Clarence Clemons Rest in Peace. Springsteen at the Los Angeles Coliseum 1985

In the mid-1980’s I was just a casual worshiper of the Church of Bruce Springsteen and The East Street Band. I merely listened to the big radio hits such as Born to Run, Dancing in the Dark, and Hungry Heart much like a non-practicing Catholic who only attends service on Christmas Day and Easter Sunday. I was still holding on to bands like X, The Blasters, The Ramones, The Who and The Clash in 1985 while the legions of Bruce Springsteen fans around me praised "The Boss" and those legendary five hour shows at The Los Angeles Sports Arena in 1981.

Like most of the events that impact us in our young lives, listening to the experience second hand is never enough, one has to experience the “light” first hand and that is what I was about to do towards the end of The Born in The USA tour in 1985. Four of my classmates from Cal Poly Pomona were planning on attending one of the sold-out Springsteen shows in September of 1985 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and my curiosity started to peak. I needed to find out what this was all about so I took the plunge of 20 dollars for the sole spare ticket that they had. We arrived early in the afternoon on the day of the show and went through the motions of tailgating and decadence in the parking like most concert goers did in that era. When the show finally began we were comfortably nestled among 100,000 worshipers at The Los Angeles Coliseum on the perfect night of September 29, 1985. The band was relentless and beautiful in their showmanship. Bruce’s stage presence was exactly as described to me during all those years of “non-believing” but there was something special up on stage besides the famous New Jersey band leader that caught my attention, a big beautiful saxophone player name Clarence “Big Man” Clemons. The saxophone solos on Born To Run, Jungle Land, The Promised Land, Rosalita and Tenth Avenue Freeze Out were like something that I had never before experienced in my life. The rockabilly band The Blasters had a Saxophone player, but with all due respect that was like a small candle compared to the Olympic Torch that Clarence was blowing. I have no words to describe it at the moment of this writing but lets just say that I was immediately “converted” to the Rock N’ Roll Church of Bruce, Clarence Clemons and the rest of the East Street Band. I went home later that evening completely different than the person who had left earlier that day. Shortly after my conversion, I discovered the 1980 double LP, The River which continues to see constant rotation on my turntable as well as the rest of the East Street Band's catalog which I had largely neglected up until that incredible night at the Coliseum. By the end of the decade, Bruce put The East Street Band on hold while he ventured into a solo career and a Hollywood marriage to Julianne Phillips. Clarence went on to a successful solo career and became a highly sought after element by other musicians including Ringo Starr, Aretha Franklin and Jackson Browne. For ten years, the millions of worshipers waited and waited in the pews of the Cathedral and finally The East Street Band was reassembled in 1999. Hallelujah !!

I had the good fortune to be able to see the reunited East Street Band in almost every Southern California venue over the years including the inaugural event at the Staples Center in 1999 as well as Dodger Stadium, The Honda Center, and those wonderful shows at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in 2007 and 2009. Over the course of those years, Clarence was hobbled with hip replacement surgery and needed a cane and a big stool to support his massive frame on stage, but the Big Man always gave it everything he had on the stage and every show was simply “Magic”. His big beautiful baritone voice was the cornerstone in the song “Out in The Streets” where every member of the band would step up to the microphone and belt out “Meet me Out in the Streets, baaaaaby”. Clarence Clemons passed away today at the age of 69. You are irreplaceable Big Man and I will never forget you. You are forever in the soundtrack of my life. Rest in Peace.

Elvis Costello at The Wiltern Theatre - May 12, 2011

May 12, 2011 - Elvis Costello and The Imposters at The Wiltern Theatre.

June 4, 1978 - Elvis Costello and The Attractions at Hollywood High School. This is the cover of a 45 that was included with the Armed Forces LP.

