Angelino's Pizza theatre organ, Dean Cook playing

[OaklandRaidersFan66]

I have video of Ye Olde Pizza Joynt and I just posted it on my YouTube Channel

"oaklandraidersfan66" from when I was there last in 1993 !! Hope everyone enjoys!!

[mfuji02]

THIS IS A FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT BREAKFAST PLACE NOW WHAT FUCKING HEARTBREAK >_<

[JonasClark]

@mfuji02 A breakfast place? Really? What's in the space where the pipes were? After Angelino's closed it became a Greek joint for a while, and the pipe room became a stage for bellydancing...

[mfuji02]

@JonasClark yes! a shitty breakfast joint!. Tables are in the space where the pipes were I was so fucking disturbed that I couldn't eat my food sitting where the pipes were wtf happened how could such a magical place turn into that pos oh well I guess great things don't last for ever.... :( I gotta go check out bella roma & see if it's any thing close to angelinos. :/

[JonasClark]

@mfuji02 Well, tell me what you find. Last I heard, Bella Roma moved, and I have heard nothing regarding whether the organ moved with them. Ye Olde Pizza Joynt is most definitely NOT coming back, and Pizza & Pipes in Redwood City sold their Wurlizer (the former Seattle 5th Ave. organ) a few years ago, turning the chambers into an arcade the way the one in Santa Clara did over 30 years ago.

[JonasClark]

@mfuji02 I think I could design the setting if someone else built the thing and laid out the organ. I've drawn up a few fantasy settins for pipe organ pizza parlors, most based loosely on the very 70s-style Organ Grinder restaurants (Portland, Denver, Torointo) and the Organ Stop chain in Arizona. If you can get over to Mesa, AZ, the last remaining Organ Stop is running with a 4/78 instrument, second-largest in existance behind the Sanfilippo 5/80 but, like Sanfilippo, with a rotating lift.

[mfuji02]

@JonasClark ausome tnks 4info! -_-

[deancook652]

@JonasClark The Bella Roma organ was removed to storage; the new locatiuon didn't last six months. Forget it...Bella Roma is dead due to the folks who bought the business from Les Schaffer after his wife Rita died; they thought they could take a successful business, cheapen the product, relocate it, and bring in the organ "at a later date" for next to no money.

Lesson learned...the Bella is no more.

[deancook652]

The 13 ranks, as best as I can remember, were: 8' Tibia Clausa (Wurlitzer) 16' Concert Flute/Bourdon (Wurl) 16' Open Diapason/Metal Diaphone (Wurli) 8' Harmonic Tuba (Wurli) 8' Cor Anglais (Austin, low pressure revoiced to play on 8" wind) 8' Clarinet (Dennison) 8' Kinura (Moller) 8' Vox (Wurli) 8' Solo String (Morton?) 8' String Celeste (Denninson) 8' Viol d'Orchestre (Wurli) 8' VDO Celeste (Not Wurli) 8' Orch Oboe (Dennison)

[KatTheBrat]

This makes me so sad :( I spent my childhood going here for pizza. We stopped when I got older because it seemed that management changed and the food wasn't quite as good, plus they got rid of the pretty red wallpaper and personal photos...

but still, to find out I can never return is depressing. Especially since leaving San Jose for college, I have recently been thinking about this place a lot :(

[deancook652]

@KatTheBrat It still makes me sad, too, even after all this time. I frequently drop in on this post, and remember days gone by....

BTW, I'm in Chicagoland, now; not playing anywhere. Just looking for work, searching for a venue to record the CD I've been trying to get out for the last decade, and working on my compositions for orchestra.

[FromTheGang]

Everytime I hear this song I think of the Super Smash Bros. 64 commercial...

[jelam7373]

I remember Dean at Ye Olde Pizza Joint in Hayward..............

[ruffmike]

I came her looking for a video of the Pizza Joynt. That was an entertaining place!

As a side note wasn't Agelino's originally a Greek restaurant called Zorba's?

[deancook652]

The other way around...It was a pizza/pipes eatery in 1972, and stayed that way until it was turned Greek... which died 4 months later. It's now a Mexican restaurant.

