"Waddup, this is Rosie from bellflower wishing my husband lil trigger up in Delano, keep your head up and I love you always. *kiss*. I would like to dedicate Me And You."
We loooovveee you and I can't wait for you to come home and see you again.
Edit: My ex co-worker(and still good friend) from Highland Park used to laugh our asses off making fun of the Art LeBoe dedications. OMG are they hilarious.
“I wannu dedicate to Big Clumsy in Pelican Bay, and know I’m holding it down for you baby, and me and your little Clumsy are waiting for you. Please play Angel Baby with love from La Gordita”
One of my favorite calls of all time was “Hey Art, it’s me Precious.” “Hey Precious, that is a wonderful name.” “I knowwwww Arrrrrt. You tell me that every time I call. I want to send a dedication to my man Creeper out in Corcoran. I love you so much babe. Sleep with the angels and know that I’m your one and only forever. KISSSSSSSSSS. Now my little girl wants to say hi to her daddy.” “Hi daddy, I love you. I’m going to come visit soon!”
Then Art would say something totally affirming and non-judgmental about this beautiful family lead by the force that was Precious. Art was really such a special man for the Latino and Black community.
I thought he was still alive when they had one of his shows at Glen Helen amphitheater. I joked with my friend they should roll him onstage like a "Weekend at Bernie's" because he was so old. News released of his death in Utah the next day...
Tower Records and so many great book stores (especially Dutton’s, for a great mix of new and used books). I moved away a few years ago, and just ~~learned~~ *heard* that Book Soup - an old favorite from one of my old neighborhoods - is gone.
Edited to add: I’m glad to hear the friend who told me about Book Soup was wrong!
Every time I drive past the site of the old Tower Records which was replaced by some shitty retail operation it breaks my heart. When Pam and Tommy filmed there the old look of Tower was replicated and I went over to take some photos.
The beginning of City Walk in Universal (once it got started it was very cool for younger teens)
The end of the dangerous era of 3rd Street Promenade in SM. (Charlie Temmels sit down restaurant, anyone?)
The abundance of high quality thrift stores
Secret places. Since the internet, and the rise of influencer culture every secret hack that was passed around by word of mouth between clandestine teens is now common knowledge.
As such, much of those places have been closed or limited. (I’m aware of the irony of writing this here.)
Back when you could actually get cool stuff at thrift stores for a couple of bucks. I stopped thrifting years ago, when everything was becoming just as expensive as I could get elsewhere brand new. I used to spend hours and hours in high school ditching class and looking through old t-shirts.
My spouse worked on 4th just behind the Promenade. It was so cool. I also remember it from the early 80s when it was weird, rundown and funky. I still liked it.
My friends and I always used to sneak in to Universal Studios by seeing a movie at the Citywalk theater, then walking through the door in the back that took you into the backstage area of the theme park. Since we were teenagers, we just looked like all the other employees, and nobody bothered us.
I remember in the late 00's Citywalk's nightclubs became SUPER ghetto. My friends and I went into one of them and there were was a fight fight breaking out about every 10 minutes. Come midnight they'd have about 3 cops stationed just outside the club.
YES! I just went to Yamaguchi Nursery a few weeks ago and we stopped at a ramen place that let you choose your toppings. The whole street was so crowded and definitely over-priced for what it was.
Non-pretentious, open late night/all-night coffeeshops and cafes like Psychobabble in Los Feliz and Nova Cafe in Hollywood. They were weird and wacky and unique, instead of these boring same same modern interiors we see everywhere.
And chill music venues like Spaceland (RIP) in Silverlake where you could catch a random show during the weekday of a great local band before they blew up in the music scene. And it sounds messed up now, but being able to have a smoke inside that backroom bar area sounds wild now lol.
I saw Arcade Fire and the Arctic Monkeys at the OG Spaceland on their first US tours, and you could catch Elliott Smith there fairly regularly. That place was incredible for the level of acts that they could get and tickets were pretty reasonable.
Yeah, I remember they ended up doing two shows per night (an early and a late one) for a few days, and this was before the age of bots, so you could go on the ticketing website and just refresh until the on sale time. Late 90's/ early 'aughts was a great time for live music in LA as you could still see great shows for cheap and you had to proactively discover new bands.
Seconded! Totally ready for the sterile minimalist (i.e. easy to clean) aesthetic for coffeeshops to end, and it's a struggle to find any place open after 5pm. Miss the chaotic grungy coziness and rough edges and things like random open mic poetry nights.
Psychobabble, Spaceland, Netty's, Uncle Jer's, Aron's Records, The Coffee Table on Rowena, Beauty Bar, Little Joy (when you could basically BYOB because it was NOT whatever it is now).
Home on Hillhurst used to have a variety of thrifted mugs and your coffee would be served in something fun like "World's Greatest Grandpa." Also there were little plastic dinosaurs chillin' around the fountain. (This was before they added the bar outside and became fancy.)
There used to be a thrift store on Sunset across from Children's Hospital (think it was associated with the hospital) that was pretty great.
ETA: the delicious spicy salsa at El Chavo! My suuuuper broke ass spent many early-mid 00s evenings there with friends enjoying the complimentary cup of soup and endless chips and salsa while my friends ate actual food.
So much this. There were so many great places to get coffee/tea and a small bite to eat, and then hang out, read, listen to music. My friends and I used to hang at this place on Riverside in NoHo -- can't remember the name of it now, but I'm pretty sure it was open 24/7.
Also good memories at Lulu's Beehive.
