Memories . . .

I lived in the Americana apartments back in the 1970s, plus in a small house off of 9th East. The Star Palace was close by in a strip-mall parking lot.When the place opened, it had very little sound insulation. I SAID IT HAD VERY LITTLE SOUND INSULATION!!! But it was the coolest spot that Provo had got.

Share your own memories.

Here are some vintage shots and recollections from various websites:

--A group that played the Star Palace:

"[The band] 'Paradox' (circa 1981) playing at the Star Palace. Left to right: Kim Rawlings (guitar), Dave Ewing (drums), Kerri Cotant (lead singer), Cory Jensen(guitar)."

http://www.utahvalleyrockers.com/000/2/2/6/19622/userfiles/image/Paraxox_star_palace.jpg

How "Paradox" sounded back then:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2tsrJDoXDo&feature=youtu.be
_____


--History of the Star Palace:

"Before becoming the Star Palace in 1978, the building on 900 East was used for a bowling alley, ice rink and roller rink. From 1978 to 1980 the club flourished as Utah County's hottest singles spot. Many Utah County couples had their first dance at the Star Palace."

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.deseretnews.com%2Farticle%2F456158%2FDANCE-CLUB-HUNTS-FOR-NEW-HOME.html%3Fpg%3Dall&ei=5GAUVdOJDMaoNuDwg9gL&usg=AFQjCNHxs5GUcPcA_7NvPaHWcIaRuC2cCg&bvm=bv.89217033,d.eXY
____


--From a 1979 BYU Banyan--Star Palace promo article, with pic, p. 84:

“Star Palace Celebrates Grand Opening: Disco is not new to Provo, but the Star Palace is. From the quadraphonic sound system and first lighted dance floor at Uncle Marios, to the 110 speakers, 7 individually lighted dance floors, and 1 million dollar light show at the Star Palace, Disco has come a long way, especially in Provo. With national coverage on the three major networks, in Newsweek, Time, and Rolling Stone magazines, the Star Palace Discotheque, with the world ' s largest indoor lighted dance floor, celebrated its grand opening in Provo, October 13. KEYY searchlights lit up the sky welcoming thousands of people to the Palace opening night. Brimming to capacity with 2,500 people inside, about half that many were turned away. 'We waited for a few hours and never did get in,' said Erin Combs, a BYU student attending opening night. 'It's a great place!' said Juli Measom, 'but it's just like everything else in mik."

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&ved=0CF0QFjAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.e-yearbook.com%2Fyearbooks%2FBrigham_Young_University_Banyan_Yearbook%2F1979%2FPage_84.html&ei=5GAUVdOJDMaoNuDwg9gL&usg=AFQjCNG0o7i-e6flbv0Q-6j4ZABnUpX6WA&bvm=bv.89217033,d.eXY
_____


--Utah Valley Rock Bands, back in those Star Palace days:

http://www.utahvalleyrockers.com/class_profile.cfm?member_id=4492277
_____


--Next to the Star Palace was "Stan's:

"Shakes at Stan's . . . It was my personal favorite from their varied menu. Robes always ordered black raspberry. We were such creatures of habit. Stan's also sold burgers, hot dogs, fries, and the like, but we mostly frequented it for half-price milk shakes on Monday nights. We considered a trip to Stan's our own little family home evening, and we went every Monday night! Stan's was on 900 East, across the street from Smith's Food King and next door to the Star Palace."

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CFYQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmagazine.byu.edu%2F%3Fact%3Dview%26a%3D1366&ei=5GAUVdOJDMaoNuDwg9gL&usg=AFQjCNHtxF5m03Gxvx1D-txcOwfEOZX73g&bvm=bv.89217033,d.eXY
_____


--Efforts to bring the Palace back:

"One of the city's oldest dance clubs could be back in business, despite the protests of many residents and area businesses. . . .

"For more than a decade, the Palace operated out of a building on 900 East and was a nighttime gathering place for Brigham Young University students. Started as a discotheque in 1978, the club (then known as the Star Palace) began struggling when the disco era faded. . . .

