Can you imagine driving down Sunset and seeing the spellbinding psychedelic mural above? It once welcomed visitors to the Aquarius Theatre at 6230 Sunset Boulevard. The historic structure was painted for the opening of Hair in 1968. Eric Clapton, Janis Joplin, and Sal Mineo caught performances of the play during its two-and-a-half year run from 1969-1971.

The theater had many lives before and after it was the Aquarius. It debuted as the Earl Carroll Theatre in 1938. Opened during the glittering Golden Age of Hollywood, it could hold 1,000 people. The extravagant supper club advertised THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRLS IN THE WORLD on a 20-foot high neon sign, and a facial portrait of entertainer Beryl Wallace—who dated the theater’s namesake, producer Earl Carroll—looked out from the theater’s facade toward Sunset. Over time, hundreds of movie stars inscribed their signatures on the building’s concrete blocks. One of the great Hollywood mysteries is fate of all those slabs.

Carroll and Wallace died in the crash of United Airlines Flight 624 in 1948. After their passing, the theater was sold, and by the early 1950s it had fallen on hard times. Las Vegas showman Frank Sennes reopened the venue in 1953 as a nightspot called Moulin Rouge. The popular TV game show Queen for a Day was broadcast from the club during part of the show’s ten-year run.

The theater changed hands again in 1966 and was redubbed the Hullabaloo Club; that name lasted two years.

Chad and Jeremy & the Turtles at the Hallubaloo Club

Front & back cover of the April 9 1966 edition of KRLA BEAT newspaper, which ran from about 1964 to 1969. The Turtles and the Mamas & Papas are some of the acts playing at popular radio DJ Dave Hull's Hullabaloo Club which was inside the famed Earl Carrol/Moulin Rouge Theater (later became the Aquarius/Star Search/Nickelodeon/etc on Sunset Blvd across from the Hollywood Palladium).

The Turtles and Hullabaloo in 1966

In 1968 the venue became the Kaleidoscope, which was run by Canned Heat’s booking agent, John Hartmann (who’s brother was comedian Phil Hartman), and its manager, Skip Taylor. Canned Heat was the house band for a spell, but Jefferson Airplane performed on the club’s opening night, March 22, 1968. The Kaleidoscope’s mission was to replicate the success of San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditoriums by booking acts that were based in Southern California, like Love, Iron Butterfly, and Eric Burdon and the Animals. All sorts of hippie bands, including the Grateful Dead, played the Kaleidoscope during the summer of 1968. The hangout held movie nights, too, and the great Don Ellis Orchestra, a super-hip big band, performed on Wednesdays. Sadly, the venue was too small to stay afloat, and the Kaleidoscope closed before Labor Day of that year. The venue did, however, release some pretty amazing posters that are collectibles today.

A talented young set designer, Michael Baugh, stepped in next and transformed the club into the Aquarius Theatre. Under his direction, crews worked around the clock for two months redesigning and reconstructing the venue’s interior to ready it for a production of Hair.

In addition, they replaced the portrait of Beryl Wallace with a wraparound mural painted by The Fool, a collective of Dutch and English artists best known for creating a mural on the Beatles’ Apple Boutique in London. In psychedelic style, the theater’s painting depicts the coming of the Age of Aquarius. Nearly overnight the mural-wrapped theater became a late 1960s Hollywood landmark.

TBT: Aquarius Theatre mural vernisage party, Mama Cass presiding...photo: Maurice Hoogenboom

A close-up view of one of the psychedelic murals that adorned the exterior walls of The Aquarius Theater ran HAIR played there beginning in late 1968.

Hair played six nights a week. On Mondays, the venue was rented out by Elektra Records, which put on affordable concerts. The label’s most famous group, the Doors, recorded bits of their performances at the Aquarius for the album “Absolutely Live.” Frank Zappa, the Mothers of Invention, and Jethro Tull played at the Aquarius on March 31, 1969.

Photograph of Jim Morrison by actor, Bill Mumy

Unfortunately, the Aquarius Theatre’s walls were not primed properly before the psychedelic murals were painted. After just a year and a half, the portion along the building’s west wall began to peel. It had to be completely painted over in 1971.

Sometime back in the late 60s/early 70s someone must have inscribed this into the wet concrete in front of The Earl Carroll Theater (back then known as The Aquarius Theater) It's still there at the intersection of Sunset and Argyle Ave., you can't miss it if you're looking down as you walk.

In the mid-’70s, the theater became a go-to location for live concerts taped for TV. Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert filmed there, and so did Star Search for some seasons. The theater was renamed the Chevy Chase Theater in the fall of 1993 and began serving as the venue for Fox’s unsuccessful late-night show The Chevy Chase Show. Nickelodeon acquired the theater in 1997 and still owns it today.

On a recent walk around the building, I poked behind some trees and found the plaque, pictured below, from the Aquarius days that reads, “F.D.C. SERVES AQUARIUS THEATRE.” (F.D.C. stands for Fire Department connection.) I was astonished the marker survived all these years. It reminded me how much of the past is hidden along the streets of Los Angeles; little treasures like this have been left behind for us to discover.

Alison Martino is a writer, television producer and personality, and L.A. pop culture historian. She founded the Facebook page Vintage Los Angeles in 2010. In addition to CityThink and VLA, Martino muses on L.A’s. past and present on Twitter and Instagram

The Godmother: Alison Martino Preserves the History of Old LA and the Sunset Strip

By Kyveli Diener

When Alison Martino enters a room, it’s as if someone flipped the switch on a spotlight. Maybe it’s her creative energy, which has been channeled into television, music, writing and interior design. Maybe it’s the shiny blonde locks, sun-kissed skin and boho chic style that give her away as the ultimate native Angeleno. Or maybe she’s just refracting the years of camera flashes and limelight that has shined on the Martino family and inspired her to instinctively preserve what she feels this town is truly about: showbiz.

Martino is the creator and curator of “Vintage Los Angeles,” a Facebook community that has amassed a following of nearly 200,000 people. Its fans are all driven to share their memories and experiences of L.A. history while also drinking in the behind-the-scenes stories from Martino’s upbringing. For example, as Halloween approached, she shared a memory of her childhood friendship with Mickey Yablans (who, thanks to being the son of producer Irwin Yablans, had a scene in the film “Halloween” where he runs into Michael Myers), and how she would jokingly play the horror movie’s creepy theme song on the piano whenever he entered the room.

“For me, every day is Throwback Thursday,” Martino says. “I live very much for today, I keep up with current events, and I live on the Internet, but I love history. I’m sort of a history junkie. Once VLA took off, I thought ‘Okay I’m sticking with this, let’s see where this goes.’ Now all these followers will educate me on stuff I never knew about. It’s a real community; I just start the conversation.”

Martino’s cascade of stories about Hollywood’s heavy hitters from the 1950’s, ’60’s, and ‘ 70’s comes from being the daughter of powerhouse crooner Al Martino, who rose to fame with the ballad “Here in My Heart” in 1952 and secured his iconic status among Italian-American singers with his 1967 hit “Spanish Eyes.” He parlayed his musical success into an opportunity to act in the Godfather films as singer Johnny Fontaine.

Originally from Philadelphia, Alison’s father remained based on the East Coast during the early days of his career, but while flying around the country promoting his records in 1963 he met a striking American Airlines stewardess. Her name was Judi, and she was a model for the airline’s promotional photographs. The singer knew the moment he met her that he would marry her. After four years of trying, Judi decided to give him a chance, and they were together until the famed musician’s death in 2009. The couple moved to California in 1968, were married the following year, and in December of 1970 they welcomed their only child, a little girl whose name pays tribute to her devoted dad.

Martino says her days of collecting vintage memorabilia essentially began on her first day of life, when she was born at the former Cedars of Lebanon Hospital on Fountain Avenue just west of Vermont Avenue (now the headquarters of the Church of Scientology). The hospital was in the process of changing its name to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and the small white button given to Judi Martino that read “Congratulations, it’s a girl!” in pink lettering was among the first items imprinted with the hospital’s then-new name.

“So, I guess I was collecting from birth,” Martino joked as she held the special pin lovingly in her cupped palm. “This pin maybe had magical powers, like, ‘Your daughter’s going to be a collector’ because I don’t know anyone else who still has this!”

Martino lives in one of West Hollywood’s most prestigious mid century buildings, Empire West, which Suzanne Pleshette, star of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds,” once lived in and managed. It was built in 1964 by famed L.A. architect Dan Dworsky, whom Martino tracked down after moving into the building in late summer. She brought Dworsky back to his building for the first time in 50 years, and she learned what about her apartment was original or altered.

Martino makes finding proverbial needles in Hollywood haystacks look easy, but then she’s been doing it since her days with the E! Television network in the 1990’s. The entryway of her apartment gives testament to her research skill. The wall is covered in classic and rare photos of Martino’s icons. There are many photos of the Doors, for whom she ran a fan club when she was 19, including several shots by Henry Diltz that allow Martino to fancy her wall as a personal extension of Diltz’s esteemed Morrison Hotel Gallery inside the nearby Sunset Marquis hotel.

In Martino’s office, every available surface is adorned with photographs and memorabilia. Photos of her father seated at a table with Marilyn Monroe and swing dancing with Nancy Sinatra are on the same wall as his gold record for “Spanish Eyes.” There’s also an old color photo of Martino around age four lovingly gazing up at her dad, who is smiling at the camera. That photo ended up on the back of her father’s 1975 album “Door of the Sun,” and the framed image on the wall was a gift from Capitol Records.

Mixed with the books on her Beatles memorabilia-laden shelves — each piece collected from her childhood — is Vincent Bugliosi’s classic about Charlie Manson, “Helter Skelter.” Portions of that book were written while Bugliosi was living in the Martino family’s guesthouse at the Beverly Hills home where her mother Judi still lives today. Academy Award-winner Mario Puzo, who wrote “The Godfather” novel and was a screenwriter on the film, also lived in the guesthouse for a time during Martino’s childhood.

When she was growing up, Martino’s favorite people around the house were the men her father considered brothers: comedian Morey Amsterdam and entertainer Joey Bishop, who would eventually join the Rat Pack. She recalls the antics her father and Amsterdam put on to make Bishop laugh and how her father happily revived his earliest job as a bricklayer to construct Bishop’s driveway around the corner from the Martino house. Ever since childhood, it was small mementos like those from Dino’s Lodge that drew Martino’s attention. She felt compelled to grab a matchbook from every place she visited. She also developed a taste for branded ashtrays that led to an impressive collection on display in her apartment. Beginning in kindergarten, Martino had a best friend who moderated Martino’s desire for tokens such as the tiki glasses from Trader Vic’s at the Beverly Hilton hotel. Laura Fleming (now Laura Fleming-Hizami) lived near Martino in Beverly Hills, and the two were inseparable from early childhood through their late teens.

“I was the Ethel to her Lucy,” Fleming-Hizami recalled, adding that she always knew Martino would end up in a creative field, especially because of her apparently natural ability for music. “She is musically gifted almost to the point of genius, because she can hear a song and play it on the piano after hearing it once.”

Fleming-Hizami remembers the hours she and Martino spent in cherished haunts that no longer exist, including Postermat in Westwood where the girls would buy movie and music posters, the unforgettable Tower Records store on Sunset Boulevard, and Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace, a roller rink that opened in 1979 at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and La Cienega Boulevard in the heart of West Hollywood.

“It was fabulous. During the day, it was great for kids’ skating, but at night it became Studio 54 and celebrities would go there,” Fleming-Hizami recalled. “We’d have our birthdays there and skate there every weekend. It’s a CVS now.” Fleming-Hizami said Martino has always had a knack for knowing “what would be popular before it became popular.” She shopped at vintage boutiques in Beverly Hills before any other teens thought to look through used clothes for fashion gold. In 1995, when Chasen’s closed after 59 years, Martino thought it would be cool to have the maitre d’ sign one of the paper menus printed up for its last supper. After she snagged the autograph, the other guests quickly caught on and all rushed the maitre d’ with their own menus to secure a piece of Hollywood history, Martino style.

Pop culture commentator and historian Charles Phoenix, a friend of Martino’s for several years, thinks Martino’s sense for the next big thing led her to choose social media as her platform for a public tribute to bygone L.A.

Martino’s collecting goes beyond old Hollywood memorabilia. There are signs of her favorite things throughout her home, all meticulously organized. Her walk-in closet is home to more hats, vests and sunglasses than are likely in stock at a local boutique. Randomly scattered renderings of Robert Indiana’s LOVE sculpture dot the house, an homage to Al Martino’s hometown of Philadelphia as much as to pop art itself.

There is a personal story behind each piece. The black grand piano in the open space between her living room and kitchen was once brown and labeled on the side with “ABC” when it was used on the Joey Bishop show. When Bishop gave the piano to his buddy Al Martino, Al decided to paint it black, much to his daughter’s dismay. On a nearby wall is a framed cutout portrait from Disneyland, a souvenir one can still get today. But today’s cutouts are done with computers, whereas the one hanging on Martino’s wall is of her as a toddler, and was hand cut at the amusement park in the early 1970s.

The showcased memorabilia is complemented by the apartment’s mid-century modern style — inspired by the Peter Sellers film The Party — that is part of Martino’s passion for interior decorating. A scalloped wallpaper design by David Hicks in the guest bath is just a few strides away from a 1972 lucite table and chairs by Charles Hollis. There are choice pieces by Martino’s favorite furniture designer, Jonathan Adler, including a pair of Tiffany blue chairs adorned with criss-crossing gold support beams, whose square shape and simple legs give a 1960’s mod vibe.

Martino has amassed so much physical L.A. history that it can’t all be displayed at once. There is a closet entirely devoted exclusively to collected and vintage items, as tidy and organized as her walk-in, so that Martino can easily find anything in the mass of postcards, matchbooks, ticket stubs and hundreds of ashtrays from restaurants that no longer exist. Behind the frosted glass doors of another cabinet is a meticulously displayed collection of lighters, ashtrays, cups and buttons alongside such unique tokens as a candle from Dino’s Lodge and a NOW SHOOTING sign from the set of Godfather II.

