Remembrances from the South Bay

New Email sent to me:

I'm a SouthBay person who remembers all the dances. I enjoyed the street cruising after the dances. I owned a muscle car as well but only cruised with it as my friends did all the racing. Working in a gas station let me hang out with all the other guys who had muscle cars like me. I remember hanging out at Carrow's in Gardena where some to the southbay racers meet. I enjoyed muscle cars more than the small imports that took over later.

The dancing venues were places like Roger Young's, Blarney's Castle, Embassy Hall, Parkview, Baces Hall, Elks Club, La Mirada, Casa Escabar, Quality Inn, Baby Lions, Gung Hay's, Lococo's, Jockey Club, Golden Tale, Lahana's, Osko Disco, etc..

The bands I remebered were Hiroshima, Carry On, the Prophets, Free Flight, Beaudry Express, Winfield Summit, Dynasty, Benjo Blues Band, We the People, Barkada, Prism, Something Else, Long Time Coming, Headstone, Crossroads, Just Us, etc,, and the music of Kalapana, CK, and others from the Islands.

The after dances we went were places like Holiday Bowl, Mago''s, Al Penny's, Van de Kamp, Denneys in Montebello, Gardena, Torrance, on Western in LA, JoJo's, Carrow's (Karissa the waitress), and sometimes to Harry's Chop Suey in Gardena. And if we didn't go to the dance, we hung out at Mr. Pockets or Andy's Pool Hall.

I remember the crazy dances we did like the cha cha, rock steady, bump, chase, hustle, point, white boy, and the soul train lines for the lockers. The music is still fresh in my mind and the songs I still remember. It's good that some of the dances are back again thanks to Music Company, Steve Kikuchi and band, Mojo's, and I here that Carry On may get back sometime in the Future again. Thanks for the memories Kenny!