(#4) Led Zeppelin Turns Their Hotel Into A Massive Slip N’ Slide
The Continental Hyatt House – colloquially dubbed the Riot House – was home to a boatload of debauchery in the 1970s, and may have even been the original testing ground for the long and proud legacy of rock stars destroying hotel rooms. None tested this endeavor quite as thoroughly as Led Zeppelin, who used to rent out the entire top floor of the hotel and proceed with all manner of depravity including a rumor that drummer John Bonham once drove a motorcycle through the hallways.
Guitarist Big Jim Sullivan told KCRW about visiting the band at the hotel. When the elevator doors opened on the top floor, he says, he saw almost a foot of foam on the floor, and then, “as I looked out this naked girl came sliding past…and then another one and then, followed by John Paul Jones and John Bonham."
(#9) John Belushi Overdoses At The Chateau Marmont
It’s one of the most famous, and tragic, stories of the Sunset Strip’s wild days. In 1982, actor John Belushi was renting a $200 a night room at the Chateau. Prior to his death, he was reportedly up all night doing drugs with the musician Cathy Evelyn Smith, and received visits from Hollywood greats like Robert DeNiro and Robin Williams throughout the evening.
Smith later told police that Belushi was fine when she left, only to return and find a scene she described:
I didn't think anything was wrong. . . . If he was in trouble I would have known what to do. But I didn't think he was in any trouble. (So) I got in the car and I did some business and I came back and it was, you know, the place was--it was Dragnet.
(#2) Rock N’ Roll Kids Riot To Protest Their 10:00 P.M. Curfew
Just three months after The Doors stopped playing the Whiskey a Go Go, a protest broke out on Sunset Strip.
It all went down outside the popular nightclub and coffee shop Pandora’s Box on November 12, 1966, after a 10:00 p.m. curfew had been set on the Strip to try to eliminate the number of high, stoned and sometimes partially naked young people who liked to congregate there.
After a lengthy build-up of tension between said young people and law enforcement, a large group of protesters showed up carrying signs that insisted the curfew be lifted. May Wines singer Tommy McLaughlin told LA Weekly:
Fliers had been distributed, radio stations were informed, and ‘the word’ was out on the street. And the one thousand came: frat party boys, Marines on leave, pre-hippies and stoned high schoolers, plus cameos by Peter Fonda, Sonny and Cher and even Gilligan, Bob Denver.
Sadly, the protest only resulted in the closing down of Pandora’s Box. But at least the kids had a good night.
(#8) Sebastian Bach Tries Quaaludes For The First Time
Quaaludes have long been memorialized as the drug of choice in the 1970s and 1980s. The first time Skid Row lead singer Sebastian Bach tried them, he was at the legendary Rainbow Bar and Grill with Duff McKagan and Metallica’s Lars Ulrich.
In an interview with the New York Times, he describes the experience as follows:
All of a sudden we’re standing up, and we lose control of the muscles in our face, our lips start drooping, and we start drooling on each other. We were like, “We better sit down.” So we go to the booth, getting spit on each other’s leather jackets, and Lars comes up with the brilliant idea of charging fans $5 to get a picture taken with us. He’s like: “Here’s your heroes! Guns N’ Roses, Skid Row! Get a picture.” Snap. We’re going [slurred slow-motion voice], “Hey, man, Lars, that’s not cool.” Click.
(#1) Jim Morrison Drops Acid And Misses The Doors’ Last Set At The Whiskey A Go Go
The Whiskey a Go Go is one of the most iconic venues on the Sunset Strip, and it comes by the reputation honestly; between May and August of 1966, the house band was none other than The Doors themselves. But on their last night performing at the club, lead singer Jim Morrison almost missed the entire show.
According to the venue’s history, Morrison was holed up in the Tropicana Motel high on acid and half naked as his bandmates began the show. They left halfway through to find him, then hauled him to the Whiskey and onto the stage. He proceeded to improvise his way through their final song: “The End.”
(#7) Nikki Sixx Overdoes And Almost Dies
Sixx had plenty of other stories up his sleeve. Following another night of partying and getting high on the Strip, the bassist overdosed in the company of Guns n’Roses' Slash. Sixx describes taking “heroin and pills and cocaine and tons of alcohol” before passing out and being declared dead for almost two full minutes.
He was ultimately revived by a shot of adrenaline, and the incident inspired the Crüe classic “Kickstart my Heart.”
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Sunset Boulevard is world-famous, the bars and nightclubs here are the settlements of young, fashion and beautiful. There are glamorous rock clubs everywhere, no matter which style you like, you can find a suitable place. From the 1960s to the 1980s, many great rock bands performed and created their legends here, and they also brought music, drug, and violence here.
This is a collection of wild stories about music, frug, and riots. The random tool generates 10 items, including the wild stories on the LA Sunset Strip. You could find those stories here. Welcome to leave a message and share your thoughts with us.
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