We're not headed straight to the movies on this day 45 years ago. We're going to go grab a bite to eat at the King's Table. It's an "American Smorgasbord Restaurant" located at Memorial Village Shopping Center. It had opened in April of 1973. I never got to eat there myself so if anyone has memories of eating there they want to share please add a comment.
After dinner it's an easy trip to Martin Twin, Marbro Drive-In, or even across town to Cinema One if we want to catch a movie. It's not far to walk to Jackson Heights from Memorial Village if the weather is not too horrible and see what the Martin Twin has to offer.
Family entertainment was the fare tonight. Charlton Heston stars in the 1972 version of The Call of the Wild. Walt Disney's The Absent-minded Professor and The Castaway Cowboy are the other offerings. I think most everyone is familiar with the lighter than air adventures with flubber in The Absent-minded Professor, but The Castaway Cowboy is a bit more obscure tale of a cowboy washing up on Kaui who decides to stay for awhile and help his rescuer's family start a ranch. James Garner plays the cowboy in one of the two Disney films he did in the 1970's. Perhaps it will be something you can see on their new streaming service these days.
Cinema One was showing a music film that was already several years old in 1974. Popcorn had been released originally in November 1971 and had been filmed in 1969. The Rolling Stones, Bee Gees, and Jimi Hendrix are just a few of the acts featured. Here's a clip with Spencer Davis Group's "I'm A Man" accompanying some suitably tripped out visuals.
If we didn't want to see any of those films our other option that night would be to go north out past G.E. and see what the Marbro Drive-In had lined up for the night.
The Marbro Drive-In often liked to have themes with their showings. The 2 films back then were both about men returning back to their home town after being away. The Windsplitter from 1971 looks like it was a pretty tame long hair versus the establishment sort of film. Ride In A Pink Car is about a guy, thought to be dead, who comes back home to find the town and his wife taken over by corrupt forces. I couldn't find any footage from the movie, but I am curious as to what the heck is going on with the tagline: "There are two things in this world I hate...racial prejudice and Indians!" My English minor skills have eroded, but those lines seem contradictory to me.
If all of those films were not too interesting it might be a good night to stay in. You could choose between Sanford and Son or Planet of the Apes at 7. Six Million Dollar Man came on at 8pm followed by Night Stalker. That's some good viewing there. I'll be back next week with another film flashback, but first here's some bonus butter for your popcorn.
Bonus: The Daily News Journal would feature a family every year going out and shopping for Christmas. It was obvious that the places they visited had paid for these entries and the Martin theatre made sure they were a part of these pieces that ran in November and December for years. Here's the one from 1974 that ran in the December 1st paper. The Waller family go with Charlton Heston.
My friend D.D. Blank has come down from the high wire act of higher education just long enough to recommend another song. This time it's The Nude Party with "Records." It has a nice Doug Yule era VU amble about it. D.D. said "It's not new, but I like the moped."
Another Sunday is here which means it's time to look through an old Sunday Showcase. We find Kiss on the cover of this one.
They were on the road on their Asylum tour. This was the first tour since Dynasty that stayed inside North America and lasted from November 29, 1985 through April 12, 1986. The November 30th show in Nashville was the second of the tour which had begun in Little Rock the night before. The opening act for this date was Black 'n Blue. Notice the ad features the Lick It Up album cover shot which was incredibly well out of date at this time. It's hair metal era Kiss and while it's not my favorite part of their music catalog it's still pretty fun.
The only other concert of note was an anniversary one of John Kay & Steppenwolf at Jackson Theater. I suppose it was 15 years in the business as the band with John Kay began in 1965 as the Sparrows. They have a very convoluted history. They sounded pretty good at Farm Aid in 1986.
The Top Ten songs in Nashville this week are a pretty weak bunch. The Miami Vice soundtrack was living large. Glenn Frey (note misspelling in list from the paper) beats out Starship in Nashville, but couldn't do it nationally as Starship's "We Built This City" was demolishing eardrums across the country. "Head Over Heels" is a song I do love (the Nigel Dick directed music video rules) and Heart's "Never" was good...just stop yourself and listen. The rest of the top ten don't interest me very much.
That's all for this week. Ain't it funny how time flies. I hope to have more next week.
It was the day before Thanksgiving in Murfreesboro, Tennessee on November 22, 1972 and the excitement of turkey and gravy was in the air. What movies were playing in town on this date and what would be playing on Thanksgiving too? That's what I'm here for, even if I was actually living in Ripley, Mississippi at this time.
The Marbro Drive-In was either showing some super remastered director's cut or perhaps there was simply a typo in the newspaper advertisement as you can see Charlton Heston part the Red Sea in The Ten Commandments.
The Martin Theatre had Elvis On Tour tonight thru Saturday. I love the "in multiple-screen" note on the ad. The multiple-screen bit really caught on for a short while in the early 70's. It's Elvis so you know it's great.
Martin added a free movie on Thanksgiving day; the 1968 release With Six You Get Eggroll which starred Doris Day (in her last feature film) and Brian Keith. The movie is about two widowed people falling in love, getting married, and how their children react to it. It's one of those sorta with it comedies of the time.
What was interesting to me was finding some non-film related advertisements for a couple of department stores in Murfreesboro that would be....gasp....open for business on Thanksgiving Day in 1972. I only throw the "gasp" in there because it seems like I've been told all my life about how everything shut down on Thanksgiving and Christmas back in the golden age. I guess the decay and commercialism had taken hold by the early 70's or most likely there is no true golden age in the past. The stores were McCrory's and Clarks. And here are the ads.
One of my most popular posts was about Hardee's. 15 years later here is the remixed version with some extra photos, words in bold, and video content. Hardee's has gone through many changes since 2005, but have yet to revert back to the chain I once loved. Enjoy this blast of Soulfish Stew past mixed with a little new stuff.
ORIGINALLY POSTED DECEMBER 7, 2005
I may be a lone voice crying in the wilderness, but I'm sick of this whole big burger thing that's been sweeping the nation the last several years. And now Hardee's has announced some new big chicken sandwich to add to the onslaught of hugeness afflicting our times. I know I'm going against what the market demands, but how about a return to simpler times when Hardee's was just a regional chain that charbroiled their burgers. It's completely selfish of me, but that was when they were my favorite fast food chain.
When I was very little, they only had one restaurant in Murfreesboro and it was located at Mercury Plaza which boasted a Roses, Harveys, and a Cooper & Martin grocery store. This was all the way across town for us so a visit to Hardee's was a big treat. I loved the orange and brown decor. The smell of the burgers cooking over the open flames that would sometimes shoot up into the air like fireworks. Murfreesboro didn't have a Burger King in those days and unless you were grilling the burgers yourself Hardee's was the place to be. They had a catchy theme song sung by Mama Cass Elliot that urged people to "hurry on down" to Hardee's. And there was also the use of the tune "Hello Dolly" as "Hello Hardee's well hello Hardee's!"
They even had their own set of cartoon character mascots in order to keep up with McDonalds. The two that I can remember are Gilbert Giddyup, their good guy Ronald McDonald sort, and Speedy McGreedy who was a hamburger stealing misfit like the Hamburglar. I liked the Western motiff. It fit in well with cooking burgers over fire. I figured the McDonalds mascots wouldn't stand a chance if it came down to a cartoon brawl with the Hardee's bunch. Here's a humorously captioned video looking back at commercials featuring Speedy and Gilbert.
I also just plain liked the Hardee's burgers better. I usually would get a single hamburger, but sometimes I might get a Big Twin - the Hardee's version of a Big Mac. A McDonalds burger was bland in comparison to the smoky charbroiled goodness of Hardee's. The day I learned that a Hardee's was being built on my side of town was a very happy day.
It was built just off the corner of Broad and Lokey Street. It would be within walking distance during the times I lived in town. They had some land behind the restaurant for parking, outside dining, and even better; a playground which would contain the coolest thing I think I had ever seen. It was a robot that stood 3 stories tall with enclosed slides for arms. You had to climb into the robot which had a ladder running through the middle of it. The second level was where you could get into one of the slides. Since there were two slides you'd have to race your friends. When that got dull you could climb into the third level where you could jump around and cause the robot to shake. It turns out the robot had a name. It was dubbed Giganta. It wasn't exclusive to Hardee's, but I know there were other locations that used this playground equipment also. There's one in the Elvis movie Clambake! There's a really good view of it at 3:35, but there's also a shot from inside the robot before.
This link should take you to a story about the old days of Hardee's and a picture that many people mistakenly believe is the Murfreesboro Hardee's playground, but this Giganta was in Columbia, South Carolina. It does look almost identical. The playground is long gone and I believe the Hardee's property is no longer operating either.
There was also a swingset, a spiral slide shaped liked a rocket ship, and some other things. And the ground was covered in sand. Whenever I'd visit, I'd wolf my food down as quick as possible so I could hit the playground with a vengeance. At that point, it wouldn't have mattered if Hardee's food tasted like dirt since I was likely to end up inhaling plenty of sand before I left.
But there are other things in my memory besides the playground. My parents almost always worked at separate times when I was growing up. At this period my father worked a day shift and my mother worked nights. My father wasn't much on cooking so we'd usually stop off at a fast food place after he'd pick me up from the babysitter's house. Hardee's was very convenient so we went there at least twice a week; sometimes more.
Now my father hates the drive-thru. So we would always stop and go in and order our meals to go. When he figured out I could be trusted with the money and our order he would wait in the Ford Ranger while I went in and ordered. I always tried to go through the prettiest lady's line and soon I had made a friend of a young high school age girl. She was so cool she remembered what I'd order (we always got the same stuff every time) and when she saw me come in she would start ringing it up. I always got a plain burger so they'd have to cook it right then and if the place wasn't busy she'd have a conversation with me. I was only in the 5th grade, but I was smitten with her.
She wasn't there very long and I was sad when I didn't see her when I'd come in. Time passed and as is always the case; stuff happens. I recall a walk from Mitchell-Neilson Elementary School on a sunny spring day with my 6th grade class to have lunch at Hardee's. A car would crash through the dining area one morning, and while nobody was hurt, it did precipitate a dreadful remodeling job. I still liked to play on the playground even though I wouldn't have admitted it once junior high school began. I used to walk over from my house and just hang out there. By the time 9th grade started it was a good place to go and smuggle a smoke in the top of the robot.
The once mighty charbroiled burgers didn't taste as good to me. The quality of the food was declining. Wendy's and Gatti's Pizza were the place to eat in high school. The cartoon mascot characters were long gone. About the only time I'd visit was when I needed to use the restroom. The summer after high school graduation I decided to wear a red bandanna on my head and the Hardee's manager saw me enter the restroom. The next thing I knew somebody was banging on the door. I figured it was my friends so I told them to bug off loudly and profanely. I was a bit surprised to find the manager staring at me when I opened the door. He gave the bathroom a good going over and once he figured out I had only used the place for its purpose he sort of apologized and that was it.
I know I had not been a loyal consumer, but the Wendy's on Church Street was clean, the service was better, and the Flurry topped Hardee's watery milkshakes; but then Hardee's had to really break my heart by doing away with charbroiling. They started cooking their burgers just like McDonalds. The only food I would eat at Hardee's would be breakfast food. Like many of the places where I spent time as a kid, the playground would be removed. The robot dismantled. The rocket ship crashed.
I sometimes gave in to my sentimental feelings and tried the new items Hardee's would offer. But it was always terrible. I tried one of those big Angus burgers not too long ago. It tasted like congealed sawdust mixed with rubber. There's no way they can get me to "hurry on down" these days. The chain now serves as an unlikely metaphor of life to me now. Fun and innocence, corruption and dissolution, and now an over abundance and indulgence that can never satisfy. I need you Gilbert Giddyup.
This look back at the Sunday Showcase 49 years ago is brought to you by Hi-Fi Corner. A vintage Marantz receiver will be the perfect gift for the hipster in your East Nashville life. $449 in 2019 dollars would be $2,971 according to online inflation calculator I used. I think that's a little steep.
What could you expect to be hearing on Top 40 radio on your new Marantz receiver in November of 1970? Here's the Top Ten Songs in Nashville along with a best bet to be hitting the Top Ten soon.
