At the moment, most clubs worldwide are being forced to keep their doors closed while the pandemic rolls on. We can only hope and pray that as many as possible are able to get through this and re-open in the near future. Clubs are central to DJ culture, and these 7 classic clubs are some of the best from around the world, and through history.

Studio 54 (New York)

The legendary disco club, Studio 54 was the heart of glamour during the late 1970s. It has gone down in history for its crazy tales of famous guests, excess (including open drug use) and strict door policy (if you wanted to get in, you had better be OK with standing in line and being judged harshly for what you looked like!). Nile Rodgers (the co-founder of Chic) tells some incredible stories about the place he considered his spiritual home – but one of the funniest led to his smash hit “Le Freak“.

Along with the other founder of Chic, Bernard Edwards, he had been invited by Grace Jones to a show at Studio 54. But she had failed to let the famously rude door staff know, and they turned Rodgers and Edwards away. They went back to their studio to jam, and ended up writing the famous riff of Le Freak, with slightly different words, aimed at the Studio 54 door team. “Aaaaaaaahh… Fuck off!” They realised they had a hit on their hands, changed the words to “Freak out!”, and the song went on to sell over 7 million units, and become the biggest selling 7 inch record in the history of Atlantic Records!

The Latin Quarter (New York)

Hip-hop didn’t really start in a club, but by the late-80s, The Latin Quarter was famous for the incredible rappers and DJs who passed through its doors. Legends like Ice-T and Slick Rick name-checked it in songs, and anyone who was anyone in hip-hop knew about it.

But the famous rivalries and tensions that have often plagued the scene caused problems – there are countless tales of fights, stabbings and shootings at the venue, and eventually it changed its name to The Penguin Club.

There are some seriously juicy stories about The Latin Quarter in this episode of Questlove Supreme, with Boogie Down Productions member D-Nice. And this book is an oral and pictorial history of the famous venue.

The Warehouse (Chicago)

While The Warehouse opened in the same year as Studio 54, 1977, it ended up taking a very different path, largely thanks to its first musical director – house legend Frankie Knuckles. As you may have guessed, this place is now looked back on as being the birthplace of house music.

The club started out playing R&B & disco, experimenting with ways to develop an original blend of these with European electronic music. The venue was primarily frequented by gay black and latino men, and charged a $4 entry fee, but then only served free soft drinks within.

Knuckles evolved the sound over his time at The Warehouse until what we can now recognise as house, electronic beats from a drum machine a core component of this, came to be.

The Haçienda (Manchester)

No list of classic clubs would be complete with the oddity that is The Haçienda. Largely funded by the record sales of New Order, this club rarely turned a profit, usually made massive losses, was basically empty for its first few years, and more or less run by gangsters for its final few – but it helped change the course of music and DJing along the way. They were at the centre of the 2nd summer of love, and the explosion of rave culture in the UK in the late 80s & early 90s.

How Not To Run A Club, by New Order bass player Peter Hook, is a fascinating, and often hilarious, retelling of his experiences with The Haçienda. One memorable tale involves a new year’s eve where they were taking so much cash that the safe became full, so they started stashing the money behind a barrier. At the end of the shift they went to fetch the money and only found a pile of ashes – indoor fireworks that had gone off at midnight had sent sparks over the barrier and torched most of the night’s takings…

Berghain (Berlin)

Arguably the best techno club in the world right now is Berghain, a former power plant i. Part of this is driven by the air of mystery around the place. Hours queuing to get in, if you can get past their famously picky doorman Sven Marquadt. Phones strictly forbidden, so only a few tiny snippets of footage exist of the interior of the club (although somebody went to the effort of creating a replica in Minecraft!).

The club is notoriously hedonistic, with people openly engaging in sexual acts, and dark rooms provided specifically for this purpose. It emerged from an exclusively gay event, Snax, but the huge global fame of the music aspect of the club means that the crowd is more mixed now. For many underground DJs, playing at Berghain (which includes Panorama Bar) is a big career goal. The club stays open all weekend, right through to late on Friday night – once you have a stamp you can leave to get some rest, and come back to keep on raving on Sunday morning if you want!

Space (Ibiza)

Ibiza is awash with legendary nightclubs, but my favourite is one that sadly no longer exists (although rumours abound that Carl Cox is going to resurrect it!).

The winner of “Best Global Club” multiple times at the International Dance Music Awards, Space was open from 1986 to 2016, and was at the heart of Ibiza’s growth to a globally renowned party destination. Famous for its open-air terrace, and the sound of planes roaring overheard during the late-night/early morning sets, this is one of the definitive clubs on the island, a 5000-capacity fun palace. Their legendary Sunday party “We Love…” hosted everyone from Chemical Brothers to Disclosure to David Guetta.

Ministry Of Sound (London)

Ministry of Sound is one of the longest running fixtures in nightlife, opening its doors in 1991, and has spawned one of the biggest independent record labels in the world. Almost everyone you could imagine has played here, across almost any genre you could name. They are best known as one of the world centres of house music – with legends like Armand Van Helden and Calvin Harris appearing in the main room (known as The Box), which has one of the best sound systems in the world – fully devoted to the music and the dancers, with bars provided elsewhere in the venue. Hip-Hop and R&B are catered for by their midweek night, Milkshake, which has hosted the likes of Drake, Tory Lanez & Roddy Ricch.

Get yourself ready for the return of the clubs by heading over to the Heavy Hits pool for all the best new tracks!