Club Clearview Reunites for a Night

by Steven Doyle

What started as renegade parties in Deep Ellum  warehouses with cohorts in crime Jeff Swaney, Steve Clohessy, Jeffrey Yarbrough and Mark Cuban who would set up under the lights fueled by generators and selling beer for the price of admission, soon became a legitimate enterprise that led to the opening of Club Clearview in an abandoned curtain warehouse.

The multi-venue club quickly became the heart of Deep Ellum’s music scene in the 80’s and 90’s, hosting national acts such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ministry, as well as birthing locals such as Vanilla Ice and the Dixie Chicks.

The musical Mecca comprised of Club Clearview, Art Bar, Blind Lemon, The Red Room, and Open the Roof Deck. There revelers could enjoy their own form of party, traveling between the venues with their sole connective tissue, a room filled of nearly nude neon clad dancers in cages.  

Last Saturday night many gathered at Lee Harvey’s  to pay our respects to the night club and to trade war stories, hoist a beer, and generally howl at the moon and smile that we all somehow survived unscathed.

Jeffrey Yarbrough, who now owns PR firm BigInk, played host and was happy to share his opened time capsule and reminisce about a time when the local music scene sizzled.

Entertainment line-up for the evening made total sense with past Clearview DJ’s; EZ Eddie D, Tony Fair, Mark Ridlen, Marc Debosier and Terry Sims on the ready, and bands Johnny Hoot rock (incarnation of ‘The Flametrick Subs’) and the The Blue Flames. The crowd also was entertained by burlesque sweetheart Ruby Joule.