Sunset Blvd: One Famous Road | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a. production of iHeart Radio. Welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh and. there's Chuck and Jerry's here, too. Jerry's being quiet. Uh, and this is. Stuff You Should Know, the um hair. metalish. edition. Yeah. I mean, you know, we. we've done a lot of New York centric. episodes over the years and uh I feel. like we haven't given LA their due. A.

city that I know you love dearly. Yeah. The one other city in the world, New York and LA. No, I just LA and. especially this episode, this uh Sunset. Boulevard, the street um there aren't. many, you know, I mean there's a handful. of iconic streets in the world and. Sunset Boulevard is one of them because. it's just been historically packed with. uh I mean it's not just like film stuff, it's music stuff, it's uh literary. stuff, it's comedy stuff, um all sorts.

of like cult iconic cultural staples on. Sunset Boulevard, right? And it it was. obviously very well known inside of LA. for years, but it wasn't until the early. 2010s before the rest of the world heard. about it, thanks to the Aaron Sorcin. show, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Oh. yeah, I actually watched that for a. little while. It was unwatchable. Yeah, it wasn't very good. Somebody just. breaking out into a moving saliloquy. every seven minutes is the most.

unrealistic writing anybody could ever. possibly do. That's Aaron Sorcin, baby. I know, but it only worked for WestWing. I didn't watch WestWing at all, so I. haven't seen a lot of Sorcin stuff. It. really worked for West Wing, but it did. not work for Studio 60. Uh, I do love. Sarah Pollson, though, and she was in. that. Sure. Yeah, I felt bad for her. Yeah, I did too a little bit. What was. great is 30 Rock came out at the exact. same time, and they would make fun of. some Studio 60s like th plot lines. Yeah. In real time. Yeah. the whole um.

what was the Janice Joplain story? They. had to like rename her because they. didn't have rights to her life story or. that was something that Sarah Pollson. like got a gig do playing Janice Joplain. on Studio 60. Yeah. So that's our Studio. 60 episode, everybody. That's right. Uh. back to Sunset Boulevard. Yeah. So um yes, we should probably just. say all jokes aside, it's a very long. street. It's a very historic street and. it actually dates back to the 18th.

century before the city of Los Angeles. as we understand it was around instead. it originated in the PBLO day Los. Angeles uh which um was the little. colony I guess or settlement of just 11. families. Yeah. Um that was the seed. that germinated into Los Angeles. Home. of Joe Friday. That's right. uh in. Sunset Boulevard before it became Sunset. Boulevard, like many famous streets, was. originally used as something else. And.

in this case, it was a cattle trail uh. from that downtown PBLO of Los Angeles. uh all the way to the Pacific. So, it it. runs for 23 miles. You hear about, you. know, Sunset Boulevard, you probably. think of the Sunset Strip, which is a. less than twomile area, but right, Sunset Boulevard there, you know, I used. to live on the east side in Silverlake, and Sunset Boulevard over there is great. in a whole other way, uh, than the. Sunset Strip. How so? Well, I mean, it's. just a a cultural seed uh of, you know,

great restaurants and cafes and music. venues and, you know, it was sort of the. hipster thing back in the day when. hipsters were still a thing. Yeah. Silver Lake. That's um there's that. Shaggy Dog mystery with Andrew Garfield. beneath the Silver Lake, right? Oh, that. was pretty hipster. I think I saw that. maybe. Yeah. It's worth watching, especially if you know it's a shaggy dog. mystery going into it. Yeah, but long. way of saying that it was a cattle trail. uh to begin with and then like a lot of.

things like that would eventually become. a real street. Uh it became Sunset. Boulevard about a hundred years after. that I believe. Yeah. So there's a. couple of um sto origin stories for. where the name came from. I couldn't see. what they called it like the westward. side of Sunset Boulevard before it was. Sunset Boulevard, but I think in 1887. there was a developer. There's a lot of. land development going on in the late. 19th century that built up Los Angeles. It was a bunch of different little. towns, communities that were independent.

and then Los Angeles kept growing and. growing and growing and it would absorb. them and they became neighborhoods. instead. Yeah. Well, there was one. planned town called Sunset and they. planned for Sunset Boulevard, a. different stretch of road to go right. through the town. And so they apparently. came up with the name Sunset Boulevard, but it was another developer who. appropriated it and used it for the. Sunset Boulevard after that town of. Sunset never actually happened. It died. on the drafting table, I guess, is what.

you'd say. Is that an industry jargon? It is now. Uh, yeah. Yeah. And you know, surely you. can see some some great sunsets because. sunset, you know, if you're not familiar. with sort of the Hollywood basin, there's a it's very grid-like and. there's a series of east west streets. Hollywood, Sunset, Santa Monica are some. of the more famous ones. And it's it. goes downhill, you know, from the. mountains, uh, the Hollywood Hills, you. know, there the literal mountains and. hills, but then it's still up kind of. high and LA kind of goes down down into.

the basin and sunset is pretty high on. that side. So yeah, you can see some. great sunsets, I'm sure. Yeah. And I. think originally it terminated on the. east end in Chinatown or what's now. Chinatown. And um like you said, it goes. through Silver Lake. It goes through a. bunch of different neighborhoods. Echo. Park, Pacific Palisades, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, West Hollywood. Um like all. these great neighborhoods I think are in. part great neighborhoods because it's. it's a chicken or the egg thing. Is.

Sunset Boulevard great because these. these neighborhoods around it are great. or are the neighborhoods great because. Sunset Boulevard ran through them? I. think it's a chicken meets egg and they. just shake hands and agree not to. discuss it. Let's never speak of this. again. uh some film stuff and we're kind of. jumping around between things that made. it famous, but generally in a timeline, but uh early on it was obviously um. Hollywood was the birthplace of the film. industry and and you know, we've said it.

before, if you've never been there, you. might think Hollywood is just a. euphemism for the film industry. It is. that, but it is also a real neighborhood. right in the center of the LA basin. there. And you know, it was originally. just like all the other suburbs like you. were talking about. They were dividing. it up into lots and I believe in the. early 1900s it was a guy named uh very. 1900s name HJ Whitney who kind of I. don't know if he in it wasn't officially. incorporated but he made Hollywood like. a proper town and a place to live. Yeah.

I think Hollywood or West Hollywood. wasn't incorporated until like the. 1980s. Is that right? I think that was. probably West Hollywood. Okay. Weho as. they say. Yeah. Everybody knows that. thanks to Studio 60. Um, so yes, so Hollywood, it was almost. out of the gate. This was the early. 1900s, 1910 when it merged with uh Los. Angeles. The next year, film studios. started popping up. And they started. popping up in a very specific area, the.

corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower. Street. And even still today, there's an. original studio from that area called. Sunset Gower Studios. And they're still. making shows. That's where Dexter was. filmed. That's where Save by the Bell, the College Years, was filmed. Six feet. under. That's where Yeah. Six feet. under. Uh Dexter, the College Years, Heroes. Um a lot of really good shows. have shot there. And it's an old old. timey original Hollywood studio from.

like the 19s. Yeah. I never shot there, but I got to as a PA got to run an. errand there once during while Six Feet. Under was being shot. So, I've got to. see those sets and it was pretty pretty. cool as a six feet under fan. What did. you take something to Diddy? Is that. what it was? No, no, no. That was to his. actual house. Gotcha. Yeah. I I disavow. that entire uh delivery though. Uh. Poverty Row is what they called Sunset. Gower at first because it was pretty low. budget at the time. Uh the things they. shot there, but in the 1930s they.

started shooting some like really kind. of high quality things there. Uh notably. the movies That Happened One Night and. You Can't Take It With You. Yeah. Uh, and then Gower Gulch. I'm glad I never. knew the history, but there's still a a. strip mall right there called Gower. Gulch, and it has a little Old West. theme. Mhm. Uh, and that's where I saw. Sherotary at a Starbucks. Oh, yeah. And. where uh there was a hopefully it's. still a print shop there where, you. know, you could get scripts printed off. and bound. Oh, yeah. Um, but now I know.

that Gower Gulch is so uh named because. it was where all of the westerns were. being filmed and a lot of dudes in like. cowboy hats and cowboy boots would kind. of hang around waiting to be cast there. at that I guess whatever the stores were. at the time. Yeah, because Hollywood. especially um this area where all the. studios were churning out westerns left. and right through the 20s and 30s. So, I. mean, I'm sure there were other extras. hanging around, but the 10gon hat really. makes you stand out. And if you put a. bunch of them together, it's going to.

get a reputation for being a cowboy. hangout. And they would hang out around. the Columbia drugstore. Is that still. there? I don't know. I mean, I feel like. there's a raid and that's probably what. that was, but I may be wrong, but you. know, Gower Gilch lives on. Did you ever. go into that raid in Greenpoint? Yeah, in Greenpoint in New York in. Brooklyn. It has like a disco ball still. from whatever it was before. Oh, cool. No, definitely not. It is kind of cool. Um, but anyway, this Columbia drugstore, they would hang out there because the.

owners of Columbia drugstore had a. telephone and they would let the extras. use it to call Central Casting to see if. there were any parts available for them. And there was a high-profile murder. there too, right, between a couple. cowboys. Uh, yeah. I mean, I don't know. if it was quite a, you know, take 10. steps and draw kind of thing. Yeah. But. there was a shooter over uh I think they. were both seeing the same Philly. Yeah. And apparently one of them, Blackjack. Ward, killed Johnny Tikeke. He shot him. down once and then he told him each.

reason he was shooting him and every. time he did, he shot him again until his. whole six shooter was empty. Like he. murdered that guy in broad daylight in. front of a bunch of people and he still. got off. And someone said, "Boy, cast. that dude. That's incredible." Yeah, I. know. That should be out of a movie. Yeah, they should make a movie about. them for sure. Uh, Prohibition was when. the party scene kind of moved in. It was. called the county strip at the time and. it was unincorporated still at this. point, but it was a stretch um kind of.

between where Hollywood was, you know, a. dry place because of prohibition and. Beverly Hills is kind of where the. Sunset Strip ends. Yeah. Well, um, but it keeps going to. the Pacific, right? That like doesn't it. basically just run out into the ocean? I. guess the Pacific Highway, but that's. not the Sunset Strip. Strip strip. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry about that. But yeah, I. guess from the outset, the Sunset Strip. was like mobsters, brothel, um, gambling. rackets, nightclubs. It was huge during.

Prohibition. Uh, and I guess the reason. why is because it was unincorporated. So, the LA County Sheriff was in charge. of overseeing or enforcing laws. And I. guess they weren't particularly inclined. to enforce laws in that area. So, that's. where you went. And that in and of. itself is like worth mentioning. It's. historic. But one of the reasons it's so. famous or the strip became the strip is. because on the other side, like you. said, there's Beverly Hills and that's. where the stars had moved around the. same time. So they would come into the.

county strip and party and then go back. to Beverly Hills. And the fact that. there were all these world famous movie. stars partying there kind of really put. a stamp on Sunset Strip that stayed. forever. Yeah, there was uh 8477 Sunset. had um four different mobster clubs. basically where the you know mob owned. and backed them. Uh this it was at first. the Spanx, then the Han club, then club. uh what would that be? So Saleof. Yeah, I think so. Sakalof.

Yeah, S K O L O E F. And then the Clover. Club. And if you're wondering what 8477. is now, it's a weed dispensary. Oh, that's appropriate. Yeah. Like that kind. of feels right, doesn't it? Yeah. Because I'll bet it was a weed. dispensary back in the 30s, too. Yeah, probably. So, but I'll bet it was some. crap weed. Yeah. So, uh like Yeah. No crap like the kids. say today, right? I think it's no cap, isn't it? Yeah. I think they just don't.

know what they're saying. Okay. So, I I mentioned brothel. That. apparently was a huge foundation of. Hollywood. So there's Hollywood that. people think about as Hollywood and then. there was like real Hollywood that the. actual stars how they actually lived. their lives. And it was depraved and. decadent as you can imagine during the. golden era. It might have been the most. depraved and decadent during the golden. era depending on what your moral views. are. Um and people just went buck wild.