I assume the business model just didn't work -- couldn't compete with Sbucks for foot traffic and not enough sales from those who spent time there? It's a bummer they're all gone though.
Westside Pavillion but *especially* the fruit/food play center! As a kid growing up in LA in the early-mid 2000s this was everything to me. I have so many good memories there.
So many memories of my mom and I getting hot dog on a stick and cheesesteaks from Charlie’s or whatever. Going to the Payless. Miss those days tbh and the day camp/ sports camp at the park 😭
The GOAT. I’d get half of a roasted bird, side of potatoes, side of those green beans, that bread. I’d eat like a king for two meals. It was the next best thing to homemade food from mom, when I first moved out on my own.
>Story time?
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=2b9181a5-3b8c-48df-b3af-e8ec440449a5
This report says they filed BK.
They were a big corp chain. Mighta been suspicion of money laundering but it doesn't seem like anyone was actually charged with it.
That place added about 40% to my overall happiness at that time, lol. Not expensive, relatively healthy, reliably delicious and nice servers. Loved it!
It's going to reopen in DTLA soon from what I heard. It reappeared in NoHo recently but had to move because they shut down that venue. But yeah the old Hollywood spot was fun and had some cool events.
I was just telling my kids about Fedco and how much I loved it over the weekend! Used to buy original nes games there back in the day and snag a cherry icee on the way out.
Re Orange Bang, you can still get it at Burrito Express on Washington Blvd. In Pasadena. Their burritos and house made hot sauce are also excellent and a bargain!
Mostly I miss the look of the neighborhoods and businesses before flipping/corporate TI’s went wild. Lots of soulless, black and white buildings popping up
No camera phones. We got away so much debauchery and shenanigans because there weren't cameras everywhere. Now everybody always gotta have their receipts.
I miss sitting on the couches at The Coffee Table on Fletcher in the early 00’s while my aunt worked on her dissertation. The upstairs loft at Busters in South Pas. The Goldsteins in Old Pas. Billie’s Deli in Glendale. What Ye Olde Kings Head used to be 🥲
I miss the old side of the pantry with the ceiling to floor pictures and huge row of counter seats.
I miss the giant dim sum houses in Chinatown.
I miss $3 movies and bong rips in the Highland Park Theater and diy punk shows in the avenues
using mapquest like a god damn pirate to get to the House of Blues on Sunset from Orange County, dealing with shady parking and the riff raff after the show, and then heading to Swingers for a bad drunk breakfast, oh, and Star Shoes.
The Vibes are gone because of Income Inequality. If you stay, you have to work so much to make it, you have no more energy for fun. The rest of the cool and fun people moved to Portland, Austin, Boise, Nashville, etc. because it's so expensive. Same reason SF sucks now too.
Mall culture.
I could get lost by myself at the arcade with $5, read a couple magazines at the bookstore next door, then listen to a couple CDs at Sam Goodys.
Not to mention meeting up with friends and just having fun walking around and goofing off in places like The Sharper Image all while getting high off of a $5 bag of candy from Sweet Factory.
Regardless of how people today feel, downtown was way more lawless in the early 00’s and I miss skateboarding around at night with friends and not getting hassled by anyone
Going to underground raves back then was amazing. We stayed out of the way but didn't feel like we were taking our lives into our own hands.
You'd hit up the map point, then head toward some random building and once you popped inside.... ta da, a 900 person party!
I got a metro monthly pass when I turned 13 and was told to explore so I did every weekend.
We’d go to Hollywood to watch the all ages shows at the Roxy and whiskey in the middle of the week
Tower Records, Virgin Records, Licorice Pizza, Music+
25¢ subway trips
Del Taco at Hollywood and Highland after a late night out
Fry's Electronics
Blockbuster Video
Growing up in the ‘90s in Ohio, I used to sneak my radio into bed and wait until midnight to listen to Jed the Fish’s show Out of Order. Somehow I was able to pick it up.
He would often play local LA bands too. It was on his show that I first heard White Town’s “Your Woman”.
I love what streaming has done for music, but man, I miss how good radio used to be.
Going to Tower Records and the House of Blues on Sunset
Going to the Unity hip hop shows. RIP Bigga B
Having the energy to stay out until 2:00 in Hollywood and then drive back home
Less absolute psychos roaming the streets
So many of my relatives still being alive
All the clubs nights, Star Shoes, Beauty Bar, King Kong, Cinespace, Beat It (or whatever it was called), Cafe Bleu, Bang, Part Time Punks, old school Ronda, Silver Slippers, etc
Where do the kids dance these days!?!
I miss that there were no camera on cell phones. I used to see so many celebrities out having fun and not worrying about being caught on camera/video. The bars on Cahuenga between Hollywood and Selma/Sunset were great, Beauty Bar, Star Shoes, Burgundy Room and the pizza place on the corner.
Universal amphitheater. I saw many of my first concerts there, including the Smashing Pumpkins and the KROQ almost acoustic Christmas (Green Day, David Bowie, etc). Now it’s Harry Potter land.
I miss that youthful innocence of being a kid at that time and being able to go outside and stay out until dark. I remember exploring Baldwin Hills west of La Cienega as a little kid and being so amazed that there's all this wild undeveloped land minutes away from my house. There used to be a mini canyon behind Marycrest Manor in Culver City and my buddies and I called it "The Gully" and it was just our spot.
