Sunset Strip Expensive House, Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, California, United States

In the early 1970s a popular hangout for glam rock musicians and groupies was Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco. The 1979 Donna Summer song "Sunset People" from the album Bad Girls, was about the nightlife on Sunset Boulevard. Also, throughout the 1970s, much like New York City's Times Square, the Strip became a haven for sleaze and prostitution. The Strip continued to be a major focus for punk rock and New Wave during the late 1970s, and it became the center of the colorful glam metal and heavy metal scenes throughout the 1980s, hosting groups including Van Halen, Mötley Crüe, Quiet Riot, Ratt, Poison, L.A. Guns, Guns N' Roses and Whitesnake.
With the increase in rents in the area during the 1980s and the decline of the glam metal scene in the early 1990s, the Sunset Strip ceased to be a major area for up and coming rock bands without industry sponsorship. The adoption of "pay to play" tactics, where bands are charged a fee to play at clubs, diminished its appeal to groups, other than as an industry showcase. Today the music industry establishment continues to dominate the clubs on the Strip.
In November 1984, voters in West Hollywood passed a proposal on the ballot to incorporate and the area became an independent city. Increasingly, the western end of the Strip is occupied by office buildings, mostly catering to the entertainment industry, and expensive hotels.
During the 1990s, the center of the alternative music activity in Los Angeles shifted further east to areas like Echo Park, Los Feliz and Silver Lake.