Let's Dance

I was trying to find a song, preferably from the 80s and 90s, that had the refrain of "dance" or "dancing" in it.  turns out there are lots of them, but not all in my wheelhouse.  I'm not a fan of boy bands.  Not a fan of country songs about dance.  Too sentimental for such an energetic exercise.  So it has to be rock, rockabilly, or New Age Rock.  

So we start with Van Halen's "Let's Dance the Night Away," 1979.

David Bowie's "Let's Dance," 1983.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "Mary Jane's Last Dance," 1993, isn't bad.  Lyrics don't really capture the free expression of dance.  I guess it's just memorable from my younger days of the 80s and 90s.

Don Henley's "All She Wants to Do Is Dance," 1984, is pretty good.

Sly and the Family Stone's "Dance to the Music," 1967, is decent.  Maybe a little too funky for me.    

Madness's "One Step Beyond," 1979, may not have the word "dance" in it, but "One Step Beyond" is a reference to a dance of sorts.  And to be honest, I can't imagine dancing to too many other songs.  

Definitely not dance songs, but songs I grew up with in the 80s, while working nights at UPS in Baldwin Park, 1980-1983.  Used to hear and love the song, "Pulling Mussels from a Shell," 1980, by Squeeze. 

And Squeeze's 1981 tune, "Tempted."   

Ah, yes, Kim Carnes, 1981, "Bette Davis Eyes."   

And, of course, the Psychedelic Furs', 1982, "Love My Way."  Odd that now, today, this song actually hurts me.  So sad, so stuck in loneliness and helplessness.  Glad those years are over.  I forgot that they wrote and sang the song for the 1981 movie, "Pretty in Pink." 

And then, of course, there was The Flock of Seagulls that everybody loved.  The 1980s were a heady time music-wise.  But perhaps the best of that era was Duran Duran with songs like "Hungry Like a Wolf," 1982.  Below is Duran Duran's "Rio," 1982.

What is it with the British that they think they can dress up with unbuttoned shirts, flip tables, and run through streets as if they own the place?  

But my favorite of theirs is "Ordinary World," 1992.

The Jam, "Town Called Malice," 1982.

Elvis Costello's "Watching the Detectives," 1977.  

Soft Cell's "Tainted Love," 1981.  The British make some creepy music videos.  I think that's done on purpose because those ruling over the music industry in Britain are a bit strange to the point that makes Benny Hill look like a normal working guy.

And who didn't love Blondie's Debbie Harry singing "Heart of Glass," 1979?  I'd read once that she helped nurse back to health the lead guitarist.  Kind of a decent woman.

The Cars, "Drive," 1984.  With Benjamin Orr (1947-2000) singing lead.  And "Just What I Needed," 1978.

Ric Ocasek (1944-2019) sings lead on this one, "Shake It Up," 1981.

I am amazed that I can remember any of this.  But here is Bananarama's 1983 single hit, "Cruel Summer."  

The Bangles were another favorite, 

The Clash's "Charlie Don't Surf," 1980, is named after a line in the 1979 antiwar, Vietnam war movie, Apocalypse Now.  

"London Calling," 1979.  "Rock the Casbah," 1982.

Cyndi Lauper, "Time After Time," 1982.

The Herald-Examiner Building, Los Angeles, 1937

 

[ca.1937] View looking north on Broadway towards Eleventh. Julia Morgan designed the Mission-Revival style Herald-Examiner Building (1111 South Broadway) which opened in 1914. In 1962 the Morning Examiner (founded in 1903) merged with the Evening Herald Express (founded approximately 1871) creating the Herald-Examiner newspaper. The building was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #178 in 1977 and closed in 1989. (Herman J Schultheis Collection) https://buff.ly/3TEpiWC.  Thank you to LAPL Photo Collection.  Today it's home to Arizona State University.

All re

Devil's Gate Bridge, 1893

 

Thank you to Los Angeles Relic.

Opening of Devil's Gate Bridge across the Arroyo Seco, 1893. Source: The Lanterman House Museum

The Pike, 1936

 

The Pike, 1936.  Great photo.  Love everyone's attire, the signage, the architecture, and so forth.  

[ca.1918] Visitors are seen strolling outside the "Hades" amusement attraction on the Venice pier. (Herald-Examiner Collection) https://buff.ly/3LeHvo2

 But the reason I post it is to illustrate how many songs, hit songs of the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and beyond have celebrated death.  Kids wouldn't heed any message or lyrics from 

This song was written in 1973 by Bob Dylan 

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, written for the soundtrack of the 1973 film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. 

I thought of the song after considering the lyrics to the 1967 song by British band, Procol Harum's song, "Whiter Shade of Pale."