I was around thirteen years old in the eighth grade attending Blessed Sacrament School two blocks east of Hollywood High School when an up and coming British musician with a iconic American name performed live at the Hollywood High Auditorium with his backing band, The Attractions. I was not in the audience that night as I must have been churning out Pre-Algebra solutions and Hemingway book reports at a record pace during that time and was oblivious to what was happening down the street on Highland Avenue. I had no idea of the significance of that Elvis Costello performance back then nor the number of people I would meet in the next thirty three years who claim to have been at that show. Fast-forward to 2011 to a perfect Los Angeles evening at the deco masterpiece, Wiltern Theatre where Elvis Costello and 2 of the 3 original Attractions plus a new bass player (now called the Imposters) performed an unpredictable epic showcase of hits, obscurities and surprising covers for 2 ½ hours. The show opened with a fast session of familiar songs including “I Hope Your Happy Now“, “Heart of The City“, “The Mystery Dance” and “Radio Radio“. At the conclusion of “Radio Radio“, a song known for its impromptu rebellion way back on a SNL performance, Elvis changed to a black top hat and introduced the largest “Attraction” on the stage, a twelve foot, multi-colored spinning wheel of songs. Elvis’ spinning song wheel first made its debut 25 years ago on his tour bringing a “request only" concert to the stage way before its time. Audience members were hand picked by Elvis and his assistant to spin the wheel and the band performed each song with utmost precision, while only Elvis’ guitar changed to accommodate each song. The selected audience members danced on stage during their song(s), with one memorable “wheel spinner”, a stunning beauty named “Bjork” daring to enter the Go-Go booth up on the stage during the song performed from her spin of the wheel. She almost seemed planted to perform in the Go-Go booth as her hips swayed to the beat of the music while her long hair waved about the cage, but she was just an adoring fan like the rest of us. The wheel produced some songs that probably wouldn’t make it to a regular Elvis show such as “Monkey to Man“, “God Give Me Strength“, “I Want You” and “Earthbound” but the band was committed to each of the songs selected with just a little fudging along the way. Somehow the one song which I wanted to hear the most, “Clubland” from the 1981 album, "Trust", hit the mark on a slow pitched wheel spin and the song immediately commenced with the brilliant piano work by the incredible Steve Naive. Among the hits performed from the song wheel spins were “Watching The Detectives” and “Everyday I Write the Book“, “Angels Want to Wear My Red Shoes” and “Tear Off Your own Head ( It’s The Doll Revolution)”. Elvis brought out Susanna Hoffs, Vicki and Debbie Peterson from The Bangles to perform the vocals on “Doll Revolution” much like they did at The Beverly Theater show in 1986. Susanna Hoffs must have been in a time machine for the last 25 years because she looks much as she did during her Walk Like An Egyptian Days. Other surprises included several covers such as “Girl” (The Beatles), “Out of Time” (The Stones), “Don’t Let me Be Misunderstood” (The Animals) and a surprise encore of “Purple Rain” (Prince) all performed with unique Elvis interpretations. Another interesting rendition came with a slowed down and almost unrecognizable version of “Pump It Up” with Elvis hitting the ivory keys on his mega famous radio hit.

The four encores were a show within itself. Among the highlights was the song that started it all for Elvis back in 1977, “Alison“. For the encore, Elvis called back one of the audience wheel spinners who was aptly named Alison , in a moment in time she will remember for eternity. In the midst of “Alison“, Elvis switched over to “Tracks of My Tears” by Smokey Robinson and then beautifully finished his song with every member of the audience singing those soft lyrics, “Aaaaalison…..my aim is true, my aim is true…..”, while the chords quietly came to that famous lyrical end. The final encore couldn’t have been more perfect for this night given the times we live in today , “(What’s So Funny ‘bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” simply could not be followed with drummer Pete Thomas pounding the skins, Elvis wailing on the guitar with the all too familiar riff and the audience in complete euphoria. Thirty three years from now wherever I am or "if" I am at all, I can say I was in the audience for that unforgettable Elvis Costello performance at The Wiltern Theatre way back in the Spring of 2011.

The Los Angeles Skyline, Build it and they will come.

