Almost L.A.

The Monkees aired on September 12, 1966 and by the next summer America was in full Monkeemania. The show was a sitcom about 4 “insane” boys who wanted to be like The Beatles, but never became successful. Davy Jones, Mike Nesmith, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork played in a fictitious band called The Monkees who got caught up in some zany 1960’s fun in each episode while randomly breaking out in song.  

Elizabeth Short briefly lived at Mark Hansen's bungalow behind his nightclub Florentine Gardens off and on in October and November of 1946. On January 21, 1947, 6 days after Elizabeth's mutilated body was discovered in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, her killer mailed her personal belongings to the Los Angeles Examiner. Among her items was an address book with Mark Hansen's name on the cover. Hansen quickly became one of Elizabeth Short's prime suspects. Unfortunately, The Black Dahlia case would not be his last scandal. 

JPL's founder and Aleister Crowley follower, Jack Parsons and Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard performed so many rituals at The Parsonage on Pasadena's Millionaire's Row that the house was said to be haunted by ghosts and screaming banshee's. Parsons and Hubbard's Balalon Working rituals in 1945 may have caused the UFO crash near Roswell, NM and ultimately the Apollo moon landing. This Halloween, on the 80th anniversary of JPL's first rocket launch attempts we discuss how Pasadena became the hub of sex magic, satan  and rockets. 

On a summer day in 1937, 3 young girls went missing from Centinela Park in Inglewood. After an extensive search with roughly 500 volunteers, the bodies of the girls were found 2 days later in a Baldwin Hills gully. Eventually, Albert Dyer was convicted and hanged for the crime. Some think his confession was coerced by police and Dr. J. Paul De River. A similar double murder in 1924, may make Dyer a serial killer. Or maybe the wrong men were hanged in both cases. 

Warning: This episode has disturbing content. 

On December 27, 1924, the new Mulholland Drive opened to a multi town celebration with an estimated 32,000 people driving the scenic highway on the first day. Unfortunately, the winding road with hairpin turns called, The Snake, Deadman's curve, and The Sweeper left a graveyard of autos at the bottom of many of Mulholland's deep ravines. The remoteness of  Mulholland and its nearly unpopulated hills made it a prime dumping ground for murderers and serial killers as well. This week, we get into some sad stuff as we discuss Mulholland Drive's name sake and the curse he left behind on this long and twisty road high above the Hollywood Hills. 

Warning: This episode includes content that some may find disturbing at 25:33.

Before 90210 was even a town, Beverly Farms (its original name) opened in 1912, catering to Hollywood stars like, Rudolph Valentino and Mary Pickford. Known today as the "Pink Palace", numerous power lunches have taken place at the Polo Lounge and many of Hollywood's most famous affairs within its 23 bungalows. 

In part 2, we discuss the epic Hotel California album and the band's 14 year vacation. 

Formed in Los Angeles in 1971, the Eagles settled on their band name when a majestic Eagle flew over the founding members during a peyote trip among the Joshua trees.  The band's country rock sound and superb harmonizing led to them having 2 of the best-selling albums in the United States. 

On Friday, January 3, 1992, Darren Stroh's Toyota Corona broke down a few hours north of Los Angeles. Good Samaritan David Scott Baker stopped to help and wound up dead. Police eventually caught up with Stroh in L.A., where he was chased by police and eventually killed. All the drama unfolded on live television. Oh, and we talk about that OJ Bronco chase. Remember that??  

Welcome to our first LA Short. This week we discuss LA’s iconic Googie architecture. LAX’s Theme Building, The Chemosphere House and Norms on La Cienega were all inspired by John Lautner’s 1949 Googie Cafe.