Reguliersdwarsstraat is a place where a lot of different people come together: gay and straight, celebrated and ordinary, local and foreign...
Here you'll find more about some famous people from the past and the present of Reguliersdwarsstraat:
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Gert-Jan Dröge - Manager
Born in Enschede in 1943
Died in Amsterdam in 2007
Gert-Jan Dröge was the first manager of disco "36 op de schaal van Richter" (36 on the Richter Scale), which was situated at number 36 Reguliersdwars- straat from 1981-1996. He instantly made this disco one of the most trendy, famous and popular places to be.
At Richter he not only organized parties and a variety of performances, but on sunday-evening also a talkshow with three famous guests, hosted by one of his friends, Jan Lenferink. Named "Rechtstreeks Uit Richter" (Direct from Richter) this became the first late night talk show on Dutch Television.
In 1988 Jan Lenferink moved this show to his own bar and in 1990 Gert-Jan Dröge got his own television show about the Dutch jet set, called "Glamourland". This made him the most famous Dutch society reporter. He died of lung cancer in 2007.
Irene - Entertainer
Born in Thailand in 1964
Died in Amsterdam in 2005
Irene was a well known and beloved entertainer in various gay bars in Reguliersdwarsstraat. She was a transsexual, as she was born in Thailand as a man, but turned into a woman, after coming to the Netherlands.
In juli 2005 she was found murdered in her own house in the Amsterdam red light disrict. Police later catched the murderer, which turned out to be a doorstayer of Club Exit, were Irene also had worked. At the trial it turned out that he wanted money of her, but that he stabbed her to death, when she refused.
This was of course a great shock for the Amsterdam gay scene and a silent mourning march was organized to remember her. The murderer was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment.
Sjoerd Kooistra - Bar-tycoon
Born in Groningen in 1951
Sjoerd Kooistra is the owner of all gay venues in the western part of Reguliersdwarsstraat. Taking over the business of his father at the age of 21, he soon owned almost all popular bars in his hometown Groningen. Rapidly he bought one bar, club or restaurant after another and nowadays Sjoerd Kooistra is the biggest bar-owner of the Netherlands, with some 80 venues spreaded all over the country.
In 1984 Kooistra bought his first bar in Amsterdam: Oblomow bar at Reguliersdwarsstraat number 40. Two years later he took over the famous gay bar April and gay coffeeshop Downtown. In 1988 he opened gay disco (April's) Exit and in 1996 he took over the famous disco "36 op de schaal van Richter", which he turned into gay pub Soho - at that time the most trendy gay bar of Amsterdam.
The English/American styled interior of Soho has become the trade-mark of Sjoerd Kooistra, who personally invents such concepts. Together with the rotating bar of April, this style has been implemented in a lot of bars around the country, all called "De Drie Gezusters" or "The Three Sisters".
In 1998 Kooistra bought the popular gay dancing Havana in Reguliersdwarsstraat, but he closed it down in 2002. In that same year two other people opened the highly trendy gay bar ARC, but by the end of 2007 Kooistra took over this bar too. Thereby he is again the sole owner of all big gay venues in Reguliersdwarsstraat.
Nickie Nicole - Entertainer
Born in New York City in 1969
Nickie Nicole is the most famous drag queen, not only of Reguliersdwarsstraat, but also of the Netherlands. Born as Nicholas Carter he started his career at the age of 10, won the famous Miss Boy Bar Contest and came to the Nether- lands to study fashion design.
Then he was spotted by the famous Manfred Langer, owner of the legendary disco iT in Amstelstraat, and soon Nickie became the star of many great drag queen performances in many Amsterdam gay clubs.
In 1996/'97 Nickie Nicole got famous nationwide by participating in a drag queen show on Dutch television, called the "Travestie Show". Nickie was on the cover of the glossy magazine Esquire, produced the single Funkee and had the first and only drag queen clothing shop in Amsterdam: Queens & Co.
Up to today Nickie Nicole can be seen in shows in various clubs inside and outside Reguliersdwarsstraat. Since recently, Nickie has also been doing computer art work.
Homepage: www.nickie-nicole.com
Artwork: www.artnickienicole.com
Groovemaster Johnson - Disc Jockey
Born in England in 1960
Groovemaster Johnson was one of the most famous DJ's of Reguliersdwars- straat. He was born in England in 1960, but as teenager he came to the Netherlands, where he has been a DJ since 1976.
His style is a mix of disco, soul, funk, reggae, latin, jazzdance and African music. Together with the English party organizers Soho-Connection, he introduced the house music in the Netherlands.
He played in famous discos like RoXY at Singel and "36 op de schaal van Richter" in Reguliersdwarsstraat.
Especially famous were his performances in gay club Havana, where his new and unique African jazz styled music attracted not only gay, but also a wide range of straight people.
His first three albums were compilations of the music he played in the Havana:
In the nineties Groovemaster Johnson became a specialist of the garage and the 2-step genre. He spinned his music at a lot of Dutch clubs and parties, some of which he organized himself, like the Bubble Club party at Paradiso in 2001.
DJ Max Morčl - Disc Jockey
Born in 1979
Max Morčl was born in a little village, where he became fond of music at the age of 16. When he was 20 years old, he went to Amsterdam, where he discovered the house music genre.
Only one year later, in 2000, he became resident-DJ in Soho in Reguliersdwars- straat - at that time the most trendy gay bar in Amsterdam.
Since that year Max Morčl plays every year at the big Queen's Day and Gay Pride street parties in the western part of Reguliersdwars- straat.
In 2002 he was invited to play at one big club after another, first in Amsterdam, but thereafter also in Europe, Asia and the Americas. The big breakthrough of Max Morčl came in 2005, when he became resident-DJ at the famous CO2-parties.
Nowadays he is resident in various big clubs, and also at the White Party, one of the most famous European gay parties, which is held in the Melkweg in Amsterdam.
Homepage: www.maxmorel.com
TrinityRoy - Entertainer
Born in 1964
TrinityRoy, or T-Roy, is a well-known artist, especially in the eastern part of Reguliersdwarsstraat.
First he was a club- and foodmanager in various venues in Amsterdam, but since the eighties he is a free lance percussionist and singer.
He started his career at the former disco RoXY, where he played together with famous resident DJ's like Eddy de Clercq and Dimitri.
Also he played in various clubs and bars in Reguliersdwars- straat, where in hiphop bar De Duivel he organized the famous weekly Devil's Jam sessions on mondaynight.
T-Roy also engaged himself for Reguliersdwarsstraat, for which he planned a website, and for the city, with plans to improve the circumstances for bars, club life, entertainment and arts. This was however with little succes.
Nowadays TrinityRoy is part of Wicked Jazz Sounds, an Amsterdam based jazz and dance platform. Also he sings in his own club act DigiFuNcK.
MySpace: www.myspace.com/digifunck
YouTube-channel: TrinityRoy
Wicked Jazz Sounds: www.wickedjazzsounds.com
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