Kit Kat Club Stripper Contest
I am told this placard was from Ed’s Kit Kat… back in the day:
Kamala Almanzar, a professional bellydancer based in Los Angeles shares no holds barred memories, opinions & gossip of her 35 year dance career. http://www.kamaladance.com All photos belong to her.
Ali Baba’s… it sounds terrible but I still want to go. I am trying to get in touch with Kamala, if you have info on this old club-restaurant, please post in the comments. Thanks.
Here are some photos of Kamala on the dance floor and of the band performing at Ali Baba’s:
Thank you for sharing my blog on Ali Baba’s. It was quite the place!
Funk, soul and jazz musician Fred Wesley played with many of the great acts of the sixties and seventies. In his book “Hit Me, Fred” he relives what it was like in the seventies at Eddie Nash’s “Soul’d Out Club”:
The Soul’d Out was on Sunset Boulevard in the heart of Hollywood … the club was much like any other nightclub in the world … it smelled of smoke and beer and perfume … and was crowded with sweaty people laughing and chatting … but this club was in Hollywood … the women were all extremely beautiful model types, and the guys were all TV-type hip dudes. Everyone was dressed in the latest fashions. It was obvious that the guys were on the prowl for girls and the girls were definitely setting traps for the guys … people were drinking and smoking and making frequent trips in and out of the front door and in and out of the bathrooms giving away the drug action that was also happening … the jukebox was playing classic R&B and everybody was dancing. The black people were dancing very well, as usual, and the white people, as usual, were enthusiastically doing the best that they could … Actually, I did notice that the white people were dancing unusually well. Everybody seemed to know everybody. To my surprise, there wasn’t even a hint of racial recognition … it was fun, relaxed, homey atmosphere.
I wanna go!
Thanks to Vintage L.A. for sharing this classic photo of Hollywood Blvd. The 7 Seas building was recently sold again in July, 2013 for crazy money. The previous owner purchased it from Eddie Nash in 2007. Ed also had his main office upstairs for his umbrella corporation “Adel, Inc.” which I guess governed some of his business ventures and probably contained a large safe. That’s according to a corporate directory I once found. This location was a mere hop, skip and jump for Greg Diles to drive Ed to from his house in Studio City.
2007-
The building’s seller, infamous impresario Eddie Nash, agreed to part with the retail and office structure for an undisclosed price.
…Eddie Nash, who owned the building for almost 50 years, said he finally agreed to sell after a CIM executive “wore me out.” (oh Ed, you so craaazay!)
…Much of the time Nash owned it, and as far back as the 1930s, the building was the home of Seven Seas, a popular island-themed nightclub that once boasted live floor shows with music and dancers three times a night.
…Like many other buildings in Hollywood, this one fell far and hard in the 1980s and 1990s when scores of businesses departed and the neighborhood earned a reputation for being disreputable and even dangerous.
Sorry, but I don’t know what goes on at a Masonic Lodge and I am not sure that I want to know. But from what I’ve seen on the Simpsons and Flintstones it looks pretty harmless:
Hollywood Blvd. looking east towards Highland Ave. in Oct. 1963 (50 years ago). The 7 Seas Restaurant is across the street, next to it is the Hollywood Masonic Temple (current home to TV’s Jimmy Kimmel Show) and the Paramount Theater (today its the El Capitan). Past Highland Ave. is the Hollywood Theater and Hollywood Inn (the “H’ is burned out—it was later bought by the Church of Scientology).
Damn! Eddie was only 34 yo in 1963 and at the top of his profession.
Yes, Eddie worked hard, localarts. Once in 1970 after a long day, a young bouncer named Gregory Diles said “here Mr Nasrallah, try some of this white powder… Your bro, club owner Chris Cox, said it will make you feel fabulous!”
Well whether one is for or against Eddie, he definitely was The Man in Hollywood. He owned that town for a very long time, and for the most part, people learned that messing with him was a bad decision. Dude built an awesome empire. Just imagine what it could have grown into if he had not gotten high on his own supply.
He is still living (according to wikipedia), any ideas of how he lives today?…that is other than being really old..
Ed is a grandpa, so he is enjoying retirement and being a grandfather. I don’t know about his physical health, but he’s still there mentally. When author Jill Nelson and Jennifer Sugar attempted to get an interview for their John Holmes book, Eddie slept on it for the weekend and then declined. From what I have read about him in the past, Eddie likes to travel and from what I know, he still lives at the same condo in Tarzana (and has for the past 20 years).
Great picture.
This is also the location where Greg Diles was arrested in 1988 to stand trial for the Wonderland murders, for which he was acquitted. In 1988, this was called “Club Hollywood” and Diles was an empliyee…bouncer or security I would presume… Nash was not the owner of
the club, simply just the landlord. In 1986, Diles ha lost 100 lbs and wa back to being a lean mean fightin machine!
How the hell is Ed Nash still around? He was speedballing and shit through the 1980’s and he’s still around. I drink too much coffee and I feel like a heart attack is imminent.
Reblogged this on Wonderland1981 – The Wonderland Murders.
The beautiful Natalie wood. Natasha gregson who play Barbara Richardson looks just like her
To the French, it’s a very sad, depressing and lonely place. “It’s a true urban laboratory”.
This is Los Angeles in 1970.
John, you just rock!!! 😉 ❤
John Lennon changed his middle name from Winston to Ono because between his and Yoko’s names, there were 9 O’s. And 9 was his favorite number.
John you just rock!!!! 😉 ❤
Was always a big fan of the Rockford Files. They don’t make shows like that anymore
I always remember a scene in Rockford Files where he was being chased in his Camaro and got away by parking in a used car lot and ducking below the dashboard. Classic Jim Rockford!
I am working on some big Wonderland stuff, but in the mean time you’re gonna have to make due with these sweet photos. Be sure to check the captions for info.
I always look forward to classic photo Friday. Look at those pants, what the hell was Richard Burton thinking?
Yes! And he was probably about ready to dump Liz (again) in that photo. They got married like fifty times.
Fake Deep Purple?
Rod Evans did not have the authority to be out parading as Deep Purple. He was long gone from the band.
localarts 7:04 pm on March 16, 2017 Permalink |
The winner gets a date with Johnny Wadd.