The Partridge Family were top of the charts in Nashville as the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There" fell to 3rd.
The Carpenters make the list with "We've Only Just Begun" which is a masterpiece.
The television show Hee Haw has added a computer to be used when filming episodes at the Channel 5 WLAC studios. I never knew Junior Samples was a computer nerd.
Thanksgiving is coming up fast, but don't worry if you haven't had enough time to get a turkey. Morrison's Cafeteria can take care of you.
Three Dog Night were coming to town on Saturday November 21. Their 2nd album of 1970 and 4th since 1968, Naturally, was released on November 18. "Mama Told Me Not To Come" had been the number 1 song earlier in the year.
If you couldn't get out to see Three Dog Night there was plenty of television choices on that Saturday.
That's all for this week's Sunday Showcase. Come back next week and see what year we land in.
I remember KTVU out of California running either TVPowww or some other variation in the late 70's/early 80's on Murfreesboro cable television. KTVU was trying to be a super station like WTBS and WGN, but didn't quite make it. I loved that they were 2 hours behind which meant I didn't have to watch boring news at 6PM here in Tennessee, but could keep watching cartoons and dream about possibly dialing in to play video games. SPOILER ALERT: I'm calling it....there's no way any of the stations used voice activated technology for these games.
The weather wasn't too bad on this date 42 years ago in Murfreesboro. Highs in the 60's with a chance of thundershowers was the forecast. It had been 63 the day before. There would be ice and snow later that November. But, we're not here to talk about the weather. We're here to, once again, look back at what movies were playing when we were all so much younger. We'll drive out to the edge of town and see what Marbro Drive In is featuring.
Whiskey and moonshine are on tap tonight! Yeehaw! This is one hellacious double feature perfect for a chilly November night at a drive in. Whiskey Mountain not only features music by Charlie Daniels, but check out this plot summary: four motorcyclists arrive at Whiskey Mountain for a treasure hunt are terrorized in the woods by by a gang of murderous hillbilly drug dealers. It's directed by William Grefe' who is a b-movie/exploitation legend.
Moonshine County Express features "high powered cars and 100 proof women" so what more would you want? When a hillbilly moonshiner is murdered his three daughters take over the business and swear vengeance. It features John Saxon, Susan Howard, Claudia Jennings, William Conrad, and best of all Maureen McCormick with some very unBradylike behavior. I'd say both of these flicks deserve episodes of Redneck Matinee so get on that Jackie and Dunlap.
The Martin Twin has a comedy and and a movie about driving trucks full of nitroglycerin through the jungle. The Kentucky Fried Movie had to have been an unexpected hit in 1977. The estimated budget was $600,000 and it grossed $15,000,000 domestically according to the-numbers.com. That's pretty awesome for what was just random comedy sketches. It's funny in places (A Fistful of Yen especially), but even at just 83 minutes in length I find it to a chore to watch without pausing. It was in its 3rd big week of playing.
William Friedkin's (wow, there's the word "fried" in his name too, even if it's not pronounced the same) Sorcerer was also playing at the Martin Twin. Even at the age of 10 I knew he was the guy who had directed The Exorcist. I may have been too young to have seen that film, but it was all over the news when it came out and all of us kids who read Mad magazine felt like we knew what the movies was all about thanks to their parody of it.
The main thing is that what little I did know of Friedkin was that he was a horror movie director. The French Connection (which is a great film) had come out much too long ago to register in my head. So when I was a kid I thought Sorcerer was a horror movie due to the director and the movie poster's look. It does look scary.
It would be years later before I would learn it was a remake of The Wages of Fear and figure out it was a suspense film. The movie was a flop at the box office even though it earned $5.9 million it had cost up to $22 million to make. The critics weren't too keen on it originally, but appreciation for Sorcerer has risen over the years. The Tangerine Dream score is epic. The actors are great in it. I wish I had been able to see it on the big screen, but the Blu-ray will have to do.