[ruffmike]

Thank you for the clarification Dean, although I seem to remember a Greek restaurant pre '72 with exotic statues out front. Memories can play tricks though. How about the Pizza Joynt? Does a video exist of that organ in action, with the tight rope cyclist, train whistle/horn etc.? I used to go there in the '90's when my children were young. That organ rocked the building, what a fun place. Were they able to salvage the organ after the fire?

[deancook652]

Well, that's tricky question...

Yes, the organ (meaning the 13 ranks of pipes, the glockenspeil and xylophone in the chamber) were salvaged, and put into storage. All other components (the stuff in the dining room), including the console, traps, accordion, liberty bells, saucer bells, toys, and all other tonal percussions were damaged beyond repair. The building is still there, but vacant. I'm very interested in finding a venture capitalist to re-open the place as Ye Nue Pizza Joynt...

[JonasClark]

@deancook652 Do you know if there are any other pipe organ pizza joints left in the US that I'm missing? There's Organ Stop in AZ, Organ Piper in WI, (kinda-sorta) Organ Loft in UT, and Roaring 20s in Florida just closed. Someone told me there's one somewhere in the Chicago area, and someone else told me there's one in the midwest or east inside a small ex-movie theatre.

Also, any help you can give me for my slowly-evolving list of defunct ones is greatly appreciated!

[deancook652]

@JonasClark As of today, the current public food&entertainment venues that still feature the TPO is Organ Stop Pizza in mesa, AZ; Organ Loft in Salt Lake City, open by reservation only; Beggar's Pizza in Lansing Il-this is the restaurant that was a small neighborhood movie theatre; Organ Piper Pizza just outside of Milwaukee. It's my understanding that roaring 20's Pizza in Ellenton floriday is in recievership, and may or may not still be open.

[bigmamakaboose]

I can't believe Angelino's is gone. My family loved the food, the staff and the theatre organ. I will miss it. =(

[chad10441]

I played most of the Theatre Pipe Organs in Sacramento back in the day. It was sure fun. Clyde Derby and I were good friends and when he was taken back in the 80's I took over at the Carl Greer for a short period of time

Dave Rietz

[deancook652]

The Carl Greer organ is now playing like gangbusters at the Bob Hope Theatre (formerly Fox) in Stockton, CA.

[deancook652]

I don't think the volume level really had much to do with it...it's loud at Chuck E. Cheese, and they do all right. The demographic the pizza/pipes concept appeals to has simply died out in this area; yuppies with kids are far more into games than music, and theatre organ music simply won't pull in a lot of thirty-somethings today, at least not in the "super-sophisticated" Bay Area. Notice the places it still works: Ariz, Florida...places full of retirees.

[monkeywho]

Are you kidding me? (In regard to the volume being the cause of decline) The volume of a normal pop / rock concert is insane.

It's the lack of a visual medium or connection with the instrument. No guitars, no vocalists, no scantily dressed women bopping to the music.

I'm afraid your point of demographics is right on. My grandparents enjoy Theater organ music. The younger children are stuck in front of PS3 and Wii and their parents are listening to AC / DC or Rap / Hip-hop.

[TheMatthewGore]

@monkeywho im 28, love ps3 and rap, and I think this music is great

[monkeywho]

@TheMatthewGore - Fair enough. I have a PS2 myself so I can't say much there. :) BTW, I'm 32 so not that much older than you.

[TheMatthewGore]

@monkeywho yea i guess im not a younger kid anymore LOL

[HarborGuy]

Perhaps the organ was too loud for the customers......

[JonasClark]

Only locations to find theatre organ music with food are Roaring 20s Pizza & Pipes in Ellenton, Florida (4 manual, 42 ranks on rotating lift, former Ken's Melody Inn organ), Organ Loft in Salt Lake City (bizarre 5/32 purple console, not sure if they're open all the time for dinner or just for banquet rentals), Organ Piper near Milwaukee (3 manual 30 ranks) and Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa, AZ (massibe 4 manual, 76 ranks on rotating lift, incredible!).

