Zouk (club)
Zouk is a
nightclub in
Singapore and
Kuala Lumpur. The club is named after the French
Creole word for 'party'.
The three old warehouses that make up the original Zouk were built in
1919 on the
Singapore River. Thoroughly renovated, the houses now feature three interconnected clubs:
*
Zouk (
1991), with a large dancefloor and state-of-the-art sound and lighting, catering to a variety of artists
*
Velvet Underground (
1994), a quieter, more relaxed lounge that plays
house and
soul*
Phuture (
1996), a more
avant-garde bar specializing in
broken beats.
The club was last modified in Oct 2005. The makeover was a S$ 7 million project including changes within Zouk, Velvet Underground, Phuture and Wine Bar.
The clubs have proven popular with Singapore's party-going crowd and regularly attract performers from all over the world. Its famous
Mambo Jambo theme nights are considered a must-go for a beginning clubber.
In 2004, Zouk opened a sister club on Jalan Ampang in
Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia. Zouk KL features four rooms: Zouk and Velvet Underground styled on the original, plus the
Loft and
Terrace bars.
A beach dance party called ZoukOut is organised at
Sentosa in December each year. On
December 10 2005, 18,000 people attended the party.
Mambo Jambo, commonly known as Mambo nights, is a theme clubbing night held every Wednesday Zouk in
Singapore and
Kuala Lampur. It is highly popular among the younger segment of the clubbing crowd in Singapore, and a Mambo experience is often regarded as an initiation ritual for many beginners into the local clubbing scene.
Origins and Development as a clubbing institution
While Zouk Club's vision was to introduce
house music into Singapore, the concept of house music was not well-entrenched in the Asian clubbing landscape. Thus in order to make house music more appealing to the Singapore crowd, it introduced a blend of music which incorporated pop hits from the 70s and 80s with house music which were to be played every Wednesday night. Never seen as a long term plan, this retro theme night however became increasingly popular with the clubbing crowd and became one of the main highlights of the Singapore's clubbing week event list. It eventually became the most well patronised weekday event in the Singapore clubbing scene.
Music Type
Mambo Jambo is a spin of the term mumbo jumbo which fittingly described the type of music peculiar to the theme night. It began with a somewhat unorthodox mix of 70s and 80s pop hits and house and over the years, it evolved and incorporated rock, dance and hit hop. A huge hit with the local clubbers, many imitators tried to follow the ‘retro' theme formula with relatively lesser success. Zouk remained the standard bearer for this unique clubbing experience in Singapore.
Special Dance Moves
There are numerous songs that are well received by the clubbing club. However, the most popular are those that will rouse the crowd to making their peculiar dance moves. These moves, usually restricted to hand and upper body movements, are usually expressed in sync with the songs' progression and lyrics. Some of these songs includes
Bananarama's Love in the First Degree,
Jason Donovan's
Too Many Broken Hearts and
Rick Astley's
Together forever.
Example:
Belinda Carlisle's Summer Rain (taken from Dylan Boey's Mambo Rocks article, published 8-Aug-04)
Step #1Chorus: 'Oh my love, it's you...'Your move: Clap your hands twice and point with your right hand at 'you'.
Step #2Chorus: 'that I dream of...'Your move: Bring your right hand up and point to your right temple.
Step #3Chorus: 'Oh my love, since that day, somewhere in my heart...'Your move: Bring your hands together and make a heart shape over your left bosom.
Step #4Chorus: 'I'm always dancing with you in the summer rain...'Your move: With both hands half-raised and your index finger and thumb pinched together, make little circles as you twirl your hands around for 'dancing'. When the chorus goes 'summer rain', stretch out your hands and make little ripples with your fingers as if simulating a shower of rain.
Mambo Jambo- The Album
In 1998, Zouk Club together with Avex Trax Asia Limited produced a compilation of Mambo Jambo mix.
Track listing
# Let The Music Play - Shannon# Walking Away - Information Society# Bauhaus - Cappella# Ride on Time - Black Box# Theme from S'Express - S'Express# Tubthumping - Chumbawamba# Call Me - Spagna# Together Forever - Rick Astley# Love in the First Degree - Bananarama# Square Rooms - Al Corley# Batucuda - DJ Dero# Samba De Janeiro - Bellini# BG Tips, You should be dancing - E-Sensual# YMCA - Village People# Gimme Hope Joanna - Eddy Grant # Together in Electric Dreams - Giogio Morader & Phillip Oakley# Summer Rain - Belinda Carlisle# Here Comes the Rain Again - Eurythumics# Magic Carpet Ride - Mighty Dub Katz# Lost in Emotion - Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam# Give It Up - KC and the Sunshine Band# A Little Respect - Erasure
*
Zouk (Style of music)
*
*Boey, Dylan. Mambo Rocks in Sunday Times 8th August 2004. Singapore: SPH.
*DJ Adam Low. (1998) Mambo Jambo Wednesday Night Live. Singapore: Avex Trax.
*
Zouk (Singapore)*
Zouk (Kuala Lumpur)*
Zouk (Mumtazz.com)
