Angles OKC: A club that spent 25 years as a cultural icon is now an event center but not only hosted Joan Rivers once but also stood up to attacks from the police on LGBT patrons.
In the beginning: City officials were probably happy to see Scott Wilson when he applied for a liquor license for his new country-dance club “Cotton Eye Joe’s” in 1983. Wilson, dressed in cowboy boots and a big buckle, wanted to bring a honkytonk to a neighborhood in Oklahoma City dominated by a few gay bars. It was a welcome sight to early eighties politicians hoping for something that might “straighten-up” the area.
Of course a few months later when the honkytonk turned out to be a gay disco. City politicians were less than enthused. But the nightclub opened in August of that year and the gay strip would never be the same.
“At that time my business partner, and then life partner, Don Hill and I did a lot of traveling and we loved to go to New York City and have a good time at studio 54 and other clubs, said Wilson. “Of course there just wasn’t anything like that here in Oklahoma City so we decided to open the club.”
Wilson and Hill chose the former site of the Oklahoma City ice plant on 39th Street. The club was designed to look like a warehouse complete with a garage door.
“I think few people, who weren’t there understand what this place meant to the gay community before the inclusion and larger acceptance. Still fewer understand what it meant during the AIDS crisis,” Wilson said. “Angles was built the way it is for a reason. Before we put the big web address on the side of the building a few years. All during the day people drove by thinking it was a warehouse. We did that because we didn’t want it to be bombed or the focal point of anyone’s attention.”
The did attract attention and in the early days both the city and the community were less than supportive.
“In 1983 the FBI came to us and said that there had been death threats. At one point there were FBI agents up on the roof of the building because there had been some bomb threats and other stuff. It was handled with the federal authorities and that was the only time we had anything like that,” he said.
“1983 was a hateful time in Oklahoma for gays. It was a scary. For example, for a long time The Park didn’t have windows. In the 90s when people started to live more openly we took out the walls and added the windows,” Wilson continued. “We let the sunshine in and let people see activity. We thought it was time. People thought we were crazy. Some people were scared to come because they thought they might get shot. Of course that was 14 year ago and we have never had a problem.”
Apparently the City of Oklahoma City did have a problem…
“Shortly after we opened and the city discovered that we were not a country bar we and our customers were hit with consistent harassment and mistreatment by the police,” said Wilson. “We would get raided and a ridiculous number of cops would barge in and harass patrons while citing us for bogus violations of city codes that didn’t exist.”
Wilson said that police officers would arrest customers and in some cases beat-up people in the parking lot. Wilson and Hill contacted an attorney and they quietly began keeping track of the incidents.
“We kept track of things like badge numbers and tag numbers and basically got enough evidence to hang them. (the city) We filed a civil rights action against the city of Oklahoma City and specific patrolmen involved. The city attorney saw the evidence and he knew they couldn’t win,” Wilson said.
In the lawsuit the owners asked for cash retribution for the pattern of abuse.
“We had to pick a number for the lawsuit and it was hundreds of thousands of dollars. The city attorney said that in this town the city council wouldn’t vote to pay us in a settlement,” said Wilson. “He said that the city would rather lose in court. Our attorney, who was very bright and astute politically, came back to us and said that it could take years and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and we still might not win.”
Wilson decided to strike a deal.
“We really just wanted the harassment to stop. I made a deal with the city and took one dollar in damages and some of the legal fees in exchange for a federal court injunction that said they could never harass our patrons, discriminate and cite us for violations that don’t exist. I also wanted some officers terminated and multicultural and diversity training for the officers.”
“They city agreed to it. It made national news. We still have the check from the city for one dollar,” he said.
According to Wilson, Angles opertated smoothly for about six months.
“The harassment stopped for a while. About six month later we had some more trouble and so our attorney put some more pressure on them. It worked. To this day we don’t have any trouble. I would be happy to say that because of the education and sensitivity training has brought out a whole new crop of police officers that are quite attentive. These guys even go out of their way to ask what they can do to help us.”
Wilson said the training and action saved his company money and helped the community in the long run.
“We have enjoyed 24 years of peace. Instead of trying to win in court and possibly going broke on attorney fees. We were able to have a pretty peaceful existence, at least by Oklahoma standards,” he said
After Angles opened its doors Wilson set his sights on other property on the strip including the other bars and businesses that were occupying the space where The Park (now Apothecary) and the Wreckroom now stand.
“I went to the owner of the property and asked if he would sell because it was adjacent to my property and he said sure. I went to the guys that ran Saddletramps, where The Park is now, and told them that I had the property under contract and let them know that six to nine months down the road I was probably going to run a club in the location. They were mad as hell, but they could have done it. It was the same for the club across the street and the Wreckroom.”
25 years later Wilson has decided to sell Angles to new owners.
“A few years ago our manager of 18 years, Tom, who ran Angles and was the most decent honest man you could ever meet, had to move to St. Louis. After he left we pretty much didn’t have someone who wanted to do the hands on work with Angles. Running it is a lot of work and the hours are not the finest in the world. Of course I sure as heck didn’t want to do it. I like playing golf and traveling.”
