The Loft (New York City)

Nightclub in New York City
the New York private party

The Loft was the location for the first underground dance party (called "Love Saves the Day") organized by David Mancuso, on February 14, 1970, in New York City. Since then, the term "The Loft" has come to represent Mancuso's own version of a non commercial party where no alcohol, food, nor beverages are sold. Mancuso's vision of a private party is similar to, and inspired by, the rent party and house party. Unlike conventional nightclubs or discotheques, attendance is by invitation only. In the late 1970s, Mancuso abandoned the generally accepted and expected practice of beatmatching, preferring to play songs in their entirety on his renowned audiophile quality sound system. The Village Voice wrote that Mancuso's sound system was the best in New York and even described him as "more of a party engineer than a DJ." Mancuso required that the music played had to be soulful, rhythmic, and impart words of hope, redemption, or pride.

When Mancuso threw his first informal house parties from 1965 70, the gay community (who comprised much of The Loft's attendee roster) was often harassed in the gay bars and dance clubs, so many gay men carried bail money with them to gay bars. But at The Loft and many other early, private discotheques, they could dance together without fear of police action thanks to Mancuso's underground, yet legal, business model. Vince Aletti described it "like going to party, completely mixed, racially and sexually, where there wasn't any sense of someone being more important than anyone else". Alex Rosner, Mancuso's primary sound system engineer, reiterated this: "It was probably about sixty percent black and seventy percent gay There was a mix of sexual orientation, there was a mix of races, mix of economic groups. A real mix, where the common denominator was music."

The initial Loft was Mancuso's own home at 645 647 Broadway. The first "Love Saves the Day" party was held at the Broadway location and was attended by around 100 people. After the first event, parties were unofficially established on a weekly basis and ran from midnight until six in the morning. Admission was $2.00 to pay for rent and overhead, but attendees were never turned away for lack of funds. Organic dishes, breads, and freshly squeezed fruit juice were freely available for attendees. Nothing was sold on the premises to keep the parties commerce free operations. Vociferous community opposition ensued, and subsequently downsized further to another location at 225 Avenue B. Loft parties were also held at 242 East 14th Street and the Marc Ballroom in Union Square.

At the Loft, David Mancuso's eclectic musical palette introduced club goers to an array of tracks that became iconic within the disco era. One notable example is Babe Ruth's "The Mexican," a rock fusion piece that may not have fit the traditional disco mold but found a home at the Loft, eventually gaining recognition in the wider music scene, especially within the emerging hip hop culture. Mancuso's penchant for instrumentals and percussive tracks opened doors for songs like Olatunji's heavy Afro funk compositions to permeate the Loft's dancefloor. The Gallery,

Mancuso continued to spread the influence of the Loft overseas, founding the Lucky Cloud Sound System in London and Last Note parties in Italy with his protégé Colleen Murphy, and provided inspiration to the audiophile club Precious Hall in Sapporo, Japan. Many mourned Mancuso's death, remembering him for his contributions to dance culture.

Two volumes of David Mancuso presents The Loft were released on the independent label Nuphonic Records in 1999 and 2000. These were compiled by Mancuso and Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy and featured a selection of music played at The Loft parties.