“I’ve never seen someone become more joyful over a pack of matches from a once-great lounge!” said Tina Malave, senior producer of ABC 7’s “Eye on L.A.” and Martino’s friend of 15 years. Malave highlighted the online community created through the Vintage Los Angeles Facebook page, as well as its significance in connecting the L.A. of then and now, on a segment for “Eye on L.A.” in 2014.

“We are a city that sees new transplants moving here in droves,” Malave said. “Without informing and educating and entertaining people with these stories of its past, it becomes, to many, nothing more than a 2D drive down Hollywood Boulevard. Once you know these incredible little gems of information, where you live becomes infinitely more interesting and you become more endeared to the city. You find yourself swelling with pride about the place, and that lends itself to a much stronger community.”

Martino’s posts of factoids and photos and stories to Vintage LA’s Facebook page as well as Twitter and Instagram has created a resource that has been called “The DeLorean of the Internet,” a reference to Back to the Future’s time-traveling car. But she works just as hard to keep Hollywood history alive in the offline world. She hosts screenings of old films and shows that include visits from the filmmakers at the Million Dollar Theater downtown or at the Hammer Museum, where she showed several episodes of the 1964 series “Ralph Story’s Los Angeles” on Nov. 14 in conjunction with UCLA. Martino also advocates for landmark status for vintage locales like Dan Tana’s and the Troubadour. This summer she worked alongside the Los Angeles Conservancy to successfully get the Norm’s diner on La Cienega Boulevard — a unique Googie-style building that has stood there since 1957 —declared a cultural-historical landmark by the City of Los Angeles. On top of all this, she’s begun the process of creating her first Vintage Los Angeles book.

Martino already has had several preservation victories. When a Rocky and Bullwinkle statue that had stood on the Sunset Strip near the Chateau Marmont from 1961 to 2013 was unceremoniously hoisted from its place by a crane so DreamWorks Studios could repair a crack on it, Martino drummed up concern for the sudden disappearance of the statue through a Los Angeles Magazine article and Vintage Los Angeles. DreamWorks donated the statue back to the City of West Hollywood in August so it could be reinstalled on Sunset Boulevard. In late 2014, Martino went on what she calls “a crusade” to save the 2,300 caricatures of famous entertainers that adorned the walls of The Palm restaurant in West Hollywood. Several of the rescued characters are stacked in her office as she continues to try to track down people connected to each of them so she can return these irreplaceable pieces of history. As for her father’s character, she plans to frame it alongside that of his soul brother, Morey Amsterdam.

“I’m very protective of L.A.,” Martino said. “I think what’s great about Vintage L.A. is I’m not only praising the past, but I hoping by learning about our past we can preserve the future too". There are a lot of followers on Vintage L.A. who live in other countries who have never even been to L.A. yet, and I want to get them the best historical experience.”

If I could go back in time and return a single L.A. building to its former state, I would pick the old Beverly Hills Public Library. I sat happily with other children on the floor of its screening room, listening to the impeccably tailored Suzanne Pleshette read "Hansel and Gretel" in the late 1970s. A unique light reflected off the library’s colorful glass façade and through its windows, bathing the interior in a magical radiance. My love of reading still reminds me of that glow.

The Beverly Hills Public Library opened on October 10, 1963. It’s designer, Martin Stern, was making his mark as a major Las Vegas architect at the time and working with developer Del Webb, who built the Flamingo Hotel for Bugsy Siegel and Billy Wilkerson. Stern had work lined up in L.A., too—the same year he worked on the library he designed space age coffee shops for the chain Ships, which helped define L.A.’s drive-in culture, and he was busy creating the midcentury homes that gave neighborhoods like Trousdale and Encino their unique looks. According to Vintage Los Angeles member Phil Savenick, the library was commissioned at least in part thanks to filmmaker David O. Selznick’s assistant, Marcella Rabwin. She thought children deserved a better place to read and discover books than the temporary quarters that had been set up in a wing of Beverly Hills’ City Hall.

I think the library was Stern’s best work. It was on Rexford Drive, the street where I grew up, and a child’s dream during the ’60s and ’70s. The library had a state-of-the-art screening room with a step down reading area. Every month a guest speaker from a popular TV show or motion picture came to read to toddlers. It was an “only in Hollywood” kind of affair—and in this case, only in Beverly Hills. The library also had a vast collection of music titles on LP. When I first learned to drive and parking meters cost only a few nickels, I checked out the latest records on Saturday mornings.

The library’s design was as special as its programming. Mosaic tiles reminiscent of the murals built in 1961 to dress up the tunnels at Los Angeles International Airport wrapped around the structure, mimicking a row of colorful book spines made of glass. The structure itself sat far back on the property, leaving room for a massive green lawn with modernist fountains.

If anyone were ever to create a West Coast version of Mad Men, the library would have been a perfect stand-in for a 1960s office building. In fact its exterior appears as Mike Brady’s architecture firm in stock shots from The Brady Bunch.

Sadly, the city extensively renovated the treasure in the late ’80s to build a bigger library. Rumor has it some of the original structure remains beneath the new building’s facade. The library that opened on September 11, 1990 looks completely different. It’s in the Spanish revival/Art Deco style, and it’s missing windows for natural light, magical or not.

I often wonder about L.A.’s attitude toward history. Despite so many of our buildings being immortalized on screen, retro architecture is getting harder and harder to find in real life. Los Angeles isn’t alone in that regard. The Riviera in Las Vegas, one of the last Martin Stern-designed hotels from the Rat Pack era, will be coming down in 2015. As Frank Sinatra would say, “That’s life.”

What's left of the mosaic tiles... (weep)

This article was also published in Los Angeles Magazine. Article by Alison Martino

In 1944, a tailor named Sy Devore moved to Los Angeles from New York to open a 900-square-foot shop at the glamorous intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street, in Hollywood. The shop, which sold handmade custom suits, was next to Wallichs Music City and down the street from the world-famous Brown Derby restaurant.

Just five years later, Devore was nearly as famous as the legends he dressed: John Wayne, Bing Crosby, Spencer Tracy, Jackie Gleason, Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop, Nat King Cole, President John F. Kennedy, and Sammy Davis Jr.—who once ordered 84 suits for $30,000.

Devore’s threads made those cats the epitome of 1960s cool. There were sharkskin suits lined in paisley silk, sports coats, pastel sweaters, skinny ties, dress shirts, and trousers with big belt loops, all finished with an impeccable fit.

According to Devore’s niece, Marti, jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald once purchased Devore’s private label V-neck sweaters in every color and gave them to the Count Basie Orchestra players as Christmas gifts; Elvis Presley shopped at Devore’s off the rack, picking out 20 suits at a time at $350 a pop; and comedian Jerry Lewis showed up on weekends to buy the shop’s sought-after alpaca sweaters. Devore’s is also where Sammy Davis Jr. discovered his hip signature Nehru jackets. Soon, the musician had a jacket collection so flamboyant, it would impress Liberace. By the late ’50s, Devore was so well known that Bob Hope made the famous haberdasher the brunt of a joke. “In a very good year,” he said, “I have my choice between a Rolls-Royce, a new house in Beverly Hills, or a suit from Sy Devore.”

When the Rat Pack starred in the original Ocean’s 11 film in 1960, it was Devore who designed their close-cut suits. Later, the tailor created and sold a high-collared, fine cotton shirt called the Dean Martin. It cost $8 and was so popular it was shipped around the world. Devore also made a custom shirt for Jerry Lewis, but that exact design was never duplicated for anyone else. (He costumed Lewis-helmed films including The Disorderly Orderly and The Geisha Boy.)

Entertainer Sammy Davis wearing vested double-breasted plaid suit by Sy Devore.

When the Martini-gulping Rebel Rousers started to play Las Vegas, they convinced Devore to open a second outpost in the now defunct Sands Hotel and Casino. He opened a third store in Palm Springs, where showbiz stars also had homes, in 1958. By the time he opened his fourth store, in Sherman Oaks’ Fashion Square Mall in 1962, Sy had grossed more than $1 million in sales.

It was reported that Jerry Lewis’ annual bill at Devore’s in Hollywood was in the vicinity of $100,000 in the early 1960s.

Palm Springs location

This is a rare pic of Frank Sinatra in 1963 on the Paramount backlot during the making of "Come Blow Your Horn." As you can see in the picture, one of the exterior sets they designed was a Sy Devore storefront requested by Sinatra himself.

My father, singer Al Martino, also shopped for stage clothes at Devore’s. Marti would occasionally drop off Dad’s newly tailored tuxedos and ruffled shirts in custom garment bags at our house, then do the same for Jimmy Durante or Milton Berle. When Dad needed a few new casual suede jackets, he did not think twice about where to go. All requests—like when Dad and Glen Campbell ordered the same cowboy jackets together in five colors in 1969—went to his favorite tailor. Going with my dad to Devore’s shop and watching him get fitted is one of my earliest memories.

Al Martino wearing Sy Devore

After the tailor passed away from a heart attack at age 57 in 1966, his family kept the business going. In fact, Sy Devore is still in business today; the company’s only shop is on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City. There you can see autographed endorsements from Nat King Cole, Elvis Presley, and Sammy Davis Jr. that once hung in the Hollywood location.

The 15-year-old Studio City store, which is owned by Danny Marsh, continues to deliver excellence in tailoring and has kept Devore’s legacy alive by working with celebrities and costume designers as well as designing Sy Devore label suits, shirts, and sweaters for everyday customers. So you can still pick out something swanky to celebrate Frank Sinatra’s 100 birthday this December.

Alison Martino holding one of the original panels from Sy Devore's Hollywood store signed by Sammy Davis Jr. Photograph courtesy Alison Martino

The following are a few of my Sy Devore collectibles

It’s hard to believe but roller-skating was practically a national pastime once. It was so trendy during the ’70s, in fact, skating often figured into film and TV plots. Stars rode around on eight wheels in Xanadu, Roller Boogie, Skatetown USA, Charlie’s Angels, and CHiPs.

I once skated my way through a whole afternoon of shopping, rolling from the local Thrifty (where I stopped for a 35 cent double scoop cone with mint chip ice cream) over to Fiorucci (where I purchased a new pair of shades) and then on to Camp Beverly Hills (to pick up red satin dolphin shorts to match my Day-Glo wheels). My skates endured a lot of wear and tear - especially at birthday parties. The Smell of Hot dogs ... and the rolling beats of youth ... I am going to click my skates 3 times and wish I were there right now. I still have my exact same pair of roller skates...I'm READY!

When we weren’t skating around Venice Beach or Pan Pacific Park, my friends and I spent our last weekends of the ’70s laced up at Flipper’s. The hangout—a former bowling alley called La Cienega Lanes that Art Linkletter owned before it was converted into a roller rink in 1979—was at the corner of La Cienega and Santa Monica boulevards. Its glitzy sign read FLIPPER’S ROLLER BOOGIE PALACE. The purple and blue building was hard to miss.

I must have skated enough miles in that rink to get me to the East Coast and back! The floor was coated with a substance that made gliding feel magical. Colorful strobe lights bounced off the mirrors and extra loud speakers blared hits like “My Sharona,” “Call Me,” “I Will Survive,” “We Are Family,” “Le Freak,” “Little Red Corvette,” “Funky Town,” and “8675309”—a number every kid tried dialing at least once. Flipper’s had a bar, a restaurant, and a custom skate shop with artificial life-size palm trees and Art Nouveau murals. The rental booth was decorated to look like a lush tropical paradise.

I celebrated my birthday at Flipper’s in 1979. I wore a two-toned jersey with a headband, knee pads, and leg warmers. My skates had orange and yellow wheels and a yellow stopper to match. The DJ dedicated Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall to me. Flipper’s had a tradition of clearing the floor for birthday boys and girls, and I loved every minute of my moment in the rink’s spotlight that day.

At night, Flipper’s turned into a roller disco for adults, but kids could easily sneak in and see roller-skating fanatics like Olivia Newton-John and Cher making the rounds to Donna Summer songs. (You just needed one of the “cool” parents to cover for you if you got caught.) One friend told me she spotted Gene Simmons in full KISS makeup there one night. A haven for hedonism after dark, Flipper’s was L.A.’s answer to Studio 54—on wheels. A photo gallery on Facebook called FLIPPERS by Cisco Craig Dietz 1979 has tons of great pictures of the scene.

Angels on Skates 1979 | Charlie's Angels | Mini Episode | Jaclyn Smith Cheryl Ladd Shelley Hack

Frank Poncherello's Disco Dance Extravaganza! - CHiPs

Jane Fonda and John Voight at Flippers in 1977. Photo MPTV Images

By 1980, Flipper’s hosted weekly skate instructions, competitions, yoga classes, and other entertainment. On Wednesday nights women were admitted free. Tuesdays featured new wave, reggae, and rock ‘n’ roll. When the roller-skating fad faded along with disco music in the early ’80s, Flipper’s was turned into a punk and new wave club. Acts like the Go-Go’s, Berlin, the Germs, the Ramones, the Plimsouls, Patti Smith, Black Flag, the Talking Heads, and even Prince performed there. Belinda Carlisle remembers Flipper’s this way: “When my husband, Morgan Mason, was a little boy, his father, James Mason, used to take him bowling [at La Cienega Lanes]. So when we heard it was transitioning into a roller rink we just thought that was so cool. I had no illusions of getting in because it geared to that post-Studio 54 crowd. I remember hearing about the opening. I think Cher may have been there that night; it was that caliber of people. As a punk rocker, I thought there was no way we were going to get in. But when we were forming the Go-Go’s we were asked to perform there. They put us in the middle of the rink and we performed as people skated round and round us. It was a very glamorous roller rink. I remember it being very dark. I wish I remember more, but we were probably a bit tipsy!”