The Cinema One is showing Fire Sale. It is the second and last feature film to be directed by Alan Arkin who also stars in it. I have never seen it and the movie trailer doesn't really inspire me much. Sid Caesar and Alan Arkin are probably good in it, but Rob Reiner is a total turn off for me. Reiner is an excellent director and he's tolerable in This Is Spinal Tap, but otherwise I'll skip the acting portion of his filmography.
Fire Sale would only play a week at Cinema One. The only film from November 15, 1977 that would be back was The Kentucky Fried Movie which would play for a 4th and final week at the Martin Twin. It may have come back at some point as my childhood memories are of seeing that on the big sign at Jackson Heights Plaza for months.
I'll be back next week to see what was playing on some random year on November 22. I'm going to switch it up a bit in December and feature some Christmas shopping directed film flashbacks. Until then, the balcony is closed......wait a second, there is no balcony in any of the theatres we just covered.
One of my favorite podcasts is Rock and Or Roll. If you like rock music be sure to check it out. I have added a link to it on the sidebar. I love that AOR obscurities are covered. There are 2 episodes on the Kiwi label Flying Nun. Worst of episodes are fun too. I enjoyed the Rodney on the ROQ episode this morning on my commute.
I know all of you loyal readers love diving right into highlights from past Sunday Showcases, but I'm afraid if this is to continue I'm just going to have to solicit some advertisers. I hope you don't mind.
Be sure and run by Cain-Sloan after reading this and buy something from those fine folks. I'd go for the stereo myself. I can use it to play the Top Ten Songs of the week in Nashville.
So what big rock and roll and soul shows were on tap for this November? The Woodstock sensation SHA NA NA promise An Evening of Nostalgia at the Municipal Auditorium on Friday November 15th.
Dickey Betts was putting on "An American Music Show" at the New Grand Ole Opry House. Americana music has been around much longer than No Depression magazine.
Mountain with James Gang will journey to Murfreesboro for a Murphy Center concert. I wonder if Tommy Bolin was still in the James Gang at this point?
Earth, Wind And Fire have no need for an Oxford comma. They had plenty of funk instead. They were riding high in 1974. Their album Open Our Eyes hit No. 1 on the Billboard Soul chart and No. 15 on the Pop chart. They backed up Ramsey Lewis on the Sun Goddess record and it also hit No. 1 on the Soul chart and made No. 12 on the Pop chart.
Excuse me here. It's time to run another advertisement or I can't pay my bills. If you ever find yourself in LaVergne, Mt. Juliet, or Manchester and want to do some department store shopping you won't go wrong with M & M Variety Mart. I know I've got my eye on that Playskool McDonald's set.
The biggest concert on the horizon for Nashville in November, 1974 would have to be David Bowie live at Municipal Auditorium. It was ostensibly the Diamond Dogs Tour, but near the end of the tour he began to add songs from the Young Americans album into the setlist and it became the Soul Tour. This show was the second to last one with a performance in Atlanta's Omni on December 1st closing out his concert run in America for the year. He performed on the Dick Cavett Show on December 4th. Bowie was just an incredible artist whose influence on popular music was and still is massive.
Here's the setlist:
1. Memory of a Free Festival
2. Rebel Rebel
3. John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)
4. Sorrow
5. Changes
6. Young Americans
7. 1984
8. Rock 'n' Roll With Me
9. Love Me Do
10. The Jean Genie
11. Moonage Daydream
12. Can You Hear Me
13. Knock On Wood
14. Suffragette City
15. Rock 'n' Roll Suicide
Encore
16. Future Legend
17. Diamond Dogs
Our time this Sunday is drawing to a close, so let's figure out what worth's watching on television. We're going with Friday November 15, 1974. I'm going to develop a stomach ache and stay home from school so I can watch TV all day.
If I get up early it will be either Ralph Emery or Carl Tipton at 6AM. I'm watching Bozo for sure at 7AM. Heck, I'd probably watch it even now. New Zoo Review was the stuff of nightmares even when I was a kid so I'm flipping over to Channel 5 to see Captain Kangaroo. If that bored me I would switch over to Green Acres on the half hour. 9AM brings Sesame Street into my home and even though I was pushing 8 years old I still wouldn't miss it. I might flip over to High Rollers or I might stay with PBS and hope Spiderman is on Electric Company. Hollywood Squares was amusing to me as a child, even if I didn't get most of the jokes. One of my favorite public television shows ever called Inside/Out came on at 11:30AM. Someone uploaded a bunch to YouTube a few years ago and I watched them all over again and was just as entranced by it.