The brothel were a huge part of that. They were everywhere along Sunset. Boulevard. They were in private homes. They were in apartment buildings. They. were sometimes in commercial spaces. And. um they even had some that that imitated. or there were lookalikes of stars of the. day too. Yeah. That was uh one of the. plot lines of LA Confidential if you. remember. Oh yeah. It was a a brothel. where and except in that movie they were. I think the line was like they're cut to. look like celebrities. So I think they. had actual like plastic surgery. Oh,

gotcha. Yeah. To look like Hollywood. stars. And you know, the rumors were. that the studios were kind of funding. these uh to take investors, like foreign. investors there and they could sleep. with a sex worker that looks like Vivian. Lee. That seems to be a really. wellfounded rumor. Like I don't know. that there's any actual documentation of. it, but it seems to be pretty much. accepted as fact from what I saw. Yeah, I believe it. So, and actually because. this is Hollywood and celebrity um I. guess celebrity worship is just part of.

it and always has been whenever some of. the madams would get busted they would. become internationally famous as well. Uh there were two that stick out. One's. name was Lee Francis. I think she might. have originally worked under the other. very famous one the Black Widow and. Forester. And by this time, the Hollywood movie. studios were so powerful that both Lee. Francis and Forester were busted with. client information. One of them had. essentially like an index card system. The other one had a black book and both.

of those things disappeared. Yeah. Before they could ever make it into the. evidence locker and no one was arrested. in any of the cases. um even the guys. who were caught in the act because they. they just you just kept people's names. out of the paper. It just didn't happen. in Hollywood. And I think that level of. protection by the studios just fueled. the lifestyle that the stars were living. because they couldn't get in trouble. They could not there were no.

consequences for what they were doing. So people just did anything and. everything there during that golden age. I guess of the 20s and 30s and 40s. maybe. Yeah. And you know because of. that it was sort of a um you know as. Dave called it kind of a blessing in. disguise uh for the LGTQ community. Um. and you know that's the West Hollywood. or WeHo again is sort of the heart of. the LGTB community in central Los. Angeles. But um way before that it was. it was where a lot of gay bars were um.

gay clubs uh drag clubs. I think the. first uh drag shows in the city and. probably some some of the first in the. United States uh were at a speak easy in. 1927 called Cafe Lobo. Mhm. Uh but there. were also, you know, all kinds of clubs. there. There was a very famous one. called the Trokado that opened in 1934. where Cafe Labbo was. And uh it was uh. opened by a guy named Billy Wilkerson. who was a publisher of the Hollywood. Reporter which I guess used to be news.

and like gossip and stuff. Now it's like. a, you know, fully um sort of standup. legitimate industry rag. I know. They. write about us pretty much constantly. I. think we were in it once actually. We. were selected for some honor of like I. think powerful podcasters or something. crazy like that. Yeah, we made that list. a time or two and uh we were in variety. once too. A couple of, you know, feathers in our caps. Yeah. So nice. I. love to stroke those feathers sometimes. Well, it's easy to forget when they. don't come calling, you know. It's true. But he owned Billy Wilkerson owned the.

Trokado and it was another one of those. things where he was like, "Hey, you come. by the Trokado and we're going to make. sure that you get in the gossip column, you know, cuz at the time, you know, that was kind of good press." Yeah. Um, at the same time, the trocado was set up. to cater to stars and celebrities. because autograph hounds and people who. looked a little too hungry or thirsty to. get in there were shut out of that to. protect people inside, the celebrities.

inside so they could relax and not have. to worry about, I guess, being asked for. their autograph. The worst thing that. can possibly happen to you. Uh, and then the final one we'll mention. here before the break is a nightclub. called Siros. Uh, it opened in 1940 and. I believe it was also Wilkerson who. owned that one and it was notable. It. was just a very famous and popular. nightclub, but it was um it made its. name because Bugsy Seagull would go. there a lot, the infamous mobster. And. when he was in jail uh on murder trial,

he got food from Zero delivered right. there to a cell because you could do. that at the time. Yep. Takeout food. Can. you believe it? Uh so we'll take a break. now. Yeah. Yeah, I think it's a good. idea. Great. And we'll come back and. talk about the legendary Chateau Mormont. right after this. [Music].

starting now. [Music]. All right, we're back. We promised talk. of the Chateau Mormont. Uh that is a. very famous hotel built in 1929. Uh it's. the one that sits right in the hills and. kind of looks like a castle, a very. European inspired luxury hotel. And its. um motto is still, if you go to their. website, uh says always a safe haven,

always open. And from the start, it was. kind of like what you've been. describing. Uh it was a place where you. could go and and party hardy and ensure. that your name wouldn't be in the news. because of it. Yeah. Like they had and I. believe still have a strict policy among. their staff like you do not talk about. what you see at the hotel. Um and the. reason why is they figured out very. early on that if you can provide like. that level of discretion or privacy, uh.

you're going to be you're in good. like. the the word of mouth alone is going to. keep you in business for decades and. clearly that worked out for more than a. century or almost a century. Um and then. conversely if the staff started. gossiping or talking about what they saw. or started selling their stories to. papers or tabloids like the chateau. Marmont would have gone out of business. in six months essentially. So they I. don't know how they managed to do it to. keep people from you know rumor. mongering or anything like that but they.

seem to have quite successfully over the. years. Yeah. And I was delighted to see. today and and for a while kind of during. the early COVID years I remember it was. closed down and it was supposedly going. to reopen as a sort of like a. membersonly. Uh you could buy places or. maybe live in them long term or. something. I can't remember what the. plan was and it bummed me out because I. had never had a chance to stay there. Uh. but I went today and apparently it's a. hotel again and I don't know if those. plans are completely off or what or what. happened but looks like you can stay. there. Um I have never stayed there but.

uh I have mentioned before I have. partied in the John Belalushi bungalow. like six or seven times and neat. It's. just a pretty awesome special place. The. restaurant there and the bar. Um, you. just sort of feel and it's not like I go. there to, you know, get away with doing. bad stuff, but it feels insulated when. you're in there, like this little weird. haven. Yeah. I mean, like I said, apparently it's still very much like. that and it's very tight lipped. Yeah. Um, yeah. It's just I mean, that's just. such an iconic place that almost to me.

stands apart from Sunset Boulevard. It's. about as iconic as Sunset Boulevard. itself in my opinion. Yeah, agreed. And. it was right there at sort of that. junction where the very famously had the. big marble man poster ad for Oh yeah, forever that thing was up. Um there was. one other thing Dave helped us with this. and he turned up a quote from the guy. who used to run Colombia Pictures I. think in the 30s. His name was Harry. Conn and he used to tell his actors, "If. you must get in trouble, do it at the.

Chateau Marmmont." Yeah. Because. nobody's going to find out about it. Like that hotel could even keep people's. names out of the paper when someone died. in their hotel. The death would get. reported, but the papers would not. report the person's name in a lot of. cases. There's got to be NDAs, I guess, but I mean, this is long before there. were NDAs, you know. Oh, I don't know. when those came along. I mean, certainly. they weren't around in the 1930s, I. wouldn't think. I think just the studio. heads would send goons their legs. Yeah.

Uh down the street from the chateau was. another very famous um well eventually. hotel was called the garden of Allah and. you should look this place up if if. you're you know some place where you're. not driving and look at pictures of it. It was pretty wondrous. I think it was a. few acres uh named for its original. owner. It was a silent film star named. Allah uh Nazimova and Alla had a lot of. money and bought a mansion there in. 1918. And then when things it was sort. of like hey come and party. It was sort.

of like the New York salons at the time, like the elite would party there. Um, and I think um, Nazimova was coined the. phrase sewing circles as code for. lesbian and bisexual actresses at the. time. Yeah, I saw her described as the. sappic mother of Hollywood. Like, she is. a LGBTQ icon from still today, but from. this era. And she was really famous and. made a lot of money. Apparently, at one. point she was making $13,000 a week,

which is $276,000. a week today. And so, according to the. moral codes of the time, this was. decadent and depraved. But it was a safe. place for um the stars who were closeted. lesbians or closeted bisexual to like. come and like have affairs or make. relationships or whatever. It was just a. a really safe space. And um Nazamova was. the reason why like she managed to like. keep a lid on that as well while still.

like everybody went and had fun. Yeah, totally. And you know it went from a. private house where she hosted these. salons to after the silent film era she. didn't make the transition to the. talkies so well and so was a little down. on her luck financially and remodeled it. as a hotel in 1927 and it became sort of. the same version of the same thing but. as a hotel. Yeah, for sure. And I think. as a hotel, it might have been less of a. safe space, but probably still carried.

it on some. Like, from what I. understand, when it was her house, like. it was lesbian central essentially. And. then once it became a hotel, it was much. more open to I think everybody. Yeah, for sure. Um, it's now a strip mall. It. was demolished fully, unfortunately. But, uh, you can go look at great. pictures of it. It was across from the. very famous Schwabs Pharmacy. Mhm. uh. which was a lot of things. There was uh. I think from the movie 1951 Sunset. Boulevard, the great Billy Wilder movie.

That is such a good movie, man. Oh, it's. unbelievable. Um William Holden as a. washedup screenwriter says, "After that, I drove down to headquarters. That's the. way a lot of us think about Schwabs. Kind of a combination office, coffee. clutch, and waiting room. Waiting. waiting for the gravy train." Yeah. And. that's what it was. It was this weird. combo where you could go seen and be. seen and also sit around and, you know, wait for the phone to ring. Yeah. They. had this lunch counter that apparently. was pretty good cuz a lot of stars went. there, but they didn't discriminate. It. wasn't like you could be an aspiring.

actor who's getting nowhere and you're. sitting there almost literally rubbing. elbows at this lunch counter with Marlon. Brando or something like that. Like it. was just people coming together from all. walks of life. And uh I thought that was. pretty cool. But it made it legendary. I. mean, just basically anywhere that stars. went on Sunset Boulevard automatically. became legendary. And now they're all. Wraids or Chase Banks. And Schwab's. Pharmacy is where the the famous story. about Lana Turner being discovered there.

while skipping school before her name. was Lana Turner. But I think I feel like. we talked about this that that wasn't. true. Yeah, it turns out I mean she was. discovered skipping typing class at. Hollywood High School, but she was. discovered at the Top Hat malt shop, not. at Schwabs, right? And I guess Schwab. just filled in for Top Hat because it. was much more famous, maybe. I don't. know. Yeah, probably. But that same. Billy Wilkerson who founded Ceros and. the Hollywood Reporter, he's apparently. the one who discovered her. Oh, yeah. That's right. It's all true except for.

the Schwab's part. uh as we move into the 60s is when uh. the Sunset Strip, you know, particularly. uh became part of the uh kind of the. seated counterculture of Los Angeles. Mhm. Um in the 1950s, a lot of money. went to Vegas when Vegas was first. opening up. Yeah. And so rents fell. lower on the strip. So like some. grittier nightclubs moved in. And I. think you found too where uh Vegas if. you played in Vegas, you needed to at. least like have a reputation in LA. So.

that's why a lot of bands played there. Yeah. Well, no, the mob had enough money. that they could pay you just such a fat. contract that part of the contract was. you can't go play LA because we want. people to come to Vegas, right? So all. of the entertainers and performers left. the Sunset Strip and went to Vegas. So. the club started having trouble and then. they started bringing in black acts. Mottown R&B. Um Otis Reading very. famously played uh at I can't remember. what what club with Bob Dylan watching.

him just a go. Um and sadly the the. sudden appearance of um black performers. on the Sunset Strip actually depressed. real estate values even further. And so. as rock and roll kind of came along, young entrepreneurs who wanted to open. rock clubs were able to afford these. spaces along the Sunset Strip. And. that's how it went from, you know, glamorous Frank Sinatra to grungy rock. clubs. There was a a transition, a swing.

from the R&B artists of of the time. playing the Sunset Strip for a little. while in between those things. Oh, okay. That makes sense. Uh, so then it became. more rock and roll because that's when. the Whiskey Agogo opened in ' 64, a. venue I've still not been to. Uh, they. just don't have a lot of stuff that I'm. into anymore. It's a lot of uh still a. lot of like metal um and like metal. tribute bands and stuff like that, but. I'm going to make it a point just to go. at some point just so I can be in that.

room. Uh but that became sort of the. epicenter of the counterculture and. youth culture, right? And uh whiskey. agogo, if you've heard of go- go. dancing, it comes from the whiskey. agogo, like literally. Yeah. There was a. a DJ at the whiskey named Joanie Leine. And um the DJ booth was in a a glass. case. I'm not sure if it's still there. or not, but it was several tens of feet. off of the the dance floor just over it. And when she was spinning records, she. would just kind of dance and she had a. certain way of dancing and she would. wear very short skirts and long white.

boots and the like she started the go-. go dancing trend of the 60s. single-handedly essentially. Everybody. started kind of mimicking her and uh it. was all at the whiskey go-go. Yeah. Uh. if you've heard of the rock band The. Doors, uh the rock band without a bass. player featuring Jim Morrison and uh. others. Ray Manzeric. I remember how. excited I was in eighth grade when that. movie came out. Oh, I was a freshman in. college. Yeah, I was too. That's cool.

that you were psyched at that age. because it felt like uh college is when. everyone got into the doors for a couple. of years. Mhm. And that was definitely. me and the Whiskey certainly featured. heavily because they were the house band. for basically a summer in 1966. Uh, and you know, everyone of the day. played there. It's not a very big venue. either. I don't know what the capacity. is, but it feels like just by looking at. it, it's probably under a thousand. Oh. yeah, I would definitely say that. I. mean, imagine seeing Led Zeppelin or. Jimmyi Hendris like in a small room like.

that. Yeah. I mean, I can't imagine. seeing them period, much less in a small. room. Uh, and then one other thing about. the whiskey go-go. I think it's probably. the greatest club name of all time. Uh, and I looked up why or where go- go came. from. And apparently go for a little. while was slang for fashionable. And it. just kind of morphed into go- go. That. kind of fashionable or cool, right? Doubly fashionable. So the whiskey go-go. was very fashionable, I guess. Uh, a.

rare inshow lookup. It's a capacity of. 500. So yeah, that's that's amazing. Wow. Yeah, that's like a stuff you. should know show in our hometown of. Atlanta. Wow. Uh in the mid60s is when uh cruising the. strips um became like a real thing with, you know, basically people just would. get in their cars, get in their. convertibles, get on their motorcycles, and just drive up and down the Sunset. Strip. If you've ever seen the movie. American Graffiti, um even though that. drive-in was filmed in uh on Vaness.

because Mel's Drive-In is a a small. chain, I think it was it was supposed to. be the one on the Sunset Strip if I'm. not mistaken. Yeah, definitely. That. whole LA youth culture and car culture. that produced the Beach Boys and all. that, that's when it was set, right? And. I think it actually Happy Days was. essentially spun off of American. Graffiti. Um, uh, what's his name? Richie Cunningham. Richie Cunningham. Ron Howard, baby. Yes. He was in.

American Graffiti essentially playing. Richie Cunningham. Yeah. Right before. Happy Days started. So, I never thought. about that. Yeah. One little thing about. that, I I was looking up Mel's Drive and. American Graffiti and I ran across uh. there was a list of suggested names from. the studio instead of American Graffiti. And it's even on like Lucasfilm. stationary or something like that. One. of them was Burger City. They considered naming that movie Burger. City. Wow. We should write a script called.

Burger City. See if we can get it. developed. Yeah, I think that'd be. great. Uh or Good Burger. That'd be an. equally weird name. Isn't that Keenan. and Kell? Yeah, I was just kidding. Have. you ever seen that movie? I never saw. it. That was Was it a movie or a show? It was a movie. It was like the Keenan. and Kell movie. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah, he's the best. Well, I don't know much. about Kel, but Kenan's awesome. I love. that guy. Yeah, I agree. Uh 66 was when. uh a club called Pandora's Box uh.

famously became the sort of heart of. what was known as the ride on Sunset. Strip. Um the LA Sheriff's Department. had enforced a 10:00 curfew uh for. teenagers, basically anyone under 18. And on November 12th of ' 66 is when. thousands of young teenage hippies uh. protested. They sat down in the street. in front of Pandora's box, blocked. traffic, and um it ended pretty. violently. Cops came in and uh Steven. Stills wrote the famous um protest song. for what it's worth because he witnessed.

that event. Yeah. They just came in with. police batons, a flying, cracking heads. It's like LAPD. Will you ever change? Maybe, maybe not. The signs are not. pointing to a definite yes at this point. yet. Uh, and if you're thinking, I don't. know the song for what it's worth. Um, it's the song you you better stop. Hey, what's that sound? Everybody look what's. going down. You just probably don't. remember it as having the name for what. it's worth. No, because it's one of.

those um those songs that just the title. just doesn't fit the other part, I. think. But Buffalo Springfield. Yeah, it's a good song. Love it. Steven Sills. Did you see that? Thanks, Dave. Oh, did he not put the tea. in there? No. Steven Sills. I loved it. Crosby Sills. Nass and Yan. Oh, man. We love Dave. here. We love him. Uh, so we should talk. a little bit about the Black Cat Tavern. because um Black Cat Tavern was home of.

one of the first uh major LGBTQ protest. um in the United States. Certainly a. couple years before Stonewall even. Yeah. Two years before Stonewall, you. said, right? Yeah. And I think on New. Year's Eve, the cops came in, the LAPD. again or the sheriff's office. I'm not. sure which one. Um, they started. cracking heads. They started just. beating up the gay patrons there for. being gay. They accused them of lewd. conduct or whatever. I think you turned. up that two men were caught kissing. And.