Photo of Belinda Carlisle and her friend Pleasant Gehman by Jenny Lens

The party couldn’t last forever. Flipper’s closed on October 29, 1981. I was heartbroken. In 1984 Esprit spent $14 million to open a flagship store in the rink’s old location. You can see it in a scene in LA Story starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Steve Martin. Remnants of an Esprit ghost sign are still visible on the side of the building. Today it’s a huge CVS. The curved structure has somehow survived its many owners. All that’s missing is a giant disco ball!

A brief history of the original structure:

Art Linkletter's La Cienega Bowling Lanes, located at La Cienega and Santa Monica Boulevard, was a popular hang out spot in the 1940s and 1950s.

The building reflects the quintessential flowing lines associated with The Streamline Moderne style.

"La Cienega Lanes" Cross street: Santa Monica. Today this structure is a CVS. If you go inside and look up at the ceiling, you can see where the lanes used to line up above the lanes. The Alta Cienega Motel (seen across the street) was a home to Jim Morrison- room #23)

It wasn’t unusual to see personalities like Frank Sinatra, Ava Garnder or Red Skelton at the Hollywood Ranch Market’s snack bar. Steve Allen used to broadcast his shows from his studio close by. Kim Novak was seen shopping there twice a week when she lived at the Studio Club which was very close by in 1955. This market was located at 1605 Vine Street and was open 24 hours a day. It was one of the few places where a person could cash a check. It had no doors, metal turnstiles and pinball machines. It became a bit grimier, (but in a good way) during the 1960s & 1970s. I saw a flash of it in an old Cassavettes movie recently. Sadly, the Ranch Market burned down in the early 80s. Today it's a strip mall - the title of the requiem for most of Los Angeles's treasure no longer with us.

One of the last photos of James Dean was taken across the street on that fateful afternoon in 1955. You can see the Hollywood Ranch Market in the distance.

After Steve Allen left NBC The Tonight Show, he had a TV show on ABC using a studio (1544 Vine Street) across the street from the Hollywood Ranch Market (1605 Vine Street). He did a lot of sketches and man-on-the-street interviews at that location. Comic Louis Nye as Arab. Story goes Steve Allen also used to hide speakers in the produce department and would start talking to people. I give him full credit for basically inventing the original "Candid Camera". Must have been hilarious watching people talk back to tomatoes.

Gene Wilder on location at The Hollywood Ranch Market on Vine with TV producer Lewis Freedman in 1972. He was making "The Scarecrow" at the time.

Exterior night view. The market's neon sign with a clock reads, "We never close" and "Shop around the clock."Sadly, they did.
Source: LAPL

In 2015 I presented original Ralph Story episodes from the 1960s at the Billy Wilder Theatre courtesy of UCLA Archives. One of the episodes features the Hollywood Ranch Market. DJ, Rodney Bingenheimer was in attendance and actually spotted himself in the footage! Great moment!

Capitol Records celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.

Capitol Records was founded by Johnny Mercer, Buddy DeSylva, and Glenn Wallichs shortly after the US entered WWII. Mercer was a songwriter from New York City who came to Hollywood in 1935 to write songs for RKO Studios. DeSylva was a successful songwriter and an executive producer at Paramount Pictures. Wallichs was the founder and owner of Music City, a popular record outlet located at Sunset and Vine in Hollywood, where customers could buy radios, records, and sheet music for their favorite songs, after sampling records in private listening booths. With $25,000 in start-up capital, provided by DeSylva, Mercer set about signing talent while Wallichs ran the business.

Northwest corner of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood. In 1946 Capitol Records moved into offices above Wallichs Music City. Wallichs put a large round rotating neon sign on top of the building advertising them.

As the 1950s began, Capitol Records opened office and studio space adjacent to Paramount Pictures located at 5515 Melrose Ave. This is where Frank Sinatra recorded many of his classic 50's work. The studio was also home to KHJ AM and it had previously been the home of NBC radio during the 1930's.

The following rare promotional film featuring Mel Blanc, was made in 1951. This lost gem was never shown to the public and was used for promotional use only among record executives. It had been lost for over 55 years until a friend found a copy for me to upload on youtube.

In this clip, Mel plays a record dealer who is desperately trying to sell anyone a record at the corner of Sunset & Vine streets in Hollywood, California. While pestering several people, (including Yogi Yorgeson), Billy May approaches playing a regular guy walking down the street, Mel takes him into Wallichs Music City and proceeds to pitch everything in the store to him.

In the end Billy won't pay the 85 cents for a record and Mel decides to show him exactly how records are made. They go over to the Capitol Records recording studios on Melrose Avenue and meet with Alan Livingston who takes them on a tour, here is where they run into several famous folks while getting into a little bit of mischief along the way! We get to see rare footage of Dean Martin in the studio actually recording one of his hit records! They also run into Les Paul and Mary Ford.

Among the other artists to sign with Capitol Records during the 1940s were Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Peggy Lee, Stan Kenton, Billie Holiday, and Les Paul and soundtrack recordings as well, with such favorites as Oklahoma!, Carousel, and The King and I. During the 1950s the company established its prominence as a commercially and artistically successful pop music label. Artists signed during the decade included the Andrews Sisters, Judy Garland, Jackie Gleason, Andy Griffith, the Kingston Trio, Dean Martin, Nancy Wilson, and my father, Al Martino.

In 1955 the British company EMI acquired Capitol for $8.5 million. The following year, EMI built The Capitol Records Tower. The wide curved circular structure resembles a stack of records (although some will dispute that was its intention). The cylindrical building with the tall spire quickly became a Hollywood landmark. The 150-foot-high building was the tallest allowed in earthquake-prone Los Angeles. The blinking light on top of the tower spelled out "Hollywood" in Morse code, and has done so since the building's opening in 1956! In fact it was Samuel Morse's granddaughter who flipped the switch for the first time. (The message was changed once, to celebrate capitals 50th anniversary to "Capital 50"). Designed by Louis Naidorf of Welton Becket and Associates, the tower was the world’s first circular office building, constructed of reinforced concrete and punctuated by a series of porcelain enamel sun shades stepping down each floor of the building. The Tower has always been referred to as “The House That Nat Built” back in 1956 - referring to the success of Nat King Cole!

Record sales more than tripled between 1954 and 1958, while the number of records released by the company quadrupled. Capitol was a charts-topper in 1955 and early 1956 with several number one hit records. Moreover, the company cultivated its image as the fresh, innovative force in the music recording industry. In a June 1992 Billboard magazine feature marking the 50th anniversary of Capitol, Al Coury, former senior vice-president of promotion and dear friend of my family's, noted, "We were always in the foreground of developing new ways to expose our music and to work closer with the retailers. We were the young, aggressive company in those days."

In 1962, Capitol released the Beatles' first U.S. single, "Love Me Do." The Beatles were already under contract with Capitol's parent company EMI in the U.K. and Capitol was able to obtain the U.S. distribution rights. Another major score during this time was the Beach Boys' first album, Surfin' Safari. By the end of the 1960s, the two groups together had released 26 gold albums.

My father would often tell me stories about his recording days at Capitol during the 60s. He would often speak of those sensational studio musicians that would play on his records. Known today as the Wrecking Crew. Some of those musicians included Glen Campbell and Leon Russell. Growing up at the dinner table I would often hear stories about the promotional department and how instrumental they were in getting your music heard on the radio. Radio stations were everything back then: KHJ & KRLA ruled the dial. And there of course there was Payolla. Lots and lots of Payolla. But ALL of this happened WAY before I was born. But I happen to have my own memories and experiences that happened inside the Tower...

Dad wasn't just on the charts with the Beatles and the Beach Boys, but also with artists such as Nat, Glen Campbell, The Letterman, Linda Ronstadt. I remember when I was about 3 years old going through my father's LPs, (most of them Capitol artists) and picking out Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and Abbey Road. Records that haunt me until this day. There was nothing like hearing these records at that age on my father's insane state of the art stereo system. He knew I was ruined after getting a hold of those LPs. He explained that those particular copies were copies that only the artists on the label would receive. So often given to their kids! This was when I started to understand that my father was signed to a record label. This was around the time I became obsessed with the Tower. In 1975, dad was recording an album for Capitol called To the Door Of the Sun. My father would often bring me to the studio when he was recording that record. Studio A was MASSIVE to me as a little girl. There was a sound soundboard that went on for miles, a singers booth, dozens of musicians who all read sheet music, and plush chairs for visitors to watch behind the mixing board through the glass to the studio. For some reason I always remember my father recording late. When I was about 5 years old I would curiously walk the hallways with JR, the Tower's security guard and my good friend. I would always admire the photos on the walls of some of the other Capitol Artists. They were framed so impressively below the RECORDING LIGHT in the long extended hallways that led exclusively to to studios. I remember JR showing me how to play pool one night in Studio B. There was a wreck room that I remember so fondly were I would watch TV on a old black and white TV set on the floor. I remember seeing the trailer for the Shining. Back then they would only show R rated previews for films late at night. I loved that my parents brought me no matter what time it was. They knew it was something special for me to experience. I would also run up and down the spiral staircase in Studio B, fidel around with the soundboard, and if I was REALLY lucky, sing a scratch vocal with my dad during a rehearsal. One of the engineers made an accetate record of one of those recordings just for me to take home. In 1975, after the completion of To the Door Of the Sun's recordings, the art department came to our house to take photos of dad in the backyard for the front and back cover of the LP. I watched and pestered the photographer if I could also get in one of the photos with dad. He hesitated, but dad nudged him to take a few of the both of is, probably thinking once I took a few I would get my fix and go back inside. We never thought anything of it until two weeks later when the finished record came to the door, there we were ON THE BACK of the record!

During recording breaks, dad would often take me next door to the best hamburger joint in Hollywood, called Nick's Burgers, an old hole in the wall / greasy spoon with only two stools in the entire joint. It was always PACKED. But when Nick saw dad and me, he always made room for us. Another strong memory I have inside the Tower was the famous and hectic mail room. That was the HUB of Capitol located on the first floor. Dad used the mail room often and I would go along for the ride.

In 1992, I landed an internship working for Artist Services, a department my father created with Al Coury. The department catered to the artists' every wish. I would often take calls from Adam Ant and the Beastie Boys. I remember Nick Rhodes requesting a Rolls for the night that he ended up losing, and Robbie Robertson needing a first class ticket for his Guru. I heard the Foo Fighters first record while interning on the 8th floor. The buzz was heavt throughout the Tower that this record was going to be BIG! A "Smash", a term often used by A & M executives.

Interning at the Tower truly Felt like everything had came full circle. I was able to visit Studio A & B again. Security Guard, JR was STILL working there and remembered me as that little girl mesmorized by the sound boards. My internship only lasted a few months over the summer of 1994, but it was one of the greatest summers of my life working directly under, Gia Desantis who still remains one of my best friends today.

While I was wrapping that internship up, dad returned to Studio A to record a 5 song record. I made time to get down there and hear a song or two. It was a great feeling to be working there while he was recording at the same time. When I opened the studio door, Chaka Chaan appeared standing in front of the mixing board wrapping with dad and listening to the tracks. She just happened to be recording next door and popped by. This is just some of the MAGIC that happens inside the Tower.

A lot of time passed after I left that internship in 1994. None of us ever went back again. New management had taken over, new music colliding with the past and dad kept his career on the road.

After my father passed away in 2009, I never imagined I would be invited again into the Tower. You can only get in if you're an employee, one of the recording artists, or if you rent the studios to record or host an event. And it's NOT cheap. But in 2012 I was invited to Studio A once again for a listening party for Micky Dolenz's new record. Standing in that studio again brought tears to my eyes. Childhood memories came flooding back. I could see a mirage of my father in the singers booth signaling back to the engineer. I snuck back up to the company wreck room on the

But that wouldn't be my last visit. I would be invited twice again by a new friend who was in charge of the studios and invited me back for a private tour. And THIS time I was granted to take pictures. He basically SET ME LOOSE in the Tower. This was my Disneyland. My excitement must have charmed him because the next thing I know I was on the roof of the building.

Below are photos from both of my visits that were set up by the VERY generous, Drew Waters...

But none of the experiences I've shared here could possibly prepare me for what was going to happen to me in November of 2015. If there’s one holiday tradition that I enjoy every year, it’s spotting the historic Christmas tree that tops the iconic Capitol Records building on Vine Street in Hollywood.

Designed by Ollsen Lighting and featuring 4,373 bulbs (at 25 watts each), the tree was the first of its kind, and it has been a part of the Hollywood skyline each December since 1958. In recent years, the families of Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra “flipped the switch”. I had always dreamed I would one day to the same.

On November 23, 2015, I called my friend, Ron McMaster and asked if I could watch it from the parking lot. He told me to come right over. I quickly put on my father's 1970s Capitol Record Jacket and jammed over to the Tower. It was just starting to get dark. Little did I know Ron and the rest of the facility department had another plan for me. I knew something was up when they told me to get into the elevator. Once you get to the top floor, you then have to take stairs to the roof. I knew then what was happening. It was my turn to flip the switch for the 57th time! my turn to witness this historical event. That’s right! Capitol Records was kind of enough to invite me this Monday, November 23rd, to light the tree for the 57th time! Once we got up to the roof, the staff told me it was time. My mother was with my and quickly grabbed my phone and filmed one of the most magical L.A. moments of my life.

Dining out

If celebrity watching is your thing...

Los Angeles Magazine Article by George Christy, Jan, 1971

Archived by Alison Martino

You could wait an hour for a booth, and then again you might not, depending on what the action is at "Matteo's" which is probably the chummiest star hang out in Lotusland ( as they used to call it before unemployment set in)... but even the wait can be amusing, because, seated at the jazzy bar or on the love seat in the cozy for foyer-library where the lighted toy trains race above you on slim wall ledges, you'll see practically everyone, if you or your guests are in the mood for a celeb-sighting. And you'll be even more amused as you watch the celebrities ordering, fussing, sending food back, carrying on outrageously at some stars do.

