Mystery solved! The question was posed: What do Grace Jones, Annie Lennox, Stevie Nicks, Thomas Haden Church, free ecstasy and an abandoned building in the armpit of highways 30 and 35 have in common?
Answer: The Starck Club at 703 McKinney Avenue (which has been closed since the late 80’s – a club called Zouk has most recently been in this location).
Stevie Nicks (an investor) and Grace Jones were there on opening night. The club had been dreamt up by a Dallas-ite named Blake Woodall. Woodall came from money (oven range hood money – it’s a thing, I guess) and set out to hire a top-notch French designer (Philippe Starck, hence the club’s name) to make this club come to fruition. The club was in a seedy neighborhood, where Ecstasy (legal in 1984) was handed out freely. The club was known for bringing together gay and straight, black and white, rich and poor. The music was cutting edge and worthy of note – if a song played at the club got airplay on the radio, it was dropped from rotation at the club immediately.
Thomas Haden Church, a student at North Texas State, worked the concierge desk at the Adolphus back in the mid-80s. It was his job to haul famous guests over to the club.
Our mystery topic club lasted until 1988 or 1989 (depending on the source). Woodall ultimately shut it down as he had become the target of the DEA and raids by law enforcement. Some have said this club was the main reason Ecstasy was made illegal in 1985. After it became illegal, Woodall’s battle with law enforcement intensified every year until he closed the club.
D Magazine ran an article in 2013 as did the NY Times in 2014. The image of Annie Lennox was used in a Dallas Observer article from 2012.