From my family photo album, The Los Angeles Skyline - 1970. From L to R, The Pacbell Tower, est. 1961, The 611 Building, est 1967, my cousin Gio, est. 1950 and The Union Bank Plaza, est. 1968.

The Los Angeles Skyline as seen from The Pershing Square Ice Skating Rink - January 2011. The PacBell Tower does not look as lonely today as it did in 1970. Photo on black and white film by El Niño Angeleno

Compared to its big brothers on the East Coast, Los Angeles is but a teenager, barely sprouting its skinny legs in the roomy interior of an old Pontiac sedan and learning how to drive shortly after the end of WWII. Downtown Los Angeles has gone through a bit of a face lift over the last 50 years or so. Change that brought street level parking lot madness in the 1950s and that transformed Bunker Hill from Victorian homes to steel skyscrapers in the 1960s, change that brought a unique post-modern building called The Bonaventure in the 1970’s and that brought urban blight in the 1980s, change that finally brought a subway system in the 1990s and that brought a series of revitalization projects in the 2000s. The US Bank Tower, The Staples Center, LA Live, The Nokia Theatre, The Disney Concert Hall and The Cathedral of Our Lady of The Angels are among the many projects that have sprouted up in the last 20 years. I must have blinked for a moment in the late 1980s as I got on the 110 freeway North at 4th Street and a short moment later glanced back in the rear view mirror, only to see all of these projects completed and in full swing. I must have been stuck in traffic longer than I thought.

The Los Angeles skyline is still growing thicker and fuller like a rockabilly pompadour reaching for the sky. The arteries of its public transportation rail system continue to expand every year, hopefully some day reaching every corner of the region including the big beautiful blue eyes of the Pacific Ocean. (Hey, I had to take a 2 hour bus ride from Silver Lake to Santa Monica when I was a teenager.) The result of an adaptive reuse ordinance set forth in 1999, many of the old historic buildings that sat vacant for decades were converted over to residential lofts, thus bringing back the urban dwellers that left downtown and surrounding neighborhoods decades ago as part of suburban flight.

I don’t claim to know everything about Los Angeles, in fact I know very little. I can’t recall the exact moment in 1966 as a three year old Angeleno that I stood with my older brother at the DWP building to pose for a family snapshot (the cover photo of this blog). City Hall is showcased in the background of that photo and that 1928 icon is just like another member of the family looking for face-time in the family photo album. My earliest memory of Downtown Los Angeles is simple yet beautiful; riding The Angels Flight Railroad in my father’s arms shortly before it closed in 1969. Angels Flight returned last year and Downtown Los Angeles continues to amaze me. (For a great look at Downtown Los Angeles and Bunker Hill check out Ken MacKenzie’s 1961 film, The Exiles.)

Build it and they will come. Population in the City of Los Angeles:

Year Census Population

1910 319,198

1920 576,673

1930 1,238,048

1940 1,504,277

1950 1,970,358

1960 2,479,015

1970 2,811,801

1980 2,968,579

1990 3,485,398

2000 3,694,820

2010 3,792,621

Gone Googie Gone.....The Atomic Coffee Shop

Eldon Davis, the father of midcentury modern coffee shop architecture passed away this week at age 94. A graduate of USC, his architectural firm is responsible for over 4000 coffee shops, many of them here in sunny California. Among the Armet-Davis "Googie" designs were The Norms Coffee Shop on La Cienega built in 1957, prototypes for Bob’s Big Boy and Denny‘s, Johnnie's on Wilshire Blvd and the Pann’s Coffee Shop in Westchester which is still in operation today. Many of these space age coffee shops have seen the wrecking ball or have had a bad 1980's makeover such as this abandoned Goody's Coffee Shop in San Gabriel.

Googie Architecture is a form of futuristic atomic architecture that originated in Southern California in the early 1940s. Although biased with restaurants and coffee shops and spurred by California car culture, its style can be seen in many other forms including motels, bowling alleys, liquor stores, car washes and casinos.

