AFTR/IMG · ROOM · BETTER-DAYS · CONF NEEDS REVIEW
Better Days
Overview
A small, predominantly Black and gay discotheque on West 49th Street, open from its 1972 origins as 'Pea Nuts' until around 1990. Tee Scott's residency made it a home of the garage sound and gave Frankie Knuckles his first DJ slots; under Bruce Forest it later seeded C&C Music Factory and 'Do It Properly.'
Better Days opened in 1972 in a modest, low-lit room at 316 West 49th Street (then in a rough stretch of Hell's Kitchen near Times Square) under the name Pea Nuts. The space was minimal: a roughly 50-foot circular dancefloor, a bar to one side, little decorative ambition, and a three-dollar entry fee. The first DJ was Bert Lockett, who built an early following among a predominantly Black and gay crowd. The club's owner, who went by Al Roth, ran the operation with cash and a drawn revolver on his person; the club later acquired unwanted mob-adjacent attention, with Roth reportedly telling staff in 1988 that he had been 'bought out' by associates of John Gotti, around which time he renamed himself Dave Fisher. Tee Scott (born Marc Allen Scott in the Bronx (September 17, 1948; died December 12, 1995)) took up the residency after a short stint at a club called the Candy Store in mid-1972 and held it for roughly six or more years. Scott not only played but wired the club himself, building a custom pre-cue mixer, designing the lighting rig, and eventually bringing in Alex Rosner to install a professional sound system. He pioneered three-turntable technique and 'rode' records in seamless continuity. Most significantly, when the club expanded to seven nights a week, Scott gave the Monday and Tuesday slots to a young Frankie Knuckles, constituting what is widely cited as Knuckles' first professional DJ gig, before Knuckles departed for Chicago and the Warehouse. The crowd under Scott was described as 'gay and ninety-five percent Black, maybe with some Latin, but most important, they were people who were just there for the music.' Around 1980–81, Scott was succeeded as resident by Bruce Forest, a white DJ from outside the club's core community whose arrival was met with open hostility, on his first night, a beer was poured on the mixer. Forest eventually won the room by a now-documented subterfuge: hidden behind a tarp, the crowd believed they were hearing Timmy Regisford and responded ecstatically. Forest remained through 1988, and his tenure transformed the club's technical apparatus. He upgraded the sound system with equipment salvaged from the defunct Alice in Wonderland club, including Richard Long speaker components, to create a hybrid Alex Rosner / Richard Long system with eight 18-inch subwoofers and Levan-style horns, described by those who heard it as 'absolutely stunning.' Forest also introduced synthesizers, drum machines, and samplers into live DJ performance around 1982, making Better Days an early laboratory for what would become house music production technique. A teenage David Cole (later of C&C Music Factory) began sitting in the booth performing live keyboards over Forest's sets around 1984; Cole and Robert Clivillés (who DJed Thursday guest nights) eventually formalized that collaboration, and the house track 'Do It Properly' (released 1987 as '2 Puerto Ricans, A Blackman And A Dominican') was explicitly described by participants as an attempt 'to put on vinyl what we did live at the club.' Trevor Horn brought early test mixes of Frankie Goes to Hollywood's 'Relax' and 'Two Tribes' to Forest for dancefloor testing in this period. Better Days closed in 1988 following the apparent mob buyout of the ownership; a brief revival under the name 'Bedrock' (or 'Bedrox') followed around 1990–91 before a final closure, reportedly one week after New Year's, with the owner and a DJ dismantling the club together. The address at 316 West 49th Street later became a Brazilian steakhouse. The club has no entry in the NYC LGBTQ Historic Sites Project to date and remains significantly under-documented relative to its cultural footprint; its story survives primarily in DJ oral histories. Tee Scott was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame on September 20, 2004.
Oral histories & archival media
Better Days, in your words
Documentation of Better Days is thin. We're seeking oral histories of its Black queer dancefloor and its DJs.
Record a memoryArchive plates
Plates fill in as scans clear rights
Sonic profile
Cultural role
DJs, promoters & people
Tee Scott
Pioneering garage DJ associated with Better Days · Born Marc Allen Scott, Bronx, September 17, 1948; died December 12, 1995. Resident c.1972–c.1980. Wired the club's lights and early sound system himself; pioneered three-turntable technique; gave Frankie Knuckles his first professional DJ slots (Mondays/Tuesdays). Inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame, 2004.
Bruce Forest
Resident DJ · Resident c.1980–1988. Won over an initially hostile crowd; upgraded sound system with Richard Long components; introduced drum machines and samplers c.1982; hosted David Cole's live keyboard sessions that seeded C&C Music Factory.
Bert Lockett
Resident DJ · First DJ at the club (originally called Pea Nuts), early 1970s. Built the initial Black gay following.
Al Roth
Owner · Owner throughout most of the club's run; reportedly renamed himself 'Dave Fisher' c.1987 and told staff he had been bought out by associates of John Gotti c.1988. Carried cash and a revolver.
Frankie Knuckles
DJ whose early career is tied to New York before Chicago · Given his first professional DJ slots (Mondays and Tuesdays) by Tee Scott when the club expanded to seven nights; departed for Chicago and the Warehouse thereafter.
David Cole
Performer · Performed live keyboards in the DJ booth alongside Bruce Forest from c.1984, starting around age 16–17; crowd reaction to his playing helped precipitate the C&C Music Factory collaboration with Robert Clivillés.
Robert Clivillés
DJ · Guested on Thursday nights in the mid-1980s alongside David Cole; both went on to form C&C Music Factory.
David Morales
DJ · Guested at the club; one of the four credited artists on 'Do It Properly' (as '2 Puerto Ricans, A Blackman And A Dominican').
Timmy Regisford
Resident DJ of the long-running Shelter party · Brought in briefly during the transition from Scott to Forest; crowd's enthusiasm for Regisford (believing they were hearing him, not Forest, playing behind a tarp) helped Forest win his acceptance.
Kenny Carpenter
DJ · Among the DJs associated with the club across its run; part of the broader Black gay DJ circuit linking Better Days, Zanzibar, and the Garage.
Shep Pettibone
DJ · Guest DJ across the club's run; collaborated on the hybrid sound system upgrade.
François Kevorkian
DJ · Guest DJ; part of the same New York dance music milieu.
Tony Humphries
DJ · Guest DJ; also a cornerstone of the linked Zanzibar scene in Newark.
Robert Owens
Performer · Fingers Inc-affiliated vocalist who performed at the club.
Alex Rosner
Designer · Sound system designer; installed the club's first professional disco sound system; later contributed to the hybrid Richard Long / Rosner upgrade.
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