This is a place where you might hear Depeche Mode’s Just Can’t Get Enough, followed by a cumbia, Debbie Deb’s Lookout Weekend, then an industrial track. On the wall of the narrow hallway between these two rooms, a flier with a picture of an Aquanet bottle reads, “80s Flashback Dance Party, New Wave, KROQ Classics, Dark Wave.” Although primarily an 80s club, DJs dance between genres and decades. Dance to 80s music in the front room, Rock en Español in the back room, or hang out on the patio. We make all of the flyers ourselves,” He says. Sanchez and his wife have been the sole promoters of 80s nights at the Hully Gully. The menu at the bar features drinks like Pac-Man, Pretty in Pink, and Ghostbuster. Neon-colored portraits of Dave Gahn, Siouxsie Sioux, and Robert Smith light the walls. Others show up in jeans and band T-shirts or the classic club button-up shirt. Some rock leopard dresses, with pompadours and big red flowers in their hair. Since 2000, the Hully Gully in Downey has welcomed clubgoers of all walks of life every Friday and Saturday. “People come here to have a great time and feel young again.” He is the founder of 80s Club Addiction, a group of 80s themed nightclubs in California. It’s like involuntary movement,” says Danny Sanchez. There’s a bar with a neon menu on the right, and on the left, there’s a live DJ and a wooden dance floor.
When the door opens, the 80s suck you back in. One Step Beyond by Madness, Matador by Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, and Electricity by OMD are just a few of the many songs that I will never be able to dissociate from Friday nights at the Hully Gully.Īs you walk up to the two-story brick building to get your ID checked, you start to hear muffled familiar tunes. His payment for a late-night club pick-up was a Sampler Trio from Jack in the Box located in the same parking lot. Her mom would drop us off, and her brother would pick us up. The Hully Gully was the first place my best friend Tracie, and I went to as 21-year old Downey lifers.