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Story: Nightclubs

Asylum, 1980s

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Asylum, 1980s

Auckland’s Asylum club opened in 1986. It was described by co-owner Simon Grigg as ‘one of the first clubs that had no colour or race barriers, so the crowd came from south, west, north, east and central Auckland and mostly happily mixed’. Playing hip hop, Def Jam, pop and house music, Grigg DJed at Asylum. A history of the Auckland club scene in the 1980s and 1990s listed a sample of what was played at the club:

Prince, 'Sign o' the times'
Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley, 'Jack your body'
Beastie Boys, the whole first album
Raze, 'Jack the groove'
Alexander O’Neal, 'Fake'
Spoonie Gee, 'The godfather'
The Chills, 'I love my leather jacket'
Original Concept, 'Get a little stupid'
Farley ‘Jackmaster' Funk, 'Love can’t turn around'

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How to cite this page

Redmer Yska, Nightclubs – Nightclub boom, 1970s to 2000s, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/39170/asylum-1980s (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Redmer Yska, published 3 December 2012.

Comments

murray dennett
20 August 2017
Out did Connexions night club, Albert st, back in the day {1986}, and that club was popular