Akbar, Billboard Live Team Up for ‘King and Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll’

We love Akbar, the low-key Silver Lake bar that has a jukebox filled with music from good neighborhood bands. The folks behind the newish nightspot are co-sponsoring a competition with promoter Tony Harris at Billboard Live on Jan. 8--the shared birthday of David Bowie and Elvis Presley. The show will feature El Vez & the Memphis Mariachis vs. Billy Wisdom & the Heeshees, or the “King and Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” as they’re tagging it. Posters featuring the Mexican Elvis and glamour boy Wisdom in fighting form have been plastered all over town and you can buy tickets at Akbar or Billboard. . . .

The pressing issue for younger club-crawling sophisticates is, where’d Cafe Bleu, Checca’s popular Thursday night Brit-pop club, move to now that Checca’s become Tempest? The answer: The Probe, which is good news for fans of the very fun 18-and-over nightclub, which features the best of British pop music, as well as live bands each week. . . .

The Jump Club just lowered the price for the swing-time rave at the Park Plaza for New Year’s Eve (a third band was nixed and you, the G.P., can save some dough). Still on the menu for the night are Jump With Joey and Eddie Reed’s Big Band, but the price is down from $85 a person to $50. For more info, call (310) 829-0123. . . . Angel Dust Records copped some ‘tude from the biggest show on Earth Monday night, by inviting circus performers to entertain the masses in between bands at Pedro’s Bar & Grill in Los Feliz, which was the site of the independent label’s Christmas party. . . .

The Christmas party to top, however, was on Saturday night, at Mr. T’s Bowl in Highland Park, which was decorated to a T, with dozens of reindeer, a life-size snow angel and was topped off by mariachi playing and a heartfelt performance by lounge crooner Eduardo Diamante. . . .

Lastly, we’ve got two words for you: the Valley. Those on the prowl for the real lounge culture need only to stop by the Matterhorn Chef in Van Nuys or Billingsley’s, located on a Van Nuys golf course.