In the glorious words of American disco diva Thelma Houston ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way.’ A permit issued by NYC Department of Buildings in July, was placed on the legendary Paradise Garage building this week. It will sadly be demolished.

Located at 84 King Street in the Hudson Square neighbourhood of Manhattan, Paradise Garage was a hugely influential venue (and in many respects it still is) that operated between 1977 to 1987.  It was the home of the legendary and much loved resident  Larry Levan. The building has been home to Verizon Communications for a number of years and ironically it has been used as a garage.

The loss of the building won’t change the outstanding contribution of Paradise Garage to dance music history (and in particular disco and early house music). However in a world where other historical buildings that have made lesser connections and/or contributions to music and culture are cherished, why wasnt this iconic building given as much love?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epsFK_sg1EI

The Electric Mode team are grateful for the contribution this legendary institution made to the modern music  scene and will collectively shed a tear on the day it is raised to the ground from which it was born. The main thing to relay far beyond this heartfelt update is the fact that House music and it’s forefather Disco will continue to reverberate for the foreseeable future, with the specific legacy that industry icons such as Larry Levan (Paradise Garage), Nicky Siano (The Gallery), Ron Hardy (Music Box) and Frankie Knuckles (The Warehouse) driving the communal love of dance music and one another in equal measure.