The building at 1030 LaSalle Ave. in Minneapolis was built in 1904 as a 48 x 100 ft. brick block for stores.  An early use was a laundry/dry cleaner/”dye house.”  In 1967 the first floor was remodeled into a restaurant/bar.

Music venues here included:

• Scotch Mist
• f. david’s

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SCOTCH MIST

The Scotch Mist Lounge opened around October 1, 1967. One of Wikipedia’s definitions of Scotch Mist is “drunken confusion,” which might explain the 1962 song by that name by a local group called the Scotsmen.

 

Anyway, Don Morrison of the Minneapolis Star reported that after two weeks the place was packed with kids dancing to the tuned of the Four-Fifths. “The decor is modishly Mod, the music is madly Mod, the lights are low, the drinks reasonable, the scene spirited and the girls as groovy-looking a gaggle of chicks as these tired old eyes have ogled in a long time.”

 

The owner was John J. Anzevino, Jr., who had co-owned The Office.

 

In February 1968 there were two lingerie shows on weekdays, and music by the band Four/Fifths: “Where it’s Happening!”

 

June 1969: The Boiling Point, David and the Mark IV.

 

There was a fire on July 1, 1970, causing damages of about $75,000, and Anzevino was charged with arson and defrauding seven insurance companies. After the prosecution’s case the judge threw the case out.

 

 

 

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F. DAVID’S

Frank David Yarusso bought and renovated the Scotch Mist and opened it as f. david’s, a singles bar, on October 13, 1971.

 

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Photographer Mike Barich was on hand for the Grand Opening, catching shots of luminaries:

 

 

 

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Brave New World was the first house band, initially from October to December 1971.

 

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In December 1971, an ad said that Yarusso’s famous Italian food was being served at f. david’s.

In February 1972, bands changed; there are ads for Blue Bird, Pride and Joy, and Open Rhode featuring Connie Olson.

On February 13, 1972, Bill Haley and His Comets paid a visit to f. david’s.  Three days later they performed at Coffman Union at the U of M.

 

In March 1972, the slow nights of Mondays and Tuesdays were turned over to disco nights.

On April 29,1972, the Valdons appeared at the club.

 

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On June 6, 1972, the Star’s Barbara Flanagan reported that the building had been painted “mustard with black trim,” and she said it “looked good.”

Popular local band Cain stayed a week in  July – August 1972.

 

Columnist Irv Letovsky reported that the club was losing money with local groups, so Yarusso starting a new policy of bringing in national acts, starting with pianist Bobby Whitlock in early September 1972.  Whitlock had worked with Delaney and Bonnie, Derek and the Dominoes, George Harrison, the Rolling Stones, and Eric Clapton.  Despite the weekday gig, Letovsky reported that Whitlock “packed ’em in.”

England Dan and John Ford Coley were booked for October 9, 1972.  Yarusso was looking at other national acts such as the Mob, Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, and Tiny Alice 6 and a Girl.  I had to Google that one.  (Minneapolis Tribune, October 2, 1972)

 

Bobby Hatfield of the Righteous Brothers came for a week starting  October 16, 1972.

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Dakota, Tiny Alice, and Stash were bands that appeared at the end of 1972 and into ’73. The ad below is also a want ad for topless waitresses.

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Also featured were lingerie shows at noon Tuesdays through Fridays and during happy hour Wednesdays through Fridays.  An article on such shows reported that the businessmen who ate lunch at f. david’s tried to look their waitresses in the eye.  Businesswomen (or any other women) were almost nonexistent.

Local groups Sterling and Open Rhode entertained in July 1973, as well as a guitar player named Miguel.

 

 

Although f. david’s was still listed in the Insider in 1974, the club apparently folded in 1973.  The building at that location now belongs to the University of St. Thomas and was built in 2005.

 

 

 

 

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