Two Thursday Parties; 90s Compilations Attack; 3rd Degree; Knitting Factory Turns 15

...If you are one of those people who parties hard on Thursday nights?and I know there are a lot of you, because you make it so I can't get a seat on the 1 train at 2 in the morning?try a more upscale joint this week. I've handpicked two that have good parties and that are situated far from the 1, so my seat will stay reserved for my skinny ass.

Even if it had nothing else going for it, Parlay (206 Ave. A at 13th St., 228-6231) lies in one of the city's best nightlife corridors: Ave. A between 9th & 14th Sts. This is where you'll find Forbidden City (212 Ave. A, betw. 13th & 14th Sts., 598-0500), whose crowd resembles the swath of Asian women that stunned Chris Tucker in Rush Hour 2, Il Covo dell Oest (210 Ave. A at 13th St., 253-0777), with its Italian waiters, and San Loco (151 Ave. A, betw. 9th & 10th Sts., 982-5653), with its late-night grub. Parlay fits right in as the requisite dark lounge with an obscured sign outside and funky bar stools inside?they look like bidets or flower pistils.

Parlay almost always plays hiphop; on Thursday it's "Heavyweight Sessions" reggae with DJ Max Glazer. The crowd is young and motley and there's no cover like on the weekends. If for some reason you don't like the lounge, you've paid nothing to get in, your drinks have been standard-priced and you are free to explore any of the neighboring facilities. Parlay is on its way up.

Eugene (27 W. 24th St., betw. 5th & 6th Aves., 462-0999), meanwhile, is headed to scrub land according to fierce Manhattanites on newyork.citysearch.com?the website that houses NYC's best nightlife reviews. Jilted patrons argue that the restaurant, which attracts A-list, B-quality actors like Mark Wahlberg, is overflowing with leather-clad Jersey rejects and is unapologetically rude.

Well, Eugene is rude?that's how you build a reputation in New York. But its clientele is decked-out and beautiful (that's why they're hit with the "Jersey" tag) and the whole scene is a lot less rude on weekdays. Thursdays are particularly fun; Eugene brings in Grandmaster Flash (the real Grandmaster Flash, he's not dead) for a retro "Flash Back Night" with a $20 cover. How can anyone slam a place that employs Grandmaster Flash? Just pay your money and he'll play hits from the 70s, 80s and 90s like they do on WPLJ, okay?

...By the way, anyone who listens to PLJ will be thrilled to learn that chart-topping 90s compilations have surfaced on late-night tv and on the Internet. It was inevitable; the main combatants are Absolutely '90s, Non Stop '90s Rock and Living in the '90s. Here's how they stack up. You don't want to buy one of these and then have to go get another.

Absolutely '90s has "I'm Too Sexy" at track two but soon degenerates into r&b pap like "Iesha" and "Now That We Found Love." Non Stop '90s Rock is a who's who of 90s sellouts, with some obvious culprits (Counting Crows, "Mr. Jones") and some not-so-obvious (Butthole Surfers, "Pepper"). The fact that there's no Everclear song is a big defeat for impish super sellout Art Alexakis.

Living in the '90s has "Ice Ice Baby" and "U Can't Touch This," essentials that aren't present on the other two comps, plus a fantastic run on tracks five through seven: "I Touch Myself," "I'm Too Sexy" and "Jump Around." Unfortunately, it is a double CD and disc two is stuffed with forgettable r&b. Buy this album if you have the money; if not, stick with Non Stop '90s Rock.

...Or, heck, just go see 3rd Degree, who come to Continental on Monday with the formula that brought Weezer and Offspring so much success?cute shaggy and/or spiky hair plus songs about girls being mean. 3rd Degree's new record Radio 7 is so absolutely cheezy-looking that anyone who buys it will keep it squirreled away under a copy of Moby's Play. The thing is, it's very good.

"Gone" and especially "Maid of Honor" are prime slices of power pop in the vein of Fountains of Wayne and Guided by Voices. The three-part harmonies are topnotch all over Radio 7 and the guitar work, while unspectacular, is better than what you find in most lame post-grunge bands (read: Matchbox 20). Maybe 3rd Degree just hired a bad stylist to make it look like a cadre of Aqua Net muppets on the CD, website and press materials. Radio 7 is out this Tuesday on Trashbox Records; the group comes to Continental (25 3rd Ave., betw. St. Marks Pl. & 9th St., 529-6924) Monday at 11:30 p.m.

...Meanwhile, Knitting Factory (75 Leonard St., betw. B'way & Church St., 219-3055) celebrates a pretty amazing 15th anniversary in February. While neighboring clubs have buckled under recession or real estate development since 1986, the one that hosts all the arty, nerdy bands (and lately, rap) has become an institution, with an L.A. franchise, a record label and a television show. Founder Michael Dorf explains his success:

"Make sure you get this quote right: I had no fucking clue as to what I wanted to do with this thing 15 years ago. Not a fucking clue. It was a roller coaster ride and the beauty of it is it's still a roller coaster ride, I'm just doing it with a little more wisdom and a little more judicious thinking."

Michael "always wanted to have music that was experimental and artistic," but he didn't much care if it was rock, jazz or found sounds. Early on he was most proud of getting avant-garde composer John Zorn and his sometime keyboardist Wayne Horvitz; his club also hosted Sonic Youth and jazz great Cecil Taylor.

What's kept Knitting Factory going for so long? "We have a business model that the club is just one part of," Michael says. "The record company was the first thing that we started after we opened, and because we got the name of our company out via the records, we've developed a following that goes beyond just coming and buying tickets or a t-shirt."

During February, 10 percent of all Knitting Factory box-office revenue goes to the Music for Youth Foundation as the club brings in "artists that were part of what we were doing 15 years ago, artists that were on the record label over the last 10 years and artists that we are currently very excited about." The highlights are DJ Amon Tobin this Friday at 10:30 ($20; Tobin plays drum & bass with flat drums and tones that wash in and out), Mike Doughty on Feb. 14 ($15), Bernie Worrell on Feb. 16 ($14) and Sex Mob on Feb. 28 ($12). Check www.knittingfactory.com for times and also for an on-ramp to their expanding international behemoth enterprise. (When I talked to Michael Dorf, he was in Amsterdam looking for a new space.)