Go-go bar
Type of nightclub
A go-go bar is a type of business establishment where alcoholic drinks are sold and dancers provide entertainment. The term go-go bar originally referred to a nightclub, bar, or similar establishment that featured go-go dancers; while some go-go bars in that original sense still exist, the link between its present uses and that original meaning is often more tenuous and regional. Speaking broadly, the term has been used by venues that cover a wide range of businesses, from nightclubs or discotheques, where dancers are essentially there to set the mood, to what are in essence burlesque theaters or strip clubs, where dancers are part of a show and the primary focus.
Etymology
The origin of the term go-go dancing goes back to a 1949 British film Whisky Galore!. This film tells the story of the sinking of a ship loaded with whiskey. The French title of this film was Whisky à gogo !, "à gogo" being Parisian slang for "galore". During the period that this film was showing in France, discotheques were just introduced as a new form of entertainment. Due to the success of the film and the snob appeal of drinking whiskey in France, a number of discotheques were given the name "Whiskey à Go-Go".
The first Whisky à Gogo nightclub opened in Paris in 1947, drawing the "Whisky" part of its name from the whisky labels that lined its walls. In 1953 it became the first discotheque.
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This entry incorporates text from “Go-go bar” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.