely improved!

So if you're in town this Thursday night, dew drop inn. (Oh and Wednesday night as well, I''ll be in my box as per usual)

BTW if you have a comment or an answer to this blog, feel free to start typing and m ake sure you put in the comment box

Cheers

It seems with the winding down of the decade, people start to reflect on their past in relation to their present to influence the future. I've spent nearly ten years at The Horse. Some days it seems my time there has flashed by and other times, when my memory is at it's fully functional, it feels like an eternity. The truth lies somewhere in between.

I guess I feel compelled to write down some thoughts after a few days contemplating life and my small role in it. Am I still happy to work there? Discounting setbacks and the often putrid attitudes of some people I associate with, I am still enthusiastic about my job and what I can hopefully bring to the club. The compliments of my fellow workers has not been overlooked and my gratitude towards them is hopefully evident.

My love for the job and it's ensuing responsibilities may be out of tandem with the financial rewards as several people tell me. Outside of The Horse and it's regular clientele, I still remain unclear if family and friends comprehend my devotion to it - and it's nothing to do with nudity I assure you. I quite often wonder if certain people within the club understand it! However distressing situations may be - and this year alone has thrown up many obstacles along the way - I still regard my contributions as important as anything else that occurs in my week.

Buit is all that energy and enthusiasm misspent? My personal life and finances are a sham and while the majority of those problems are relatively minor (as in they can be solved within a single afternoon, often within the hour), I'm made to feel as though my pride in my accomplishments are foolish and trivial. It's very possible I place too much emphasis on this one aspect while compromising others but for those few scant hours I'm "performing" (for want of a better word!) is when I feel I am truly myself without having to reason about it. My only regret is that there isn't more of those hours available to me despite many request from both myself and others.

Personally I don't wish to dwell on the down-to-basics facts about what I do or what it represents. I know the truth and continue to deal with it either by satirical means or ignoring it. Should I give a damn at all about it, especially when others less enthusiastic seem to be more successful at it? Why should trivialities such as a simple song upset me? (Having said that, how many times can one hear "Sexy Bitch" and not be upset with the state of popular music?). Then I'm reminded of a quote, and I really wish I could remember where I heard it and who said it because I would love to give them credit. It's something that everybody appreciate too, whatever their situation is.

"Most everything we do is not important, but it's important that we do them".

I love that quote and refer to it constantly. Whenever I get the blues or frustrated, I recall that in my head. It's about pride in what you do, belief in what you can do and the optimism to do it better. Don't let others dictate terms if they are negative and don't let ego and money erode your soul. Importantly, don't let the media treat you as a fool. Think for yourself and others, treat everyone with respect and how you would want to be treated. That's my creed and so when I do negative, I remind myself of those simple points and of course that quote.

Anyway, there was just a few thoughts I wanted to write down for myself. I often treat these blogs as a journal so I can read back to see what happened. If you made it this far through this self-indulgence, thanks for your patience!

Take care of yourself and others.