By Kara Shire
State Press

Aug. 05, 1997

PHOENIX — At first glance it's just another nightclub. The dim red lights and rotating disco ball give it that seedy Las Vegas atmosphere. There's a buffet and a juice bar, pool tables and dart boards.

But the elevated cage on the dance floor and the glass shower in the hallway suggest Impressions has more to offer than dancing.

Impressions, located at 9035 N. 8th St., is one of five swing clubs in the Valley.

The idea of a swing club is like a high school party when parents are out of town, said one club employee. People just hang out and some end up in the upstairs bedroom.

"People want to be a little naughty and this gives them the opportunity in a safe atmosphere," said Milo, who asked that his last name not be used. Milo owns Club Chameleon, a Phoenix club located at 3102 N. 29th Ave.

"People are expected to act like human beings in here," he said. "You should be able to walk in here unescorted, naked and feel safe. We don't really see any altercations. We tell people, 'Hey, if you have an attitude, leave it at the door.'"

Swing clubs are not new to the Phoenix area. Sociables, the oldest swing club in the Valley, opened its doors 28 years ago in the 39th Avenue and Indian School area. Sociables, Discretions and Impressions management declined an interview for this story.

"People go to these clubs for two obvious reasons," said Glenn "The Swing King" DeJongh, owner of Divining Rod Entertainment. "If you're an exhibitionist type and you want other people to watch, they're not going to be at your house.

"You go there to meet people, too. Even if you go there with another couple and you're not an exhibitionist, you would still go to those clubs because of the whole sexual environment. It's kind of a turn-on."

Swing clubs are set up like any other nightclub with a main room that includes a dance floor, a bar and a D.J.

Hallways or staircases lead those interested to back bedrooms. The dance floor is generally bare, with no more than 20 people dancing at a time.

"It was totally cool," said Laura of her first swing club experience at Discretions, 3304 N. 27th Ave. (Laura and other patrons of the clubs declined to give their real names for this article). "It was like a deserted titty bar. It wasn't gross like I thought it would be."

Milo said the reputation of swing clubs is worse than the reality.

"A lot of people think these are hard-core people," he said. "It is just not true. Last week I talked to a young girl. She held hands with another woman and she was just crazy. She thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread."

Swing clubs operate as private clubs with a membership fee, usually around $5. Once a member, admission into the club is free for women and for single men about $30. Couples cost between $20 and $30. Once inside, food and drinks are generally free.

"We're extremely mild," said Harold Stapley, co-owner of Impressions. "Very, very mild compared to the other clubs. For someone who's extremely prude I can see where they can be extra-offended by any nudity or sexual acts on the dance floor."

However, sexual acts do take place at the clubs, so the extremely prude -- beware.

"At Sociables, up in the little dance thing with the pole, there were two girls up there -- both cute as shit -- dancing around," DeJongh said. "They picked a guy out of the audience. They took turns (performing fellatio). He was an older guy, 50-ish, not very attractive. They put a condom on him and both took turns.

"Everybody was watching. It was cool. Everybody (was) standing and watching what was going on."

At Impressions the bedrooms are furnished similar to a motel room with a king-size bed and a makeshift night stand -- no Bible to be found here though, just wet naps. Two of the clubs seven rooms have windows that look out over the club's main room. One of the upstairs rooms has a hot tub.

Club Chameleon's seven rooms are uniquely but sparsely decorated. What Milo calls the "Jungle Room" is embellished with leopard-printed material covering the overhead lights, two pictures of scantily-clad "jungle women" and a camelback sofa.

Another room is painted completely black. A spotlight shines down on the center of the bed creating an on-stage effect. The room next door features mirrors on three walls and the ceiling.

Customers have the option of private rooms, rooms with windows that allow others to watch, or open-environment rooms that serve as a sort of invitation to be watched or accompanied.

Club Chameleon's open-environment room was the main attraction Saturday night as three men and a woman put on a show under the black lights. Curious onlookers crowded the beaded doorway to watch the "moresome" (defined as more than three people in a swinging interaction).

"Head rooms" are another feature offered by swing clubs. The head room at Club Chameleon was similar to a large family room with black leather couches angled in front of a big-screen television that continuously aired pornographic movies. As the name implies, fellatio is often performed in this room.

Another popular Valley swing club has its head room upstairs with mis-matched couches lining both walls and a television at the far end of the room. On a recent night the room was packed with men, apparently watching and waiting for action.

Action is not usually hard to find.

Downstairs a middle-aged couple lounged at a table near the buffet in the main room and watched as people danced and played pool. The woman, naked from the waist down, sat with her legs spread while her companion manually stimulated her. The woman, however, was busy eating nachos.

"One fun time I had, there were like six people fucking in the room lit by a black light," said DeJongh of one Club Chameleon experience. "Then on the couches there were like five or six couples (performing sex acts) and pretty much just making out.

