Going Back To Cali, Part Two: Oscars, Grammys and the Sunset Strip

I am an East Coast guy through and through.  Being three hours behind everything else makes me inherently anxious.  While I still selfishly think New York City holds everything one would ever want to see, and that there is no state other than Florida in which I’d rather reside (for now, at least), there is no denying the artistry that stems from our nation’s second most populated city.

Los Angeles is known for a lot of things, i.e., crime, pollution, driverless Ubers, unbearable traffic and a homeless population that expands by the day, but the City of the Angels is inarguably one of the creative capitals of the world.

Hooray for Hollywood!

L.A. boldly celebrates its artistic culture city-wide.  There are murals, clubs, billboards, storefronts, studios, museums, all blissfully aware that what emerges from that city in many ways shapes culture around the rest of the world.

On this trip, BCole and I visited several iconic spots, celebrating both the music and film that have graced lives around the globe for over a century.

I promise, photos and videos of the Fool In Love Concert are coming… but first, L.A.’s Academy Awards and Grammy Museums were not to be missed. 

Knowing full well that the Academy Awards Museum celebrated all things film-worthy, it was one of the first sights we saw.  The museum stands several stories tall and currently boasts an expansive exhibit of two of the most influential films ever made.

That’s right, movie buffs, running up until January 2025, visitors can see and experience the Godfather films like they never have before, an entire wing dedicated to Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece. 

As if you didn’t already know, the film almost never got made for a variety of reasons.  Old newspaper clippings and press releases about the film are included in the exhibit including old casting calls (Martin Sheen as Michael Corleone?) and Robert DeNiro’s tryouts for the original film.  Fortunately, he didn’t make the cut and ended up playing a younger Vito in the sequel/prequel.

The exhibit shows previously unseen clips of Coppola working alongside Al Pacino and Diane Keaton, rehearsing the opening wedding scene in various takes with Coppola carefully explaining how the scene sets the tone of the film.  It was all we could do not to sit down and watch as a bashful, bow-tied Pacino perfected the role that would define his career.

The exhibit also features the infamous horse’s head (the prosthetic one, not the real one used in its place to elicit a more genuine response out of John Marley’s Jack Waltz).  Also featured prominently is the desk from Don Corleone’s office.

For any Godfather geek, the exhibit is a must but in case you can’t jet out to Los Angeles on the Coppola family plane, we’ve included a few more photos.  Never go against the family.

The Museum also pays tribute to John Singleton’s visionary Boyz N The Hood, featuring old footage of the cast discussing the film, auditioning for the roles, fully aware of its significance and interviews with a then inexperienced John Singleton, on his way to making a film set in urban Los Angeles that would change the game.

The museum also features one of the only remaining Bruces.  That’s right.  SHARK!

On the very first floor, in the lobby named after Sidney Poitier, a welcoming screen room displays a loop of chronological scenes from some of the most memorable films ever made, flashing before the audience’s eyes.  It’s impossible not to watch along in awe the worthy celebration of the films that have moved us all.

After paying Oscar a visit, it was time to celebrate Los Angeles’ music scene, both within a museum’s walls and live on the Sunset Strip.

Downtown’s Grammy Museum, around the corner from Crypto, currently boasts an unmissable exhibit celebrating the birth of hip-hop and how the artists, and art form, have shaped our culture. 

Early iconic promotional pieces dating back to the Kool Herc house parties are encased in glass, along with 808 machines, listening booths, old 45s and songs demonstrating how classic rock, soul and RnB loops were sampled and subsequently recreated into new art forms.

The exhibit is interactive, including a rap booth, drum machine (if one can find the rhythm), a throne made of boomboxes and… you can breakdance!

Vintage outfits worn by Run DMC, Chuck D, Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls among many adorn the room along with videos from old to new of the celebrating the Grammy’s eventual recognition of the genre.  The exhibit also features Public Enemy’s original hand-written lyric notes from their classic “Fight The Power.”

In the room next door, you’re lucky enough to stumble onto Michael Jackson’s sparkly old get-ups and another exhibit celebrating fifty years of the Roxy, a Los Angeles nightclub that hosted countless rock stars.  You might have heard of some of them: Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Marley, Genesis, Van Morrison, Guns ‘N’ Roses, Stevie Wonder and Chaka Kahn.

But, when in Los Angeles, why only see what museums have to offer?  Why not see these places live for they are essentially museums in and of themselves.

So, we did.

Later that evening, it was off to the Sunset Strip, where legends walked, played, partied and passed away.  The Strip is home to the Viper Room, where River Phoenix died, and the Chateau Marmont, where John Belushi overdosed so many years before him.

Right next door to these locations is the Andaz West Hollywood, formerly known as the Hyatt House, aka Riot House, on Sunset where Robert Plant famously threw a television out of the window and onto the strip, and where the Who, The Stones and Zeppelin all stayed.  There’s even a picture in the lobby celebrating one of rock and roll’s most favorite toss from one of its most famous frontmen.  Elevators featuring album covers demonstrate the hotel’s desire to celebrate its rock and roll history. 

Also on the strip are the Rainbow Room, which once featured regulars such as Alice Cooper, Keith Moon, Zeppelin, Elvis Presley, John Lennon and Johnny Cash and if you don’t believe me, just look around the joint and the gold records that adorn its walls.  Many bars have pictures of regulars on their walls who have come to visit at one time or another.  The Rainbow Room just happens to have candid photos of John Belushi.

Within walking distance is the Whisky a GoGo, now celebrating sixty years of music, and once home to that obscure house band, the Doors.  The entire area is all one audiophile can do to walk around in awe of the history that graced the Strip.

And oh yeah, as if you couldn’t get enough, blocks away is the Comedy Store, where comedy icons far too numerous to make their mark, made millions laugh for years on end.

A special and beloved shoutout to Fran and Jeanie for giving us a personalized tour of the Strip!

Now, are you finally ready for some Fool In Love Festival concert footage?