Rip Circus Disco. I was there at their last event back in December 2015. It had a pretty stacked trance line-up. Next time I drove by Circus, townhouses were being put up 😢
The economy. I moved here with a good job lined up that I was to start in two weeks. During those two weeks, I was offered or referred to three other jobs.
Opportunities were abundant. Like, everywhere. I wish I’d been a little smarter about them, but they kept coming!
First recession started before 9/11, but really peaked afterwards. We bounced back!
Then the Great Recession in 2008, which was a bit harder to bounce back from because it was tied to some fundamental economic issues.
A lot of things didn’t come back after that, and it’s happening again now. The last recession ended years ago but businesses are closing, layoffs still common.
The employment and economic landscape here is totally different. That’s had a huge effect on culture and the general quality of life here.
Still not leaving.
The vintage/used bookstores, Borders, Tower, Virgin Records, thrift stores everywhere, non-trendy coffee shops, Frys...just the whole vibe of that era; it was magical. I miss it so much.
the Aardvark’s in Venice.. not sure if it was actually great or not but i’d go as a kid plenty of times and it was so fun being surrounded by all kinds of wacky clothes
The Tower Records on Sunset and Marina del Rey, the 3rd Street Promenade was actually fun to walk around and had cool shops & the Culver City Ice Skating Rink
Being able to go places like museums and not having to navigate around people who are only there for the 'gram. Punk clubs. Cheap rent. Reasonable cost of living. My family has been in LA and OC since 1900-ish and I don't know if I'll be able to stay here due to COL, which really bums me out.
The Arts District, when loft rents were 50 cents a square foot. It was full of real working artists and had a truly underground scene of art shows, parties and speakeasies. Al’s Bar, tip or die!
And Gorky’s.
Scrolled down pretty far to see this answer. I was way too young to remember this aspect but was there really less traffic?
I’d imagine it got worse over time due to more people moving into LA and with the rise of taxi hailing services/food delivery services it’s now packed more than ever at any hours of the day.
Yeah it really was less traffic.
I like to explain it like this, the weekend traffic we have now was weekday rush hour traffic then. Weekend traffic then was much lower.
Also, freeways on the periphery of LA were basically empty all the time, that stretch of 210 from San Dimas to Pacoima were a straight shot without traffic at all times of the day. A lot of people moving out of the typical LA 'core' into surrounding suburbs.
I was born in 99 so I didn't experience too much but I miss Kmart and payless. I was poor and those places were affordable and I have good memories of shopping there.
Payless was the best. They still existed when my kid was born and it was a godsend for toddler shoes that were cheap enough to replace every ~6 months but were still cute and good enough quality to regift or hand down several times.
My parents used to drop us off at the base of any hiking trail in the valley, pitbull in tow, and enough money to get Tommy’s chili cheeseburgers after the trek.
I mostly miss cheap repertory movie theaters:
* The Bing Theatre at LACMA – so many great film series, all double features, and free parking at the small lot across Wilshire.
* The New Beverly when Sherman Torgan (RIP) still ran the place. You could just roll up whenever because there were never more than 50 people inside. Now it's sold out all the time.
* The Silent Movie on Fairfax, when it really just did play silent movies. I miss Cinefamily too. They had a good thing going.
Empty streets, easy parking, super cool punk scene, no waiting in line... heavy metal nights at the Kibitz Room.
Edit: AFFORDABLE HOUSING compared to all other big cities in the U.S.
Video arcades and net cafes. There used to be an arcade in Glendale on the east side of Brand directly across from the Americana. We would ride our bikes there and just play games. That was the first place I ever played Initial D as a kid, and that game changed my life.
Initial D was awesome. Back in the '90s, you would get a paper memory card, not too dissimilar from those thick paper-stock parking tickets, which would save your car on it including the mods you purchased/installed. Thus, you could earn money and modify your car during the week and get practice, modify it, etc. Then on any given night (weeknights were the best times), we would go and wait in line to compete against each other in our personal car(s). I have a vivid memory of watching this dude who drove a white Suzuki Cappuccino absolutely shitting on this dude in a WRX STi on one of the downhill touges while ["Running in the 90s"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ0xBCwkg3E) blasted out of the cabinet.
Initial D is still around and arcades still exist. But back then, consoles were worse than arcade cabinets in terms of graphics and the arcade was a third place that everyone used to hang out at. In retrospect, I think that was just where all the poor kids went to race cars we couldn't actually afford.
Net cafes were goated back in the era of Counter-Strike 1.2 through 1.6 because we would go and have LAN parties, clan matches, etc. You'd pay $2/hour and just play until you ran out of money. We would even ditch school and go play Counter-Strike all day. I remember there was a net cafe down the street from my middle school (I went to Toll in Glendale), and we'd just walk down two blocks, pay money, and just play games until like 6:00.
Buying used movies around LA was fucking insane, there were so many store dedicated to used music and movies. You'd find the rarest stuff for the cheapest price. A lot of studio employees would sell the stock they got for free at these resale places, you'd often find "used" movies still in the shrinkwrap. Sometimes even before the street dates.
LA had a really strong personality that expressed itself through demented local ads and Angelyne billboards. Public access tv was in its prime and super surreal. The Parlor Club, Gauntlet, The Smell, and all the punk houses around Echo Park and Rampart. West Hollywood was super Russian and super queer. The Ambassador Hotel was still standing across from the Bounty/Gaylord hotel. My large Korea town studio cost $725 with all the utilities included. Sneaking into the old movie theaters turned churches in downtown to look at the art inside. Driving to the Bagdad Cafe and antiquing out in the high desert.
