Bombay Rock Gold Coast: Surfers Paradise’s famous 1980s nightclub flashback

The Bombay Rock is one of the Gold Coast’s best-remembered nightclubs and was an icon of the city’s live music scene in the 1980s. This is its story.

THE Gold Coast has had a wild night life for decades.

From the infamous pyjama parties of the 1950s to the high-end dining and eateries of today, Surfers Paradise has seen it all.

But in the 1970s and 1980s the city saw a glut of new and exciting nightspots including Twains, The Avenue, Melbas and The Penthouse.

At the time the Gold Coast well known for its live music scene and these venues were no different.

Among the best loved and remembered was the Bombay Rock.

REMEMBERING THE PLAYROOM

The Bombay Rock in the 1980s ahead of a gig by the Psychedelic Furs. Picture: Jenny Scott.

It opened on the former site of the El Rancho Steakhouse on the corner of Cavill Ave and Ferny Ave where Circle on Cavill now sits.

While El Rancho was an icon of the 1950s and 1960s, the Bombay Rock was very much a venue of the 1980s.

El Rancho was sold in 1978 and replaced by a modern new building in 1982.

Owned by the George brothers, it became well known for its top-level entertainment and wild evenings.

Among the big names who played there through the 1980s were New Order, The Divinyls and Midnight Oil.

WHEN KEANU REEVES’ BAND DOGSTAR PLAYED THE COAST

Inside the Bombay Rock during a gig. Picture: Karen Auty.

QUEENSLAND’S FIRST MCDONALDS ON THE GOLD COAST

Author Nikki McWatters wrote in her 2012 memoir about her experiences growing up on the Gold Coast and becoming a rock star groupie.

“It was 1982 and I’d made my rock gig debut joining throngs of fans on the dance floor as surf-rockers Australian Crawl played at Bombay Rock, a gritty club on the darker edge of Surfers Paradise,” she wrote.

“After the show, I stood with a gaggle of groupies at the backstage door, wondering how to talk my way in. In my tight stone-washed jeans and pink-and-grey sloppy joe, I felt dressed down compared with the other girls in their minis, high heels and fringed leather jackets.”

By 1984 the Bombay Rock was doing a booming trade and there was talk of a big expansion.

REMEMBERING THE MERMAID BEACH CINEMA

Jimmy Barnes at the Bombay Rock.

INSIDE AUSTRALIA FAIR’S OPENING DAY

Joseph George told the media at the time his company had bought the carpark next to the venue for $2 million in the hopes of spending $4 million revamping it.

“The council has said it would be sympathetic with the linking of the carpark with the upper levels of Bombay Rock,’” Mr George said.

“We’ll be negotiating on joining the top level of the existing car park to the two upper levels of Bombay Rock which are not operating at the moment.

“We will then open them up as an up-market nightclub, and people will be able to walk through to it from the carpark.

50 YEARS OF SUNDALE

The Bombay Rock is one of the best-remembered venues from the 1980s. Picture: Nicole Reading.

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“The carpark has plenty of room for expansion and was originally going to be five or six floors higher, so we’ll be asking council engineers to have a look at the supporting piers.

“We hope there is movement on site by the end of the year.’”

But it was not always free from controversy.

In 1985 a man threw a stubbie filled with kerosene into the nightclub after being asked to leave.

It ignited but was extinguished quickly by a security guard.

By 1987 the Bombay Rock was sold to the Masterview Group and there was talk of a major facelift to make it appeal more to people in the lucrative 21-35 age group.

But it wasn’t to be.

By the 1990s the Bombay Rock was gone and its place as the leading live music venue in the city’s north was replaced by Fisherman’s Wharf which hosted plenty of major bands until it too closed in 1998.