Cramming into clubs packed with big hair, booze and pounding music was a rite of passage in the 1980s and into the 1990s.

No sensible drinking cautions, no smoking bans, and generally less moderation of everything.

The regulars often spent hours preparing for the night, and the morning the night morphed into. A dominant hair design was de rigueur.

In the southern capital of Hobart, the Hideaway Bar in the Downtowner Hotel on the corner of Elizabeth and Bathurst streets was the place to be.

The club attracted a diverse clientele, with LGBT, straight, goth and new wave patrons all pressed together on what only can be described as a tiny dance floor.

The Hideaway had a licence for 175 patrons, but would regularly pack in double that number.

Wannabe Madonnas, Boy Georges, Princes and other mimics of 80s icons jostled for space and yelled over each other.

Janet Stokes (L) found a connection with people when she went clubbing. ( Supplied: Janet Stokes )

It was 1984 when high school student Janet Stokes went to the Hideaway along with her younger sister Margaret, and a friend from school.

Stokes was into bands like Joy Division, Bauhaus, the Jesus and Mary Chain, New Order and Echo and the Bunnymen.

She said her prep time could take up to two hours.

"We would use copious amounts of hairspray and gel to make even the Sex Pistols envious," she laughed.

"We all felt we had a connection, and it would be the meeting place for many of us who were wanting to express ourselves through getting dressed as goth, new wave or punk."

Ms Stokes says she is now much more "earthy" compared to her clubbing days. ( ABC News: Brian Tegg )

Bar manager Paul Schurink was originally from New Zealand, and came to Tasmania after spending eight years in Europe.

He said his lasting memory of the Hideaway was the music.

"It's what I loved so much. That era was fantastic and it made everybody happy," he said.

'Chaos' in the house

As a bar manager, Schurink saw a lot.

He said the women's toilets were often a scene of "chaos" at closing time.

"[We used to find] clumps of hair when there were fights," he said.

Janet Stokes recalls hair preparation could take two hours before heading to the Hideaway Bar. ( Supplied: Janet Stokes )

And scuffles weren't confined to the restrooms.

"So when we had fights in the bar, it was so packed that security wouldn't know where the fights were," he said.

"They used to have to follow my finger around and then I'd point down to where the fight was happening."

And clean-up time had its rewards.

"Because in those days not many people used wallets, I was finding $20 and $50 notes on the floor when I was sweeping up," he said.

"And in the ashtray, it was always full of gold coins."

Paul Schurink has traded nightclubs for coffee shops. ( ABC News: Michael Dalla Fontana )

Hideaway DJ Michael Naughton came on the scene in about 1984 after working in public and commercial radio in Hobart.

He said his enduring memory was just how loud the venue could get.

"I think someone came to measure the sound — it was 124 decibels," he said.

To put that in perspective, the sound of a plane taking off is about 120dB.

"That's loud," Naughton said.

Hanky-panky at Hankey's place

Down the road at Salamanca on Hobart's waterfront, Warren Hankey managed a nightclub above the historic Knopwoods pub, now Whalers.

"We moved a piano in there and had quiet jazz acts," Hankey said.

"I then hired my future partner Jo as a chef and she named the place Syrup."

Warren Hankey (C) and Jo Cook (R) dropped jazz for techno at Syrup. ( Supplied: Warren Hankey )

Syrup didn't stay quiet for long.

"The dance club began as a late-night alternative to upstairs live music," Hankey said.

"We'd set up turntables on the bar, and it quickly grew into a big scene, playing techno and house until dawn."

"We caught the wave of alternative dance music, 90s rave culture and it was an underground scene with a very strong community of ravers."

Syrup was a staple of Salamanca's nightclub scene. ( ABC News: Annah Fromberg )

Syrup finally closed its doors in 2016.

Hankey moved on too.

He studied astronomy at the University of Tasmania, and now works at the radio telescope at Cambridge east of Hobart as technical support for researchers.

But the memories he made at Syrup will last a lifetime.

"I remember some punters, who are still friends, got their clothes off one night in the middle of the dance floor because they were having such a great time," he said.

"Hardly anyone blinked, but everyone thought it was a laugh."