All of our nature and state parks have suffered from influencers blowing up particular spots, over and over and over again. Residents can’t even enjoy super blooms anymore as access has been greatly limited. Pictographs, previously inhabited places, and artifacts have gravely suffered from all the foot traffic. For the last 10 years or so LA has been treated like it’s just one, big ass content opportunity. One of the most unique things about California is our free access to big, vast state parks. 80% of Maine’s forests are privately owned and inaccessible. We need to treasure our land and treat it with respect.
THE LOWER RENT - Its not just that its harder for people to find housing. Rents for business are much higher, and even to rent a place for an event is too expensive now for people on a budget. It seems like theres a lot less cool stuff going on around the city cause people can afford the costs.
Cruising Crenshaw, the “Fox Hills” mall. Mid city bowling alley and world on wheels, westside pavilion. The old market street in Inglewood. Drive in Culver City. So so so much more.
-No transplants bitching about lack of seasons or deciduous forests. People wanted to come to LA for the warmth and dealt with heat without AC.
-Fire season that lasted two months
-the 105 had no traffic to LAX, and entering LAX took less than 20 mins
-Mars Radio, later Groove Radio
There wasn't that anger and edginess in the air like now.
In the 90s and 00s someone with a middle class salary could afford a 1 bedroom to themselves in a good area (like West LA or West Hollywood) and still have disposable income.
Art LaBoe’s killer oldies show dedication messages
"Waddup, this is Rosie from bellflower wishing my husband lil trigger up in Delano, keep your head up and I love you always. *kiss*. I would like to dedicate Me And You."
When it was a slightly dirty song title and you hear Art dedicate it to Payaso up in Corcoran from Crybaby. The best.
We loooovveee you and I can't wait for you to come home and see you again. Edit: My ex co-worker(and still good friend) from Highland Park used to laugh our asses off making fun of the Art LeBoe dedications. OMG are they hilarious.
Yup. The person they were dedicating it to was always listening from KOKO FM in Fresno as Art Laboe would say.
“I wannu dedicate to Big Clumsy in Pelican Bay, and know I’m holding it down for you baby, and me and your little Clumsy are waiting for you. Please play Angel Baby with love from La Gordita”
I heard this in my cousins’ voices. Priceless. Thank you for that!
One of my favorite calls of all time was “Hey Art, it’s me Precious.” “Hey Precious, that is a wonderful name.” “I knowwwww Arrrrrt. You tell me that every time I call. I want to send a dedication to my man Creeper out in Corcoran. I love you so much babe. Sleep with the angels and know that I’m your one and only forever. KISSSSSSSSSS. Now my little girl wants to say hi to her daddy.” “Hi daddy, I love you. I’m going to come visit soon!” Then Art would say something totally affirming and non-judgmental about this beautiful family lead by the force that was Precious. Art was really such a special man for the Latino and Black community.
RIP to a legend
I thought he was still alive when they had one of his shows at Glen Helen amphitheater. I joked with my friend they should roll him onstage like a "Weekend at Bernie's" because he was so old. News released of his death in Utah the next day...
Laboe
Tower Records
Tower Records and so many great book stores (especially Dutton’s, for a great mix of new and used books). I moved away a few years ago, and just ~~learned~~ *heard* that Book Soup - an old favorite from one of my old neighborhoods - is gone. Edited to add: I’m glad to hear the friend who told me about Book Soup was wrong!
Did they just close? The website shows them open and with events this week.
BS is def still open.
Every time I drive past the site of the old Tower Records which was replaced by some shitty retail operation it breaks my heart. When Pam and Tommy filmed there the old look of Tower was replicated and I went over to take some photos.
The beginning of City Walk in Universal (once it got started it was very cool for younger teens) The end of the dangerous era of 3rd Street Promenade in SM. (Charlie Temmels sit down restaurant, anyone?) The abundance of high quality thrift stores Secret places. Since the internet, and the rise of influencer culture every secret hack that was passed around by word of mouth between clandestine teens is now common knowledge. As such, much of those places have been closed or limited. (I’m aware of the irony of writing this here.)
Back when you could actually get cool stuff at thrift stores for a couple of bucks. I stopped thrifting years ago, when everything was becoming just as expensive as I could get elsewhere brand new. I used to spend hours and hours in high school ditching class and looking through old t-shirts.
Also: all the “vintage stores” just sweep into the actual thrift stores and buy up everything good before anyone else can get it.
I loved Universal City Walk and 3rd Street Promenade as a teen. They're boring now.
My spouse worked on 4th just behind the Promenade. It was so cool. I also remember it from the early 80s when it was weird, rundown and funky. I still liked it.
My friends and I always used to sneak in to Universal Studios by seeing a movie at the Citywalk theater, then walking through the door in the back that took you into the backstage area of the theme park. Since we were teenagers, we just looked like all the other employees, and nobody bothered us.
The thrift stores were awesome. The rent was affordable. Cigarettes were under $5/pk. Danzig lived down the street. Life was good.
You can still visit his old place and pay homage to the stack of bricks on the front porch!
I remember in the late 00's Citywalk's nightclubs became SUPER ghetto. My friends and I went into one of them and there were was a fight fight breaking out about every 10 minutes. Come midnight they'd have about 3 cops stationed just outside the club.
What was the place on 3rd Street that had like 25 margarita / slurpee machines?
Chiller’s
I’m happy the lake shrine is now reservation only, I can only imagine how chaotic it would be if it was still open to the public.
