The
Torque
Club was in Beaverton and as I remember it, was owned by Ross Hart,
manager
of the Gentlemen Wild. Ross' junior
high
son, Bobby, wanted to be in a band. So Ross put together the
Gentlemen
Wild with a wall of 100 watt Sunn amps (everybody had two 2-15" cabs!)
and Bobby was the drummer. He founded the Torque Club (I'm pretty
sure) as a place for the band to play when they weren't booked
elsewhere.
Hart Road, south of Beaverton near Cooper Mountain, is named after the
Hart's who owned considerable property out that way. Ross also
was
the promoter of "Battle of the Beat" (again, I think that was what it
was
called) a local TV battle of the bands show in about 1968. My
band
was on the show and went as far as runner up. It only aired one
season.
It was a tough gig, because you only got one take and you couldn't hear
the voices. The microphones were wired straight into the recorder
with no way for the singer to hear him/herself. Oh, the current
chief
of police in Beaverton was a bouncer at the Torque Club in his younger
days.
Jeff
Davis, 13 April 2003
The Torque Club
in
Beaverton...I was in 7th grade then, but I remember hearing about the
place,
and seeing the Battle of the Beat TV show... Morning Reign was
also
on that show. One of the better known Beaverton bands at that time was
called "The Rebel Kind," later changed to "Otis Elevator." I
don't
know if they played bars, but they definitely played at school
dances.
Very likely they also played at The Torque Club.
I ended up
playing
in several Portland bands in the '80s and '90s. Cool site...I had
wondered
about the story behind some of the bands for years.
Roger
Kasner,
January 2004
Image
courtesy of Rojer Blaine
The Tork Club of
Beaverton,
OR was located at Broadway and Watson in down town Beaverton. The last
time I saw it, it was a furniture store. Run by Ross Hart, the Tork
featured
many popular local bands. I remember in the beginning, you had to
buy a "membership" for a dollar or something.
Rojer
Blaine,
January 2006
