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| April 4, 1975 Journal page |
Well, the weekend is here – and perhaps you're thinking of heading out tonight to enjoy a drink or fine meal at a Lorain County establishment.
If you were perusing the above entertainment page of the Journal fifty years ago, you would have a quite a few choices. Unfortunately, all of these businesses are gone today, relegated to the Island of Forgotten Nightclubs®.
There's an interesting article about Camelo Santiago and his Latin American Orchestra performing at the Civic Center Annex in Downtown Lorain. I don't remember this band, as it slightly predates my entrance into the local latin music scene (which I wrote about here). But I played with some of the musicians in the photo, heard of some of them, and went to Admiral King with at least one (Robert DeLeon).
Otherwise, it's fun to check out the various ads. Italian Gardens was one of the businesses in the building that was originally the home of Lum's Restaurant.
Many of us remember Emerald Valley Nite Club. I even played there with my high school friend Bob Berstiling and the
Four Links. Bob's father played Emerald Valley with his own band, so I'm sure that's how we got the gig.
I remember the distinctive
Tropicana Restaurant in Avon Lake. My old boss
Franc Powell designed and installed the well-remembered mosaic on the outside of the building.
I never heard of
The Schilling (formerly
Donny's) at the intersection of US Route 20 and State Route 301 in Elyria. But Michael Stanley and his band were performing there.
Silver Dollar Lounge & Restaurant is another one I'd never heard of. The ad helpfully points out that it was formerly
Roman Villa.
The Angry Bull was at 651 Broadway (no relation to the similarly angry and same-named
toro out in Huron). Hey, there's Go-Go Girls every night!
Other ads include
O'Henry's Pub,
Beaver's Den and
Whiskeyville Still (next to the Lorain County Speedway). This version of the Whiskeyville Still became
T. J. Light Co. in 1978.
Looking at these ads makes me think how hard it is for local restaurants, bars etc. to survive today without the advertising that newspapers provided. Grouping all of the ads in one spot as shown in the page above made it easy for the person trying to decide where to go. The inclusion of an ad in the paper guaranteed that it was open for business.
Today, neglected and outdated websites, ancient (and phony) reviews, and reliance on social media (which not everyone follows) to promote all make it hard to know if a business is open and worthy of a visit.
Of course the well-informed folks with discriminating tastes danced to the sounds of Bob Frommeyer and the Toppers in the Florida Room of the Aguamarine Resort that weekend, which apparently didn't have to advertise. The supercool went to the other end of the resort and enjoyed the more current sounds of Vince Perrier and his band in the Crow's Nest.
ReplyDeleteDan - you would’ve made a great ad rep for The Journal. I wonder when the Friday Tempo entertainment tab section first appeared? Now that was “the” place to find what was going on with food, drink, movies, etc. Howard Gallop was the editor back then. I Started 11/80 and it was already publishing by then. Todd
ReplyDeleteA shame I wasn't around these parts back then: I could've landed a gig playing my sax. Of all of them only Michael Stanley rings a bell. 'Way back when, I attended a concert in Pennsyltucky where they opened for Maynard Ferguson.
ReplyDeleteRobert De Leon also had a Latin jazz band called KOBRA which made the local scene in the late Seventies; I remember catching them at the Palace in '77, along with several other bands, including STAR, made up of some friends of mine.
ReplyDeleteAh, the Angry Bull, the Star Wars Cantina of downtown Lorain, frequent haunt of the Colt 45 infused specter that was yours truly fifty years ago, a dimly lit den of iniquity and danger.
Lorain was so different then, as were we all...