[Kabraxisx]

4/78 now at Organ Stop Pizza

[23cxgy]

I well remember we would stop at Angelino's whenever we were in San Jose. Good pizza and great organ music every time. What a shock when we pulled into the parking lot and saw it was gone.

[dominich4962]

wuritzers are good aren't they

[JonasClark]

Yes indeed. All brands on theatre organ have merit. This organ was a hybrid with a mostly-Wurlitzer console, ranks from a number of sources, and...no combination action, hence you see Cook making stop changes as he goes.

[JonasClark]

16' Post Horn? That must have been killer. I have no intention of removing this video, by the way. And I know there's software out there that allows users to download and save video clips from YouTube - if you wish to do so with this one, be my guest.

[DOLRED]

This is "Happy Together" by the Turtles--a great one.  Thanks!

[deancook652]

Open since 1970 or so, the place finally bowed to changing musical tastes @ economic pressure. A $4000 bill to repair the blower motor when it burned out didn't help. I had intended to record a CD on it, and we almost had it ready for recording when it went belly-up. The organ was bought by a private party who is building an addition onto his home for it.

[reflectionlabs]

That was cool!

[JonasClark]

Read the description of the video for notes on why "So Happy Together" got played.

[waddleduckie1]

Thanks for the info, Jonas! I remembered going to Melody Inn's for a birthday celebration many times.

[JonasClark]

Bella Roma Pizza in Martinez, CA (Wurlitzer 3/15) is moving, and may be taking the organ with them. Listed here are the ONLY remaining ones. I'm considering having my late-70s Jonas Nordwall LP, "Omnificent", digitized - would anyone be interested in posts here? Played on the Portland (4/40) and Denver (4/37) Organ Grinder Pizza organs, the record includes the Muppet Theme, the Bee Gees' "Tragedy" (Wurlitzer disco is seriously cool!), and Apollo 100's "Joy", played *faster* than the original!

[JonasClark]

I don't know why Angelino's closed. Ken's Melody Inn, though, closed in the late 70s, and its organ ended up at Roaring 20s Pizza & Pipes in Ellenton, FLA which is still open (4 manual 42 ranks). Other still-playing joints are the Organ Loft in Salt Lake City (hybrid 32-rank with hybrid 5-manual console), Organ Piper Pizza in Greenfield, WI (Wurli/Kimball hybrid 3/30), and the biggest of all, Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa, AZ, with a 4 manual console on a rotating lift and a massive 76 ranks!

[waddleduckie1]

Why did it close? The same thing happened when Melody Inn of Los Altos, California closed their doors after some years and all of this became a precious memory. Please don't remove this video ever. I miss Melody Inn and I wish that Angelino's Pizza didn't close their doors so soon! If I heard about their existence, long ago, I would have gone there!!!

[JonasClark]

This was in San Jose, and it is gone. The space is now held by a Greek restaurant, and the organ chambers (their Victorian wood archway still intact) are now a stage for bellydancing shows.

[BayAreaBiker2001]

There is an Angelo's or Angelino's Pizza in San Jose. It too has a pipe organ.

[ttay1122]

i want some pizza :(

[JonasClark]

Do you know where the Denver Organ Grinder's console ended up? The Portland organ, too, was sold for parts - a number of the rare ranks, traps and effects (32' Diaphones, tuned tympani, four-rank Vox Humana chorus, etc.) went into the Organ Stop organ in Mesa, AZ. For some reason, Organ Stop doesn't seem to have Portland's saucer bells.

[Erzahler]

I don't remember where the console went, but I do know the Organ Grinder's 16' post horn went to Pikes Peak's 3/20 Wurlitzer at Mount St. Francis.

[JonasClark]

Very, very good, yes - especially for a 14-rank instrument with no solo reed and no combination action - all stop changes done by hand on the fly, as you can see. This performance was augmented by prerecorded backup on an electronic keyboard which was leaning on the music rest.

[herbgarratt]

One of the best I've seen yet!

Well done!

[Organgrinder010]

Aw, such a shame. But, the memories will live on forever.