I remember seeing the Noon Show on Channel 4. I would often be eating a cheese sandwich while it aired. Much of the early afternoon is filled with soap operas that often acted as background noise when I was a kid. My granny would only watch Channel 5 soaps while my mother watched Channel 2's offerings. I know most Generation X types like myself remember watching the hour long Price Is Right in the mornings when staying at home sick from school, but in 1974 it was still only a half hour in length and aired at 2PM. Match Game was on at 2:30PM and I was in my element gulping down a Coke and a honey bun while Charles Nelson Reilly and Fannie Flagg cracked me up. Tattetales confused me. I could have sworn Gilligan's Island ran every weekday of my youth, but obviously not as it is not on this schedule. The Channel 5 afternoon movie is and if had been Elvis week, Universal monsters week, or Godzilla week I would have tuned in.
There's so many great choices in the early evening. The Andy Griffith Show, the Flintstones, Leave It To Beaver, the Lucy Show, and The Mike Douglas Show are all solid possibilities, but I'm most likely to be watching Mister Rogers and Villa Alegre. 5PM brought solid choices with Family Affair, Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. and Electric Company again. I would have loved to watch Sesame Street again, but in my house it was usually the Channel 5 News at 6PM and then To Tell The Truth at 6:30PM. If I was very lucky though I'd be able to flip over to Channel 8 again and see another all time favorite Zoom. I think most people my age know Boston's zip code thanks to this show. Who else wanted one of those awesome long sleeved striped shirts?
7PM on this night would present another of those agonizing choices with Sanford & Son and Chico & The Man on NBC going up against the Planet of the Apes series on CBS. I'm going ape I guess. Seeing The Six Million Dollar Man listed on any day other than Sunday is weird, but it didn't begin showing on Sundays until January 19, 1975. It was up against the Rockford Files which was another show I really enjoyed. 9PM is time for Kolchak: Night Stalker which I was allowed to stay up and see since it was a Friday. I'd often get to see the Tonight Show too.
That's it for this Sunday's visit to the past. I'll be here again next week with some more old newspaper clippings and other junk.
Note****Advertisements are for businesses long closed so don't actually try to patronize them.
Christmas is just around the corner so if you need help in finding me gifts be sure to visit Wishbook Web and pick something out for me from the 1977 Sears Wish Book. One of these pro quality skateboards would be just great, but there's all kinds of awesome stuff in there.
Hello out there in world wide web land. It's time to venture back in time to see what great and not so great movies were playing in my hometown of Murfreesboro's fine movie establishments on a date corresponding to today's. Let's set the wayback machine's controls back 33 years and revisit November 8, 1986. The choices are still between the Martin Four and the Cinema Twin.
The Martin Four at Jackson Heights Plaza has a Bert Convy directed comedy, a slasher film, future Tarantino film discussion topic, and an Australian who will show you his big knife.
Weekend Warriors is the Bert Convy directed military comedy set in the year 1961. I couldn't find a trailer for the film, but I did turn up this scene which will probably give you a good clue as to whether you would enjoy the movie or not. I have not see this one.
The other military flick playing at the Martin Four was mega hit Top Gun starring Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer. It was the number one movie of 1986. I've heard "Danger Zone" and that Berlin song a few zillion times, but I have never seen the film. I do, however, know what Quentin Tarantino thinks about it thanks to the movie Sleep With Me. It's NSFW or really anybody. So go looking for that clip on your own.
The 2nd biggest movie of 1986 was one I did see at the Martin Four; Crocodile Dundee. It's basically a Tarzan film updated to the 1980's played for gags and it works. Paul Hogan created an iconic character that's still fun to watch on screen today.
Cinema Twin countered with a Billy Graham Film Ministry offering and a Blake Edwards comedy.
That's Life! is the kind of film that seems marketed towards people who would subscribe to the New Yorker or some other "intellectual" magazine. It has huge stars in Jack Lemmon and Julie Andrews, but a plot about an aging architect about to hit 60 isn't exactly the kind of movie that is a blockbuster. Don't feel too bad though as the film still made 4 million dollar at the box office. The trailer filled with critic blathering at the start does make the movie seem worth watching, especially now that I'm much closer to 60 than I was in 1986.
Cry From The Mountain is film produced by the Billy Graham Film Ministry which centers on a father and son kayaking trip to Alaska. I have not seen it and could not find a trailer, but the whole movie appears to be on YouTube. An IMDB commentator says the Alaskan vistas are beautiful. Cinema Twin would often show religious films which always struck me as weird since it was the theatre that also tended to show the edgier fare in Murfreesboro. It's like there was a little devil and little angel we couldn't see on their Cinema Twin sign. It's one of the places that I miss the most from the old Murfreesboro.
I'll be back next week with another look back at what was playing, but there's always something to snack on here at the stew so stop by anytime.
My first skateboard was a Mark Gonzales Vision skateboard. Here I am in my late 80's total lack of style posing with it in my mother's front yard.
I would purchase any skate mag with stories about Mark. He, along with Natas Kaupas and Tommy Guerrero, was one of the earliest and greatest street skateboarders. Innovation could be the Gonz's middle name. I'm a big fan of his skating and art. I'm feeling under the weather today and haven't much energy at all, but it lifts me up to be able to see him do his thing from back in the day. This is perhaps my favorite.
I spent lots of time crafting next week's Sunday Showcase and suddenly realized I didn't have anything for today so I have hastily thrown together this post. There was a night club that I never went to in Nashville, even though by the time I was old enough to go they were featuring hard rock and metal music. That club would be Sal's Place. It was located at I-24 and Haywood Lane in the ads featured here, but I could have sworn it was located in a strip center on Nolensville Lane later on. The earliest ad I could find was this one from the August 7, 1983 Sunday Showcase and the club was most definitely not metal at this point. This particular Jay Thomas was all over Nashville in this time period and I wonder if it was the actor/comedian/disc jockey dude who was on Murphy Brown. His IMDB bio says he went to Vanderbilt at one point.
Less than a month later and the club is billed as being Nashville's newest live 50's & 60's hot spot. The Van-Dells were 50's revivalists al a Sha Na Na.
Sal's looks like it's become more of a dance club in this advertisement from January 1984. Don't forget that Wednesday night is Ladies Night!
Later in the year it looks live live music is back in the mix as they advertise a month full of Mary Burns in September. She would also come back for New Years. Here she is covering Janis Joplin. I dig her voice and her hair.
Joe Savage is playing Sal's in July of 1985. Joe was fairly famous for using giant pythons in his act and taking a chainsaw to tables. He also liked cutting the neckties of music executives in half. It's billed as a limited engagement and it may have been for Sal's, but Joe seemed to be playing every night in Nashville during the mid-80's.
Heavy metal music becomes the thing later in 1985. Michigan thrashers Ded Engine come to town on November 8th,
It's no longer Sal's Place. It's Sal's Rock 'n' Roll Club by March of 1986. Malice with Transgressor on a Saturday night in Nashville would have a rocking night.
Things do get a little weird in June of 1986 as Sal's decides to bring in some male dancers billed as the Heavenly 7. The band Fighter that is listed is probably a Christian rock band. I don't know anything about Bobby Morgan but if he's featuring Mike Simmons I'm sure it rocked. I think hard rockers Buster Brown were from Kentucky. They were a darn good band.
It's really a shame for me that I never got out to Sal's. I kept looking through Sunday Showcase's for more ads after 1986 and came up empty. I suspect it is because of a new free music paper called The Metro that was coming out more than once a month by then and perhaps Sal's spent their advertising money there instead. There is quite a noticeable decline in club ads in Sunday Showcase's from 1986 on. I'll dig out some of my actual hard copy Metro's and see if I can perhaps do a second post on Sal's in the future. If you have any Sal's stories feel free to share them. Next Sunday's post will look back to November 10, 1974.
