Many of us congregated at a stretch of beach at Hermosa. My cousins and I used to have a contest every summer to see who darkened the most and fastest with our Coppertone Tanning Butter. Below, my friend tells more:
Hi Betty!
I am so happy you are doing this retrospective on the AADS, it was part of our teen culture, and surely brings back fond memories...
I remember:
*the dances were what we looked forward to all week, I worked at Contempo Casuals, so it was fun to have access to the lastest trends and picking out an outfit for the dance!
*My dad was not too fond of his "east-side" girl hanging out with the "west side" crowd, but alot of my friends (from church) were from the west side, and it was exciting to cruise Crenshaw Blvd on the weekends. I couldnt drive yet, so my west side friends would drive us around.
One night, we parked in front of KJLH radio station, where they broadcast live, and "King Oliver" gave us a shout out on the radio while we were parked right in front of his window!
* Beach culture- of course we hung out at Hermosa, at 22th Street...when I was old enough to drive, I would be there every single weekend with my friends, baking in baby oil til we were dark as possible. We were listening to Tower of Power, Isley Brothers, Chicago, and Michael Jackson (on cassette)
*Street races- that was pretty fantastic- it was exciting to watch, and exhilarating to be a part of the crowd, because of the danger involved and running from the cops if they showed up...often times the races would suddenly be announced at a "secret" location, where if you knew where that location was, it was even more exciting to be there, like being privy to some underground party!!!
They had races from Montebello to Oxnard, and even my friends in San Francisco worked on their Camaro engines to race in "LA".
*Music- to this day, when I hear "Suavecito" by Malo or All Day Music by War, it brings me back to my childhood dances. I learned (or tried to learn!) dances like the cha-cha, or electric glide, but most of the time I would watch the experienced dancers until I practiced enough at home. Back then, we spent alot of time to look great and dressed to impress! So we regularly got permed, and ALWAYS wore platform shoes, and of course had to wear the latest Chemin de Fer jeans!
*Food-I played sports and alot of my friends also played softball, basketball and volleyball in the asian-american leagues, so eating was a big part of our social calendar. We frequented hang outs like Mago's on the west side, where cha-su avocado tacos and burritos were on the menu, Far East Cafe, Manuel's (El Tepayac) in East LA, or Ciros if ET was too crowded, also a hot spot for us was Westwood, near UCLA where we would go eat at one of the food joints (falafels or burgers), then we'd shop for jewelry at the street fair or go to the movies.
*Shopping- since there were no cell phones or internet, the mall was a popular destination for me and my girlfriends. Since I worked at Contempo, a lot of my friends would come shop there, or to the Attic in Monterey Park or Montebello, or Judy's, which was another chain in the mall.
Guys were wearing alot of jeans and workshirts, girls were all about the widest bell bottoms with platform shoes, or wallabies, but on the weekends, the guys would put on their silky disco shirts and gals wore hot pants and minis or low rise bell bottoms and platforms and those looks are now an iconic fashion mark of the seventies.
I hope these memories can help you with your story! Thanks for making me go back in time, it was fun recalling.
