Clubbing for Old/Tired People + Lisa Lisa Gets a Biopic
Hi WNVM-ers,
It’s Cheryl here, holding things down as Fawnia takes a much-needed vacation. For anyone feeling panic, apprehension, and anxiety this week, I have a story that hopefully provides a little bit of a corrective. (My interviewee said it best: “Finding joy among the shit.”) Early Birds, a dance party for ladies of a certain age, is part of a growing nightlife phenomenon that encourages us to dance with abandon, indulge in our friendships, and scream at the top of our lungs to terrible pop music, all before 10pm.
In other WNVM news, Fawnia is always DM’ing me Instagram captions from magazines and other digital entities that use questionable language around aging celebs (like this one about Daniel Craig’s “softening” face) or misidentifies an ‘80s trend. So we are going to start ranting about some of these that we find. Because we like to name everything after ‘80s or ‘90s lyrics, welcome to our new column, “You’re Unbelievable” (derogatory), inspired by the peerless EMF anthem. This week’s is about “Miami Vice,” so obviously Fawnia has thoughts. Please tip us if you come across any ridiculous social media captions in the wild.
And finally, what You Oughta Know this week: our 2025 goal is to find Kea-News every single week, so today we have two items to share about Mr. Reeves. Plus, freestyle queen Lisa Lisa gets a movie, a Meg Ryan/Billy Crystal mystery, and many Gen X musical acts will perform at Fire Aid.
Come Dancing: Come On, Sister, Have Yourself a Ball
The two Gen X founders of Early Birds started a joyful dance party that ends at 10pm sharp.
By Cheryl
People inexplicably love to make jokes using the lyrics of the KISS anthem, “Rock and Roll All Nite” on social media:
One commenter responded, “Every 14 days is great as long as we can bounce by 9:00.” It turns out that’s actually a viable business plan.
At Early Birds Club, you can pay $40 + a cash bar, for a night of dancing to music from the ‘80s through the aughts, with a sprinkling of 2010s. Website copy: “The night may be young, but we are not.” The parties, held at local bars, run from 6 to 10 pm. One caveat is that you have to identify as a woman, non-binary, or trans person. No men allowed.
Laura Baginski and Susie Lee, both 49, met in high school in the suburbs of Chicago. While they stayed in touch in the ensuing years, they more meaningfully reconnected at their 30th reunion, talking daily. Soon after, Early Birds was born.
“I just thought, Wouldn't it be great if you could go out dancing, but get home early? Because we were talking about how tired we are all the time,” says Baginski, who came up with the idea while brainstorming with another friend. A self-proclaimed music snob, Baginski was inspired by the feeling of returning to concerts after the pandemic.
“You feel just so alive and a connection with everyone in the room, and I've been kind of figuring out how I can find that, because concerts start real late,” she laughs. “When there's an opening band, I'm like, ‘Fuck.’” (For anyone looking to break out of their music rut, like I am, she mentioned having Seattle’s KEXP on in the background all day for discovery.)
Baginski was an editor at Time Out Chicago early in her career and a nonprofit marketer later. She has two kids, including one with special needs, and, in true sandwich generation fashion, is taking care of her terminally ill mother. Lee, also a mother, was a hair and makeup artist “to the stars” for 25 years, doing glam for the likes of Taylor Swift. She also started her own now-shuttered beauty brand. For many years, she has been dealing with recurrent cancer diagnoses and the grueling treatment that goes along with it. (Check out her Instagram for a portrait in resilience and transparency about illness. She was unable to join the interview because she wasn’t feeling well after traveling.)
But when Baginski took the idea to her to get her advice, Lee, a doer, raised her hand to help launch the thing, having connections with both a DJ and bars around Chicago. About 130 people came to their first event, in early 2024, which sold out.
“We wanted to feel nostalgic. We want to bring up maybe that person you were a long time ago, before you had kids, or before you had this big career or whatever,” says Baginski.
Since then, Early Birds has sponsored 15 parties, mostly in Chicago, but did two dates each in New York and Los Angeles. They have plans to take it to more locations, both nationally and internationally. The founders attend the parties, making a little speech halfway through to talk about the event and to share the things they’re going through.
