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Death of Lounge

Timeline By Paul Adams

1954 The advent of high-fidelity

1959 Hawaii becomes a state
Lounge is in full swing

1964 The Beatles invade
Lounge retires gracefully

1973 The Who's Quadrophenia

1985 An advance guard of retro-loungers starts to comb thrift and used-record shops for relics

1988 Fey new-waver David Johansen repackaged as suave crooner Buster Poindexter
Subterranean lounge culture continues to grow

1990 Sammy Davis Jr. dies

1994 Lounge is a booming underground phenomenon
Swing magazine is founded
Combustible Edison's "I, Swinger" a hit
Newsweek announces "Now It's Generation Hep! Grunge Is Out, the Lounge Life Is Back."
Joseph Lanza's landmark book Elevator Music published

1995 February--premiere issue of Swing magazine
Dean Martin dies
Urban Outfitters starts carrying cocktail shakers

1996 January--Swingers released by Miramax to nationwide sellout audiences
August--Rolling Stone cover story introduces Hamilton's Lounge in Beverly Hills
RCA releases four-volume lounge-music CD compilation
Crate and Barrel starts carrying cocktail shakers

1997 June--publication of Ultra Lounge by Dylan Jones, author of Jim Morrison: Dark Star
August--Combustible Edison plays on a river cruise and at the Boston Photographic Resource Center benefit
Swing circulation 500,000
Buster Poindexter still playing The Bottom Line

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From the September 1997 issue of the Metropolitan.

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