that's essentially what started the. beatings. Is that correct? Yeah. I mean, they ended up arresting 14 people, but. those two men uh ended up getting. convicted and had to register as sex. offenders for kissing. each other. Uh. the Supreme Court of the United States. refused to hear their appeal. Uh and so. they took away their liquor license in. May, I believe, of ' 67 shortly after. the protest on February 11th because of. the raid on New Year's Eve and they had. to shut down. I think it reopened as.

several other gay bars over the years. until 2011 when it reopened in 2012 as a. right aid as the Black Cat. It was a. restaurant this time. They paid honor to. its roots a by naming it that and having. kind of the same logo, but uh just the. historical significance is on display. there with photographs and a plaque. And. this is in the Silver Lake side. This is. not on the strip. And in 2022, it was a. it was duplex in a very small sort of. two-sided building. Shake Shack opened. up on the other side in the adjacent.

space and apparently dominated with. their signage and everyone got really. really mad at that and it didn't last. long. Shake Shack there is now closed. You know, one of the most interesting. things I've ever seen is a story about. Shake Shack, the original one in. whatever park it's in in New York. Okay. Yumi and I were there. We were in line, very long line, and the line goes. through the park, so there's a lot of. trees overhead. Oh, yeah. I know that. one. This guy, I'm not sure what park it. is. I guess it doesn't matter. But this. guy who was either one or two in behind.

us in line, um, suddenly was surrounded. by bird poop. It just formed like a halo. around his body and everyone like turned. around looking for the poop that had. surely gotten on the guy and he had. nothing on him. Somehow the poop had all. magically fallen within inches of his. body all around him without actually. getting on him and everyone in the line. who knew what happened was just like. that is one of the most amazing things. I've ever seen. That guy was so happy he.

was not buy a lottery ticket. Yeah, exactly. That's amazing story. I don't. think I've ever heard that. I didn't. know that was the first one either. Yeah, I think it's the first one. It was. just in the park. Yeah, it's over. It's. like it's near Union Square. I don't. know where the park is either, though. Uh and then one other thing about the. Black Cat Tavern, it's um you know, obviously like people are like this. happened, you know, before the Stonewall. raid. It might have even happened before. the Compton's Cafeteria riot. And the. fact that it's compared to Stonewall, it. makes you think that that it there was a. riot involved. It wasn't. It was a.

dignified organized protest, but it's. the first recorded LGBTQ. protest in American history. That's what. that's its big claim to fame. Amazing. Uh I feel like that's a great time for a. break. Totally. And we'll segue into the. 70s right after this. [Music].

starting now. [Music]. Okay, so the 70s, which we just segueed. into, this was where the rock clubs like. kind of transitioned from hippie rock to. all sorts of different stuff. Proto. Punk, Glam Rock, eventually Hair Metal. as we'll see. Um, and there were three.

big clubs, rock clubs that were around. at the time. Uh, there was the Roxy. Theater, Rodney's English Disco, and. Gazari's. Those were the three that were like the. the three big rock clubs in the 70s that. kind of kicked off that transition from. what I understand. Yeah. And Gazaris is. best known for uh Van Halen, baby. Van. Halen was known for two things in their. early days before they put a record out. It was playing backyard parties in.

Pasadena where they lived and being the. house band at Gazaris for like years. Did you know that Van Halen was from. California? Yeah, I didn't. I always. thought they were a Dutch band. No, I. mean Eddie and Alex were Dutch by. heritage and I think they were even born. there. Maybe David Lee Roth isn't Dutch. No. Have you ever heard him talk? Sure. Right. That's Dutch. I think you're. right. I mean, I'm a big Van Halen guy,

so I've studied and read all the books, but there's one in particular. Oh god, is it called Becoming Van Halen? It's. the most intense, like I don't know how. this guy got this information, but it's. the most intense detailing of pre-record. contract Van Halen that I've ever heard. of in my life. It was incredible how. much this guy knew about their Pasadena. backyard party days. Well, since you. know so much about Van Halen, answer. this for me. It's a question I actually. carry around with me. What was the deal.

with Eddie Van Halen slamming Michael. Anthony as a bad bass player? Like I. think about upon Michael Anony's death. Oh well, you mean Eddie Van Halen's. death? Michael Anthony. Okay. Well, for. some reason Eddie Van Halen came out and. said that he thought Michael Anthony was. a terrible bass player. Oh, Eddie, you. know, he's one of the greatest in RIP. for sure, but he could be unkind at. times to people. I think Michael Anony's. one of the greatest. And he had the. voice that kind of helped make Van Halen. with those backing vocals, and he's.

still crushing it because I went and saw. Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony in Vegas. played not too long ago for the second. time in a year. Were you the guest of. our good friend Aaron Hagar who listened. to No, I wasn't a guest this time. Aaron, I was hoping he could meet uh. there and I could finally have a chance. to meet his pops. But um Aaron showed up. the week after I was there, but Adam. Pranica, friend of the show of the. Greatest Generation podcast, met me from. LA and we played a little golf and saw. Sammy and just had a great time. It's. it's a really good show. Those guys are. still killing it. And Michael Anthony is.

besides his talents is known as one of. the nicest guys in rock and roll. Nice. which really stinks if Eddie said that. because Michael Anthony has always taken. the the high road. Oh, he did. He did. say it. It was a big deal. And um Sammy. Hagar came out and said, "I don't know. what Eddie's talking about. He's. basically being an idiot. Michael. Anony's the best bass player I ever. worked with." So, he's swooped in. All. that band stuff just makes me sad. fighting like that. Yeah. I'd like to. circle back to Adam Pranica. Okay. Okay,

for people who aren't familiar with him, I would say go listen to the greatest. generation podcast. But if you ever get. a chance to meet Adam Pranica, you. should consider yourself hashtag blessed. because he is one of the greatest human. beings you will ever meet in your life. Like legitimately through and through. just a great dude. Yeah, agreed. He's. the Michael Anthony of podcast. He. definitely is, man. Uh along with his. co-host Ben Harrison. No, Ben's great, too. He's no Adam Pranica, though.

