FOR THOSE of us of a "certain age," this not-so-pretty intersection is infamous. Not because it was some sort of crossroads of the stars (Sunset and Vine) or a spot where something violent or unfortunate Florence and Normandie) occurred. This largely nondescript and often-clogged intersection is famous for not being famous at all --but rather for being elevated in stature by one pretty silly but infinitely catchy song. Here is DJ and music historian Dr. Demento doing the intro and spinning the record on his weekly radio program: "The Dr. Demento Show"Every Sunday night show on KMET 94.7 FM, Dr. Demento, (AKA Eugene Barrett Hansen), a radio DJ of quirky cult status, took over the "Mighty-Met's" otherwise hard-driving Album Oriented Rock programming to play novelty songs of another era. One of the staples was this spangly, Latin-tinged 1947 number, "Pico and Sepulveda," by Felix Figueroa and his Orchestra. "Figueroa" was really an Hollywood bandleader named Freddy Martin, as rumor had it, the nod was to the big neon Felix the Cat that advertised Felix Chevrolet which rose along the Figueroa corridor near USC at Jefferson.
It was, in many ways, more than a little poke at the booster promise and Hollywood dream narratives. It's fun and frothy and by the 70s and 80s it delivered a different sort insider wink.
And yes, teenagers of a certain bent would huddle around the radio, once a month, the good Doctor promised, to hear this loopy song about a stretch that was so nondescript one could absolutely see, precisely as "Felix" croons, that it would certainly be the site where "Nobody's dreams come true . . . ."
And here is a more contemporary take on this song; a video by "The Forbidden Zone" -- check out the name of the newspaper he's reading:
-- L.G.
as a tween of a certain age during the 70s i once convinced my friend marc to ride bikes with me to westwood to purchase an obscure t-shirt that had a high contrast photo of the pico and sepulveda street signs on it. either you got it or you didn't. nerdy local insiderism at its most extreme.
ReplyDeleteWhat year was that? I'm trying to remember if I ever saw that shirt? What color?
ReplyDeleteit was a simple white t-shirt with a royal blue print of the street sign (think kodalith).
ReplyDeletei got it in '74 and wore it through '76 until i grew out of it, from a record store that used to be at the corner of broxton and kinross, across the the cupola'd BofA that's now yamato's (thank you google maps). same record store that hipped me to rush, x, and some of the meaning behind steely dan songs.
i guess that's why i don't remember it....but i do remember that t-shirt store....there were so many interesting book, record and ephemera stores around there...hours melted away. remember, vogue records?
ReplyDeletevogue? maybe. one of my favorite haunts was a place on gayley up the street from dillon's that had a lot of quirky used stuff. bought classical and eno-type stuff there, and all sorts of odd local music and culture 'zines.
ReplyDeleteyou know, old school culture surfing and face time.
yeah, face time made me the reader/listener i am today. truly. no joke.
ReplyDeleteYes, I had that "Pico and Sepulveda" t-shirt too! It was "City of L.A. street sign blue" on a plain white tee. IIRC, the shot was taken looking up with the power pole/power lines in the background. I wish I still had that shirt. BTW, I stumbled on this page after listening to Dr. Demento on The Sound 100.3 last night (11/3) ending their Might MET weekend ... did a quick Google search of "Pico and Sepulveda t-shirt" and landed here.
ReplyDelete... found it. You can see what that shirt looked like here. http://www.smogberrytrees.com/rewards.html
ReplyDelete