"Zsa Zsa's the toughest", admits the very amiable Jimmy, Basque-born and one of owner Matty's cracker-jack captains. "She likes the baked Ziti with ricotta cheese, and she's always sending it back. It's not hot enough. Or it baked too long. Or it tastes different. What's wrong with the wine, it doesn't taste right....if you please Zsa Zsa you've done two days' work."

He adds: Pasta eaters come here - Omar Sharif, Orson Welles, Jackie Cooper, Burt Lancaster. Orson orders two plates of mostaciolli marinara, one order isn't enough. Omar's the wine connoisseur. He'll pay $55 for a bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothchild 1959. Ben Gazzara likes wine, too, and is so particular that you have to open four bottles of wine before he is satisfied. He tastes one, shakes his head, no: tastes another, no again, etc. Ben loves Ruffino Ducale - and enjoys a free show when he's out, and always asks our captain, Tony, to sing.

Many dinner celebrities at Matteo's, Jimmy points out, are diet conscious. "After all, their body is their fortune...besides, the camera add pounds to their faces and figures. Gene Barry's the most dedicated calorie counter, we created a special locale fish dish for him - broiled lake superior whitefish with a simple fresh tomato sauce. Peter Lawford worries, too. And David Janssen calorie counts. Only eat clams and has a glass of wine. Jerry Lewis like spaghetti with a watery sauce. Lucille ball is so easy to please because she hardly eats at all. And Barbra Streisand never fusses, she likes linguini and clam sauce and a white wine, Soave Bolla usually. Ava Gabor is easier than Zsa Zsa - she orders spaghetti carbonara with the raw egg and prosciutto and olive oil.

"The wildest dinner is Trini Lopez... he has the hottest palate in town. Loves pork chops smothered - and I mean buried! - with burning hot peppers. The man could eat fire. And Lee Marvin, well, his dinner isn't as important as the vodka-on-the-rocks. Stars aren't the biggest eaters. Spanish royalty eats more at one sitting that any of them".

All of these her heroic appetites and famous faces can be glimpsed at 2319 West Wood Blvd.

On another side of town, in Hollywood, near the Deslilu Studios, is "Hal's Studio Cafe", at 836 North Cahuenga, The only commissary with the public is invited. Danny Thomas wants a hot salami sandwich ("and he means sizzling 'hot') or some old fashion baloney. Dick Vandyke can't stand cellophane-wrapped crackers. Milton Berle smirks over "hamburgers that's too fresh." Joey Bishop never varies his lunch - he likes a very thin slice of cheese or ham with a slice of tomato, that's all. Andy Griffith orders but hardly eats. The most demanding is Werner Klemperer of "Hogan's Heroes". "You can't keep him waiting... and if he asks for scrambled eggs and cheese done easy - and they're the least bit 'over easy,' he yells. Bob Crane's forever in a hurry. Sometimes were so busy at lunch that our regular customers - like Bob - ring up their sales on the cash register, take their change, etc.".

Hal admits that most stars are wait conscious. "But Bill Dana will eat anything, short ribs and Stew and roast beef. He has the best appetite and should be as round as Orson Welles. Fattening or not, blintzes are Kaye Ballard's and Eve Arden's favorites.

"Nickoldell's" at 5507 Melrose is next-door to the studios, and attracts a star-studded lunch and dinner brunch. Peter Graves, Leonard Nimoy, Mike Connors are frequent visitors - as Lucille Ball with her family. "Lucy order steak sandwiches and Caesar salad," says co-owner Leonard Beidle. "Sammy Davis often and pops in for a Dubonnet-and-soda, short ribs and some Galliano-over-ice after dinner. William Frawley was nuts about Mumm's: Champagne with steak, Jack Benny only eats cold turkey with sliced tomatoes - maybe Jell-O for dessert. The biggest drinker? Lawrence Tierny. Always looking for an argument. And Sonny Liston once kicked Muhammad Ali off our lot."

A genuinely unique celebrity dining spot is the intimate "Cafe Four Oaks", nestled in Beverly Glen Canyon, secluded and far away from the madding studio throng. It's not a place you happen to pass by: consequently celebrities like the privacy it offers. They come here for dinner and also for the eggs Benedict at Sunday brunch which ( on warm days) is served outdoors on the area patio. Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Rita Hayworth, Rock Hudson, hide out here, and Jill St. John comes fairly often with her hairdresser to try to make all the "lemon thing" dessert recipe from TV actor and cook, Hal Buckley.

Call Anna Jack Alan recalls the fussiest customer was Roger Wagner of the Roger Wagner Chorale. "He came in with a gorgeous girl, despised our wine list. Another couple noticed his unhappiness and offered to share some of their own wine with him ( which they had brought), but no, he drives all the way to his own wine cellar in Bel-Air, re-appears with a bottle of his precious wine and gloats like a kid. Celebrities aren't ones who calls much fuss though. Frankly, the non celebrities can get carried away, act huffy and smart-alecky, so we waltz them right out the door. Of course, we go out of our way to please anyone, whether they're a celebrity or not. Steve McQueen wanted beer one night with his dinner, we didn't have any, so the waiter slipped out the back door, drove to the supermarket and got some."

Other dining rooms that attract stars include, of course, "The Bistro", which is very social. Chain-smoker Loretta Young entertains here (but her TV director-friend, Richard Morris, laughs, "The rest of us eat, while she has a couple of cartons of cigarettes").

"The Aware Inn" along Sunset Boulevard pictures one of the best hamburgers in town, the Swinger, cooked with organic vegetables. Nancy Sinatra, Red Buttons, Mia Farrow, Joni James are addicted to it.

Chasen's along Beverly Blvd is notorious for chili, hobo steak - and Herb Alpert, Candice Bergen, Roz Russell, Polly Bergen dine here often.

Jean Leon's "La Scala" in Beverly Hills get some of the prettiest starlets, along with Natalie Wood Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman, who like the fettuccine and veal with peppers (as did the late JFK who made La Scala a not-to-be-missed stop whenever he visited L.A.). At the adjoining La Scala Boutique, you'll always spot one of the two notables, sometimes hordes, having an informal lunch. Melrose Avenue's The Steak Pit is like a private club - you have to reserve days ahead, as do Cary Grant, James Colburn, and Dean Martin, for a booth and the best beef steak tomatoes in the west.

Dominick's is clubby, too - bartender Dominick frowns on anyone who comes in the front door; the "in" customers like Julie Andrews, Blake Edwards, Robert and Rosemary Stack know that you enter through the kitchen.

In Palm Springs (we're stars have second homes), weekends are uptight during the height of the season at restaurants such as the posh Racquet Club ( where are you must be a member), Don the Beachcomber's, Ruby's, Dunes, Pete Petitto's. Leon Webb, maitre d'hotel at the Racquet Club for 22 years, reflects that "the celebrities here are more down to earth here because they're here to relax - it's the non-celebrity customer we sometimes have problems with. Dinah Shore will eat anything you suggest, and if you give Joan Crawford a dry Martini - 'the drier the better' - she thanks you all night.

At Pete Petitto's in near by Rancho Mirage, the Red Skelton's eat their big meal at 2:30 in the afternoon, then won't eat a thing the rest of the day. You can tell when the Skelton's are there - Red's $100,000 silver-plated Rolls-Royce with mink carpets and mink upholstery is in the parking lot, alongside that is daughter Veronica's Roll's. "The most knowledgeable dinners are Mitzi Gaynor and her husband Jack Bean," insists friendly Pete, who once worked with Bing Crosby. "They take three hours to dine - always order salad after dinner, the way gourmets do, and they change wines with each course. Kirk Douglas also likes good food, but hates to wait for it to be cooked to order, so how do you please him?"

Frank Sinatra's on-again, off- again favorite is Ruby's Dunes where he sips Jack Daniels, dines on razor thin very-well-done pork chops or on a couple of Rubys chicken broth with Matzoh balls. A one time fiddler/bandleader, owner, Irwin Rubenstien says celebrities like to be seated promptly, and that Truman Capote and Lee Radziwell slow-burned one Sunday night when they weren't seated immediately and strutted right out.

Frank Sinatra at Ruby's Dunes

Probably the most unsettling thing that happened, admits Ruby, was during an evening several years ago when a superstar and his wife walked in with Bobby and Ethel Kennedy and friends. "A party of ten, they came in without a reservation at the peak dining hour, eight o'clock. I didn't have any space, so I bought them a drink at the bar. Two tables for four were soon going to be vacant - I could see five at each in a pinch - so I asked the star if they wanted to separate into two groups until another larger table was free. He humphs, and marched right out with everyone, doesn't even say good night. But Bobby came back with Ethel a couple of nights later and apologized..."

Alison Martinois a writer, television producer and personality, and L.A. pop culture historian. She founded the Facebook page Vintage Los Angeles in 2010. In addition to CityThink and VLA, Martino muses on L.A’s. past and present on Twitter and Instagram

This garish mansion was the infamous 'Sheik's House' on Sunset Blvd. It had gained international notoriety for its tacky facade once located at 9561 in Beverly Hills. Back in 1978, Saudi Arabian Sheik Mohammad Al-Fassi and his new wife, Sheikha Ibtissm were the last owners of this 38 room mansion built in 1917. It was originally a stately Italian residence built by Beverly Hill co-founer, May Whittier. It was once such a pristine and classy home until the young Sheik had the statues on the front veranda painted in flesh tones that included fuzzy pubic hair on their genitals! (when it rained, servants covered the statues with raincoats to preserve their obnoxious paintjobs. Inside he has poster blow-ups made from the cheapest pulp porn mags; drugged-out "hippie chicks" with glazed eyes doing "beaver" shots, etc hanging in his powder rooms. At one time he invited the neighbors and my mother got a tour of the place and made the front page of the Beverly Hills paper the next day. The photo was actually taken by director, George Sidney.

Fassi painted his new gaudy mansion a rotting lime green color and had fake plastic trees in the most peculiar colors throughout the estate. He added a gold roof, a mosque, a beacon to ward off low-flying planes and a massive black wrought iron gate. He had over 100 woman dressed in black glueing small black stones to the gate for two weeks. I remember as a little girl taking one as a souvenir. Neighbors renamed it "Dirty Disneyland." Tourist hawks and neighbors complained. Although it did come in handy for Steve Martin. The garish home was used as a location for the movie "The Jerk" as Steve Martin's tacky mansion. Remember the clam shaped bed and the 1970s Disco scenes? All filmed right here - no set designer needed! The Sheik was always dressed in Saturday Night Fever style fashions too as he was determined to be trendy. Big colors, polyester and gold chains.

The Jerk filmed at the Sheik's House

At one point Al-Fassi was worth 6 million dollars, all of which he inherited from being an honorary member of the SaudiRoyal family( he wasn't even a real sheik)

There was a lot of scandal and speculation after this mansion was torched to a crisp in 1981. 'It was the end of an eyesore'. Some say the neighbors did it and some think the Sheik set it on fire so his x wife wouldn't be able to inherit his priceless works of art historic art, including a Matisse (which is rumored to have turned up in Puru recently). I'll never forget the blaze since we lived just a block away. I thought the sheik was blowing up the entire block! When it was finally razed, there was a demolition celebration. In 1985 neighbors, politicians, and real estate agents who watched raised their wine glasses as they watched bulldozers take down what was left of it including Brett Hodges, the great-grandson of Max Whittier, the original occupant of the 68-year-old estate. Nearly dozens of cameras recorded the scene. Here's some archival footage of the interior and its fateful demise. I discovered this footage back in 1999 inside the KTLA vaults and produced this story as a segment of, "Mysteries & Scandals".

Today two new massive homes (which look more like embassy's) sit on this property. One of the owners of the house on the west side ran out of money and it's just sitting there empty.

My mother took this photo of the Sheik's house. We used to talk afternoon walks past it

When this photo of me standing in our driveway in BH was taken during the 1970s, we still had JJ Newberry, Food King and a local Home Silk Shop. Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly would say hello to you waiting in line at the post office. You'd pass by Edward G Robinson walking his dogs, and Doris Day riding her bike. Freight Trains were still plowing down Santa Monica Blvd with the smell of fresh Wonder Bread on board and Helms Bakery Trucks brought milk to our door steps. Robinson's, Bonwit Teller, The Broadway, Bullock's, and The May Co. were the high-end stores of the day, and Rodeo Drive was not yet a tourist trap. We instead had reasonably priced boutiques and 'mom and pop' shops where everyone knew your first name. I believe this 70s ensemble came from Toby's on Beverly Drive. (My mother recalls seeing Natalie Wood there). We had neighborhood joints and local restaurants like Tony Roma's, R.J's, Ah Fong's, Wil Wright's, La Scala Boutique, and Scandia, and bohemian lunch destinations such as Cafe Figaro, The Melting Pot, The Old World, Alfie's and The Source. Tiki-themed restaurants like the Luau and The Islander were the current craze, known for their flaming drinks and moats surrounding their properties. Orange Julius and Fotomats seemed to be on every corner. Banks didn't have underground parking, and you never had to get a ticket validated. There were no answering machines and no texting. We only had telephone booths and landlines. Westwood was still a destination, and you had to play video games in the arcades. The only place you could hear the most current songs was on the radio, and we could name every disc jockey who played them. American Graffiti, Dark Side Of the Moon and Kojak had just been released, Columbo and Jim Rockford were our favorite private eyes, Johnny Carson ruled late night, and the movie-of-the-week was a big family event. Tower Records was our second home and dozens of LPs, cassette tapes, and 8 tracks were pilled up in our bedroom. (The first single my mother ever bought for my was Sing by the Carpenters). Our Zenith TV's were controlled by ONE remote: the clicker - also known as the Space Command. Our old library looked like a row of colorful books made of mid century mosaic glass, rather then Faux Tuscan stucco. Our parents bought our toys at Toy-Mart, our clothes at Pixie Town, our footwear at Standard Shoes (and played in a giant boot(, while they organized our birthday parties at Farrell's and Genie Land. We took cotillion classes and the Daisy and tap dancing at Al Gilbert Studios. We rode amusement park rides and ponies where the Beverly Center is located today, ate hotdogs at a stand in the shape of a hot dog, and roller skated at Fiorucci, Pan Pacific Park and Flippers Roller Disco. Our moms lunched at Bullock's tea room, and they still called them beauty parlors - not salons. My dad wore a lot of suede and big glasses and mom shopped at Lanz for flower-power dresses. This was also a time when the Century City Mall had a Clifton's Cafeteria, and a Bob's Big Boy, as well as Heaven, Jospeh Magnin (near the jelly belly cart) and a singing flower man across from Judy's. Houses weren't torn down for McMansions, Kids still rode their big wheels and Trans Ams were the coolest cars on the road. It was still a village, and it wasn't yet famous for its zip code. We would see Dean Martin at Hamburger Hamlet, Frank Sinatra at Matteo's, and Jimmy Stewart at Chasen's. Our home was filled with shag carpeting, fake ferns, flocked wallpaper, blue velvet couches, Spanish tables, swivel chairs, and avocado colored appliances. We went to Baskin-Robbins, ordered pizza from Jacopo's, ate cookies at Famous Amos, and hadn't yet abbreviated the House Of Pancakes to IHOP. And to this day, I refuse to call Rite Aid, "Thrifty!" That's where I used to see Milton Berle in the aisles, and Jack Lemmon ordering double scoops of rocky road. Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Peter Falk, Rosemary Clooney, and Agnes Moorehead were still very much alive, and living a few blocks over on Roxbury Drive. Simpler times with WIDE open spaces. Big enough to park this monster car from Casa de Cadillac!

