On the Silly Side by Jimmy Del Ponte

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

If you Google “Faces” a site  for a club in San Diego  by that name pops up. If you drive down Route 2 east toward Boston, you will see a ramshackle, beat down, decaying building with a tall sign that says “Faces” on it. Alas, it wasn’t always a deserted eyesore, oh no.

I really don’t know when it officially closed, but for a while , it was a smoking, hopping, sizzling night spot.  Every time I see the  Faces sign, I can’t help but think of my old Members Only jacket.  I can almost smell the Jovan Musk cologne, and I can swear I can hear The Bee Gees pumping out “Stayin’ Alive.” Yes, I used to hang out at Faces occasionally. When I worked for Kiss 108 FM back in the Disco days, we had a few listener parties there.

But why has the building been in suspended animation for so long? Does it remain there to mock us? Is it there to remind us of how big our hair was and how tight our pants were as we did the hustle and the bus stop under blinding, flickering lights while the bass vibrated every bone in our bodies?

Faces actually made a cameo appearance in the 1981 film, “The Dark End Of The Street.” It was an eight-year-old Ben Affleck’s first movie role. (Thank you Cambridge Community Television for that info.)

The girls would grab the big can of Aqua Net and  tease the hell out of their hair. Once it was perfectly poofed out, on came the  blue eye shadow, red lipstick, the  platform shoes, and a splash of  Poison by Christian D’ Or.

A friend says he saw Ike and Tina Turner appear at Faces. He can’t remember if it was a Hai Karate or  English Leather night. Inside Faces, you could sit on a big comfy couch, have a smoke and watch the activity on the dance floor.

On  July 5, 1981, my friend Mr. R, and his wife had their first date there. I’m sure he shined up his gold chain for that momentous night. I hope he didn’t get into a fight over his soon to be wife, because that sort of thing was quite common at Faces. The joint had some pretty hefty bouncers.

Locally owned WBT limo got it’s claim to fame during the Faces era. The past owner recalls; “We grew to be one of New England’s Largest Limo and party coach company’s during that time period, with a fleet of twenty-eight limos, and buses. We had forty-foot-stretch limos with hot tubs, a  Rolls Royce and the infamous limo stretch Corvette with four t-tops and a crystal chandler as well. Faces was pretty much  the destination for the entire fleet on almost every Friday and Saturday night in those good old days!”

Faces also boasted the famous spiral staircase and I wonder if it’s still in there. I would love to get a few people together and  explore the building.

I would bring my friend Stephen along for sure. He is an exterminator. I wonder if the generations of rats in the building have been enjoying the dilapidated disco. Imagine rodents dressed up like the Village People getting down with their bad vermin selves?

Be that as it may, Faces was the place to be, and be seen. I am sure that a lot of you think of Faces when you hear that certain disco tune.

So if you still have that Member’s Only jacket, roll up the sleeves, splash on some Brut, and blast some “Expose.” Go back  to the “Point of No Return!” As long as someone, someplace pounds out an old disco tune, and none rips it down, memories of Faces will boogie on.