“We want to be very relatable and open, because that's part of what this is. It's like finding joy among the shit,” says Baginski. They donate part of the proceeds of every event to small local charities.
Women routinely cry at the parties, but ultimately, joyful abandon is the overarching vibe. Baginski tells venues to have at least three bartenders and to be ready for the onslaught of women who are ready to shake off whatever they’ve been dealing with for a few hours.
Early Birds had two events scheduled in the greater LA area during the wildfires. They were going to cancel, but Baginski says that people begged them not to. They gave refunds out to those who needed them, but ultimately threw both events, donating a portion to The Los Angeles LGBT Center and Rainbow Services in San Pedro.
“They needed this more than ever. Finding joy in despair is not what everyone wants to do when they're dealing with something as huge as this was, but we wanted to provide that for those who wanted it,” Baginski says. “The people who came were extremely grateful.”
Screaming at the top of your lungs to hits from your formative years can definitely be cathartic. Occasionally there are themes, like “‘80s Night” or “‘90s Prom,” but the music spans decades.
Apparently, “Turned Down For What” by Lil Jon “gets people to go crazy.” Both founders love new wave. New Order is popular, but so is Britney Spears and “female anthems.” Baginski’s own snobbiness melts away in the face of Katy Perry’s “Firework,” because the communal experience is powerful.
“When you're in a room with a bunch of women, it just feels so right,” Baginski says. “How can you not also be jumping up and down and screaming?”
Amy Johnson, 51, agrees. A former co-worker of Baginski, she went to Early Birds’ very first party, has been to several since, and plans to celebrate her birthday at one in February.
“The last time I spent a lot of time dancing was at a wedding. Dancing at weddings is fun, but it's different,” says Johnson. “This was women letting loose.”
Johnson’s only regret is that she wore long sleeves, not anticipating how sweaty she’d be. Wardrobe runs the gamut from actual costumes, to jeans and tees, to pajamas and Uggs, right up to spangled jumpsuits. (Early Birds is proud of being uncool.)
Which brings us to why no men are allowed. To the founders, it felt like there weren’t many spaces for women to gather that aren’t Pilates classes or book clubs.
“We're just kind of overlooked by society, and we wanted something that was just for us to celebrate who we are, to provide a safe space, especially in a political climate where it's needed now more than ever. Especially for the trans and non-binary communities, this is a place where you're safe,” says Baginski. “I think that when you're in a room with no cis men, you feel a bit more free and there's a lot less interference, mentally or physically…Men have all their places. This is just for us.”
Early Birds has been trolled on social media for its no-man policy, and Baginski has sometimes felt pushback when she’s been interviewed by men.
“It just makes me laugh, because it's just like, wow, you're threatened by this! That's why we exist, because this threatens you,” she says.
Early Birds is part of a growing trend. Matinee Social Club, a co-ed club based in NYC and founded by DJ Michael Vosters, is a competitor. It’s more millennial-coded, though it does do Gen X and ‘80s/’90s themed parties. The idea is that you show up at 6, get served some pizza at 8, and wind down by 10. It’s also hitting the road in cities beyond NYC, as it tries to expand its footprint.
In the interest of on-the-ground reporting, I had tickets for Matinee’s “Lost Generation: An ‘80s-focused Dance Party for Gen X”, but, in the height of irony, I was too damn tired to go. I really want to hit up the Early Birds’ next NYC event in March, though, and experience some of that “old lady energy,” which I think I’d like more than the co-ed and co-generational atmosphere at Matinee. I love the bonding potential.
“My girlfriends are everything to me and have gotten me through so many tough things, and vice versa,” says Baginski. “I just have a very strong appreciation for female friendship, more than I ever have in my life.”
We are two Gen X journalists who celebrate people of our generation doing cool things, as well as analyze all the '80s and '90s nostalgia in current pop culture, fashion, and beauty. Read more stories like this one here!
You’re Unbelievable
By Fawnia
Caption: “#JuliaFox goes Miami Vice with a fresh new chop and a zoot suit worthy of a made woman at the Steven Soderbergh-directed thriller, ‘Presence’ premiere in NYC.