These are just some of the reasons I created Vintage Los Angeles

Photos and clips of several places and people I mentioned:

With my dad and mom in 1975 in our backyard. (Al and Judi Martino)

Beverly Hills Circa 1975. I grew up just around the corner of this intersection. The Beverly Hills Hotel can be seen across the street. That's about the only thing that remains the same of all the following photos

J.J.Newberry's on Beverly Drive in BH. Remember they sold parakeets and goldfish? And how about those soda counters? This is where my mom purchased my Halloween costumes.

Freight Trains plowing down Santa Monica Blvd during the 1970s. The smell of fresh Wonder-bread was one of the greatest things about living in Los Angeles during the 1970s and 80s

The Beverly Hill train tracks that carried Wonder Bread

Wilshire and San Vicente in Beverly Hills, 1970s

Robinson's Department Store demolished in 2014 (weep)

The Broadway Department Store in Century City. For some reason my father always called CC mall, the Broadway :)

Bullock's Westwood, shortly after opening in 1951. Stretching down Le Conte and Weyburn Ave, the Welton Becket building replaced a smaller Bullock's store on Weyburn which opened in 1931. Bullock's Westwood closed in 1998 and today the exterior looks much the same, but the interior became a multi-tenant space that includes a Ralphs, Target, and the UCLA Child Care Center.

May, 1970: Looking towards May Co. from a northbound car on Fairfax Ave. at Wilshire Blvd. On the right side is Ohrbachs dept. store, which opened in 1964 and closed in 1986

Tony Roma's in Beverly Hills. My parents used to go here with Morey Amsterdam, Jerry Vale and Tony Roma himself

Ah Fong's in Beverly Hills. Dad used to tell me we were taking the stairs down to China. Of course I believed him.

Wil Wright's on South Beverly Drive. Later Hagan Daaz would move in

La Scala Boutique on the corner of Little Santa Monica Blvd and Beverly Drive. A favorite of Natalie Wood and Suzanne Pleshette.

Scandia at Sunset and Doheny. The structure was sadly demolished in 2015 to make way for a new Marriott Hotel.

Chasen's on Beverly Blvd. Today this is a Bristol Farms market

Cafe Figaro on Melrose Ave

The Melting Pot at the corner of Melrose and La Cienega

The Old World Restaurant at Holloway and Sunset Strip. Miraculously this structure still stands and is currently a bar / restaurant called THE STATE

Sunset Strip, 1979. Photo Robert Landau

Alfie's on the strip - later became Mirabelle...

The Source on Sunset Strip. Today its a restaurant Cabano Cantina. The Source has also been preserved on celluloid in "Annie Hall". There is also a fascinating documentary on Netflix about the Source called "Source Family". The Source is where I first ever had avocado on a sandwich.

My father's Sunset Strip billboard advertising his role as Johnny Fontane in The Godfather was directly next to the Source in 1972

The Luau on Rodeo Drive. Owned by Lana Turner husband, Steve Crane. They also had a gift shop and a bridge surrounded by a moat. It was tragically demolished for a complex called The Rodeo Collection in the early 80s that never took off.

My very first birthday was at the Luau - snapshot taken by my mother Judi

The Islander on La Cienega. Today this once unique stretch of La Cienega has been replaced with sterile looking apartment buildings

Fotomat. The drive-through film-developing kiosks began in the 1960's in Point Loma, Ca. At its peak in 1980 there were 4,000+ Fotomats. Some of them stillstands today and have been repurposed into other businesses

Westwood Village during the 1970s

Westworld Arcade in Westwood

Tower Records on Sunset Strip - Photo by Robert Landau

John Lennon commercial for Tower Records

Elton John shopping at Tower Records in the early 1970s

KHJ 1970s

Dark Side Of the Moon by Pink Floyd (full album)

Kojak

Movie of the week bumpers

The first single my mother ever purchased for me was SING by the Carpenters and I still have it.

I also still have our family 'clicker' from our Zenith TV!

The Beverly Hills Library during the 1970s. It was supposed to look like a row of books. Exterior shots of this library was also used as Mike Brady's office in the Brady Bunch.

Pixietown clothing store for kids

Standard Shoes on La Cienega 1970s

A rare photo of the giant boot us kids played inside of at Standard Shoes

Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor

My birthday party at Genie Land. A magical place that was used for children's birthday parties in the San Fernando Valley

My photo taken and old program from Al Gilbert Dance Studio on La Cienega

Fiorucci in Beverly Hills located in the former Beverly Theater

Pan Pacific Auditorium. Also seen in the movie Xanadu. A popular skating destination. Sadly it burned to the ground in the late 1980s

Flippers Roller Disco on La Cienega during the 1970s. (today CVS)

Me at Flippers on by 9th birthday.

My dad in clothing from Sy Devore clothing and over sized 70 shades.

My mother decked out in a two piece Flower Power ensemble. circa 1971 purchased at Lanz

Our living room on Rexford drive. Blue velvet couches, swivel chairs, shag carpeting, built in entertainment center and fake ferns! So 70s!

Imagine a gigantic ferris wheel in the heart of LA. Well here's proof of one that existed on La Cienega. Even though the place was really called "Beverly Park", we kids just called it "Kiddy Land". Sadly it shut down in 1974. The Beverly Center now sits on Beverly Park soil...

This was Beverly Park in 1970 taken from the Rexall Parking lot at La Cienega and Beverly Blvd - where the Beverly Center now stands. Smokey Joes Cafe on the bottom right had just suffered a fire in this photo and apparently Bobby Darin is getting ready to headline the Hilton in Vegas!

Beverly Park on Beverly Blvd between La Cienega and San Vincente. Today this is the Beverly Center.

Next door to Beverly Park was Ponyland

Tail O' the Pup once located across from Beverly Park at La Cienega and Beverly Blvd.

Bullock's Wilshire Tea Room circa 1977

Me at Bullock's on my 6th birthday

Clifton's Cafeteria once located in Century City

Joe Richards "The Singing Flower Man" at Century City

The Jelly Bellies cart at Century City in 1973! It was directly across from the "singing flower man!"

Judy's located at Century City

Joseph Magnin, Century City, 1970s

Heaven business card from Century City

Dean Martin photo-bombed at the Hamburger Hamlet

Hamburger Hamlet on Sunset Strip. I took this photo on closing night in 2011

Matteo's in Westwood. Frank Sinatra's table was all the way back on the right

Jimmy Stewart and his wife Gloria, with Peter Bogdanovich and Cybill Shepherd at Chasen’s in 1972. (Now a Bristol Farms)

Another image from the wonderful world that existed before smart phones occupied the dinner table and when people actually looked directly at each other instead of looking down and texting. Men were also required to wear a jacket and tie at Chasen’s.

Jacopo's 1978....see the railroad track on the left? My dad almost purchased Jacobo's, but sadly a friend of his talked him out of it. I often think if it would still be in business if he had went through with it.

Famous Amos Cookies on Sunset Blvd

International House of Pancakes located on Santa Monica Blvd. STILL THERE TODAY!

Thrifty in Beverly Hills

Our Beverly Hills Thrifty location even made an appearance the Albert Brooks movie, "Modern Romance"

Just last year I ran into Charo in the isles! You'll ALWAYS see a celebrity at the old
Thrifty. Now Rite Aid.

Alison Martino is a writer, television producer, and pop culture historian. She founded the Facebook page Vintage Los Angeles in 2010. Alison muses on L.A’s. past and present on Twitter and Instagram

The Legendary Past and Celluloid Future of Tower Records on the Sunset Strip

By Alison Martino

Photo: Robert Landau

It’s impossible not to think of Tower Records when referring to the Sunset Strip. It’s even more impossible to accept that the beloved store once located at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Horn Avenue is no longer in business.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

💔 signing autographs at Tower Records in Los Angeles, 1976

I recently had dinner with a friend not too far from the old Tower location. As we were paying our bill, we discussed what we should do next. I joked that we should walk down to Tower Records and browse through rows and rows of LPs and cassettes, then head across the street to Tower Video to rent the latest release (most likely on VHS).

I wish it wasn’t just a fantasy. You see, Tower Records was more then just a record store, It was a musical rite of passage. It’s where kids graduated to die-hard music fans. I spent my very first allowance money on Blondie and Devo records. I’ll never forget the anticipation of rushing home to get them on the turntable! My friends and I would remove the cellophane from new records before we even got to the car. Even the store’s parking lot had its own identity. On weekends, there was so much pandemonium that fistfights broke out over available parking spots. It was the hub of the Strip, located directly across from the original Spago and a few blocks east of the Rainbow Bar and Grill and the Whisky a Go Go. It’s where rock stars mingled with locals and tourists; it wasn’t uncommon to bump into Robert Plant, Stevie Wonder, Robert Stigwood, Ella Fitzgerald, Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Elvis Costello, Robert Evans, Smokey Robinson or even George Burns in the aisles. I once witnessed Valerie Bertinelli (who had just married guitarist Eddie Van Halen) turn Van Halen’s “JUMP” record around to reveal her hubby’s photo, and I eavesdropped on David Bowie discussing English imports at the info booth that doubled as a DJ station at the center of the store. John Lennon even recorded a voiceover for this Tower Records commercial:

Tower Records Sunset Strip Circa 1980

Tower Records was a music business melting pot. But the employees (some of which were in soon-to-be-famous bands themselves) were the main attraction. They knew everyone’s name, what music they liked, and what car they pulled up in. Axl Rose, a Tower Video employee, once shoved a flyer for his new band Guns & Roses, which was playing down the block at Gazzarri’s, into my bag. In 1976 Elton John told Playboy that if he weren’t a rock star, he would have wanted to be a Tower Records alumni.

Elton John shopping at Tower Records

The latest LPs arriving at Tower Records Sunset

Peter Criss and Paul Stanley of Kiss in 1974 on Sunset Strip

Some of us teenagers dropped by five times a week since the store couldn’t keep the latest singles in stock. Prince’s “Purple Rain” was consistently sold out, but if you were in with one of the employees, they would hold a copy for you.

Tower Records, which stayed open until 1 a.m. on weekends, was a music venue, too. Hundreds of musicians including Rod Stewart, Randy Newman, and XTC performed live inside the store, and thousands of fans wrapped around the L-shaped parking lot to get in when Aerosmith, Keith Richards, Dolly Parton, James Brown, Duran Duran, and Brian Wilson stopped by to sign records. David Lee Roth shut the Strip down for several hours when he rappelled down a replica of the Matterhorn built on the record store’s roof to deliver his album “Skyscraper.” Alice Cooper drove up in a huge trash truck to deliver “Trash.”

David Lee Roth delivers his album “Skyscraper” by repelling down a replica of the Matterhorn on the roof of Tower Records.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY DEBBIE ROSZKOWSKI

The music mecca shaped my youth and will always be a part of my soul. It’s hard not to get misty-eyed thinking back on it now. (Thankfully, I saved a dozen of my Tower Records red and yellow vinyl bags. Today they are about as desirable as collectible records.)

Even God had the 'uncontrollable Urge" to shop at Tower Records. (George Burns)

Warner Bros./Reprise chairman Mo Ostin checks out his label's best sellers at Tower Records on the Sunset Strip. (photo: Esquire Oct. 1972)

Joey Ramone stands outside a massive painting of the cover of the boy's debut album in the window of the famous Tower Records store on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles

That’s why I am personally relieved and thankful to Colin Hanks for making a feature documentary that will always help keep the Tower Records’ legend alive. His film, All Things Must Pass examines the iconic company’s rise and fall and profiles its rebellious founder, Russ Solomon. After watching an exclusive cut of the film in 2015, I can say it’s the closet thing to a Tower Records time machine. The images and archival footage are spellbinding. I could almost smell the vinyl through my screen. In addition to bringing the store back to life, the documentary taught me its backstory: Tower Records began in a Sacramento drugstore owned by Russ Solomon’s father, and Solomon opened his second outpost on Columbus Avenue in San Francisco in 1968. Two years later Tower Records opened on the Sunset Strip, taking over the site where “Madman” Muntz had sold the very first car stereos. Solomon eventually opened 189 stores around the world, and the franchise made $1 billion dollars by 1999. Then things took a dramatic turn: In 2006, the company filed for bankruptcy. Some blame the internet, among other things, for Tower's demise. Itunes, the Illegal downloading of music, and Youtube most likely also contributed to the record store chain's closing.

Tower Records founder Russ Solomon at the Tower Records store opening in New York in 1983.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY “ALL THINGS MUST PASS.”