"Police statistics show officers frequently responded to calls at the club's former location. To meet parking requirements, the club would have to use street parking and parking lots of nearby businesses and agencies."

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCYQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.deseretnews.com%2Farticle%2F513938%2FDANCE-CLUB-MAY-KICK-UP-ITS-HEELS-IN-PROVO-AGAIN.html%3Fpg%3Dall&ei=5GAUVdOJDMaoNuDwg9gL&usg=AFQjCNEcudGBeTOsFzsjw0iGI26iImhq9g&bvm=bv.89217033,d.eXY

*****


Related RfM link:

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1545178,1545178#msg-1545178



Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2015 02:08AM by steve benson.

Take your baby by the hand
And make her do a high handstand
And take your baby by the heel
And do the next thing that you feel

We were so in vies
In our dance hall days
We were cool on christ
When all you and everyone we knew
Could believe, do, and share in what was true

Dance hall days love !

Take your baby by the hair
And pull her close and there, there, there
And take your baby by the ears
And play upon her darkest fears

We were so in vies
In our dance hall days
We were cool on christ
When all you and everyone we knew
Could believe, do, and share in what was true

Dance hall days love
Dance hall days
Dance hall days love

Take your baby by the wrist
And in her mouth an amethyst
And in her eyes two sapphires blue
And you need her and she needs you
And you need her and she needs you
And you need her and she needs you
And you need her and she needs you
And you need her and she needs you

When all you and everyone we knew
Could believe, do, and share in what was true


-Wang Chung 'Dance Hall Days'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-xpJRwIA-Q



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2015 04:44PM by steve benson.

Hahahahaha =)

I missed the last gasp of disco, but Debbie Hary was OK. New wave was hit and miss... I was there in 82-86. Did anyone go to the US Festival in CA 82, 83? Wozniak produced it? It was so hot we just wore bathing suits... Crazy fun.

One Halloween in Provo, I remember a party where girls dressed up like the Robert Palmer identical backup band/guitar girls from the MTV video. I thought, "Wow, they're ready for polygamy already/interchangeable generic women." =[

We had some great parties/dances up at Sundance... At school on Saturday nights you could go from one ward or stake dance to another on campus. Sometimes we just made up fake names and majors... (the trite chit chat) =)

Geezer Fest, funny. Thanks for the blast!

I need documentary evidence, preferably Benson in a disco suit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvl0iKbdV6A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSVSbdmrT0U


And this, the "we're-not-tellin'" secret world of BYU devil disco!:

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



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2015 04:57PM by steve benson.

Back in either '79 or '80, or thereabouts, when I lived in
Provo, the Star Palace was a 'hapnin' place. I had recently
come to realize Mormonism was fake, and Provo wasn't an
exmo-friendly place at that time (I'm sure it's not today).

A few exmo friends of mine decided to make an evening of it and
go to the Star Palace disco (where all the BYU students get
down). Four of us went. I paired up (more or less) with the
wife of a good friend who didn't feel like coming along with
us. We "dressed" for the occasion (I was in an old tuxedo) and
basically we were not interested in gaining the approbation of
anyone else.

We were dangerous.

Of the more outrageous things we did was pantomime in unison,
to the music, the penalty associated with the first token of
the Aaronic priesthood--(1) Right hand to the square with thumb
extended, (2) right thumb under left ear palm facing downward,
(3) draw thumb sharply across throat to under the right ear,
and (4) drop right hand to the side.

We did it in a rhythmic 1, 2, 3, 4, to the music.

I was also spun around on the floor on my back much like what
became popular as "break dancing" a few years later.

It was at that point that the powers that be came up to my
"date" and I, grabbed us by the arm and forcefully began moving
us toward the door. Nothing was said. We weren't asked to
leave, we were just given the "bum's rush". At the door we
asked that, if we were not allowed to stay could we at least
get our entrance fee back? We were told no, and furthermore we
would never be allowed back in the place again (oh horrors).
My "date" told them she'd wear a wig and they'd have to look
under the hair of every girl coming in from then on.