Learn why the newly-minted scream queen “instantly regretted” cutting her hair at the link in bio now. Capeesh? 🤌”
(You’ll have to click the Instagram above for the head-to-toe look.)
This debut installment is borne out of a salty DM I sent to Cheryl the other day. And, yes, any misuse of "Miami Vice" is extremely triggering for me. Now, we love Julia Fox’s absolute DGAF approach to fashion and life — more, please! — but this reference to culture-shifting "Miami Vice" fashion is just flagrantly INCORRECT. First off, she’s wearing a black tuxedo with tails that’s Fred Astaire if anything, as opposed to Crockett’s mismatched pastel or Tubbs’ double-breasted sharkskin suits. Secondly, fine, Switek and Zito sometimes wore Hawaiian shirts, but that’s way too deep of a cut, I’m sure. Maybe they confused their ‘80s copaganda for "Magnum PI." And then there’s the “made woman” and “capeesh” mob reference? How did we get to Godfather or The Untouchables? It's just a nonsensical mish-mash of ‘80s pop culture. (One commenter noted the look was more Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, which tracks.) The whole thing reads like AI.
You Oughta Know
Can you feel the beat? Because freestyle icon and Latin pop trailblazer Lisa Lisa — née Lisa Velez — of Cult Jam freestyle fame is getting the Lifetime biopic treatment, and the trailer dropped last week. Velez is an executive producer and star, portraying her mother. Jearnest Corchado plays Velez, as she starts her music career as a teen, then faces — and prevails over — sexism, racism, and a cancer diagnosis. Velez is a triple threat — acting since the early 2000s as a series regular in "Taina," and an episode of "Law & Order," a rite of NYC passage. The trailer is packed with '80s hallmarks: leg warmers, actual "Miami Vice"-inspired menswear, a yellow Sony walkman, and, yes, all the Lisa Lisa classic bangers. I'm already lost in emotion. -FSH [Can You Feel the Beat: The Lisa Lisa Story]
Kea-News! It’s giving absolutely nothing away to inform you that Reeves appears in an uncredited cameo in Severance, in the first episode of season two, voicing an anthropomorphic building (delightfully inspired by the Rankin/Bass holiday specials of the ‘60s and ‘70s.) Then, much like his character in the 1989 film Parenthood, he competed in a real-life car race and had a spin out! It’s documented in a 17-minute Toyota documentary/commercial. Spoiler: He comes in 31st place out of 35. -CW [Vulture; Yahoo Autos]
This Björk cover is just very cool, and her quote is…relatable. -CW [Instagram/GQ Hype]
In the grand tradition of Band Aid, Live Aid, and Farm Aid, the music industry has come together to throw a benefit for the victims of the devastating LA wildfires. On January 30, the two-venue lineup is loaded with Gen X-adjacent acts like Alanis Morissette, longtime Allee Willis collaborators Earth Wind and Fire, Green Day, No Doubt, Joni Mitchell, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, Stevie Nicks, and Sting. -CW [FireAidLA]
Buried amid a bunch of insidery gossip about Warner Bros is the tidbit that there may be some Goonies and Gremlins reboot content in the pipeline. That is literally all I can tell you after reading this piece. Stand by — and don’t feed any movie execs after midnight. -CW [Deadline]
Ummm, WHAT’S THIS ALL ABOUT?? (commenters are speculating it’s for a Super Bowl ad):
Oh my goodness, this sounds amazing!! 💃🏻 ✨ (and now I’ve got you’re unbelievable on a loop in my head!). Only last night, I was telling my daughter how I remembered dancing and singing/yelling along to Prince 1999 at her London art college student uni bar when it seemed years away!!) Also, the Meg & Billy cliffhanger!! I had not heard about the Super Bowl speculation! Cannot!!!! 🗽❤️🥰
Love the idea of clubbing for olds. Last summer I saw the Drive-By Truckers in concert. There was no opening act, they went on right at 8:00 and wrapped up about 10:15 or so. That's a band who knows their GenX audience values a good nights sleep.