GATOR’S SATURDAY NIGHT FLASHBACK
The 70s and 80’s were an era when nightlife ruled in Huntington. On weekends the bar and club scene was packed.
Nowadays, I rarely drink or go out but there was a time when I loved the night life. It is fun to sit back in my recliner and rewind those nights from a different era.
One of the first clubs I remember frequenting and certainly “the cheesiest” was The Inferno.
The Inferno sat boldly on Third Avenue by the train tracks where Marshall University’s softball field now stands.
My first experiences there were in 81 or 82 but it rose to glory in the late 80’s in the Disco era.
The dance floor got a workout and the club quickly got a reputation as a meat market. What made it easy to meet people and made it cheesy was that there were telephones on every table with big numbers hanging over them.
If you saw someone at another table you wanted to talk to, you just called them.
My friend Troy met his future wife there. She was from Columbus. Her friend liked a guy who bounced there named Tony so we all used to meet there. Some of my friends from high school also were friends with Tony and hung out there.
After the gimmick faded the building sat empty for awhile. Then in the late 80’s, Leo Combsturned the back side into an after hours at. Patrons entered around back and it rocked all night until daylight with poker and blackjack
After Leo’swent out, Roper’sopened in and cashed in on the lined dancing country craze. It was fun and had more cowboy hats than anywhere I ever been in.
A young Toby Keith performed there. My friend RT managed it for awhile.
Well, that’s enough reminiscing for me tonight. It wears me out as bad recalling those days as much as an all nighter at Leo’s used to.
It’s rough getting old but still run recalling old times and memories. These days we have phones to take many pictures for the future but sadly I have never seen any pictures from those old bars.
Next week….another old memory