From the UK to the Sunset Strip

For a 16yr old kid living on a West Yorkshire council estate, the Sunset Strip in LA, California, would usually have no bearing or effect on their life, yet I and many of my friends from that time in my life could not have been more connected to the sleazy, rock n roll dreams played out in the infamous Rainbow Bar and Grill and its sister venue The Whiskey a Go Go.

The man behind the Rainbow was Mario Magelieri a tough Italian businessman with a heart bigger than most human beings, this man was personally responsible for helping out some of the bands we know and love when they were in need.

In fact the Rainbow bar was the "go-to" place if you needed a musician in the 1980's and many of the albums that helped us through our teenage years were born from this location, Motley Crue's Shout at the Devil, Guns n Roses Appetite for Destruction and many other from this era of glam rock and heavy metal.

So what has this to do with a British teenager? In the mid to late 1980's my life was all about metal, I didn't care if it was the Glam rock tones of Poison, the outlandish and brash Motley Crue or Wasp, even thrash and classic heavy rock was the anthem to my youth.

Unfortunately for England we had only had a few good metal bands in the 80's, of course we had Sabbath, Def Leppard, the quireboys, Iron maiden and the God's who are Motorhead but the majority of music we listened to came from the states and particularly LA.

It wasn't until I recently watched the 2019 documentary "The Rainbow" that I realized how much of an effect a small bar 5,257 miles (approx) away had on my life, for those who know of the Rainbow they will know it as a hub of talent and wild rock stars and of course the second home of the late, great "Ian" Lemmy Kilminster of Motorhead who bought an apartment just down the street so he could be close to the legendary bar.

What I didn't know is that before the 1980's the Rainbow had almost always been the place to be for musicians, Hendrix, Joplin, Lennon, Alice Cooper and many other famous names have parked their rear ends in the booths or at the bar at one time or another, and many of these also spent their last night on earth in the Rainbow, even the infamous Charles Manson was thrown out of the bar at one time.

As I write this, 32 yrs later I have Motley Crue's Too Fast For Love album playing in the background, I admit it isn't often I revisit my 80's roots these days but it felt right to have one of the many albums I bought back then playing while I write about the place where it all began.

The Rainbow and the Whiskey are still owned by the late Mr Magelieri's son and Grandson who have carried on the tradition of being the go-to place in LA for rock music, I have never had the privilege to visit either of these places, yet in my mind I know them as well as any frequent patron these two locations live in the songs of yesterday that still haunt my mind.

I wasn't lucky enough to be part of that scene in the USA but thanks to the Sunset Strip, The Rainbow, the Whiskey a Go Go and of course the Magelieri family, I and my friends were able to lose ourselves in the music created in LA and we could relate to the outcasts, the wild and crazy rockers who lived their lives in the fast lane, through their music we felt a part of something much bigger than ourselves.

Indeed the British heavy metal scene brought people together in a brotherhood (and sisterhood) of black leather and blue denim.

Some of my oldest friends are people I met through a mutual love of music in the 80s and at the center of it all were the bands from LA who's records and cassettes had made their way into English record shops and then into the bedrooms of British teenagers with a lust for rock.

The Rainbow now has an empty stool by the gaming machine, this had been Lemmy's favorite spot and he spent many days and nights sitting playing the machine,sipping his drink and smoking a cigarette, the walls of the bar are a mecca of musical history, covered with photographs, autographs, guitars and gold records, all gifts from grateful musicians to the owner.

To close I personally would like to thank the Magelieri family for their contribution to the world of rock music, thanks to their bar and venue we have been gifted with some of the greatest music which will live on long after I and you have gone, lets hope the Rainbow and the Whiskey also live on for many more years to come.