From Cambridge to Toronto to New York, the Ballinger brothers have built some of the most popular nightclubs in North America.

The story of the four brothers was told in a memoir written by one of them, Lon Ballinger.

His book The party people details their experience growing up in poverty and how they found success, rubbing shoulders with some of the world’s biggest celebrities.

Ballinger joined the CBC Kitchener-Waterloo show The morning edition host Craig Norris to talk about the book.

The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Audio of the interview can be found at the bottom of this article.

Craig Norris: Your book introduces us to all your different businesses. Let’s start at the beginning. You and your three brothers grew up on a farm just outside of Cambridge. How does this happen? How do you go from agriculture to nightclubs?

Lon Ballinger: We were young and adventurous. Our parents weren’t exactly typical farmers. They moved to a farm and took the children out of town. They were city people and so we always had this common thread running through us, you know, all of that.

But they were serious about farming and we had to bale the hay and clean the cows and prepare feed for the animals and we had to do that all the time. So we adopted this excellent work habit. Our work ethic and habits were truly defined by the farm.

And as we grew up, of course, and became more interested in what was going on off the farm, we kind of gravitated toward what we could do. We came from a very difficult scrabble upbringing and I documented it in my book.

The book is a memoir of our lives in eight different sections, so it shows our growth, our first business, our first nightclub, our experience in Toronto, when we moved to New York, the things that happened past, the people we met. , the events that happened, and why we’ve lasted 30 years in a city that truly takes no prisoners.

A lot of that was due to the lessons we learned in Canada and our farm education and even when we were at Cambridge we learned a lot of our lessons at our club, at Ballingers there and all that. We were there for about four years and were very successful and learned how to properly run a nightclub.

And then we went to Toronto and created the modern nightclub industry there. And we’ve always had our eyes on the world stage. And that’s what motivated us and led us there.

But I can tell you that Canada had a very big impact on us and that we were able to be so successful in New York because as Canadians we learned to follow the rules.

Norris: However, you and your brothers, when you were very young, what did you see or what were you exposed to that made you think, you know, that we should go into owning a nightclub ?

Ballinger: Well, that’s kind of something that happened over time. We were part of the evolution of life. I think when we were kids in the 50s and 60s, everything was planned. The boys stood on one side of the room, the girls on the other. And then they were allowed to mix at certain times.

But as we got older, as the birth control pill was invented, and as people became more demanding about their rights and aware that they could make decisions for themselves, I think we were part of it.

We were part of this hippie culture, I think, and that kind of spearheaded a lot of changes and movements and we even continued to work and evolve into what we experience in life today .

I wanted the book to be seen by someone who had lived their life. I really wrote this book for my grandchildren because I knew I wouldn’t be there to explain it to them. And I didn’t want to leave a salacious book or a book that told bad stories. I wanted it to be about great experiences, how you handle things, how you handle crises, how you succeed, and the importance of paying attention to trends and of the importance of listening to people.

Because I found that most people who complained, all they wanted was for you to listen to them. They don’t expect you to do much, but you could have at least had the courtesy to listen to what their problems were, understand them, and try to work with them.

Norris: But it wasn’t all easy. If you could just give us a quick summary of the Hell’s Angels crossover.

Ballinger: Well, it happened in Cambridge. This is where I learned how to manage security.

My brothers and I learned about security from the Hell’s Angels. We opened our doors in 1979, in Cambridge. We were just kids not trying to figure this out. We pretended to be nightclub guys, but we were just foreign kids who decided to get into the disco business. So we didn’t have all that experience.

So one night, I think it was a Friday night, the Hell’s Angels and a bunch of thugs from Cambridge showed up. We let them in and they drank, then they exploded and beat everyone up, including ourselves.

And I called the police and a big, red-faced cop came in his patrol car and he hit me and he said things to me that I’ve never forgotten in my life. His face was red, he was spitting on me. And he said you let them in here, took their money, sold them alcohol and now you’re calling me to clean up your mess.

My brother was in intensive care. I was cut off and messed up. I thought he was going to show sympathy, but he tore me apart, but I never forgot what he said and the expectations the police had of a nightclub owner .

And after that, we didn’t let anyone push us around and we just took control of our building.

Norris: There are places in Toronto that are pretty notable clubs that you owned. I went to two of the three: the Boom Boom Room, the Big Bop, which was awesome. Twilight Zone, which was also awesome.

But I want to talk about you in New York: Webster Hall. It’s like a seminal joint, right? Tell us about some of the moments and people you met there.

Ballinger: Well, we attended the inauguration of President (Bill) Clinton. We all got to know the President and it was a treat for us and the whole town came together and appreciated us.

We organized these big events. We did Madonna, we did Prince… Prince was the most incredible artist I’ve ever seen in my life. And Ray Charles was right behind him. Because they both arrived with large orchestras that they managed and operated. So those were very special things to see.

Our New Year’s Eve, even our opening night, you know, with Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers doing a handstand and jumping and dancing on the dance floor and RuPaul coming out of the ceiling.

I think I did a really good job in my book of detailing things and I did the best I could. It took me two and a half years to write this book and I really wanted it to be something that could go through history and tell the story of what happened when the Internet came into existence. You know, it had a huge impact on clubs and the music industry. And so I think I’ve documented it well from the nightclub guy’s point of view.

I think my book also documents the importance of following trends. We were very early with hip hop, we probably integrated hip hop and at least in New York because in 1992 we created one of our floors as a hip hop floor and it was so successful . And electronic dance music when we made our records at Webster Hall, we were doing techno and house and even hip hop and indie rock.

There was so much that I really tried to make sure my story had a beginning, a middle, and an end that I thought people could follow pretty easily.

LISTEN | New memoir details how Cambridge’s Ballinger brothers built nightclub empire: