Private Eyes was a video nightclub located at 12 West 21st Street in Manhattan.[1] The club was owned by Robert Shalom.[2] It was a popular nightspot in the 1980s that catered to a variety of growing underground music scenes in its heyday. With 34 television screens, Private Eyes had an unusually advanced state-of-the-art video and sound system for its time.[3]
Due to the rise of MTV, the popularity of music videos increased and it reinforced the visuals in pop music.[4] 25-year-old Robert Shalom capitalized off this burgeoning visual art form and opened Private Eyes on July 17, 1984.[3][1] Steve Sukman, vice president for program relations of the club, told Billboard magazine, "We have a commitment to music videos... and we work very closely with record companies."[5]
The 500-person-capacity club did not have a defined dance area. "It's like a living room with the coffee table pushed aside," said Sukman.[5] Due to the club having 34 television screens, New York magazine described it as "a department-store television section, except at Private Eyes you can have a beer and you can’t change the channel."[6] The highly equipped club took advantage of new technology. Its tape library was cost-effectively built on VHS to deliver high quality.[5] By 1985, the club had nine tape decks to be programmed onto any of the screens. Video jockeys were able to offer numerous combinations of promotional clips.[7]
Actress Bette Midler had a viewing party for her HBO concert film Art or Bust at the club in August 1984.[3]