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America's 5 Most Notorious Strip Clubs

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Clubs Have Everything From Corruption Charges To TV Connections

Most of the action in strip clubs takes place behind closed doors. Pole dances, lap dances, pounding music, the pouring of overpriced drinks -- it all takes place discreetly out of sight of passers-by.

But there are times when a club becomes notorious, and its inner sanctum is exposed to the world. Charges, indictments, and trials are all followed closely by the press, who serve up the news to a public that is more entertained than it is willing to admit.

Organized crime and strip clubs are often as closely intertwined as a stripper and her pole. Normally, clubs will go to great lengths to try to hide their Mafia ties.

There is one club, however, that is delighted to court notoriety and exploit its Mafia connections.

Most Notorious Strip Clubs No. 5
Satin Dolls - Lodi, N.J.


The Bada Bing!, the strip club in "The Sopranos," was a fictional place, but it was filmed in a real New Jersey strip club called the Satin Dolls.

A trip to the Satin Dolls in Lodi, N.J., is the highlight of guided tours of "Sopranos" filming locations. The club is not shy about milking the connection. Their Web site sells Bada Bing! memorabilia and promises that "our ladies will have you so excited you'll be singing soprano." It invites guests to "whack a few balls on the pool table" and "join our mob."

The Satin Dolls may be the most famous strip club in America -- even if few people know its actual name.

Some tourists are disappointed when they find out that the Satin Dolls strippers, unlike their fictional counterparts, do not dance in the nude. That's because the real strip club, unlike its fictional counterpart, has to follow New Jersey law.



Most Notorious Strip Clubs No. 4
Rick's, Sugar's And Honey's - Washington State
In real-life organized-crime news, 92-year-old Frank Colacurcio Sr., the owner of Rick's, Sugar's, and Honey's strip clubs in Washington State, was indicted in June 2009. He was accused of profiting from prostitution, laundering the profits, and engaging in racketeering. Indicted along with him were his son and four associates.

The feds believe that the six men made as much as $25 million from prostitution and other illegal activities at the clubs.

In January 2010, a co-founder of the Internet company Intelius got drawn into the scandal when he was accused of lying to a grand jury about whether he had had sex at a Colacurcio-owned club.

In one of their many earlier brushes with the law, the Calacurcios pleaded guilty in 2003 to charges of campaign-finance fraud -- an operation that was dubbed "Strippergate."

Most Notorious Strip Clubs No. 3
The O'Farrell Theatre - San Francisco
The life of San Francisco's Mitchell brothers resembles a Greek tragedy.

The brothers were perhaps most famous for making the porn film "Behind the Green Door," but they were responsible for many other adult-entertainment industry innovations as well. They are credited with inventing the lap dance at their cinema/strip club, the O'Farrell Theatre.

The brothers were close, but Jim, upset by his younger brother Artie's alcoholism, burst into Artie's home and shot him to death in 1991. Jim was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. He served only three years in prison and was released in 1997. He died of a heart attack 10 years later.

The family tragedy did not end there. In July 2009, Jim's 27-year-old son allegedly beat his girlfriend to death with a baseball bat. Eerily, it happened on the second anniversary of his father's death.

Most Notorious Strip Clubs No. 2
Pink Diamonds - San Francisco

Also in San Francisco, the Pink Diamonds strip club was shut down in October 2009 and its owners fined nearly $700,000.

The club was the site of a full spectrum of crimes -- prostitution, drug dealing, and permit violations. In the club's last six months, police had been called hundreds of times. Several shootings had been linked to the club, and the last straw was when a customer was murdered on the sidewalk right outside.

Adding to the scandal, a member of the Entertainment Commission -- the city board that regulates nightclubs -- was reported to be a co-owner of the club, though he denied it.

Now The Power Exchange, a sex club that had to move out of its previous building after pressure from neighborhood activists, is calling the former Pink Diamonds site home.

That probably marks the first time a sex club moving into a neighborhood has been a win-win solution to everyone's problems.

Most Notorious Strip Clubs No. 1
The Gold Club - Atlanta
The Gold Club in Atlanta was another club that attracted the attention of the law.

Its owner, Steve Kaplan, was accused of having ties to the Gambino family. The club was said to pay its dancers $1,000 to have sex with famous athletes.

Kaplan pleaded guilty and in 2002 was sentenced to 16 months in prison. The Gold Club was shut down. The judge said he gave Kaplan the relatively light sentence because while he was charged with racketeering; what actually was going on in the club was credit card fraud.

In 2009 a new club opened on the site of the Gold Club. Called the Gold Room, it's a regular night club, not a strip club. The owner said that he wanted to "pay homage to the history of the building."


http://www.wnem.com/entertainment/231358…