Below is an aRchive of my interview actor and film maker, Collin Hanks in 2015

The Cock n' Bull in 1974. The CR prefix stood for CRestview.

This beloved "Vintage Los Angeles" tavern located at Sunset and Doheny was not only popular with the neighborhood locals, but also with 'Old Hollywood' entertainers like John Barrymore, Bette Davis, Orson Welles, John Carradine, Sal Mineo, Peter O'Toole, Jack Webb (who had his own table and lived across the street from Sierra Towers) and Richard Burton who actually changed tables every time he changed wives. It was home base for Oliver Reed, who would salute the Queen of England after a few. Anyone that didn't salute, he'd holler, "GET OUT!" Dean Martin used to go there quite often (since his own restaurant was within walking distance) and around Christmas time he would write the entire staff each a check for $200.00, from the busboys on up! In Shelly Winter's autobiography she mentions going to the Cock n' Bull the day Germany fell and Hitler was dead. Previously, she had accidentally discovered a photo of Hitler in the office which the staff had been using as a dart board. So, she retuned to urinate below the picture, "because she couldn't pee on Hitler's face". It was also popular with musicians and rockstars through the years such Jim Morrison, Keith Moon, The Eagles, Rod Stewart (who would bring his entire soccer team) and Joe Cocker, who named his band, "Joe Cocker and the Cock n' Bull Band after his favorite Sunset Strip haunt. It was big with the big-wigs at Geffen Records because it was conveniently located next door, Roger Corman had offices upstairs, Peter Lawford had a membership card and at times had his car keys taken from him. During the 1970s and 1980s, my parents would bring their industry friends to the Cock n' Bull. I remember asking actress, Beatrice Straight for her autograph one night after seeing Poltergeist at the ABC Entertainment Center that very same day (I was even years old). A few years later I sat two tables away from Madonna and Sean Penn before they got hitched.

The night I met Beatrice Straight at the Cock n' Bull in 1982

The main dining room had a charming fireplace which made it feel like you were in a real English cottage while eating one of the most popular meals: the Welsh Rarebit, consisting of cheese sauce on toast with a little paprika sprinkled on top and pickled onions on the side. The Yorkshire Pudding and roast beef were a personal favorite when we went for their legendary Easter Buffet. The Cock 'n Bull's founder Jack Morgan, was generally credited with making vodka a popular drink in America by concocting the Moscow Mule (vodka and ginger beer), which was served in copper mugs. It was also referred to as, "the Drink With the Velvet Kick".

The restaurant spanned succeeding eras of nightclubs, coffee houses, discotheques, topless bars and rock clubs in the neighborhood. But, sadly, the Cock 'n Bull closed soon after it's 50th anniversary in 1987 (that's ancient in southern California standards) and became a Jaguar dealership. There is a plaque above the entrance in honor of this institution. It was legendary and busy to the end. A Hollywood institution, like Chasen's, which was immaculate, professionally run and always a fun place to go. Jimmy Breslin once wrote, "You didn't have to worry about some guy throwing up on your shoe or punching you in the mouth. The place had class." Jimmy must have missed the nights Keith Moon and Oliver Reed famously wreaked havoc at the bar!

According to the Jack Webb Archives, that's Jack Webb's Caddy out front. Photo circa 1980

Today the old Cock n' Bull structure has been converted to a Jaguar dealership. But at least there is a plaque in its honor

I just scored a rare postcard on Ebay for a few bucks after a 10 year hunt. I think this calls for a Moscow Mule in a copper mug!

When you're at LOVE'S, the whole world is delicious...

How I miss "Love's Wood Pit Barbecue". Back in the 1970s and 1980s, these recognizable retro structures were all over Southern California. They always seemed to be conveniently located and had pretty decent ribs for a chain. I have vivid memories of dipping that delicious bread in the BBQ sauce, (with the little seeds) with a side of their famous baked beans that tasted like candy. Mustn't forget the bowls of water and lemon to clean your hands and face afterward. I felt so 'adult' getting Shirley Temples and walking through the the bar area to the ladies room. Their Heart's Delight sandwich and hot fudge sundaes also stick out in my mind. You wonder how a place that good and that successful could go out of business, but sadly they no longer exist.

'Love's" starting closing in the late 1980s. There were some changes of ownerships and lawsuits over the years that took it's toll on the corporation. The "flagship" location on on Pico, mysteriously turned into a place called Noonan's. Soon after most of the locations started changes names and all those love-shaped pole signs were soon repurposed into other business marquees and advertisements.

My favorite celebrity sightings were The Jackson 5 and Tony Randall at the Beverly Hills location between Beverwil Dr. and Roxbury Dr. My friend, Michael Hagerty recalls seeing Linda and Paul McCartney at the location on La Tijera, "the American wife schooling the British hubby on American Barbecue".

I also remember a "Love's on Montana Ave. and San Vicente in the Brentwood during the late 1970s. I used to call it, "Wood's Love's Pit". I truly miss the American family style restaurants (especially their straight-up, no nonsense cuisine) of the 20th century.

I've also been searching for their commercial for years, but no dice. It was like a romantic love song about BBQ sauce. No commercial voice over talent, before or since, has ever said "bar-b-qued beans" or "baked buh-tatuh" better.

"Love's" on Hollywood Blvd, 1983

I would spend hours at the Hollywood location flipping through rare collectibles that I had just purchased next door at "Book City". And I used to use the "Loves" pay phone in the back to call friends after school.

I "loved" their heart shaped logo. I would get so excited spotting them from various freeways. That sign on Pico was there for most of my life. It always reminded me of being little and going there with my folks. I became more sentimental about as I got older and things changed drastically here and around it. The iron handrails on Pico were made to include a heart in the design and the handrails are still there. The heart sign was still there a few years ago, no name, just the pole with the empty heart.

Seeing old photos of "Love's" takes me back to my childhood, when everything about L.A. was a dream, still is, in my mind, and I cherish the memories.

"M'Goo's" and "Love's" Restaurant at Hollywood Blvd. and Cherokee Ave in 1972. '

Photo Bruce Torrance

Vintage "LOVE'S" menus

My friend, Ilene Waterstone at Wood Pit BBQ on Reseda Blvd. in Northridge on March 21, 1972.

One of the first"Love's location located at Valley Plaza in 1965

And Tommy Gelinas of 'Valley Relics' saved one of the original neon signs and it's all lit up out at the Valley Relics Museum.

And BTW, you can still purchase "LOVE'S" BBQ sauce! Click here!

Alison Martino is a writer, television producer, and pop culture historian. She founded the Facebook page Vintage Los Angeles in 2010.
Follow Alison on Twitter and Instagram

I just adore the window display at Edelweiss Chocolates in Beverly Hills - especially around the holidays. This charming little chocolate factory has been in business in the same location since 1942. Those are the original Art Deco glass blocks on both sides making it one one of the very last vintage store facades left in the neighborhood - and one of the oldest confectionaries in America that still process its chocolates by hand. Frank Sinatra's favorite were the Maple Creams and Lauren Bacall and Katherine Hepburn's were the Chocolate Turtles (also a favorite of my father's). Many think this is where that famous Lucy episode was filmed, but it WAS where Lucy got the idea for the episode since she used to enter through the back door. In 1996, agent Marty Ingles purchased the entire store for wife, actress Shirley Jones. She sold it in 2004 to current owner, Madlin Zahir. If you get there early enough she might give you a tour. In fact once of my earliest 'Vintage LA' memories was seeing fresh chocolate coming down the conveyor belt on a grade school field trip. I think this was the first place I ever tried gummy bears and Coke bottles. Until this day Edelweiss sells 85 different kinds of chocolates and dozens of unique candy. That's seriously enough to impress to Willy Wonka!

Alison Martino is a writer, television producer, and pop culture historian. She founded the Facebook pageVintage Los Angeles in 2010. Alison muses on L.A’s. past and present on Twitter and Instagram.

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I couldn't think of a better place to set me loose!

Graystone Manor is a hidden gem tucked away above Sunset Blvd in Beverly Hills. The mansion, built in 1927 is only open during special programs such as Music in the Mansion and Friends of Greystone events, although the outside grounds are open daily for visitors to enjoy!

Greystone Mansion, and the surrounding grounds with which it shares its magnificent beauty, are rich in California history. Edward Laurence Doheny, who bought the land in the 1910s, was born in 1856 in the small Midwestern town of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. In 1892, Doheny and his friend Charles A. Canfield, were the first to strike oil in Los Angeles. They later discovered large oil deposits in Mexico which, combined with their Los Angeles holdings, made them the largest producers of oil in the world at that time. Edward Doheny and his wife Carrie Louella Wilkins had two children. Their first, a daughter Eileen, passed away when she was just seven years old. On November 6, 1893, their only son, Edward “Ned” Laurence Doheny, Jr., was born and grew up as heir to one of the world’s great financial empires. Ned went on to marry Lucy Smith of Pasadena and in 1926 Edward Laurence Doheny Sr. gave his son a premium parcel of land consisting of 12.58 acres with sweeping citywide views.

Construction of the palatial manor, by architect Gordon Kaufmann, began February 15, 1927 and although Ned, his wife Lucy, and their five children moved into the residence in September 1928, the estate took three years to complete at a cost of over $3 million, an almost unimaginable sum in real estate at the time. The original cost to construct Greystone’s entire estate was $3,166,578.12, the mansion alone cost $1,238,378.76. The extraordinary result became known as Greystone for its abundant use of stone construction and its rather somber gray appearance. In addition to the mansion, originally located on the grounds were stables and kennels, tennis courts, a fire station, gatehouse, swimming pool and pavilion, a greenhouse, a lake, babbling brooks and cascading waterfalls.

On the night of February 16, 1929, only five months after the family had moved in, Ned Doheny was found shot to death inside the home, at the age of 35 and the victim of an apparent murder-suicide perpetrated by his longtime personal friend and aid Hugh Plunkett. Lucy continued living at Greystone until 1955, after which she and her second husband Leigh M. Battson sold the majority of the original land to the Paul Trousdale Corporation, developers of Beverly Hills’ prestigious “Trousdale Estate” homes.

Crime scene photo of murder of Ned Doheny Jr from 1929

The following year Lucy and her husband sold for approximately $1.5 million the remaining 18.3 acre parcel, including Greystone Mansion, to Henry Crown of Chicago-based Park Grey Corporation. Mr. Crown, however, never formally occupied the site but instead leased it out as a popular filming location, a legacy Greystone still maintains today. The City of Beverly Hills purchased the property from Mr. Crown in 1965 for approximately $1.3 million with plans to install a 19-million gallon water tank on the property as its hilltop site provided tremendous natural water pressure. This site continues to serve as the City of Beverly Hills’ largest reservoir.

On September 16, 1971, the entire 18.3 acre site, including its centerpiece Greystone Mansion, was formally dedicated as a public park by the City of Beverly Hills. Five years later, on April 23, 1976, Greystone was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The grand entrance

In 2013 Greystone was designated Beverly Hills Local Historic Landmark No. 4. There is so much movie history here. AFI occupied the Manor during the 1970s and 1980s. The first movie to ever screen there during that time was David Lynch's ERASERHEAD. John Cassavette use to edit above the garage. Many Major motion pictures have been shot here over the years. Some of them include: Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte, The Disorderly Orderly, Dead Ringer, The Loved One, Phantom Of the Paradise, Stripes, Ghostbusters, All Of Me, the Witches Of Eastwick, The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Marrying Man, Death Becomes Her, The Bodyguard, Indecent Proposal, Nixon, Batman and Robin, X- Men, Spider-Man, Charlie's Angels, The Prestige, There Will Be Blood, and the Social Network. In fact, There Will Be Blood was loosely based on the Doheny Family.

Movie theatre. This was heavily used during the time AFI occupied the manor. The first movie to screen here was David Lynch's ERASERHEAD

The Famous bowling alley used in "There Will Be Blood".

Growing up in Los Angeles and being a fanatic of historic properties, I must say spending a few hours with the Friends of Greystone was one of the biggest highlights for me. I can't thank them enough for taking the time, along with their lovely park rangers, to show VLA around. My eyes were a poppin'! I'm so honored to share today's adventure with you. Big thanks to Gay Parrish, John Huybrecht and Kathy Melamed!

Had to give a shout out to park ranger (and newest friend) @gattacaboy and Greystone Manor, docent Gay Parrish for the private tour of this spectacular property today. As many times as I've been on these historic grounds, I never learned as much as I did today about its history. They also made it FUN! They both have such terrific senses of humor and dispositions. Plus they know everything about Greystone Mansion. Spending the afternoon with them made me feel extremely lucky that I can visit places in my home town that I'm still fascinated by after all these years. Los Angeles history is endless.

For even further information about how to visit Greystone, please visit our "friends of Greystone! The annual Concours d'Elegance at Greystone is a must-do. visit https://www.greystonemansion.org/
- Alison Martino

Alison Martino is a writer, television producer, and pop culture historian. She founded the Facebook pageVintage Los Angeles in 2010. Alison muses on L.A’s. past and present on Twitter and Instagram.

I recently found the above vintage Polaroid photo when my mom was packing up our old house. That’s Edward G. Robinson standing in his driveway, directly across the street from where we lived on Rexford Drive in Beverly Hills. My mother snapped this from my upstairs bedroom window shortly after I was born, and it’s the only photo that we have of him. We used to see Mr. Robinson walking his seven dogs with his wife, Jane, while smoking that signature cigar of his. His house was on two lots, and was built by architect Samuel Marx, who had very recently completed his own masterpiece in 1939, The May Co Department Store at Fairfax and Wilshire Blvd. Robinson’s home was a picturesque Tudor style, which the actor contemplated selling in order to build a new home that would better accommodate his growing art collection. In fact, Edward had such an extensive art collection that he commissioned Samuel Marx to build a separate art gallery on the property. It was designed specifically to show off his masterpieces. Marx convinced Robinson to stay in the house, which was then remodeled to display his collection to its fullest effect. They decided to construct a free-standing windowless art gallery. While the exterior was plain with a peaked roof, the gallery’s interior was modern to the core.

