I believe the Porky's trilogy is one of America's last greatest cinematic achievements. Okay, most underrated. You have John Hughes movies about teen angst yadda yadda yadda, but Porky's captured most of the... sexual tension of teens. There was a long, dry spell before American Pie came close to it's class. AJ's was my Porky's when I was a teen who just got his driver's license and first car.
Yes, when I trace back all my debauchery and explorations into adult entertainment venues, this has to be my adulthood Archaeology wet dream. My bachelor holy grail. I was on light rail recently, on the way to check out the Bascom shopping area for work ideas. But when I realized I was in the area I rang the bell, uh, prematurely to get off on Race St.
There's only other 2 "adult" clubs in the south bay, also open back then. One made me feel like even I was disgusting, and the other (Poodle) was known for crime and I steered clear from that back then. Now I go headlong to the eye of a hurricane for a story. I may go there again sometime. There's an innocence in AJ's that I still saw and experienced when I went.
AJ's is a bikini (/lingerie) bar, there aren't any lap dances. Women dance, shake and jiggle cleavage at you, close up when you tip. Guys expecting a Mitchell Brothers tug and tissue in a back VIP room are going to be disappointed. And I suspect the average woman that complains about this place hasn't made the easiest $5 by offering to shake their bra covered cleavage at a guy. You could really clean up at a house party, you know.
Years before there was Coyote Ugly or Hooters and all those bars with lady bartenders wearing vests or tank tops with nothing underneath, there was AJ's. We guys had to settle for the hot teller at the bank for a thrill back then, without making the voyage to San Francisco strip clubs.
I sat at the bar, same bar stools mounted to the floor, eh. They could use a change after all these years. There are familiar bar ad posters all over the place, but AJ's has posters of the girls from back in the day. Looks like they haven't made a poster of newer girls since the last one I bought. I had many of those posters and wondered what the hell happened to them! (Uh, both posters and girls.) The girls used to sign them and I had one filled with signatures, so now I suspect theft. Hmph. What an artifact, to have my poster back.
When I started going that magical summer twixt high school and college, they featured Marilyn and Barbi (Doll). They used to hand out little photo business cards in envelopes as a bonus when you tipped them repeatedly, this was before you could print a million of them on home computers. I found some of Marilyn in my things, but couldn't find any of Barbi?!?! Marilyn was a blonde with huge boobs and got away with just arching her heels up a lot. A CSI could send the kiss prints to trace for DNA work. Barbi Doll was a brunette known for being one of the best dancers there. I imagined her being a jazz dance instructor somewhere as her "day job."
Unfortunately it was slow when I went in. It was in the afternoon, before the girls came in. It was also after the kitchen closed, was it still even there? I remember getting the best lunches there. This used to be a working man's bar in the day time, there were a lot of industrial factories in the neighborhood.
Walking around now, a lot of them are closed, replaced with high tech offices, or are janky old buildings with local businesses on their last legs that can't offer competitive prices without taking a loss on their inventory. Thank you, internet. AJ's even had overflow from the neighboring country dance hall, Saddle Rack. It's now an apartment complex and the relocated club is now out of my transpo range.
Andy, the manager, still was there! I think he was the first person to welcome me on my first visits. Was he an assistant back then? We're about the same age. Cool, kickback environment. When I went with my friends, we always felt like we were going to a friend's house to hang out all night to catch glimpses of his hot sister and her friends having slumber party games. Ah, innocence. I think it's why I enjoy burlesque over a strip club, now. Burlesque is a dry well in the south bay :(
You know, this place could pick up again with some live (girl?) bands.
Thanks for the beer and the memories, AJ's.
Come to think of it, the first head shop I went to is also in the area... read more