How Toad's Place Lasted Financially For Nearly Half A Century

How has Toad’s Place — Connecticut’s long-running nightclub — survived six decades of changing musical tastes, a fluctuating industry, roller-coaster economies and even a once-in-a-century pandemic?

Now entering its 46th year, “Toad’s” — its casual moniker — has consistently attracted generation after generation of music lovers, not to mention thousands of acts, from bands just starting out to legends such as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Billy Joel and David Bowie.

A new, anecdote-filled book — “The Legendary Toad’s Place” — chronicles the club as it faced challenges from superstar negotiations, management conflicts, Yale’s expansion and the COVID crisis.

Written by the club’s longtime owner Brian Phelps and former New Haven Register columnist Randall Beach, the book looks back at Toad’s dramas — on- and off-stage — and reveals the perils of the entertainment business.

The York Street club began in 1975 as a casual, collegiate restaurant. But as that business struggled, one of the three young owners, Mike Spoerndle, decided to transform Toad’s into a place for young people to dance, drink and listen to music. (The drinking age in the state in the 1970s was 18 before it inched back to 21 in the 1980s.) Spoerndle bought out his partners in 1976, brought in live music and transformed the place into a full-fledged nightspot.

Business built slowly at first but by the late 1970s the club found its groove.

“We played all types of music,” said the New Haven-born Phelps who has been with Toad’s since 1976 and quickly became its manager, then later partner of the club with Spoerndle. As Spoerndle’s personal addictions became problematic for the business, Phelps became sole owner in the late 1990s.

Dance parties key

But the platinum acts weren’t the foundation of Toad’s financial stability.

“The dance parties were the big money-makers for Toad’s,” said Beach. “They realized they didn’t have to have a band every night and they would make more money….|CONTINUED|