We skipped the light fandango turned cartwheels 'cross the floor I was feeling kinda' seasick the crowd called out for more the room was humming harder as the ceiling flew away when we called out for another drink the waiter brought a tray and so it was that later as a mirror told its tale that her face at first just ghostly turned a whiter shade of pale She said: "There is no reason and the truth is plain to see" but I wandered through my playing cards would not let her be one of sixteen vestal virgins who were leaving for the coast and although my eyes were open they might just as well've been closed and so it was that later as the miller told his tale that her face at first just ghostly turned a whiter shade of pale..

The Hall of Justice, Los Angeles, 1925-

 

The old Hall of Justice Building, 1982.

The Hall of Justice, 1943.  Located @ 211 West Temple in the Civic Center.

Angels Flight, 1901-1969

This is the earliest shot of Angel's Flight that I've seen.  Thank you to Historic Los Angeles for this photo.  It's not dated.  But this pic was posted on November 27, 2023.

I remember Dad talking affectionately and nostalgically about Angel's Flight and what it was.  His basic answer to a kid was: it's a trolley.  But I had no sense of the geography of things in downtown Los Angeles as a kid. 

The history of Angel's Flight is a kind of veneer on the history of Bunker Hill.  Wikipedia gets that started here,

Historically, Bunker Hill was a large hill that separated the Victorian-era Downtown from the western end of the city. The hill was tunneled through at Second Street in 1924, and at Third and Fourth Streets. In the late 20th century, the hill was lowered in elevation, and the entire area was redeveloped to supplant old frame and concrete buildings with modern high-rises and other structures for residences, commerce, entertainment, and education.

Bunker Hill is bordered on the west by Figueroa and bordered on the east by Main Street.  But that makes no sense.  Actually, this map below has Bunker Hill outlined in a perforated red line, and that seems accurate to me.

basically the Civic Center, the Walt Disney Music Hall, the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion, the Moss Courthouse at First and Hill, the Water and Power Building, and the Broad Modern Art Museum.  So the 

There are lots of great shots of Angel's Flight and appearances of it in movies, like the one starring Lon Chaney, The Indestructible Man, 1956.  It appears here at the 40:39 mark.  This scene caught Chuck's eye and so he told me about this film.  It's a good one.

Wikipedia explains that, 

The funicular has operated on two different sites, using the same cars and station elements. The original Angels Flight location, with trackage along the side of Third Street Tunnel and connecting Hill Street and Olive Street, operated from 1901 until it was closed in 1969, when its site was cleared for redevelopment. 

At the 7-minute mark in this 1965 movie, Angel's Flight, a woman boards Angels Flight to go up to Bunker Hill. 

The charm of Angel's Flight is that it lifted you up to Bunker Hill.  What was so great about Bunker Hill, you ask?  

It shows up in the 1952 film noir, The Turning Point, starring William Holden, at the 18:09 mark.  Lots of other great Downtown Los Angeles landmarks to check out too.

The movie, BTW, was inspired by the Kefauver Committee's hearings, 1950-1951, dealing with organized crime which were of enormous public interest in 1950 and 1951, and which inspired quite a few film noir moments, as it happened. 

Several locations of historical interest in Downtown Los Angeles can be seen in this film. The original Angel's Flight funicular railway is part of one scene. The Hotel Belmont can also be seen. Neither of these landmarks remains. Other buildings that can be seen are the San Fernando Building in the Bank District and a Metropolitan Water District building at 3rd and Broadway.

View of Angels Flight as it passes over Clay Street in 1955.

Thank you to the LA Public Library Photo Collection.

Looking up Angels Flight tracks, 1962.  Note the demolition of the apartment buildings to the south of Angel's Flight. 

Angel's Flight, 1962.  Thank you to LAist.  

The demolition of the buildings around Angels Flight, 1962.  Thanks to Wikipedia.  While the hotels south of Angel's Flight were demolished in 1962, Angel's Flight itself was torn down in 1969 and relocated in 1996 further south to connect Hill with the California Plaza.

1963, LA, CA.  Angels Flight railway after surrounding buildings had been torn down for Bunker Hill redevelopment.  Thanks to Mel-v VC.  And to Dan Walgenbach.

[1965] Angels Flight, 3rd Street tunnel and Bunker Hill. (Milton Martinez - Herald Examiner Collection) https://buff.ly/3v3L8ZV. 

Angels Flight, August 14, 1945. Source: AP Photo. Thank you to Los Angeles Relics.
Posted Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Well, no date is given for this shot, but it's a good one. The description reads, "From the station at the top, a view straight down the track with both cars at the midway point. Beyond is 3rd Street with cars and pedestrians." Exciting eh?
Note how color strips the scene of its noir charm.

[1957] The intersection of 3rd and Hill streets, the location of the lower terminus of Angels Flight. (L. Mildred Harris Slide Collection). https://buff.ly/3QjzvFZ.

Thank you to the great Jack Feldon.

1958 - Photo from LA Times article titled: ‘Blanket of Smog Obscures View of City from Top of Angels Flight’

https://waterandpower.org/.../Smog_in_Early_Los_Angeles.html