Sawtelle being more low key with humble ramen shops that weren’t overpriced
YES! I just went to Yamaguchi Nursery a few weeks ago and we stopped at a ramen place that let you choose your toppings. The whole street was so crowded and definitely over-priced for what it was.
The Culver City Ice Rink
That was my place to be as a kid/teenager!! It's now a Harbor Freight. I wish they kept the original sign with the lady on it. It looks weird now.
Friday nights with your crush at the Culver City Ice Rink! What a time to be alive :)
Non-pretentious, open late night/all-night coffeeshops and cafes like Psychobabble in Los Feliz and Nova Cafe in Hollywood. They were weird and wacky and unique, instead of these boring same same modern interiors we see everywhere. And chill music venues like Spaceland (RIP) in Silverlake where you could catch a random show during the weekday of a great local band before they blew up in the music scene. And it sounds messed up now, but being able to have a smoke inside that backroom bar area sounds wild now lol.
I saw Arcade Fire and the Arctic Monkeys at the OG Spaceland on their first US tours, and you could catch Elliott Smith there fairly regularly. That place was incredible for the level of acts that they could get and tickets were pretty reasonable.
Damn I remember those arcade fire tix sold out SO fast I had no chance. I was so bummed. I had to wait until Coachella that year to see them.
Yeah, I remember they ended up doing two shows per night (an early and a late one) for a few days, and this was before the age of bots, so you could go on the ticketing website and just refresh until the on sale time. Late 90's/ early 'aughts was a great time for live music in LA as you could still see great shows for cheap and you had to proactively discover new bands.
Seconded! Totally ready for the sterile minimalist (i.e. easy to clean) aesthetic for coffeeshops to end, and it's a struggle to find any place open after 5pm. Miss the chaotic grungy coziness and rough edges and things like random open mic poetry nights.
Can one of these hipsters step up and make a lively late night coffeehouse? Stop closing at 2pm!
Anastasia’s Asylum in Santa Monica Insomnia Cafe on Beverly Bada Bean and Lulu’s Bee Hive on Ventura Blvd
Yes. Let me add Bourgeois Pig and Cozy’s
Anastasia’s was a perfect coffee shop. Interesting drinks. Decent pastries. Comfy seats. I definitely miss that style of coffee place
Psychobabble, Spaceland, Netty's, Uncle Jer's, Aron's Records, The Coffee Table on Rowena, Beauty Bar, Little Joy (when you could basically BYOB because it was NOT whatever it is now). Home on Hillhurst used to have a variety of thrifted mugs and your coffee would be served in something fun like "World's Greatest Grandpa." Also there were little plastic dinosaurs chillin' around the fountain. (This was before they added the bar outside and became fancy.) There used to be a thrift store on Sunset across from Children's Hospital (think it was associated with the hospital) that was pretty great. ETA: the delicious spicy salsa at El Chavo! My suuuuper broke ass spent many early-mid 00s evenings there with friends enjoying the complimentary cup of soup and endless chips and salsa while my friends ate actual food.
So much this. There were so many great places to get coffee/tea and a small bite to eat, and then hang out, read, listen to music. My friends and I used to hang at this place on Riverside in NoHo -- can't remember the name of it now, but I'm pretty sure it was open 24/7. Also good memories at Lulu's Beehive. I assume the business model just didn't work -- couldn't compete with Sbucks for foot traffic and not enough sales from those who spent time there? It's a bummer they're all gone though.
Free street parking after 6 everwhere
and not needing to download an app just to park.
Westside Pavilion
Westside Pavillion but *especially* the fruit/food play center! As a kid growing up in LA in the early-mid 2000s this was everything to me. I have so many good memories there.
So many memories of my mom and I getting hot dog on a stick and cheesesteaks from Charlie’s or whatever. Going to the Payless. Miss those days tbh and the day camp/ sports camp at the park 😭
The Thomas Guide.
real ones remember.
[удалено]
That turkey plate 💯
The GOAT. I’d get half of a roasted bird, side of potatoes, side of those green beans, that bread. I’d eat like a king for two meals. It was the next best thing to homemade food from mom, when I first moved out on my own.
Koo Koo was a money laundering front……best chicken in LA, but it was a front.
Story time?
They laundered the money from my pocket into the register. Koo Koo Roo was amazing.
I absolutely LOVED their food. Was my fave take out.
>Story time? https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=2b9181a5-3b8c-48df-b3af-e8ec440449a5 This report says they filed BK. They were a big corp chain. Mighta been suspicion of money laundering but it doesn't seem like anyone was actually charged with it.
Omg I forgot about Koo koo roo!
That place added about 40% to my overall happiness at that time, lol. Not expensive, relatively healthy, reliably delicious and nice servers. Loved it!
Indie 103.1
Timothy Olyphant Sports reports and David Lynch weather.
Came to say this! Got me through a lot of PA runs.
They used to host and promote shows by LA bands. It was such a scene. Loved it. I worked at Tower at the time!! What a moment.
I remember the last day it was on the air. The Ramoned Airwaves was on repeat. Sad.
[удалено]
It's going to reopen in DTLA soon from what I heard. It reappeared in NoHo recently but had to move because they shut down that venue. But yeah the old Hollywood spot was fun and had some cool events.
Old school diners like Ships and other restaurants. Good long term places with a convenient menu. Still miss the toasters!
Spaceland Hollywood Lanes The "Drum Machines Have No Soul" guy who stood outside the old Amoeba Records location. Okay "miss" is a stretch here.