For an interesting read on Googie Architecture pick up a copy of GOOGIE REDUX by Alan Hess. The Goody's Coffee Shop in these photos appears on page 14.

Blessing of The Animals, Olvera Street - 2011

On Saturday April 23, Olvera Street in the Pueblo of Los Angeles hosted the 81st annual Blessing of the Animals. A sacred ritual for Angelenos and their four legged friends, the event is not only spiritual but also a place for all pet owners and caretakers to come together and share the passion and love they have for their trusty companions. Council members Labonge and Hahn were on hand as they are every year while holy water duties were taken over by Archbishop Gomez this year, who was handed over the aspergil (the Holy Water Sprinkler) from Cardinal Mahony.

This year's event showcased many breeds of dogs along with a few cats, horses, snakes, lizards, parakeets, a pig and a couple of roosters. Most notable was Murray the albino snake who is the cornerstone of the event year after year, Daisy the Pig who was constantly on the other end of the camera all day and “Fish” the Rooster who wanted a little bit of that Holy Water to keep him cool.

Enjoy the Blessing of The Animals - 2011.

The Egyptian Theatre and The Film Noir Festival

A found snapshot of a WWII soldier on leave at The Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood on Feburary 28, 1943.

The back of the photo reads “I am in the chariot that Eddie Cantor used in Roman Scandal”

Currently the American Cinematheque is hosting the 13th annual Film Noir Festival at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. The festival runs from April 1 through April 20 and its your only chance to see lost and recently restored 1940’s noir films that will probably never make it to your Netflix queue, simply because they are not available for home media.

Built in 1922 by the ever so ambitious Mr. Sid Grauman. The Egyptian Theatre was a real head turner, a modern day Norma Desmond that fell into despair in the 1980’s. Sid Grauman went on to build other famous landmark theatres such as the El Capitan, The Chinese Theater and the decadent Million Dollar Theatre in downtown. The Hollywood and Highland intersection has gone through a lot of change in the past 25 years with the Red Line Subway, the Hollywood Highland complex, the Kodak Theatre and the subsequent revival of the El Capitan and Egyptian Theatres. The American Cinematheque purchased the property from the City of Los Angeles for one dollar and restored it to a leading lady once again in 1998.

I experienced a few memorable moments amongst the hieroglyphics at The Egyptian Theatre in the 1970s and 1980s. Fire Chief Steve McQueen battling The Towering Inferno in the movie of the same name, Captain Leslie Nielsen navigating the S.S. Poseidon in route to a collision course with disaster in The Poseidon Adventure, Paul Newman and Joanna Woodward floating to the top of the hydrotherapy room in the Drowning Pool and of course the robot cowboy Yul Bryner drawing his gun in defense in the futuristic thriller, West World. The last movie I ever saw there before the American Cinematheque restoration was something called “Friday The 13th - The Final Chapter“. As we all know there was nothing final about Friday The 13th as Jason continued the body count well into the year 2009.

Venturing into Hollywood and Highland in the 1970s and 1980s carried a bit of an edge to it, an impending danger that loomed around every dark and seedy corner. Charles Bronson tracked down one of his assailants in Death Wish II through Hollywood and Highland and gunned him down at the abandoned Garden Court Apartments where the Knitting Factory now sits (I think). Today, Hollywood and Highland is a busy tourist destination patrolled by multiple Captain Jack Sparrows. It is cleaner, safer, brighter and a destination made easy by the Red Line subway. Change is good.

Don’t miss the Film Noir Festival happening right now at The Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.

Click here for the Film Noir Festival Schedule

This way to elect Tom LaBonge for City Council..

photo courtesy of El Niño Angeleno’s iphone

No one knows Los Angeles better than Tom LaBonge.

No one loves Los Angeles more than Tom LaBonge.

No one cares more about Los Angeles than Tom LaBonge.

Elect Tom LaBonge for City Council.

A great choice, a great Angeleno and a fellow John Marshall HS Alumni.