The Starwood Bill

Former Location –

Previous to the Starwood, this location was the home to P.J.’s Night Club, regularly referred to as Los Angeles’ First Discotheque. The Club was at the time owned by Bill Doherty, Paul Raffles, Phil Tanzini and Elmer Valentine. They opened it in 1961 and Tanzini and Valentine also went on to open The Whisky A Go Go, and The Trip a few years later in 1964.

In 1973, the location became know as The Starwood and flourished until the club closed permanently on June 13, 1981, by order of Los Angeles County due to too many citations for underage drinking, noise issues, and by being directly adjacent to a residential area that didn’t like punks peeing in its bushes.

Mötley Crüe played their first concert together as a band at here on April 24, 1981. Mötley Crüe’s bass guitarist, Nikki Sixx worked at the Starwood and convinced his bosses to let them play there. Many other bands got their start here as well including, Van Halen, Devo, X, and the Go-Go’s.

Noteworthy Concerts Held At The Starwood

4/6/1981 – The Blasters
4/24/1981 – Mötley Crüe
11/13/1980 – Savoy Brown
11/29/1980 – X
10/10/1978 – DEVO
3/5/1977 – Iron Butterfly
4/30/1977 – Van Halen
10/29/1977 – Hot Tuna
1/25/1976 – Journey
3/18/1976 – Rush
9/19/1976 – The Runaways
10/17/1976 – Love

The Starwood
8151 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood CA 90046