Just Above Sunset
Volume 5, Number 10
March 11, 2007

A Feel for the Place

 The world as seen from Just Above Sunset -

"Notes on how things seem from out here in Hollywood..."

Our Man in Paris, Ric Erickson, editor of MetropoleParis, offers a glance into graphic design with his weekly shots of the posters in the kiosks there. Click on the link and go to "This Week's Paris Posters" for examples of what Parisians see - what's hot, and how it is presented. You get a sense of what's going on there, and there are some startling images.

Ric covers Paris. Hollywood has a different flavor. Below are this week's Hollywood posters - or maybe more than posters.

Below - the east wall of the Whisky a Go Go - 8901 Sunset Boulevard, on the Sunset Strip, not to be confused the Whisky à Go-Go that opened in Paris in 1947. This one opened on January 11, 1964 - with a live band led by Johnny Rivers and a short-skirted female DJ spinning records between sets from a suspended cage at the right of the stage. When the girl DJ danced during Rivers' set, the audience thought it was part of the act and the concept of Go-Go dancers in cages was born. In 1966, the Whisky was one of the centers of the Sunset Strip police riots. The club was harassed repeatedly by the City of Los Angeles, which once ordered that the name be changed - claiming "whisky" was a bad influence. It was the "Whisk?" for a while. The Byrds and the Buffalo Springfield were regulars, and The Doors were the house band for a while. Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention got their record contract based on a performance at the Whisky. Jimi Hendrix came by to jam when Sam & Dave headlined. Otis Redding recorded his album "Live at the Whisky" in 1966 here. Then there were The Kinks, The Who, Cream, Led Zeppelin and so on. The next wave - The Runaways, X, Mötley Crüe and Van Halen, but also Blondie, Talking Heads, and Elvis Costello. Then came the "the godfathers of grunge" - Soundgarden, Nirvana and so on. Now this - 

Disturbed - Ten Thousand Fists - Whiskey a Go Go - Sunset Strip, West Hollywood

Aardvark's at 7579 Melrose Avenue - west wall -

Aardvark's at 7579 Melrose Avenue - west wall -

Now playing at the Matrix Theater, 7657 Melrose Avenue -

Now playing at the Matrix Theater, 7657 Melrose Avenue -

Billboard, Hollywood and Vine -

Billboard, Hollywood and Vine -

Below the billboard -

Below the billboard - Hollywood and Vine - Psychic  Reader

Cat deity - Melrose Avenue

Cat deity - Melrose Avenue

Across the street, in the alley behind Melrose, a study in green, and in all things Hollywood - (I'm not bad... I'm just drawn that way...) -

Jessica Rabbit, Melrose Avenue

No, nothing is serious out here -

Serious, Melrose Avenue

If you use any of these photos for commercial purposes I assume you'll discuss that with me.

These were shot with a Nikon D70 - using lens (1) AF-S Nikkor 18-70 mm 1:35-4.5G ED, or (2) AF Nikkor 70-300mm telephoto, or after 5 June 2006, (3) AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor, 55-200 mm f/4-5.6G ED. They were modified for web posting using Adobe Photoshop 7.0

The original large-format raw files are available upon request.

[A Feel for the Place]

Last updated Saturday, March 10, 2007, 10:30 pm Pacific Time

All text and photos, unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 - Alan M. Pavlik

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