Robinson’s collecting became so widely known that his cameo appearance in a 1967 episode of “Batman” consisted of a scene in which he chatted with the Dynamic Duo about art.

Alas, Edward lost most of his great art collection during divorce proceedings from his first wife. Only a small portion remained of what was once Hollywood’s largest private collection.

Memories from my mother Judi Martino..."when my husband Al bought the Rexford house E.G. Robinson told him that he had watched our house being built and remodeled (before we bought it) and preceded to tell him that he really liked our kitchen. It was a St. Charles kitchen which was popular at the time.

Our St. Charles Kitchen circa 1968

Another memory: my husband had gone to Hal March's funeral with Joey Bishop and after the funeral Joey wanted to stay longer but Al needed to get back home and when Al saw Edward G. leaving Al knocked on his car window and asked for a ride home, E.G. Said "Get in the car KID " ha (Al loved to tell that story using E.G. gruffy voice!) Unfortunately Mr. Robinson died shortly after moving there, and because of his extensive and valuable art collection there was round the clock security in front and back of his house. They also had a Beverly Hills police offer who lived in their guest house. I believe they did have an art sale in New York, but there were still many more valuable paintings left at their house and in their own art gallery. I will also remember the portrait of Mr. Robinson that hung above the living room fireplace... I've often wondered what happened to it. Jane Robinson became a good friend and it is nice to remember them".

His wife Jane was such a lovable character in her own right. I remember her great laugh. She gave me this photo of one of her poodles to hang in my bedroom in the early 70s. Today it’s one of my most prized possessions.

After Edward passed away in 1973, Jane married director George Sydney (Anchors Away, Viva Las Vegas). When Jane died, George married Corinne Entratter, a show girl from Vegas who had once been married to the president of the Sands Hotel. Corrine was another colorful character (but that’s another story entirely). She starred in Blake Edwards’ THE PARTY, and we could hear her quite often across the street stating her opinions very loudly. And speaking of parties, which she had plenty of, she had no problem telling you to leave when she had had enough. Corrine ultimately sold the house after George died, and she moved back to Las Vegas. The new owners who now occupy Edward G. Robinson’s have since severely altered the home and converted the art gallery into a 4 car garage.

Edward and his wife, Jane in their driveway during the 1950s

My mother took this photo of Edward's house from our driveway on Rexford Dr. in 1969

How the house appears today.

There’s not much left from the Edward G Robinson days on Rexford Dr., but I feel so fortunate to have my own masterpiece from their estate: That precious photograph of their beloved poodle.

Alison Martino is a writer, television producer, and pop culture historian. She founded the Facebook pageVintage Los Angeles in 2010. Alison muses on L.A’s. past and present on Twitter and Instagram.

Photo: LA Times 1980. (Vintage Los Angeles collection)

If there's ONE store from my youth that still stands out the most in my nostalgic brain, it's gotta be FIORUCCI in Beverly Hills. It was OUT THERE even by todays standards. I still dream about it because it was so ahead of it's time during the late 70s and early 80s. The window displays were full of spandex, leopard prints, Hawaiin style shirts, neon checkered ties and 1950s rock-a-billy prints - all imported from Italy. It was more rock n roll than MTV. I Loved and wore my FIORUCCI pants till I could not patch them up any more. Those fine corduroy pants were painted on me and I loooovvvved them! I wore them with a blue satin baseball hat from CAMP BEVERLY HILLS and a jersey from HEAVEN.

I was 10 years old and this was my paradise.

Fiorucci display window and opening night. Photos: Gary Wilde

In 1967, FIORUCCI founded the Italian fashion label. By the late 1970s his New York store became famous for the fashions it introduced to the US. A leader in the globalization of fashion, FIORUCCI searched the planet, and created mass trends, such as thongs from Brazil and Afghan coats. The label popularised camouflage prints before creating the designer jean market with the invention of stretch jeans and skin tight denim.

Elio Fiorucci

In 1978 a classmate's mother of mine brought FIORCCI to Beverly Hills. She was a former Miss Universe pageant winner (Miss Israel) named Ronit Weintraub and this was her Fantasyland. No wonder her daughter wore the most bitchin' clothes in school.

Owners of Fiorucci Beverly Hills: Ronit, Camille, Oren, Jack, and Sabrina. Los Angeles Times Home Magazine, 1980

Debra Harry attended the Beverly Hills opening in 1978 and some of us watched the shopping sequence in XANADU being filmed from across the street in late 1979. All the young girls wanted to see Olivia Newton John and our moms wanted to see Gene Kelly - so it worked out just fine. There were no props are set designers needed for that scene. It was just a typical day at FIORUCCI in Beverly Hills.

Michael Beck, Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly on Location for 'Xanadu' - October 2, 1979 at Fiorucci (Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage)

Scene from Xanadu shot at Fiorucci in 1980.

FIORUCCI occupied the old Beverly Theatre on Beverly Drive. That explains the original Arabian architecture and Art Nouveau nuances throughout the store. Stepping inside felt like a surreal music video. And this was before the launch of MTV.

The former Beverly Theatre in 1974

Summer 1978: Bebe Buell, the mother of Liv Tyler and Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick attend a Blondie party at Fiorucci in Los Angeles, California. **EXCLUSIVE** (Photos by Brad Elterman/FilmMagic)

FIORUCCI also projected movies on the wall in honor of old Hollywood and that's where I watched THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT and METROPOLIS for the first time. I used to roller skate to FIORUCCI with a side ponytail after school to purchase pop-rocks and white chocolate lollypops in the shape of giant lips. I remember purchasing a FIORUCCI lipstick that looked like a red firecracker with a fuse on the end attached to a compact of sparkly eyeshadow. The punked out staff packaged your purchases in artsy vinyl shopping bags that were revolutionary at the time and have since become major collectors items.

Dancers at the Opening of Fiorucci in BEVERLY HILLS, CA - 1979: Dancers take to the stage in celebration of the 1979 opening of Fiorucci, a chic clothing and fashion accessory store, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - 1979: Fashion models perform in a mock fight during a punk fashion show at Fiorucci clothing store in 1979 Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)

The music was loud too. It was all disco and new wave. The size of the empty theatre made the sound so echoey and lush. I had many a wonderful dreamy afternoon there watching people shop for sneaker skates, stretch jeans, t-shirts, pins and sunglasses. I wish I still had my FIORUCCI rain jacket! It was pink and blue with a splattered paint effect faded into the fabric. I also wish I had kept my pair of red woven plastic shoes I received for my birthday, ( I was too young to wear those mile high chunky shoes). But thankfully I still have a few pins and some shopping bags etc,. even a sticker that says "FIORUCCI L.A. 2 years 1980" and a few matchbooks with their signature logo.

Photos: Gary Wilde

The photos above are from the promotional display for Blondie's PARALLEL LINES. When they did the in store record autograph session Blondie rolled up Beverly Drive in an Army tank. Much of the FIORUCCI's cachet was due to its eccentric staff. Klaus Nomi,
drag performer Joey Arias, designer and filmmaker Maripol, and Madonna’s brother Christopher Ciccone all worked for FIORUCCI during its heyday. The store was one of the first places to sell Betsey Johnson’s clothing and exhibit Keith Haring’s artwork. FIORUCCI's knack for youth-driven pop-art consumerism also attracted the likes of Andy Warhol. Surrounded by a coterie that included Truman Capote and Grace Jones. Warhol even launched Interview magazine with an in-store party at FIORUCCI and WET Magazine could be purchased in the magazine racks.

Andy Warhol and Brook Shields at Fiorucci

Andy Warhol and Holly Woodlawn at Fiorucci in Beverly Hills (Photo by Ron Galella)

Ellio Fiorucci definitely changed fashion merchandising and retailing forever. Some of you might have shopped at the NYC location too. And perhaps some of you may have been seen on the dance floor "dressed to kill" in some of those outrageous fashions I have described.

Sadly Fiorucci Beverly Hills was short lived and became an Israeli Bank. But eventually the historic structure was demolished to make way for the Montage Hotel. This place / building was wonderful for all who used it.

Although I hear Fiorucci is coming back!

Me in 1987 wearing my beloved Fiorucci shirt. Of course I stuck shoulder pad inside it!

One of my old Fiorucci tin canisters

One of my vintage Fiorucci shopping bags

My vintage Fioricci poster from 1981

One of my Fiorucci mathbooks I picked up at the counter

FIORUCCI was also known for its cutting edge artwork

Artwork by David Jordan Williams

Doesn't this post make you want to sing the lyrics to "He's The Greatest Dancer" by Chic 1978?

"Halston, Gucci, Fiorucci

He looks like a still, that man is dressed to kill"

Alison Martino is a writer, television producer, and pop culture historian. She founded the Facebook pageVintage Los Angeles in 2010. Alison muses on L.A’s. past and present on Twitter and Instagram.

The world famous Whisky A Go Go on the Sunset Strip celebrates its 56th anniversary in Jan, 2019. And to celebrate this milestone, I had the pleasure of interviewing Philip Tanzini Jr. for an exclusive interview. His father Philip Tanzini Sr. was one of the original owners along with. He shares some inside stories I had never heard before. I'm thrilled to share them with Vintage Los Angeles.

by Alison Martino

How did go-go dancing take off at the Whisky a Go-Go? It all happened by accident.

Jayne Mansfield at the Whisky a Go-Go

The world famous Whisky A Go-Go is celebrating its 55th anniversary. Considered the first rock ‘n’ roll venue on the Sunset Strip to take chances by booking new and sometimes notorious artists during the 1960s, it gave future superstars a stage to develop their signature sounds. Johnny Rivers was the first to play live music at the Whisky in 1964. Two years later, the Doors became the house band (It was there that Love front man Arthur Lee encouraged Elektra Records owner Jac Holzman to sign the Doors after Lee’s band headlined at the joint in 1966.) “Up-and-coming” artists like Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin and The Byrds played there too, their names placed in large letters on the marquee at the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Clark.

The Whisky a Go Go in 1964. Photo: Julian Wasser

Despite its lore, most people don’t know how the Whisky A Go Go got started. I only recently heard the story myself when I sat down at the Rainbow Bar and Grill with Philip Tanzini Jr., the son of one of the four original owners, Philip Tanzini.

Tanzini Sr. was born and raised in New Jersey but moved with his business partner, former cop Elmer Valentine, to Los Angeles during the 1950s looking for business opportunities in Hollywood. During a trip to Paris, Valentine had stumbled upon a restaurant called the “Whisky A Go Go” and became intrigued by the European mod scene. It gave him the idea to open a similar joint on the Sunset Strip. At the time, the Strip was turning, with older nightclubs of the Golden Age like The Mocambo, Ciro’s, and The Trocadero closing down and giving way to the new world of discotheques. The Whisky, however, was never intended to be a dance club.

Archival footage of Sunset Strip in 1963. Before the Whisky opened, it was called a short lived club called The Party.

Rare matchbooks from The Party and the Whisky. They stopped making this logo in 1964 (Vintage Los Angeles Collection)

According to Tanzini Jr., the venue was founded by his father, Valentine, publicist Shelly Davis, and attorney Theodore Flier. The four powerful partners took over an old, nondescript bank in West Hollywood with a plan to open a French restaurant. The group hired a local artist named Tony Mafia to paint the interiors, and installed beautiful chandeliers and a really expensive sound system. But when opening day rolled around in the summer of ‘64, The Whisky A Go Go was far from ready. “None of the tables and chairs had even been delivered,” says Tanzini. Still, the venue couldn’t not open its doors after its grand opening were splattered all over the trades.

A line of kids in front in 1964. Photograph courtesy Andrew Sandoval

Now I wouldn’t describe Phil Tanzini and Elmer Valentine as roughish kinds of guys, but I will say they colored outside the lines a little here and there. One of the owners had a niece that attended Hollywood High School, and according to Tanzini, they asked her and a bunch of her teenaged friends if they’d like to make $20 each for the evening. “That was a lot of money in those days,” says Tanzini. “They paid all these kids to stand in a line outside the Whisky A Go Go. Elmer and my dad locked the doors, turned the music really loud, and hired a bouncer out front to paint the impression they were packed to capacity.” The fake out worked—and went on for a couple of days. Tanzini and the team knew they would eventually have to open, but without tables and chairs, they decided to hire local musicians to fill their empty space.

The kids loved it. Since there wasn’t any furniture, they started dancing, creating their own dance floor. “Back when the building was a bank, it had a security office that looked out over the floor. It was basically a ledge,” says Tanzini. “My father and Elmer installed bars so no one would fall off it. This was the beginning of what would eventually become a ‘go-go’ cage. Elmer was one of those guys that had his finger on the pulse of what was going in those days, and he decided to give musician Johnny Rivers a one-year contract and hired a young, pretty girl upstairs to mix the music. Occasionally she’d dance to the beat.”

“Well, one day she quit and everyone kept asking Elmer ‘where’s the girl in the cage? The one with the fringe dress and white boots?" So he turned to some of the girls in the joint and told them to go up there and start dancing.” More suspended cages were installed after that, and go-go dancing at the Whisky was born. They all danced the Mashed Potato, The Dog, the Monkey, The Jerk, and the Watusi (My personal favorite). Fringe dresses and all.

Archival footage inside the Whisky

Joanie Labine, the first female DJ and sound mixer at the Whisky. Though the club was billed as a discotheque, suggesting that it offered only recorded music, the Whisky a Go Go opened with a live band led by Johnny Rivers and a short skirted Joanie spinning records during Rivers' set from a suspend cage at the right of the stage. When, in July 1965, the DJ danced during Rivers' set, and the audience thought it was part of the act.

Johnny Rivers was the first to appear at the Whisky and recorded this live album from the venue in 1966.

