Zouk (club)

For other uses, see Zouk (disambiguation).
Zouk
Location 17 Jiak Kim Street Singapore 169420
Owner Genting Hong Kong
Type Night club
Genre(s) Various
Seating type Standing Room, Reserved
Capacity 1500
Opened March, 1991
Website
Official Site

Zouk is one of the oldest and most popular nightclubs in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. The club is named after the French creole word for 'party'. It has won the Singapore Tourism Board's "Best Nightspot Experience" award 6 times, between 1996 and 2007. Zouk is also ranked number 10 on DJ Magazine's list of Top 100 clubs in the world in 2006, 2007 and 2010.

In September 2015, its founder, Lincoln Cheng, sold the iconic club to Genting Hong Kong, an affiliate of the Genting Singapore.[1] The brand and its business was valued at S$40 million by financial audit firm Ernst & Young in 2013.[2]

Events

ZoukOut is an annual music dance festival held in Singapore since 2000.[3][4] One of Asia's biggest music dance festivals, it is organised by Zouk Singapore. DJs that have performed at ZoukOut include Paul Van Dyk, 2ManyDJS, Masters at Work, Gilles Peterson, Richie Hawtin, Sven Vath, Peter Kruder, James Lavelle, Armin Van Buuren and Stereo MCs. In 2008, ZoukOut saw its largest turnout of 26,000 in attendance, an increase of 3,000 attendees in 2007. ZoukOut has also won the Singapore Tourism Board’s “Best Leisure Event Experience” award thrice, between 2005 and 2008.

ZoukOut 2010 celebrated 10 years of the festival in December 2010. It was held on Saturday, 11 December at Siloso Beach, Sentosa Island from 8pm-8am. The three headline acts performed at ZoukOut 2010 were multi-platinum selling artiste David Guetta, world-renowned trance DJ Tiësto and Grammy award-winning DJ Jazzy Jeff.

During the Grand Prix Season 2010 in Singapore, Zouk held a special event, Zouk Celebrates The Grand Prix Season Singapore 2010, which featured two acclaimed DJs, Frenchman Martin Solveig and Canadian Tiga.

Locations

The sister club of Zouk in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, opened in 2004.

The three old warehouses that make up the original Zouk were built in 1919 by the Singapore River, on present day Jiak Kim Road. Thoroughly renovated, the houses now feature three interconnected clubs:

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 and almost serve as a rite of passage into the clubbing scene, for young hot-blooded 18 year old Singaporeans.

In 2004, Zouk opened a sister club at Ampang Road (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. ZoukOut 2006 outdone itself once again drawing a record 20,000 party-goers to Sentosa on December 11, 2006. 26,000 party-goers attended Zoukout 2008.

Zouk Singapore is slated to move to a new location at Clarke Quay in mid 2016 after its operating license expired on Jiak Kim Road. This was due to a re-zoning effort by the Singapore government of the area.

In May 2016, Zouk Singapore confirmed that it will delay its relocation plans from Jiak Kim Street to Clarke Quay, despite previously targeting for a June opening this year. The nightclub declined to disclose the reason behind the delay though news source understands that it is due to incomplete renovation works at the new location.

Mambo Jambo

Mambo Jambo, commonly known as Mambo nights, is a theme clubbing night held every Wednesday at Zouk in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. 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 hip 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 August 4)

Step #1 Chorus: 'Oh my love, it's you...' Your move: Bring both hands together to form a 'heart' over your left bosom, then use your right hand to point at 'you'.

Step #2 Chorus: 'that I dream of...' Your move: Bring your right hand up and point to your right temple.

Step #3 Chorus: 'Oh my love, since that day...' Your move: Bring both hands together to form a 'heart' over your left bosom, then raise your right hand upwards, palm facing up.

Step #4 Chorus: 'somewhere in my heart, I'm always...' Your move: Bring your hands together and make a heart shape over your left bosom, then clap twice in rhythm with 'always'.

Step #5 Chorus: '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

  1. Let The Music Play - Shannon
  2. Walking Away - Information Society
  3. Bauhaus - Cappella
  4. Ride on Time - Black Box
  5. Theme from S'Express - S'Express
  6. Tubthumping - Chumbawamba
  7. Call Me - Spagna
  8. Together Forever - Rick Astley
  9. Love in the First Degree - Bananarama
  10. Square Rooms - Al Corley
  11. Batucuda - DJ Dero
  12. Samba De Janeiro - Bellini
  13. BG Tips, You should be dancing - E-Sensual
  14. YMCA - Village People
  15. Gimme Hope Jo'anna - Eddy Grant
  16. Together in Electric Dreams - Georgio Moroder & Phillip Oakley
  17. Summer Rain - Belinda Carlisle
  18. Here Comes the Rain Again - Eurythmics
  19. Magic Carpet Ride - Mighty Dub Katz
  20. Lost in Emotion - Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
  21. Give It Up - KC and the Sunshine Band
  22. A Little Respect - Erasure

Mambo Jambo - The Phenomenon

CD Cover

In 2007, Zouk Club together with Warner Music Group produced a compilation of Mambo Jambo mix. This album is a tribute to the 15 years of the night, its cult following that has kept the energy alive, and the unparalleled spirit that is Mambo Jambo. Notably, the album release was entirely mixed from vinyl by Zouk Resident DJs in order to reflect the true spirit of the night.

Track listing

  1. Dying Inside To Hold You - Timmy Thomas
  2. You Sexy Thing - Hot Chocolate
  3. Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry
  4. Call Me - Spagna
  5. Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley
  6. Blame It On The Boogie - Big Fun
  7. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order
  8. Love In The First Degree - Bananarama
  9. Let's Go - Wang Chung
  10. Sexbomb - Tom Jones with Mousse T
  11. I Heard A Rumour - Bananarama
  12. Together In Electric Dreams - Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder
  13. You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) - Dead or Alive
  14. Mony Mony - Billy Idol
  15. Push It - Salt-N-Pepa
  16. Horny - Mousse T vs Hot 'N' Juicy
  17. Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now) - Bob Sinclar Feat. Dollarman & Big Ali
  18. Don't Call Me Baby - Madison Avenue
  19. Can't Take My Eyes Off You - Boystown Gang
  20. La Bamba - Los Lobos
  21. Mambo No 5 - Lou Bega

Thursday 4PLAY

4PLAY was in 'Mainroom' until 13 December 2012, when it was moved to Velvet Underground.

Reviews by Top Djs

"This club has given me the richest cultural sensations ever. It’s a magical place—part of my extra-sensory experiences" - ir Bob Cornelius Rifo (the Bloody Beetroots) source "15 of the Best Night Clubs Around the World" Connectheworld.com

"Zouk is one of the best clubs in the world and if you have been there, you'll know how intense and energetic the crowd is." - Paul Van Dyk, source DjMag.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Zouk being sold to Genting HK". The Straits Times. October 21, 2015.
  2. ↑ Lim, Jessica (15 September 2015). "Iconic Singapore nightclub Zouk put up for sale". Straits Times. Straits Times. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  3. ↑ YourSingapore.com - ZoukOut
  4. ↑ ZoukOut - About Archived July 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.

Coordinates: 1°17′29″N 103°50′07″E / 1.29139°N 103.83528°E / 1.29139; 103.83528

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