Organ Grinder Pizza Commercial

Commercial from a Portland Oregon TV station, early 80's, judging from the arcade games. Used to go here for birthday parties.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Organ
• Grinder
• Pizza
• Wurlitzer
• Pipe

[Makron5]

You can get a similar environment with today's technology except for the socialization aspect and the pizza.

[NardDogz]

Audibly, I would agree with you, today's instruments are amazing... you can hardly tell digital versus real pipes. But visually, no... The Organ Grinder was a feast for the eyes with all of the polished pipework exposed, blowers spinning, tremulants bouncing, the tuned percussions & drums being struck by solenoids with pilot lamps. The swell shades opening and closing... It was a marvelous machine to watch, and it was all around you.  A box with digital samples can't provide that experience.

[Marshall7302]

i miss that organ. That one i never got to see. I have alot of recordings of that from Jonas Nordwall. That was one of the best sounding organs in recording ever made. Dennis Headburg was a genius, too bad it was lost for parts. Most of it went to the Messa Arizona organ. I wish i could see more videos of that organ being played.

[NardDogz]

I hear you! I can't figure out why there aren't more videos of this wonderful place. Considering all of the birthday parties and other events that occurred there, there should be some home movies, and also some made by owners and staff. I don't get it! It's a shame. Thanks

[deancook652]

Actually, if you wanna know the truth, the VERY first such place in the world was Ye Olde Pizza Joynt, which opened in 1958, in Hayward, CA. The organ was an expanded Style "E" Wurli from the State Theatre, Fresno, CA. Then, several ranks of pipes and a 3-manual console from the Warfield Theatre in SF was added. The place burned in 2006. Happens, it was the first pipe organ I ever heard (in 1966 at age three), and is the reason I play today (if there WERE anywhere to play).

[NardDogz]

Hi Dean!

What's with all of the fires that occured with these type of restaurants, anyway?

People never cleaned out the grease hoods? It's really a shame...

I suppose all of the air moving about from the organ would really help combustion.

[crazyclimber80]

Of all the Portland landmarks that are no longer, I miss Farrell's and the Organ Grinder the most. (sob)

[Makron5]

@cleffnote It's a shame the place is dead. I kind of want to go to one of these places. If we had functional wormhole technology places like this could be open because we'd be able to find a niche of people interested in going to the location of this attraction.

[cleffnote]

@crazyclimber80 Absolutely to both of those places.

[cleffnote]

@Makron5 Actually, no you can't. When watching this organ live, you could almost feel the wind coming through that bass winds. The room shook from the low end sounds. You had the visual effects of the silent movies on the screen while the organ player played. Not at all like you would experience from a digital experience.

Kind of like the difference between a live concert and a cd. I'll take the live concert.

[JonasClark]

@NardDogz There weren't an awful lot. Ye Olde Pizza Joynt and the Tacoma, WA Pizza & Pipes had kitchen vent fires, and one of the Music Palaces (Springdale in Cincinnati) had the relay catch fire.

[jrc99us]

@Blackboilingrobotoil Yes I went there once. But I went to Organ Grinder cuz I lived on SE 62nd between Powell and Foster I was just around the corner.

[MattTheSaiyan]

If I ever take over the world, I promose to open up a quite a few of these places...complete with that "Zaxxon" arcade game....

[Blackboilingrobotoil]

Does anyone remember this places big brother Uncle Milts Pipe Organ Pizza just across the river in Vancouver?

[paulj0557]

Check out my organ playlist- 'Organ Tunes even Organ Haters will love!' ( & II & III), also OTV ( Organ Television).