Want to buy a record with Mel Blanc at Wallichs Music City / "Vintage Los Angeles" on Facebook

Filmed in wonderful color, this special promotional film was made in 1951 , it is 35 minutes long & is of perfect quality! This lost gem was never shown to the public & was used for promotional use only among record executives! It hasn't been seen in over 55 years!! What's on it? well, we get to see lots of great color footage of Hollywood landmarks first up.

Mel plays a record dealer who is desperately trying to sell anyone a record at the corner of Sunset & Vine streets in Hollywood, California. While pestering several people, (including Yogi Yorgeson!!), Billy May approaches playing a regular guy walking down the street, Mel takes him into his record store, (Wallichs Music City) & proceeds to pitch everything in the store to him.

In the end Billy won't pay the 85 cents for a record & Mel decides to show him exactly how records are made! They go over to the Capitol Records recording studios on Melrose Avenue & meet with Alan Livingston who takes them on a tour, here is where they run into several famous folks while getting into a little bit of mischief along the way! We get to see rare footage of Dean Martin in the studio actually recording one of his hit records! they run into Les Paul and Mary Ford, a vocal group, a country & western singer (Merle Travis?), and even Bozo the clown!

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  Entertainment

[billturgeon]

Could the year cited for this piece (1951) be in error by 1 year? At 16:20, Dean Martin commences "Oh Marie" and it sounds exactly like the audio of his official Capitol recording made on April 8, 1952. Dean originally signed with Capitol on August 12, 1948 and signed again in January of 1952. Therefore, this conceivably could be 1951 but I'm just wondering whether it might not be 1952. Dantanasgirl, is 1951 cited in the piece? Info on this film does not (yet) reside at IMDB.

[Alison Martino]

I think you are right!! Good call!

[jeffjazzwraight]

Fascinating & most enjoyable. Pity the last 5 mins is missing. Maybe at some point that could be sorted out. Thanks so much for the post though.

[Alison Martino]

I am working on getting those last 5 minutes. Keep you posted...

[JohnnyFriendly]

The thing that strikes me is how much care and attention went into recorded music once upon a time. Hard to believe that it's all vanished. Future generations have a lot to answer for with their relentless quest for lower quality and "convenience"

[purkasz]

Great seeing old Hollywood which was fast vanishing when I moved there in 1968. The sleeze had begun to encrust Hollywood Blvd with druggies and Hippie squatting driving most business off the Boulevard. Wallich's Music City was still there but NBC was replaced by a bank at Sunset and Vine. Broadway Dept Store was also there but is now luxury apartments. Only the Taft Building on South East corner H'wood & Vine remains unchanged. NY it ain't. The Frolic Room bar is still next to Pantages Theater.

[rideastro44]

85 cents lol now that's nothing

[Dustin G. Lanterman]

This is amazing

[920mclen]

scranton rocks!

[lioness901]

Wow so much went into making record... Very cool

[ARTIE BARNES]

Mel Blanc was my uncle. I spent thousands of hours with him. Fun times! (p.s. Alison, I'm an old friend of yours.. Doors pictures....).

[Mike Vlcek]

Brilliant stuff. I am dying to watch the final minutes as well!

[Shaw Israel Izikson]

Whatever happened to the last five minutes?

[KojiRecords]

6:22-6:37 You can still find tons of Capitol 78 rpm records, as well as 45 and 10" & 12" 33 rpms, including acetates, test pressings and promotional copies all over thrift stores and junk shops in Los Angeles. I went to Out of The Closet/Glendale and found an impressive Capitol Records "insider" collection of 78s, including test pressings---one had a jazz song on one side and Bozo on the other; there were interesting acetates with a tiny white and green label--all being sold for just pennies.

[Dejael Long]

The car is a 1952 MG-TC sports car. It was new then. The building they drive up to was vacated by Capitol Records in the mid-1950s and became the new home of KHJ-TV Channel 9.