The Miracles recorded the song "Going to a Go-Go" in honor of the Whisky

Soon the venue was hosting groups including Arthur Lee and Love, the Byrds, the Doors, the Kinks, the Who, the Mamas and Papas, and Sonny and Cher. It also attracted stars like Sally Field, Steve McQueen, Richard Burton, and Jayne Mansfield because it was a local spot where celebrities could really let their hair down. (On one infamous night, Mansfield spent a few moments with the Beatles, who had stopped in on their first American Tour in 1964. George Harrison, upset by photographers, got into a drink-hurling fiasco and the band left after 15 minutes.

In George Harrison's words...

"Somebody conned us into going to the Whisky A Go Go. It seemed to take us twenty minutes to get from the door to the table and instantly the whole of Hollywood paparazzi descended. It was a total set-up by Jayne Mansfield to have pictures taken with us. John and I were sitting either side of her and she had her hands on our legs, by our groins - at least she did on mine. We'd been sitting there for hours, waiting to get a drink; we had glasses with ice in them, and the ice had all melted. A photographer came and tried to get a picture and I threw the glass of water at him. He took a photo of the water coming out of the glass and soaking - accidentally - the actress Mamie Van Doren, who just happened to be passing. We got out of there; it was hell. We left town the next day, and I remember sitting on the plane, reading the paper and there was the photo of me throwing the water."

Love and The Byrds, 1966

Arthur Lee at the Whisky A Go Go
Arthur Lee of Love immortalized the Whisky in the song "Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale".

The Doors and the Birds on the marquee in 1967

The Doors were the house band for a while – until the debut of the

"Oedipal section" of "The End" got them fired.

The Enemys, 1966

Cream, 1967. Hugh Masekela coming soon on the side wall

The Doors and Them. Van and Jim both jammed out together on a version of "Gloria".

Muddy Waters

The Mothers of Invention

Led Zeppelin live at the Whisky in 1969

Linda Ronstadt at the Whisky A Go-Go in 1970. Paul McCartney had just released his first solo album. And that's The Small Faces on the side wall.

The New York Dolls performing at the Whisky, July 1973

British rockers Status Quo also referenced the venue in their 1978 song "Long Legged Linda" with the lines, "Well, if you're ever in Los Angeles and you've got time to spare / Take a stroll up Sunset Boulevard, you'll find the Whisky there."

The Runaways at the Whisky A Go Go, 1977 photo by Brad Elterman

The Whisky a Go Go in 1980

Crowds pack the sidewalk along Sunset Strip in 1982 as fans gather to hear the Plimsolls at the popular Whisky a Go Go. (Marsha Traeger / Los Angeles Times)

There have been several stories as to why the 'y' was burned out on the neon sign for several years during the 1960's. Some say they were in a dispute with another Whisky a Go Go located in Paris. They left the 'y" burned out until that was all settled.

The Whisky went on to become one of the most famous clubs in the world. In 1969 Led Zeppelin and Alice Cooper performed at the venue on the same bill. Other historic acts included Buffalo Springfield, Morrison, Muddy Waters, the Kinks, The Standells, Iron Butterfly, Cream, Janis Joplin, Steppenwolf, Jimi Hendrix, the Seeds, The Turtles, Neil Diamond, the Young Rascals, Otis Redding, The Four Tops, Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin, The Runways, and Frank Zappa. In fact The Mother's of Invention got their record contact based on that performance at the Whisky.

During the ‘70s, the Whisky was a launching pad for punk and new-wave acts like The Ramones, The New York Dolls, the Stooges, Blondie, and Iggy Pop, the Stooges, The B-52's, and X stopped in. Van Halen performed there in '1977 and heavy metal bands such as Motley Crew, Metallica (with the Motels) and Guns and Roses took center stage during the ‘80s. The venue was inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall Of Fame in 2006 and during it's 50th anniversary, the Whisky showcased sets from Robby Krieger of The Doors, X, and the Bangles. But unfortunately today you've gotta pay to play.

Alison is also a freelance columnist for Los Angeles Magazine and Curbed LA

Charles Kratka's Mosaic tiles at LAX airport.

LAX had a presence in the 1940's and 1950's, but the 1960's was the golden age of flying - also known as the "Jet-age" and when the Los Angeles International Airport established its identity. Designer Charles Kratka had a lot to do with that. It was truly the airport of the future.

But this is the story of the tiled murals that traverse the long, long, long, corridors of Terminals 3, 4, at LAX

At the Delta Terminal in 2019. Below in my story on the tiles for Los Angeles Magazine in 2013

The Designer and graphic artist, who died in 2007, was hired in the late 1950s to help upgrade LAX to the atomic age in 1961, which included the creation of this geomantic eye candy. Kratka was the head of interior design when the airport was being modernized. Kratka also oversaw the design of the original interiors for the Los Angeles Museum Of Art when it opened in 1965, but the mosaics were actually designed by artist, Janet Bennett, who installed thousands of small glass tiles into five corridors and the two satellite buildings.

Today, only three of them are open - terminals 3, 4, and 6. "The original idea was to help make the 300 foot-long tunnels seem shorter", said Ethel Pattison, the airport's historian and volunteer at the FLIGHT PATH MUSUME AND LEARNING CENTER.

The mosaic tunnels can be seen only be arriving passengers. It's quite a shame that one must be returning to see them. I miss the days when meeting someone at the airport meant the opportunity to admire the wonders of LAX. During the 1960's, this airport had more personality then any other airport in the country. As I reported for Los Angeles Magazine article, the 300-foot-long piece was a journey in itself: The tile color represented the United States and the changing seasons from coast to coast. The blue representing the oceans, green for the mountains, sand color for the deserts, brown for the plains, and navy for the seas. I actually learned on a 3rd grade field trip that the red in the center means you're halfway across the mid west. Bennet described it as, "a continent described in colors". Bennet elaborates: "To a young artist / designer, the days from 1959 to 1961 were a wonderful creative time. I seemed to have all the time in the world to design major art features for the new airport. Looking back now, it seemed like play. My boss, Charles D. Kratka, who worked with me at the the architectural firm, Pereira and Luckman Assoc, handed me the assignment. They were exciting and challenging projects. There was a period after I finished my phase of work on the tunnels when I had other projects, but none as satisfying. Incidentally, there were enough tiles left over for a baseboard for my apartment and coffee tables, etc. still in the homes of four of my California cousins. When I first saw a finished tunnel I was returning to Los Angeles in the middle of the night. I can remember being delighted by the colors as the infused the almost empty passageway. About midway, I encountered a couple who had stopped and were pointing at the tiles as they talked. I interrupted, "Oh, do you like it? I did it!"They looked and me startled and quickly moved on. They didn't believe me!"

This is Janet Bennet now. She is living in NYC and still creating gorgeous art.

Until this day, to me, walking through the corridors are the best the best part of returning home. It's aways comforting walking past those mid century modern tiles on the way to the baggage claim. It's just an L.A. thing that translates to, "Welcome Home". Being a native Angeleno, I have walked past them way too many times to count. They bring back to many warm memories of childhood and are so incredibly 'iconic' to LAX and the city of Los Angeles.

During my research for my article on the tiles for Los Angeles Magazine, I had the great pleasure of being escorted by experts on the tunnels. I filmed this quick clip of one of their LAX's employee's explaining the significance of the tiles

Below are two rare publicity photos taken on opening day courtesy of Janet Bennett

If you haven't seen the tiles in person, perhaps you've seen them captured on celluloid. Movies such as, "POINT BLANK", "THE GRADUATE", "HIGH ANXIETY, "MIDNIGHT MADNESS", "AIRPLANE!", "JACKIE BROWN", "INTO THE NIGHT", and "ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD were just some of the movies and TV shows shot in this mid century modern space age tunnel...

"SOMG" released in 1962

Screen grab from SUNDAY IN New York, 1963 staring Cliff Robertson

Screen grab from "THE LOVED ONE", 1965

"POINT BLANK", 1967. I love the sound of Lee Marvin's shoes waking down that corridor. "Clack, clack, clack, clack..."

Robert Hayes in "AIRPLANE"

Quentin Tarantino's epic opening staring Pam Grier in "JACKIE BROWN was filmed in terminal 4 in 1997.

John Hamm as Don Draper on "MAD MEN" filmed on the rolling sidewalk. During the space-age era the moving sidewalk was referred to as “The Astro Walk".

Learn more about the artist, Charles D. Kratka Here

The tunnels can be seen in many TV shows from the 1970s such as the ROCKFORD FILES and COLUMBO seen here. Episode title: The Most Crucial Game.

Footage of the airport with special attention to the mosaic tile walkways designed by Charles Kratka

Lucille Ball at the ceremony of Tunnel 4 in 1963!

This is from original press release for the general Jet Age Airport.

Danny Hutton, June Fairchild, David Anderle, his wife Sheryl, Mark Volman, Chrissie Jolly, Jules Seigel, Michael Vosse, Dean Torrance (hidden), Diane Rovell, Marilyn Wilson, Brian, Annie Hinsche, Brian Wilson and Barbara Rovell-Gaddy, and Van Dyke Parks.

Dean and Dick Martin

John Densmore, Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, and Robby Krieger of The Doors at LAX, 1968

"MAD MEN" publicity shoot - 2014/ Click here to see Don Draper pass by the tiles.

"ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD" released in 2019 and takes place in 1969

An owner of a house in Downey, California says these tiles were left over from the LAX installations

The tiles even inspired these socks by the Stephen J. Cox sock company

Alison Martino is a writer, television producer, an on-air personality, and L.A. pop culture historian. She founded the Facebook page Vintage Los Angeles in 2010. In addition, Martino muses on L.A’s. past and present Instagram and Twitter

Alison is also currently a columnist for Los Angeles Magazine and an On Air Contributor on Spectrum News 1 in Southern California reporting about the history of her hometown.

As Burton Way becomes “Little Santa Monica,” an unlikely landmark welcomes people to the heart of Beverly Hills. It’s a gas station.

Originally intended to be part of the Los Angeles International Airport, the curved modern structure that looks like more like a spaceship or a ride straight out of Tomorrowland with palm trees than a place to fill the tank was installed instead at the center of Beverly Hills. Its red, boomerang-shaped roof is hard to miss, but for those who don’t pass by often, Jack Colker’s 76 Station is catty-corner to Beverly Hills City Hall and across the street from the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

As a child I used to love gazing at the station’s fluorescent neon lights as my parents drove us past on our way to Ah Fong’s or the Luau; It was like the North Star calling out to us from the future. Unlike most Southern California space-age structures that were popular during ’50s and ‘60s, such as Tiny Naylors or Ships Coffee Shop—two spots which exist now only in the past—this modernist masterpiece has just been nominated for landmark status that will protect it from being torn down or altered!

Designed by Gin Wong, who later became president of William L. Pereira & Associates, the station looks different from every angle and has had several brushes with fame. Brit rocker Noel Gallagher used it as a backdrop for the cover of his album High Flying Birds. It was also referenced in the movie Shampoo and featured in L.A. Story with Steve Martin. (Legend also has it that Tony Hawk was once seen skateboarding on the station’s sloping roof!)

Noel Gallagher’s LP “High Flying Birds”
To celebrate the structure’s new legal protections, we got in touch with Gin and his daughter, Janna Wong Healy, to learn more about it.

How did Gin become an architect in Los Angeles, and what other local buildings did he design?  
JWH: My father was serving in the Army Air Corps during WWII (he was the lead navigator of his bomb unit) and was stationed on Tinian Island. A friend in his platoon noticed his strong math skills and his excellent artistic abilities (he used to create posters for the platoon and do other lettering projects) and suggested architecture, since it utilizes both skill sets. When my father’s tour of duty was completed, he attended college, first at the University of Illinois for a year and then at USC’s School of Architecture. At that time, professionals in the field were teaching architecture courses at USC and William L. Pereira was one of his professors. My father won the school’s first Producer’s Council Design Award and Mr. Pereira, then with Pereira & Luckman, offered him a job as a designer. When Pereira and Luckman split, my father went with Mr. Pereira. He rose through the ranks from designer to director of design to president. He has designed many buildings in Los Angeles and around the world.

In L.A., with Pereira, he designed CBS Television City at the corner of Beverly and Fairfax, the Union Oil building at Fifth and Bixel, the inverted library on the campus of UCSD, the Occidental building, now called the AT&T building, which was the first skyscraper to be built after the moratorium on skyscrapers ended, and Marineland.

These are only a few of the buildings he has designed! Throughout his career, he has also been active in the design of LAX. Pereira was one of the design firms of the Theme Building. And, Gin Wong Associates designed the second level roadway of LAX in the lead-up to the 1984 Olympics.

Where did the inspiration for 76 Gas Station design come from?
GW: This was always designed as a simple structure, to represent everyday life. LAX wanted the gas station on its property, near the entrance/exit off the main terminal, and the inspiration came from the airport itself. LAX realized there would be 60 to 70 million people traveling through the city and the airport wanted a gas station on the property so that when people rented cars they would be able to fill them up right there.

How did it arrive in Beverly Hills of all places?  
GW: When LAX changed its mind about the gas station they had a competition to see who would take the structure. Union Oil Company had a family of station owners and they won the rights to the design. The station owner had that corner at Crescent Drive and “Little Santa Monica.”

How did people to respond to it at the time?  
GW: People liked the simplicity of the design.

What do you think of it now?  
JWH: I love the design—it’s so clean and modern. It was designed almost 60 years ago and yet it has lost none of its modernity. That, to me, is a design that withstands the test of time!

Gaining landmark status must have made your family very proud.
GW: I’m very happy about this.

JWH: Bravo, City of Beverly Hills, for protecting this important design, an excellent and important example of post-modern architecture. I am so happy and proud that this signature building will never be demolished! It will remain an iconic building in our city and a beautiful example of my father’s wonderful and forward-thinking designs.

Alison Martino is a writer, television producer and personality, and L.A. pop culture historian. She founded the Facebook page Vintage Los Angeles in 2010. In addition to CityThink and VLA, Martino muses on L.A’s. past and present on Twitter and Instagram

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