This site was located at the Shorewood Plaza Shopping Center, a strip mall on Central Ave. in Fridley.

HULLABALOO TEEN SCENE – FRIDLEY

The first venue here was a Hullabaloo Teen Scene club, which opened here in early March, 1968.  (There was another Hullabaloo Club in St. Louis Park.)

Denny Johnson of the Jokers Wild has contracts that show that the band played at a Hullaballoo Club in Minneapolis on March 30 and June 2, 1968.  The contracts were signed by Mrs. Merle Kratoska, M & K Teen Clubs, Inc.

Merle’s son Paul:  “My brother and I remember my mom driving us around to community colleges and putting fliers under car windshield wipers as advertising for the up coming weekend. It was located just north of Moore Lake in Fridley, just east of Hwy 65. It only lasted a year or two.”

JOKE’S ON THE JOKERS WILD

An “About People” column by Margaret Morris in the Strib dated March 27, 1968, described the Jokers Wild “sitting sheepishly under hair dryers at the Red Carpet” hair salon.

“Usually I wash my own hair,” said the tall, red-haired bearded spokesman in tight navy and white striped dungarees.  “We’re just here because she said we had to.”

Dollars to doughnuts that was poor Lonnie Knight under the dryer.  Here’s the rest of the article:

“I told them when I booked them that whey would have to do something their hair.  It looked unkempt.  Long hair is an asset in their business.  But their locks needed design.  They are not what you expect – not sissies.  One attended Dunwoody Institute to learn construction of musical instruments and how to repair them.  They are dedicated musicians.”

“Don’t cut, it will bleed,” protested the youngest man in the combo as Gordon Lockley, owner of the hair salon, took up scissors.  Lockley waggled his arms and snipped away.  “What’s that stuff?”  the youth asked sniffing a cloud of hair spray.

Mrs. Lloyd B. Thompson came in for her regular shampoo and set and looked aghast at the infiltrators.  She walked to the back of the salon muttering, “Is this a happening?”

“They are real fine boys,” said Mrs. Kratoska.  “I got to know them when they rented the Hullabaloo to practice.  They came at noon and would forget to eat.  Sometimes, they’d stay until 2:30 in the morning when the booking agent chased them out.  There are hundreds of bands in the area, but these boys are going into the big time.”

When and if they do, it will be with shimmering hair styles by Locksley – at $17 a styling.

 

The Fridley Hullabaloo indeed didn’t last long, and the location opened as the Casino Royale on October 18, 1968.

 

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CASINO ROYALE

Hullabaloo was followed by the Casino Royale, which was opened by John and Annette Flaherty on October 18, 1968.  The Flahertys had owned Someplace Else in Robbinsdale.

 

On December 8, 1968, the Minneapolis Tribune Sunday Picture Edition did a huge spread on the club, written and photographed by Mike Zerby.

Snippets:

• The Manager and booker was Bruce Brantseg, age 24, who worked for David Anthony.
• There were two sections: a ballroom, with tables on the sides, and the bar, serving pop for 15 cents.
• It opened on October 18, 1968.
• There were two cops and a bouncer. Sign: $100 fine for anyone involved in any fight or disturbance.”
• Bands playing there included the Litter, Good Idea, Marauders, Classic IV, Mystics.
• Decorated in a casino theme, with large cards, dice shakers, and roulette wheels painted on walls.
• Pinball and snooker tables.
• Restricted to ages 16 to 20; sign says “Be 16 or be Gone.”  (Annette Flaherty said that parents were welcome for free.)
• “No coats or jackets allowed inside – free coat and purse checking here”
• Zerby:  “The faces of the teen-agers were unsmiling and, seemingly, uninvolved. One explained, simply, that one stayed “cool.”
• Open Tuesday nights from 7:30 to 10:30 and weekends from 8:30 to 11:45. “Three hours is long enough”: Brantseg.
• Zerby:  “At the end, the teen-agers seemed pooped, but somehow restored. It was as if they had undergone their own version of entertainment mixed with shock therapy.”

 

Entertainment was probably exclusively by local bands.

The C.A. Quintet performed there several times in 1969:

• July 11
• July 18
• August 25
• September 18
• November 28

Pepper Fog performed on November 8, 1969.

The Flahertys sold the club to Carl Rostburg.

By 1970 it was a Country place, owned by Lee Silverton.  In April 1970, Texas Bill Strength was working there Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.