"This couple -- we weren't really attracted to them, but she really liked Janice (DeJongh's date) -- we went into this room and the women tried on lingerie. It's cool in there. Everybody just stripped naked. No one gives a shit."

Requesting money for sex is not allowed in swing clubs, but Allen, a club frequenter, said it happens.

"I think (swing clubs) are kind of misnamed because I don't think it's really a social thing," he said. "It's more of a bring-your-own type deal. In my experience, the people who do approach you are doing it to get paid, like dancers after work. It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the owner. These girls are just looking to make an extra buck."

Stapley said he hasn't caught any prostitution in his club.

"If we did, they'd be out," he said. "If some of them do, they do it totally unbeknownst to us."

Money can change hands at the clubs despite the rules, Laura said.

Men were giving her and her friends cash for dancing on the elevated stage in the main room at Discretions, she said.

"They were, like, handing us dollar bills," she said. "I made like, $14, before they came and told us we couldn't take money. The men try to touch you and get you to show them stuff but the guys at regular clubs are worse."

An obvious concern to swingers who frequent these clubs is safe sex. Condoms are available -- Impressions has them behind the bar free of charge and they're available three for a dollar at Club Chameleon.

"It's never safe," said DeJongh. "If you're a human being alive today you're not safe walking across the street. Everybody has limits sexually. How careful can you be? If you're a freak about it you'd never kiss another human being. What fun is that? You might as well be dead."

Although Impressions hands out condoms for free, Stapley said the club doesn't go through many of them.

"We don't have many people using them," he said. "I don't know -- I don't go out and check on them. We do emphasize it though. I think people know. They're adults and if they're not aware of what's going around they've had their head in a barrel of sand."

Ken Pettis, program coordinator for Tribe, an African American AIDS prevention program for gay and bisexual men, said swing clubs would be ideal venues to educate people on condom usage.

"I have yet to see a class for heterosexuals that teaches them how to eroticize safe sex," he said.

Milo of Club Chameleon said his club encourages safe sex but he doesn't think they need to go beyond that.

"I don't know that we should be held responsible for everybody's actions," he said. "Everything you do has risks involved. People who get involved in casual sex are exposed.

"Everybody comes here for different reasons. A lot of people are having very safe sex -- they're just watching. You come in here with your boyfriend and you just want to be watched."

Pettis said free condoms are necessary because some people don't want to buy them or don't carry them at all.

"We're talking about sexual beings here," he said. "Many times when sex gets in the way, your mind goes away. You get in the groove. You get in the heat of the moment."

The $5 membership fee allows swing clubs the private club label that is the key to their operation.

"It's because it's a private club and that's what makes it legal," said Phoenix Police Detective Terri Sherrard. "It's not accessible to the public. Anybody off the street can't walk in. It's such a fine line."

Milo said Club Chameleon is up to city code and has never had any problems with the city.

"The worst that they can accuse us of is poor taste," he said.

Stapley said Impressions has had some problems with the city. One problem was the viewing of pornographic movies. Because the club is within 500 ft. of a residence, Impressions is no longer allowed to show adult movies, he said.

Stapley also said he believes most of the complaints filed against his club don't actually come from local residents, but from competitors.

"I don't know whether (the city is) trying to shut us down," he said. "They're very close-lipped about who's complaining. The first time they came out they said it was reported that we were doing prostitution. They said it was someone in the neighborhood who complained. That's a little weird."

One law all swing clubs must follow is the ban on liquor inside the club. It is illegal to have total nudity and alcohol in any club, and swing clubs conform by offering juice and soda only.

"People say they like coming to a place where there's no drinking," Milo said.

However, Laura said she and her friends drank alcohol in the parking lot before entering the club.

Stapley said he can't help what people do behind the scenes.

"I'm sure that there are probably some of our customers who go out to their cars and bring something in," he said. "We don't allow people to bring liquor in that we know of. If it sneaks past us then that's something we can't help."

New club owners claim they are providing a more upscale club, catering to a more professional, female crowd

Leather couches, decorated private rooms and a bigger dance floor are improvements over other clubs that offer tattered furniture and twin size beds in tiny rooms.

"The girls want the foo-foo," Milo said. "They want the nice bathrooms. They want to sit on the furniture and not feel like they're going to get something. They want a nice, clean place and that's what we try to provide."

Stapley said Impressions decided to use glasses and stemware instead of the usual plastic cups to give the club a more upscale look.

"We want it to be nice and we encourage nice attire," he said.

However, a more upscale club is not for everyone, Milo said.

"Everybody has a different thing that turns them on," he said. "Some people like the real seedy places."

DeJongh said he thinks swing clubs are the clubs of the future.

"When I first started going four or five years ago it was a lot older crowd," he said. "Now there's a lot of younger people. It's getting a lot more popular. It's going to be huge. I think this is definitely the club of the future."