Ben's gonna like that burn. Uh, the Roxy. opened in 73. Uh, David Geffin, very. famous um, sort of record label owner. and early on music producer and Lou. Adler, legendary producer, opened the. Roxy and uh, it was legendary for a lot. of reasons. I mean, The Biggest of the. Big played there and this again a small. club. Uh, but the very first staging in. the US of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Yeah. Uh, this is when it was just a. stage musical um, played at the Roxy. Yeah. Um, and Peeweee Herman debuted his.

show, um, what became the Peewee Herman. TV show, his live stage version of it. that came out first in 1981 at the Rosy. Have you seen that documentary yet? Still haven't seen it because we were on. vacation, but it's on the list. And then. Rodney's English disco. I don't know why. those three words together are hard for. me to pronounce, but um, that was Rodney. Bingenheimimer's club that opened in. 1972. So, think about how ahead of the. curve he was by naming it a disco. There. was no disco around yet. Yeah, that's a. good point. He was a legendary DJ at.

KRock in LA from 76 to 2017. I'm sorry, Chuck. It's K R O Q. And was very famous. for breaking like the list of bands that. he broke on air is incredible. Like it. just look it over sometime. Uh I don't. have time to go over all of it here. because we're running long, but it's. it's just really impressive. and he was. a there was a great documentary about. him called The Mayor of Sunset Strip. Uh. he has a star on Hollywood Boulevard and. it's just like wow what a guy and then.

very disappointingly uh a couple of. years ago um Carrie Chrome of the. Runaways um filed a lawsuit and said he. sexually assaulted me when I was 13. years old. Man, those poor runaways they. got just totally exploited and and just. used up. It's sad. just young teenage. girls and the and Kim Fley, their. manager, seems like a horrible human. Yeah. Took part in that assault. And. then five more women came forward after. that, including Jane Weedland of the. Go-Os and said, "Yeah, Rodney sexually.

assaulted me, too." And there hasn't. been a result of that lawsuit yet, but. uh turns out not a good guy. Well, good. for them for standing up to that dude. Totally. Uh, we couldn't mention the. Sunset Strip without mentioning, especially during the era of the 70s, the Continental Hyatt House, which had. You stayed there, by the way. I have. I'm almost positive that we both stayed. as now the And uh, in one of our LA. podcast uh, festival appearances. I do. not recall that. I remember seeing at.

the SLS. Is that what you're talking. about? No, this is And I mean, I. definitely stay there. I thought you. did, but it was the Continental Riot. House. the Hyatt House officially. Uh if. you've ever read the Led Zeppelin book. and there's that picture of Robert Plant. standing on the balcony uh saying, "I'm. a golden god." That that was the Riot. House. Yeah. Um and the Continental, just as a little aside, that's from the. original name of the hotel, the. Continental, which was owned by Gene. Autry. Oh, wow. Didn't know that. Yeah,

it's kind of a weird transition, right? Yeah, totally. All right, as the tour. goes forward, we're going to take a. little stop here at the Rainbow Bar and. Grill on Sunset. Uh, opened in 72 and it. was uh the people who owned the Whiskey. Agogo that opened the Rainbow. And the. Rainbow was just a den of debauchery. disguised as a not too great Italian. restaurant. Uh, but that was where the. Hollywood vampires hung out. the um kind. of silly looking at it now. Drinking. club founded by Alice Cooper as members. of which were Keith Moon, Ringo Star,

Mickey Dolan's, and the debaucherous and. great Harry Nelson. Yeah. And they're. now kind of a band with Alice Cooper and. Aerosmith guitarist. Oh. Uh Joe, uh oh jeez, what's his name? Stephen Tyler and the other guy. I'm. just blanking. Well, anyway, Johnny Depp. is in it. There's like a couple other. people, too. I think one of the dudes. from Guns and Roses might be in it, too. Uh, maybe. I don't know if they're any.

good, are they? I don't know. I think. they're more a novelty act. Uh, maybe. I mean, you know, it's got. Johnny Depp in it, right? Right. I think. that kind of makes it a novelty act as. far as musical acts are concerned. Joe. Perry. Joe Perry. I kept want to say Joe. Elliot, but that's uh De Leopard. Oh, yeah. That's right. That's the lead. singer. Yeah. One other thing about the. Rainbow Bar and Grill. That's where John. Belalushi ate his last meal. Yeah. In. 1982 before he died of a drug overdose.

at the Chateau Marmmont. And had he. gotten the speedball from Schwabs, it. would have been a Sunset Boulevard. trifecta. Oh, yeah. I guess you're right. Uh, and then I guess moving on, Chuck, we can't talk about Sunset Boulevard. without talking about comedy clubs. because it was essentially the place. where the whole concept of a comedy club. was born. Yeah, thanks to Poly Shore's. mom, Mity Shore. Is Is it his mom? Cuz I. looked it up and I couldn't find that.

Was it his mom? Really? Oh, yeah. That's. funny cuz he like he was like a kid. roaming around those parts. That's. awesome. Yeah. She Mitsy Shore opened. the comedy store in 72 uh where Zero. used to be and it was like you said it. was the very first standup only. nightclub in the world. Mhm. Which is. crazy to think about for sure. And so. Mitsy Shore became very famous for. considering the comedy store as a comedy. workshop where upandcomers could work on. their material, work on their acts and. um because it was a comedy workshop and.

not a comedy club, she didn't pay them. Especially the upandcomers. There are. very few bigname acts that would come. through and she would pay them. But if. you were working on your stuff, and. we're talking like legendary people. here, we're talking like Jim Carrey, Howie Mandel, Gary Shandling, Andy. Kaufman, Robin Williams, Michael Keaton. for some reason apparently was a. standup. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I did not know. that. Um he's just so serious now, you. know. Yeah. But I mean, he started in. comedy movies and you can get his early.