Wilson garnered some help from a friend who agreed to manage the property.
“Jeff Gray retired from the Air Force and agreed to come on and help. I don’t think he meant to sign on to run all these nightclubs forever. Which is why he is happy that we are not going to continue with Angles,” he said.
Wilson said that the new owner is talented and will bring new life and energy into the club. Wilson and Hill will retain ownership of the other properties including The Park and The Wreckroom.
“I don’t really want to talk about the sale just yet as it isn’t final. But it is not that Angles isn’t viable, the truth of the matter is none of us really want to do it,” said Wilson. “I wouldn’t give up the experiences I have had for anything and it has been really fun. But I have reached an age where I just don’t want to do that anymore. I have a wonderful partner of 14 years and Brad and I have a pretty normal life. Now we are usually in bed by 10:30.”
Angles: 25 years as a cultural icon – Part Two
Just like any establishment or business Angles has seen its fair share of challenges. Shortly after the doors opened the Oklahoma City gay community, along with the rest of the nation, began to suffer under the weight of the AIDS crisis.
“We were all so deeply entrenched in the AIDS movement. It was impossible not to be,” said Angles founder Scott Wilson. “I lost so many friends in Houston and Oklahoma City to the disease that it was staggering. We had a community that was being decimated and we were left to our own to raise funds a care for people. Of course sadly people thing the crisis has gone away.”
According to Wilson the depth and severity of the disease could be felt every night the club was open.
At the same time Angles became the epicenter of the Oklahoma City club scene hosting world-class DJs and entertainers from around the globe. The Weathergirls, Boy George, Dead or Alive, The Pointer sisters, Jennifer Holliday and Divine all spent time on the Angles stage.
“We have had every major diva at angles at least once,” Wilson said. “Back then, either because we didn’t have any competition or that people were more in tune with entertainers we were able to at least charge a cover charge that would help us recoup those costs. People would love to see us bring in big names like that now, but how are we going to pay for it. I can’t charge a cover because people would go down the street. They had to fade away, which was sad.”
“Joan Rivers came to town for some event and we sent word to her that if she would come to the club that we would put on a show just for her,” he continued. “She came and we got the word out and Amii Dyshae did Joan Rivers with Joan Rivers in the audience. She went crazy. She even went upstairs and signed the wall in the office. I am taking that piece of the wall with me.”
Wilson said that the club itself has gone through a number of transformations.
“During one major remodel, which was going to take 10 weeks, we decided to have the best 10 deejays in the world and we booked one every Saturday for 10 weeks. The scaffolding was still up, but we took the negatives and made them into positives. People loved it,” he said.
According to Wilson the club’s tenure on 39th has not been without controversy.
“There has always been a feeling that maybe the community thought that we were making so much money that we should just give more,” he said. “The truth of the matter is the club had its good years and its bad years. Of all my businesses, I can’t really say that it has been my major bread winner.”
Sometimes personalities also got in the way.
“We had fun with our drag shows,” said Wilson. “Despite what the community may think about Ginger Lamar and my arguments over the years, when Ginger was running that stage with Sasha Loren and Amii Dyshae the shows were awesome. Those Sundays were so much fun.
Wilson has no regrets but wishes he had turner over the reigns a little sooner.
“I think I probably would have found someone who was a little bit younger to take on about 10 years ago, someone who really had the energy to continue making it the epitome of dance clubs,” he said. “Of course even when we were just open on special events we would pack the house. I don’t think we ever lost any edge as a nightclub. I still think it is one of the best designed gay dance club of its size.”
According to Wilson, he and Donny decided a few years ago that it was time to sell.
“When we finally decided that it was time to just let it go we had a lot of interest. A lot of people came by to kick the tires so to speak but we had three very qualified buyers,” he said. “I wouldn’t have sold the property to someone who I didn’t think could make it work. Why would I let our legacy hampered by that and of course I am a property owner in the area and we still operate clubs. We want the area to be vibrant.”
Although Wilson now describes himself as “semi-retired” he says he will never forget Angles opening weekend.
“I had been laying the dance floor on my hands and knees all night,” he said. “The same week I had been very busy with the other stores and properties. It was a long week and Donny and I were exhausted. But that opening night was so electric we couldn’t have fallen asleep. It was packed every night that weekend.”
“There is nothing I can say that I regret about Angles at all. The bad moments with the police were solved and became good moments for the city. The ups far outweigh the downs and it is time for someone new to take that club and make it what it is; the number one dance club in the state,” Wilson said.
Editor’s Note: This weekend ownership of Oklahoma City’s famed nightclub, Angles, will changed and founders of the disco said goodbye with one last party. HNOKC’s John Roberts sat down with one of the owners for this two-part series on the history of what has become an Oklahoma City gay landmark. Next week Part Two will focus on the club’s notorious headliners, drag queens, greatest moments and biggest challenges like the AIDS crisis.
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