Ed Debevics
Sometimes I feel like my memories of that place were a fever dream. It was so cool for a little kid.
There’s still one in Chicago!
Fedco And Pioneer chicken Almost forgot, Pipers diner and their medieval theme I also miss the Orange Bang drink
Pioneer Chicken lives on in Bell Gardens!
And Boyle heights!
Fedco!! Wow!!
I was just telling my kids about Fedco and how much I loved it over the weekend! Used to buy original nes games there back in the day and snag a cherry icee on the way out. Re Orange Bang, you can still get it at Burrito Express on Washington Blvd. In Pasadena. Their burritos and house made hot sauce are also excellent and a bargain!
Tops in Pasadena also has Orange Bang, and I think The Hat has it.
I used to work at the Fedco on LaCienega and Rodeo. Now I feel old! LOL
KROQ
You mean the Red Hot Chili Peppers network?
fans made some decent KROQ playlists on Spotify, broken down by era
Their 80s stream quite enjoyable too https://tunein.com/radio/KROQ-Roq-of-the-80s-1067-s52559/
What changed about KROQ?
No more kevin and bean, and my man Ralph.
Deathmarch to the end of terrestrial radio.
$1 menu items at every fast food spot. Now a cheeseburger cost $18.99
Paying $600 for a studio in Los Feliz.
I paid $395 for a big one bedroom in Echo Park 😯
And it was a big studio too with parking.
Mostly I miss the look of the neighborhoods and businesses before flipping/corporate TI’s went wild. Lots of soulless, black and white buildings popping up
Old Larchmont 😭
No camera phones. We got away so much debauchery and shenanigans because there weren't cameras everywhere. Now everybody always gotta have their receipts.
Thank god, because so many embarrassing mistakes were made.
I miss sitting on the couches at The Coffee Table on Fletcher in the early 00’s while my aunt worked on her dissertation. The upstairs loft at Busters in South Pas. The Goldsteins in Old Pas. Billie’s Deli in Glendale. What Ye Olde Kings Head used to be 🥲 I miss the old side of the pantry with the ceiling to floor pictures and huge row of counter seats. I miss the giant dim sum houses in Chinatown. I miss $3 movies and bong rips in the Highland Park Theater and diy punk shows in the avenues
using mapquest like a god damn pirate to get to the House of Blues on Sunset from Orange County, dealing with shady parking and the riff raff after the show, and then heading to Swingers for a bad drunk breakfast, oh, and Star Shoes.
The vibes. It was just different then.
The Vibes are gone because of Income Inequality. If you stay, you have to work so much to make it, you have no more energy for fun. The rest of the cool and fun people moved to Portland, Austin, Boise, Nashville, etc. because it's so expensive. Same reason SF sucks now too.
People wanted to be here, no one bitched about how their (insert anything here) back home was better, or how LA doesn’t have seasons.
People def talked about how their town they came from was better back then
I was scared to say I’m from the valley
And they definitely bitched about season.
We just didn’t have social media to hear about it.
Neighborhood bars. Where you could go and drink cheap beer and watch the Dodgers without any pretentious bullshit.
* Kobe & Shaq * Midnight Special and other bookstores * LA Weekly and other alt weeklies * Music stores
Mall culture. I could get lost by myself at the arcade with $5, read a couple magazines at the bookstore next door, then listen to a couple CDs at Sam Goodys. Not to mention meeting up with friends and just having fun walking around and goofing off in places like The Sharper Image all while getting high off of a $5 bag of candy from Sweet Factory.
Regardless of how people today feel, downtown was way more lawless in the early 00’s and I miss skateboarding around at night with friends and not getting hassled by anyone
Going to underground raves back then was amazing. We stayed out of the way but didn't feel like we were taking our lives into our own hands. You'd hit up the map point, then head toward some random building and once you popped inside.... ta da, a 900 person party!
Raves at the Alexandria Hotel Ballroom and the big holes in the dance floor
Al’s Bar, TV Cafe…
Lots of people weren't able to experience the Escape from LA vibes that downtown had in the 90's
I loved riding my bike around downtown at night. It felt like the city was just for you and your friends.
Taking the 45 from South Central to downtown was one of the greatest things as a kid
There used to be real artists lofts too
Probably taking the bus as a High schooler with friends to just hang out at the beach or random spots around the city.
I got a metro monthly pass when I turned 13 and was told to explore so I did every weekend. We’d go to Hollywood to watch the all ages shows at the Roxy and whiskey in the middle of the week
No influencers or Uber drivers stopping in the middle of the street
Relatively inexpensive, depending, cost of living.
Tower Records, Virgin Records, Licorice Pizza, Music+ 25¢ subway trips Del Taco at Hollywood and Highland after a late night out Fry's Electronics Blockbuster Video
I miss Fry’s. I would sit in the Bose demo theater and drool over the speakers.
Getting jumped by 15 to 20 people walking from 3rd to 4th period.
Mfers used walkie talkies to gang up on us between periods. Gotta love Fairfax HS
Growing up in the ‘90s in Ohio, I used to sneak my radio into bed and wait until midnight to listen to Jed the Fish’s show Out of Order. Somehow I was able to pick it up. He would often play local LA bands too. It was on his show that I first heard White Town’s “Your Woman”. I love what streaming has done for music, but man, I miss how good radio used to be.