standup. It's kind of fun. Yeah. No, I. know his comedy movies. But I've seen um. No, I mean the stand you can watch. Oh, gotcha. Um so like these were people who. all had their careers launched thanks to. the comedy store, but they were paid an. exposure and eventually they were like, "This is not worth it. We're going on. strike." Yeah. They went on strike in. 79, which opened a door for another. club. Yeah. Uh the world famous Laugh. Factory opened in 79 just a few blocks. away uh by a 16-year-old,

which is amazing. uh Iranian immigrant, also amazing, named Jamie Msada, and he. ended up opening laugh factories all. over the country. Yeah. And he was like, "Uh, how about this? You guys come play. here and I'll share some of the cover. charge with you. Like, I'll actually pay. you." And apparently the original name. of the Laugh Factory was joke on yolk. Like egg yolk. Really? Yeah. Joke on yolk? I don't get it. Was there. a yolk street? I think he thought that. was funny. Oh, okay. It rhymes, so it's.

funny. Well, I guess he was a better. business owner than comedian, right? Yeah. Well, he was an aspiring comedian. That's why he opened that club. Yeah. Joke on Yelp. Get it? Right. So, uh, one. other thing circling back, Mity Shore. finally resolved the strike after a few. weeks by agreeing to pay the comedians. $25 a set, which is a whopping $110. today. That's not too bad. If you're. getting up there and doing seven. minutes, they don't know. You can buy. like a pack of cigarettes with $110. today. All right, we're going to move.

into the 80s and you got to talk about. the 80s because you got to talk about. hair metal. And if you're going to talk. about hair metal in the Sunset Strip, you got to start with Mly Crew. Yeah, I. guess they were the ones who like. started the whole thing on the Sunset. Strip. I'm sure you knew that because. you probably read 10 books about Mly. Crew. Uh, no, just two. Okay. Yeah. I. mean, they lived right above it. uh they. could walk down there and uh you know. have big parties at their disgusting. place that they shared above the Sunset. Strip. But yeah, they were uh if not the.

first, one of the first to kind of bring. that scene there and you know, Poison, LA Guns, Faster Pussycat, eventually. Guns and Roses would start out there in. the mid80s. But um yeah, the whiskey. kind of had a bunch of different lives. from uh from hippie stuff to sort of. what we would view as classic rock to. eventually hair metal and now I guess. hair metal cover bands, right? And in. between then and now, Grunge came along. and killed hair metal, which was a sad. day. I think you can still go see those.

bands. They're around. You can see the. tribute versions of them. Uh and other. ones. I'm going to see Judas Priest. Oh, nice. I've never seen them and I got. tickets on a whim to go see them this. fall. Uh, speaking of Judas Priest, I. just have one more place I want to. mention, but um, Judas Priest has one of. the cooler documentaries around. It's. called Parking Lot or something like. that. Have you met a parking lot? Yes. Have you seen it? Yeah. I mean, it's not. just about Judas Priest. It's just about. Penelopey Spirus uh, directed that kind.

of a legendary documentary, right? Okay. Well, I guess I'm the only one who saw. it, but I love that documentary. It just. takes place at the parking lot before a. Judas Priest show. Oh, I don't think I. even remembered it was Judas Priest. I'm. almost positive it is Judas Priest. It. probably is, but yeah, it it really. encapsulates that culture at the time. It totally does. Yeah. Uh, the last. place I wanted to mention was the. Beverly Hills Hotel. Um, apparently it. was around before there was even a. Beverly Hills. Yeah. And old Hollywood.

used to hang out there, blah blah blah. The thing that makes it noteworthy to me. is, you know, that iconic banana leaf. wallpaper that you kind of see, it's. like kind of that's where it debuted or. that's where it became big. That pattern. is called Martineique and I think it was. in the mid late 40s that um this. decorator papered the Beverly Hills. Hotel with that and it just took off. from there. Wow. I've never been there, but that's one of those places I want to. go like have dinner just to, you know, kind of like uh Tavern on the Green. style. Yeah, it looks amazing. Actually,

their bar looks amazing, too. Yeah, it's. still got that kind of mid-century. charm, doesn't it? LA style. Yeah. I. guess that's it for Sunset Boulevard. Yeah. I mean, there's so many things we. couldn't get to cuz we didn't want to do. a two-parter, but if you want to look up. stuff on Hollywood High School and the. weird uh Crossroads of the World. shopping center, Yeah. uh or the Hollywood Paladium, certainly. do that because there's still a lot more. about the Sunset Strip and it's, you. know, you go to LA and you're into.

touristy stuff, you should go check it. out. Yeah, for sure. And there's a lot. of good writing out there. People love. writing about the Sunset Strip. For. sure. Yeah. And thanks again to Dave for. helping us out with this one. Good job, Dave. And since I said good job, Dave, that means it's time for Licitor mail. And this one actually is a listener. suggestion. So we wanted to shout out. Ser Delk for Sunset Boulevard. Man, that's a great name. Yeah, I mean not. for making the road, but you know, for.

giving this suggestion. Nice. Hey guys, long-term listener who wants to uh thank. you for keeping me entertained during. work, school, travel, and pretty much. any excuse to have a podcast on for the. past few years. Uh the reason I write is. in 2022 you talked about rock paper. scissors and you didn't think it was. possible to play with more than two. people. You may be interested to know. that my friends and I used to play three. to four person games at work as. landscapers. Uh in the mornings we were. weed eating on the property and we'd. come across items that only required the. work of one person and we would play. rock paper scissors and this is how you.

do it. Uh we would simply all throw at. once like a normal game. In a. three-person game if anyone beat all the. other players uh then they would step. out and the other two would play again. So, it's sort of like a knockout. tournament. Mhm. Uh, if two players beat. the others on the first game, then the. loser lost immediately. After many games. over the weeks and months, the. strategies, alliances, and yes, some. game theory all made the work quite fun. and competitive. Uh, love the show. All. the best to you and your families. Respectfully, that is Austin from St. Louis, Missouri. Nice work, Austin. You.

cracked the code finally. Thank you for. that. Thanks for letting us know, too. And, uh, if you want to be like Austin, right? That's right. If you want to be. like Austin, then uh send us an email. and you can be like Austin. Send it off. to stuffodcast.com. [Music]. Stuff You Should Know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts, iHeart. Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple. Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your. favorite shows.

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