Dean is a marvelous organist, I love his style.

[JonasClark]

Joke or not?

[anarchy6668pro]

Sounded good! The blinds were moving it was so loud!

[JonasClark]

The Denver organ WAS a Publix 1 spec, with a number of additions. I think I know now what you mean by the unusual marimba - it was the orchestral split type (separate rows for naturals and sharps/flats - in this case, mounted one above the other) as opposed to the common WurliTzer style. What I meant by "Grecian" was the console design, a custom one-off made for Portland's Portland/Paramount Theatre, with eight narrow urns standing on top. What I'm wondering is where the unusual console went.

[JonasClark]

Dual manual marimbas? And does anyone know the fate of that magnificent Grecian console that was on the Denver Organ Grinder, formerly of the Portland/Paramount Theatre? That, along with the Modernistic (Waterfall) and the Fisher Theatre Mayan-decorated French, is one of my favorite designs. Hm, wonder how long it'll be before Organ Stop beats Sanifilippo's 80 ranks...

[Yellowcorrado]

The Dual manual marimbas were the signature of the Denver OGP. Sadly the Denvers organ was sold and broken up for parts. It wasn't a Grecian I don't think, I am very good friends with one of the organists that played there and he said it was a Publix. I'm STILL getting information and behind-the-scenes stories from him.

[Daiwin82]

I don't know if you got a reply to this post.

The Denver Organ-Grinder Theatre organ was sold to some one that used it for parts.

Any one know what happened to the Portland theatre organ?

I know it was sold to some one as well but was it kept in one piece or was it used for parts also?

[JonasClark]

Was Portland's pizza bad? Angelino's had good food. I never ate at Organ Grinder, just saw the organ. The owner collected rare Wurlitzer stops and features (four-rank Vox Humana chorus, 32' Diaphones, tuned tympani, etc.) and most of them were bought by Organ Stop in Mesa, AZ, which used them to build their organ up to its massive 76 ranks.

[Yellowcorrado]

Well the pizza was pretty good in Portland, the same owner,Dennis Headberg, opened up ANOTHER Organ Grinde rin Denver in Feb of 79. The story goes he and the guy running the Denver place got into a fight, Dennis told him he could keep the place open under the same name, just wouldn't have anything more to do with it. Denver had the Dual manual Marimbas so it had it's own sound. Organ Stop justgot a rank of Tubas a few months ago. Sounds pretty awesome!

[Audinos]

There was a similar place (with good pizza) in Sacramento, but I think they have closed also.

[califdad4]

Piazza and Pipes cllosed years ago, heard the organ went north...like Portland Or

[califdad4]

forgot to add, the Pizza and Pipes was in Sacramento Ca, the only pipe organs left in Sacramento now are Church Organs, don't know of any old theater Pipe organs left in this area. Sad

[califdad4]

Dean, Pizza and Pipes in Sacramento

went out like 20 years ago and the SacBee paper said the organ went up North, but then maybe it did and came back down, like you said to San Diego, we used to also have one at a big hotel resturante then Called the "Carl Greer", I got to go down in and tour the organ pit when I was a kid in the 60's, that organ is gone now too

[chad10441]

There are still a few public venues left in Sacramento. California Auto Museum, formerly the Towe Ford Museum has a Wurlitzer and the Sierra Chapter ATOS club instrument in Fair Oaks near Sacramento.

dave rietz

[califdad4]

Dave, I think the only non Chruch pipe organs left in Sacramento are at the Memoral Hall on J st and Grant High School, North Sac, am I wrong?

[Audinos]

I went to the Organ Grinder in Portland many times. The pizza was horrible, and when they closed down, the organ was parted out.

[SidewalkFrequencies]

LOL I grew up going to an Organ pizza theater as a kid in San Diego Ca. those were good times, my family would go hear the blaring wurlitzer organ while feasting on pepperoni slices, thanks for the flashback.

[Kiddman32]

Blast from the past! I went to Angelino's quite a few times... Great place, and unlike most pipe-organ pizza places, EXCELLENT PIZZA! Sad to see it go :(