It took almost two years for the leading gay dance clubs (which, generally, are trend-setters for all dance clubs and discotheques) to catch on to this new entertainment medium.

“I remember it clearly - February 1984,” says Scott Forbes, owner of Studio One, describing when he installed his first video equipment and introduced video as an integral element in the show provided to dancers by only a DJ and lightman. “Today, video is just as integral to our show as the lights and music,” Forbes says. “It's just another medium of entertainment, and helps enhance the mood and atmosphere of our club.” 

Ironically, in 1986 Studio One has an advanced and expensive video system for its dance floor (a system which, however, like much of modern technology, is rapidly becoming obsolete as new features are added), while Probe has no permanent video either on its dance floor or in its bar area.

The extremes represented by Studio One and Probe in their divergent approach to video as an element of the total entertainment program are indicative of the widely different viewpoints on most aspects of video and other new visual art forms held by club owners, leading DJs and those on the frontier of the new entertainment medium, the Video Jocks.

There are probably only two points on which all concerned agree with the impact of video on entertainment in dance clubs: that in four short years, video has become an integral part of most dance club's entertainment program, and that it is here to stay. Further, most agree it is developing more rapidly than any other aspect of the shows seen in dance dubs throughout America, partly because of technological advances but also because of the creativity of those programming this new combination of visual and performance art.

The power of television has been well documented; the affect of video on dance music and its audience is yet to become clearly evident. There is considerable disagreement between club owners, and between their DJs and VJs; widely different viewpoints become apparent when one compares those of the programmers/operators and those of the club owners.

“Dancers here seem to be paying more attention to the music because now they can see it, too,” says VJ Jimmy Bartlett, of Dallas, Texas, who is probably one of the leading exponents of video art in the country. “Until the introduction of video, the mental images created in the minds of the dancers were entirely the result of the music - with a little help from the light show.

“In those days, the DJ and his music, both what was played and how it was played, its tone, mood and lyrics - all created ‘mental visuals’ in the minds of the dancers.”

“Our audiences are definitely watching the video more, but I'm not sure they are actually paying more attention to either the pictures or the music,” says Lewis van der Wyk, DJ at Studio One who had been involved with video for about seven years before he began spinning at this nationally known club.

Bartlett and Van der Wyk themselves, although unaware of it, provide a study in the contrasts to be found when exploring the impact of video on dance music. Whereas Bartlett, 33, spent seven years as a DJ in Houston and Dallas before becoming involved with video just over a year ago, Van der Wyk, 24, although a professional DJ for six years, has spent the last three years dividing his time almost equally as a VJ and, more recently, a DJ at Studio One.

Bartlett has spun records in some of the top gay dance clubs in Texas, working at Numbers and Parade in Houston for four years, before moving to The Saint and Box Office in Dallas, where he has worked the last three years.

We found him and saw his show for the first time last June at Club Delman, then one of the most popular (certainly the largest) gay dance clubs in Dallas. At Club Delman, Bartlett had been provided with a video mixing system so advanced we have seen no other like it in the country

Today, Bartlett is performing at the hottest new gay dance club east of the Rockies: Baby’s opened in Dallas November 7. In both its audio-video equipment and the talent of those running the show, Baby's is probably the leading club - gay or non-gay - in America today. 

The control booth (which resembles the cockpit of a Jumbo Jet more than a DJ booth) from which the show is produced is as big as an average West Hollywood apartment. It is raised some 20 feet above the dance floor, in a corner of the massive building (about the size of Studio One), and completely enclosed with curved, soundproof glass. Side by side, in the front, are the DJ (on left) and the VJ. Behind them, and slightly above them so he can see over them and their equipment, is the lightman.

“The arrangement of the equipment in the booth is almost as crucial as the amount of cooperation - rather than any sense of competition - required between all three of us,” Bartlett says.

Between the turntables used by the DJ and the Video Cassette Recorders (four in all) used by Bartlett, is a five-channel video mixer with an additional channel for a live feed from a video camera. Mounted against the glass above the mixer (which is about six feet wide) are five 9-inch video monitors: one for each VCR and a master monitor showing what is actually being seen by dancers and others in the bar. Even with all this equipment and its precise arrangement, the show can be as exciting or dull as the three operators care to make it - or are capable of making it.

With his knowledge of music gained through seven years as a DJ, Bartlett and his teammates, including DJ Jim Griffith, extend their creativity to its outer limits and appear to be leading most others at introducing creative new concepts and techniques into the overall music-lights-video combination.

Apart from remarkably creative and skillfully edited master video tapes which form the core of his show, last June Bartlett introduced the live camera feed as a new element. While many VJs do indeed have a live camera feed capability we have seen none utilize it in the same way as Bartelett. While aiming the stationary camera at a chrome-key board (which the camera cannot “see”) he quickly slipped on a glove puppet he had made himself and which resembled an eccentric old lady. Within seconds he had her on the video screens live, singing “It's Raining Men!”

The lip-synch was perfect ... and the audience never knew it was live nor even how it was done.

While we've seen live camera feeds used in video dance clubs like the one at Studio One, no VJ in the Los Angeles area that we know of has used it the same way as Bartlett. And it is this constant creativity and innovation which keeps him ahead of all competitors. Most often the camera is simply aimed by the VJ at the dance floor, projecting images of the dancers onto larger-than-life video screens.

“Our audience gets really excited when we do this,” says Studio One's Forbes. “They'll even perform when they see themselves on the screen.” 

“Before video was introduced on the dance floor, it was easier to let vour imagination take you on a trip to anywhere - you could almost get lost in your own fantasy world, created by the music and light show,” Bartlett says. “Now dancers are increasingly being asked to pay attention to someone else's interpretation of the music.” 

“Perhaps dancers are relying more on someone else's creativity (to interpret the music),” says Van der Wyk, “but whoever is interpreting it for them - whether it be the producer of the video track for a popular song like “Call Me Mr. Telephone,” or whether it be the creativity of the VJ during a live show - we must be doing it right because our audience would not tolerate it if we were not!

“The dancers are accepting, and enjoying, what we're putting out - if we were doing a bad job we'd soon know about it: our dance floor would be empty. The bottom line is - video enhances the music: dancing to a song that you can also see makes it much more exciting.”