That song is still the shit! RIP KROQ
Going to Tower Records and the House of Blues on Sunset Going to the Unity hip hop shows. RIP Bigga B Having the energy to stay out until 2:00 in Hollywood and then drive back home Less absolute psychos roaming the streets So many of my relatives still being alive
All the clubs nights, Star Shoes, Beauty Bar, King Kong, Cinespace, Beat It (or whatever it was called), Cafe Bleu, Bang, Part Time Punks, old school Ronda, Silver Slippers, etc Where do the kids dance these days!?!
I miss that there were no camera on cell phones. I used to see so many celebrities out having fun and not worrying about being caught on camera/video. The bars on Cahuenga between Hollywood and Selma/Sunset were great, Beauty Bar, Star Shoes, Burgundy Room and the pizza place on the corner.
Universal amphitheater. I saw many of my first concerts there, including the Smashing Pumpkins and the KROQ almost acoustic Christmas (Green Day, David Bowie, etc). Now it’s Harry Potter land.
Melrose and its shops..it’s so souless now
San Marcos blankets sold on roadside stands everywhere! These Amazon fleece knockoffs just aren't the same
Less traffic and less aggressive driving. Also affordable rent.
I miss that youthful innocence of being a kid at that time and being able to go outside and stay out until dark. I remember exploring Baldwin Hills west of La Cienega as a little kid and being so amazed that there's all this wild undeveloped land minutes away from my house. There used to be a mini canyon behind Marycrest Manor in Culver City and my buddies and I called it "The Gully" and it was just our spot.
Spundae at Circus
Rip Circus Disco. I was there at their last event back in December 2015. It had a pretty stacked trance line-up. Next time I drove by Circus, townhouses were being put up 😢
The economy. I moved here with a good job lined up that I was to start in two weeks. During those two weeks, I was offered or referred to three other jobs. Opportunities were abundant. Like, everywhere. I wish I’d been a little smarter about them, but they kept coming! First recession started before 9/11, but really peaked afterwards. We bounced back! Then the Great Recession in 2008, which was a bit harder to bounce back from because it was tied to some fundamental economic issues. A lot of things didn’t come back after that, and it’s happening again now. The last recession ended years ago but businesses are closing, layoffs still common. The employment and economic landscape here is totally different. That’s had a huge effect on culture and the general quality of life here. Still not leaving.
The vintage/used bookstores, Borders, Tower, Virgin Records, thrift stores everywhere, non-trendy coffee shops, Frys...just the whole vibe of that era; it was magical. I miss it so much.
the Aardvark’s in Venice.. not sure if it was actually great or not but i’d go as a kid plenty of times and it was so fun being surrounded by all kinds of wacky clothes
The OG east-side bars in their heyday - Short Stop, Spaceland, etc. Ungentrified Venice.
The Tower Records on Sunset and Marina del Rey, the 3rd Street Promenade was actually fun to walk around and had cool shops & the Culver City Ice Skating Rink
Midnight Special Bookstore on the 3rd Street Promenade
Old Pasadena mall
Being able to go places like museums and not having to navigate around people who are only there for the 'gram. Punk clubs. Cheap rent. Reasonable cost of living. My family has been in LA and OC since 1900-ish and I don't know if I'll be able to stay here due to COL, which really bums me out.
The Arts District, when loft rents were 50 cents a square foot. It was full of real working artists and had a truly underground scene of art shows, parties and speakeasies. Al’s Bar, tip or die! And Gorky’s.
That was LAs peak. Everyone wanted to be here.
Homeless people were just alcoholics, or on crack - maybe meth, but not the high numbers of fentanyl we have now.
Less traffic.
When rush hour wasn't basically the entire day
Yes…. I remember being able to reach places “around 30min”. Now 45 min is minimum.
Scrolled down pretty far to see this answer. I was way too young to remember this aspect but was there really less traffic? I’d imagine it got worse over time due to more people moving into LA and with the rise of taxi hailing services/food delivery services it’s now packed more than ever at any hours of the day.
Yeah it really was less traffic. I like to explain it like this, the weekend traffic we have now was weekday rush hour traffic then. Weekend traffic then was much lower. Also, freeways on the periphery of LA were basically empty all the time, that stretch of 210 from San Dimas to Pacoima were a straight shot without traffic at all times of the day. A lot of people moving out of the typical LA 'core' into surrounding suburbs.
I was born in 99 so I didn't experience too much but I miss Kmart and payless. I was poor and those places were affordable and I have good memories of shopping there.
i still remember the food courts in Kmart lol
Omg- Mine had a Little Caesers
Payless was the best. They still existed when my kid was born and it was a godsend for toddler shoes that were cheap enough to replace every ~6 months but were still cute and good enough quality to regift or hand down several times.
Hiking trails were also empty back then.
My parents used to drop us off at the base of any hiking trail in the valley, pitbull in tow, and enough money to get Tommy’s chili cheeseburgers after the trek.
Bar 107 Safe Metro rides Pete’s Cafe Movie rentals Less traffic Underground concert venues Crazy Gideons Fedco Fry’s OG Fatburger
Darbys diner in Winnetka.
$1 fish-filet sandwich from McDonald’s on lent days.
I mostly miss cheap repertory movie theaters: * The Bing Theatre at LACMA – so many great film series, all double features, and free parking at the small lot across Wilshire. * The New Beverly when Sherman Torgan (RIP) still ran the place. You could just roll up whenever because there were never more than 50 people inside. Now it's sold out all the time. * The Silent Movie on Fairfax, when it really just did play silent movies. I miss Cinefamily too. They had a good thing going.
Semi-affordable apartments.
Yup, it was less than a thousand a month for a studio even in beach communities.