So the two of us got banned. The others in the group were not
ejected, and they stayed a bit longer. My "date" and I began
walking home in the warm summer air. Just as we were leaving
someone stopped us and asked us if what we were doing were new
moves from New York or somewhere. I answered "no, just stuff
we made up."

I took my "date" home to her husband. We told him what had
happened and he laughed heartily. The perfect end of a perfect
evening.

I was banished into outer darkness for desecrating the temple.

This story is one of the best I've ever read on RfM. Thanks for sharing, and dancing the toke.

Your so Cool, your my Idle.... Can I be like You?!?

Yeah, you're a real class act, baura, showing Mormons just what kind of an asshole exmormons can be. And then you bitch about how badly you think Mormons treat you.

Tell you what, why don't you go to a Native American pow wow and when the dancers are performing in costume, you jump in and start hopping around shouting "Woo woo woo woo woo woo...." That would show what a wit you are. You'd get your skinny white ass kicked.

And had I been at the Star Palace as an exmo that night I would have personally dragged you out by your shirt collar and stomped your ass in the parking lot.

Quite often members of the Utah State Hospital sex-offender ward were taken to the Star Palace as part of their therapy. (None of the women they danced with were aware of it of course.)

Some of them were very good-looking, so if you danced there sometime in 1980 and were enchanted by a man who never asked for your number, stop dreaming about the one that got away.

(He didn't, he was imprisoned both before and after your evening together!)

What a hilarious post-although I'm a little too young to have enjoyed the disco era- I did enjoy the video and photo links though.So, I'm going to link one that maybe some of you remember from 1979, it was a short lived TV show titled California Fever with Lorenzo Lamas and Jimmy Mcnichol.However,The show never caught on and was cancelled after only a few episodes.www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ-fKVYO7J4

I think I went there twice in the early-mid 80s. It was a lot of fun. There are still songs I hear that remind me of that place. In fact,the first time I heard/saw the video for Addicted to Love was at the Star Palace. I was mesmerized.

That was fucking fantastic. Paradox Rox!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2015 06:27PM by tevai.

"One Thing Leads to Another":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHTa_SgOo2k



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/2015 02:53AM by steve benson.

Great post. I've been curious about what pop culture was popular in the Valley during the 70's.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2015 10:30AM by archytas.

I was in and out of BYZoo before the Star Palace. Well, okay, my last year there coincided with the brand new Star Palace. So, I never went.

It appears I missed out!

But being married at the time with a wife who would never consider such a sinful place, I wouldn't have made it anyway!

I was there when it was built and me and my roommates went several times. There are few things I regret in life. One is Disco and another is dancing to it. Print shirts. Bell bottoms. The shear horror of it all...

Remember when you could "Disco down to Dee's" for a hamburger?

I lived in Roman Ruins in 78 and 79 which was just a stone's throw from the Star Palace. Didn't go often, but took a few dates there.

Even before Disco, I remember getting a Dee burger for only 10 cents!

BF remembers the Star Palace: "Booze! Used to buy beer right from the Crest in the back in the drive-thru."

He asked if anyone remembers the Sprouse-Ritz and Stan's?

As a child, the 7-11 is right there- He got Slurpees and played video-games there.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/2015 02:41AM by steve benson.

I served time as a BYU student in the late 70's and frequented the Star Palace on occasion. It was a nice change of pace compared to the dances at the Wilkinson Center. The Star Palace didn't have dress code Nazis at the entrance denying people admission. Star Palace served soft drinks and fruit juices. I remember Dee's burgers being 5/$1.00

By the time I got there it was just the "Palace." We saw Jimmy Osmond there a few times in some real fancy duds.

my wife there. Sept 1980. Well it's ladies' night and the feelings right..."

I also met my wife there in the fall of 1980. Still married. Both exmo 25 years or so.

Anyone recall the new wave dance club on the second floor of a building on State near 100 North?

I was newly separated when the Star Palace opened. It was there that I learned that disco sucked.

A couple attempts, then - no more Star Palace.

