And those who know the story best remember where it all started-at the Knight’s Club Community House on 18th Street and Arctic Avenue. But when people tell the story of Virginia Beach music in its heyday, they talk about Bill Deal and the Rhondels. There were many bands at plenty of clubs-places like The Mecca, The Golden Garter and Peabody’s attracted sunburned beachgoers with fabulously named acts like Pat the Cat and His Kittens. From The Top Hat to The Peppermint Beach Club to Rogues, the longest lines always formed wherever Bill Deal took the stage. Where the Rhondels went, crowds followed. The most important band in Virginia Beach was the local group that went national: Bill Deal and the Rhondels. Even bigger names like The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix came to the convention center known as the Dome.

National acts such as Fats Domino, The Platters and The Police played Virginia Beach clubs. Crowds of Beach locals, Richmond regulars and tourists from Roanoke and beyond came to dance at the oceanfront. They remember the same crowded clubs, the same beautiful people and, most of all, the same music.įor two decades, Atlantic Avenue was alive with music.

About the best.Įveryone seems to tell the same stories when they talk about Virginia Beach nightlife during the ’60s and ’70s.