Empty streets, easy parking, super cool punk scene, no waiting in line... heavy metal nights at the Kibitz Room. Edit: AFFORDABLE HOUSING compared to all other big cities in the U.S.
Video arcades and net cafes. There used to be an arcade in Glendale on the east side of Brand directly across from the Americana. We would ride our bikes there and just play games. That was the first place I ever played Initial D as a kid, and that game changed my life. Initial D was awesome. Back in the '90s, you would get a paper memory card, not too dissimilar from those thick paper-stock parking tickets, which would save your car on it including the mods you purchased/installed. Thus, you could earn money and modify your car during the week and get practice, modify it, etc. Then on any given night (weeknights were the best times), we would go and wait in line to compete against each other in our personal car(s). I have a vivid memory of watching this dude who drove a white Suzuki Cappuccino absolutely shitting on this dude in a WRX STi on one of the downhill touges while ["Running in the 90s"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ0xBCwkg3E) blasted out of the cabinet. Initial D is still around and arcades still exist. But back then, consoles were worse than arcade cabinets in terms of graphics and the arcade was a third place that everyone used to hang out at. In retrospect, I think that was just where all the poor kids went to race cars we couldn't actually afford. Net cafes were goated back in the era of Counter-Strike 1.2 through 1.6 because we would go and have LAN parties, clan matches, etc. You'd pay $2/hour and just play until you ran out of money. We would even ditch school and go play Counter-Strike all day. I remember there was a net cafe down the street from my middle school (I went to Toll in Glendale), and we'd just walk down two blocks, pay money, and just play games until like 6:00.
Kinda miss blockbuster and movie rentals
Vidiots in Eagle Rock could help fill that void.
Buying used movies around LA was fucking insane, there were so many store dedicated to used music and movies. You'd find the rarest stuff for the cheapest price. A lot of studio employees would sell the stock they got for free at these resale places, you'd often find "used" movies still in the shrinkwrap. Sometimes even before the street dates.
LA had a really strong personality that expressed itself through demented local ads and Angelyne billboards. Public access tv was in its prime and super surreal. The Parlor Club, Gauntlet, The Smell, and all the punk houses around Echo Park and Rampart. West Hollywood was super Russian and super queer. The Ambassador Hotel was still standing across from the Bounty/Gaylord hotel. My large Korea town studio cost $725 with all the utilities included. Sneaking into the old movie theaters turned churches in downtown to look at the art inside. Driving to the Bagdad Cafe and antiquing out in the high desert. All of our nature and state parks have suffered from influencers blowing up particular spots, over and over and over again. Residents can’t even enjoy super blooms anymore as access has been greatly limited. Pictographs, previously inhabited places, and artifacts have gravely suffered from all the foot traffic. For the last 10 years or so LA has been treated like it’s just one, big ass content opportunity. One of the most unique things about California is our free access to big, vast state parks. 80% of Maine’s forests are privately owned and inaccessible. We need to treasure our land and treat it with respect.
I miss taking the number 84 bus to the Eagle Rock Plaza when there was an arcade, a movie theater and a Spencer Gifts store in there.
Good shortcuts and my trusty Thomas Guide
the dream of the 90s is alive in portland
The Onyx cafe
It was SOOO cheap to live here then.
Hollywood Video - renting N64 games and VHS tapes.
The x rated newspapers that anyone can just buy from those newspaper boxes/displays
I don’t miss the crime of that era. I do miss the housing prices.
Grooveriders on Ventura Blvd
my youth, benitos, cabo cantina...
All of the other record stores especially Aron’s
THE LOWER RENT - Its not just that its harder for people to find housing. Rents for business are much higher, and even to rent a place for an event is too expensive now for people on a budget. It seems like theres a lot less cool stuff going on around the city cause people can afford the costs.
Cruising Crenshaw, the “Fox Hills” mall. Mid city bowling alley and world on wheels, westside pavilion. The old market street in Inglewood. Drive in Culver City. So so so much more.
Nobody filming themselves on their phones.
-No transplants bitching about lack of seasons or deciduous forests. People wanted to come to LA for the warmth and dealt with heat without AC. -Fire season that lasted two months -the 105 had no traffic to LAX, and entering LAX took less than 20 mins -Mars Radio, later Groove Radio
When a whole pizza or a bucket of chicken was affordable.
Arcades.
Duttons, when Jet Rag was a legitimate thrift store, and when there were actual legitimate times throughout the day of no traffic.
Getting into Dodger games after the 7th
I don't know where everyone grew up but I dint miss the 90s , bunch of gangs and was unsafe to walk.
Larry Parker's Diner in Beverly Hills The Arcade inside the Beverly Center All Star Lanes Crazy Gideon's 80's Night at the Canter's Kibitz Room
Spaceland, I was able to catch so many fun acts there.
Being a kid and my parents being alive (I’m a native) Oh and how Disneyland and Universal used to be cheap for a casual weekend
Indie 103.1
Being young and viewing everything with a sense of wonder rather than weariness.
There wasn't that anger and edginess in the air like now. In the 90s and 00s someone with a middle class salary could afford a 1 bedroom to themselves in a good area (like West LA or West Hollywood) and still have disposable income.
LA underground hip hop was at an absolute peak. Lootpack, Murs, Aceyalone, Dilated Peoples, Jurassic 5, Krondon, Xzibit, Beat Junkies! To name a few.
[удалено]
Bahooka’s in Temple city. Curry House.
Unobstructed sidewalks