Starwood Club

The Starwood Club was a popular club in West Hollywood, California during the 1970s and 1980s. Many punk bands and heavy metal bands started their careers playing at The Starwood.

The Starwood was located on the northwest corner of Santa Monica Blvd. and Crescent Heights Ave. It had been a fashionable nightclub called PJ's in the 1960s, which attracted a large number of film and TV personalities. During its incarnation as PJ's, The Standells, Rufus Thomas and Trini Lopez recorded live albums there.

In the early 1970s, PJ's was bought by organized crime figure Eddie Nash, and became The Starwood. It closed in 1982 after a mysterious fire. (Similar unexplained fires befell other Nash-owned properties at the time.) Subsequently, the structure was torn down and a mini-mall was built on the site.

The Starwood was highly instrumental in the careers of Black Flag, The Germs, The Go-Gos, The Kats/The Nu Kats, The Mau-Mau's, The Motels, Mötley Crüe, Naughty Sweeties, The Plimsouls, The Quick, Quiet Riot, The Runaways, Van Halen, and X. Some of the acts from outside of California who played the Starwood included The Damned, DEVO, The Jam, Cheap Trick, The Stranglers, AC/DC, The Fleshtones, and Ozzy Osbourne (who premiered his Blizzard of Ozz band at the Starwood). Judas Priest played three sold out nights in 1979 before they got big.