Jimba's was more my speed...

csuprovograd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was newly separated when the Star Palace opened.
> It was there that I learned that disco sucked.
>
> A couple attempts, then - no more Star Palace.
>
> Jimba's was more my speed...

You know Jimbas went under after his wife fell for some other

dude and he went downhill and broken hearted iirc.

I worked there in College.

Disco STILL sucks !!

Could have been worse...

They might have had a one-night-only lineup where Rolf Harris opened for Gary Glitter, all compered by the one and only Mr. James Saville :-)

Owzabaoutthatthen!

IN ~ on "Star Palace" resurrection thred ~

Please, remember that disco was more than just the music-It was also a style and era (remember the designer jeans craze it helped fuel) and remember how it was a genre that brought diverse groups together(unfortunately people only remember the BeeGees)-The dance floor was center stage,and if you had dance moves you were to be envied which also applied to some extent to the roller skating rink,where I was at-as I was only about 10/11 years old at that time.

Give me Disco Hell over Hip Hop any day.

Paradox surprised me. They were a tight group. What happened to them?

My only memory of Star Palace is selling a reroof on the building about 10 years ago.

Looking for a friend who i danced with every weekend in 1979 named Bill, tall black guy. He was a great dancer. Know of him by any chance?

Ma'am, I asked Google (Tall Black guy named Bill + Provo, Ut + 1979) regarding your query, but only found one interesting story, which had nothing to do with your Bill (https://www.si.com/golf/news/feature-2019-03-23-bill-johnston-a-fading-story-worth-revisiting).

So, I was rewarded for trying to help, so I owe you one.

EOD (not tall, Brown, not Black)
BYU, 1970

elderolddog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> EOD (not tall...)

Well, it depends on what your definition of tall is.

Subjectively speaking. :P

      I remember overhearing a
      conversation a long time
      ago, wherein one of the
      conversants exclaimed to
      the other, "I bet you I'm
      just as tall as you are
      when we're laying down!"

I was there for a couple semesters in 1974.(Young Hall) My roommates would go to a place they called the "Ice Palace" to dance. One roommate claimed to have seen Jay Osmond there. She thought she was suppose to marry him. She came all the way from New York to meet up with him him.

Another roommate (Moon girl) got to know a guy who would drag Main Street in a truck and camper and offer coffee to people down on their luck. "Ralph" or something unusual. I tried it once---the camper not the coffee.

My roommate and I listened to Tom Petty records and talked about California and worlds far away from BYU. We giggled about our other roommate's. I googled her several years ago hoping to find her but I found her obituary instead.

I also experienced a candle passing to a Harry Niilson song. The song was awesome.

Every Sunday some crazy apartment in Young Hall would have an evil spirit visit and we were called to the Lobby to pray. Roomie and I did this once and could see what was happening--Big Nada.

So every time we had a knock at the door to gather in the Lobby we would hide in our closets---- I never could understand BYU.

There was a solitary room in the basement where a fun roommate lived. We liked to go visit her. I asked her how was she so lucky to get her own room. She would just laugh. I don't know why she was rooming all by herself in the basement at Heleman Halls.

Maybe someone else can shine some light on isolating students in the basement of BYU dorms. She was funny and smart.

What was the name of the disco place in Provo that the BYU Board of Directors (aka the Q-15) essentially drove to bankruptcy out of fears of immorality?

I didn't go to the Star Palace in Provo but was a frequent visitor at the Star Palace in Rexburg when I went to Ricks College in 1981.

The Star Palace was the only thing happening in the evening in boring Rexburg. I went there twice a week with my roommates. We had fun. I remember local TBMs calling it Sin palace. Oh brother. It was so tame compared to dance clubs I went to in San Francisco.

My best memory at the Star Palace was slow dancing with a Swedish babe. He was a nevermo from Sweden on a track scholarship at Ricks College. Why he chose Ricks college I will never understand. We slow danced to RFO Speedwagon's, "Can't fight this feeling." I melted in his arms and was the envy of my roommates. Even though he was Swedish they called him a Greek God.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpOULjyy-n8

To this day whenever I hear that song my knees go weak!

wife there in 1980. :0