"Big Melons?"

I came across this large bumper sticker stuck on a street light on Leonard and it jogged a long forgotten memory.
I don't remember much about the place except that it existed during the late 90s on this street... I want to say it was in the space where One Man's Junk is right now. Apparently it was a coffee bar that was sort of a teen hangout, like the West Side equivalent of "Music Expresso" or something. "Later mom and dad, I'm going to go hang out at Big Melons!"
I had never felt like going in the place myself but with a name like that, it always got my attention if I'd go past.
Why was it called that? Just to make you look? I'm thinking the sign actually had illustrations of watermelons on it.  Did employees there have well-endowed breastesses? Maybe somebody can fill us in on the details. The world is waiting to know the secrets of Big Melons.
I also seem to remember hearing this place was run by the same dude who had run Club 911 before they closed. Did he happen to have large man boobs?

Pepsi Dance Trax

 
People "of a certain age" in Grand Rapids might remember this show that aired Sunday mornings on channel 17 in the late 80s.
Dance Trax followed the format of many other "dance club" shows that were popular at the time such as Club MTV, The Grind, Dance Party USA, etc. which I guess all were descendants of American Bandstand and Soul Train. Shots of teens dancing to the latest hits, occasionally with the video.
It was produced in the Club Eastbrook space (which is now Orbit Room) and hosted by KLQ on-air personality Danny Douglas.
The shows filled a 30 minute slot but I have edited this one down to 10 minutes of giant bangs, permed mullets, Polo and Bugle Boy. Watch for the pair of girls with impressive Salt n' Peppa outfits!

Thanks to Wendee Bush for going to the trouble of searching out her ancient but amazingly well-preserved tape!! I'm making her a DVD of these episodes in exchange for letting me share them on here.

If you have any rare GR video gems, message me!







Special Bonus!  Check out this dance-off to Nena Cherry "Buffalo Stance." 

>>>>>>>>For a limited time, DVD available!

Red Lion sign, Bridge St.

One thing about the internet. It really shows me how any good idea I've ever had, somebody else has already thought of and done it way better a long time ago.
Case in point, this awesome G.R. historic blog "F*** Yeah Grand Rapids"

Mr. Fables sign found...

WYCE station manager Kevin Murphy spotted this Mr. Fables sign in the window of RHD Tire on Grandville Ave.
Thanks for sending the picture. Or as Kevin points out, "thanks to the person who is responsible for the sheet metal screw in my tire for my seeing the sign and taking the photo." 

Betamax Theatre Presents...

I'm well known around town for "being into weird old shit."
A while back somebody gifted me with a working Betamax VCR, I'm guessing from the late 70s. It is gigantic and covered with simulated wood grain but it's in excellent shape and works great.
Along with the deck they also gave me 3 shopping bags full of tapes. These tapes contain home-recorded TV broadcasts from the late 70s, early 80s from the G.R. area!
As I get the time, I'll be going through them, looking for interesting clips and posting them.

Here is a short promo clip from News 8's exciting new innovation, the News Van!
"Someday all stations will have one.... "

The Clock

The Clock sure did have a sweet vintage sign, with a working clock.  Did they reset it for daylight savings time?
Did somebody have to get up on a ladder to reset that thing or was it remotely controlled from inside?
I guess we will never know.

The Clock was a 24 hour greasy-spoon diner on Alpine Avenue.
It opened in 1974 as part of a chain headquartered in Southfield, Michigan and was one of three Clocks in the area. The franchise ended and the Alpine Clock continued on independently.
The place had diverse clientele including regulars, truckers and usually a good share of kids, being one of the few places youth could gather late at night.
The Clock had table-top juke boxes that for $0.25 would play Neil Diamond, Elvis, Journey or Madonna tunes. There was even some Barney The Dinosaur on there which some friends and I would sometimes play specifically to mess with people. :)
The plaza area behind it was steadily being transformed into national chains with The Clock being the last old-school holdout. 
Unfortunately, The Clock caught fire June 16, 2005 and was demolished in early 2006 to be replaced by a Q'doba. 
Nowadays, The Grand Coney on Michigan Ave. seems to fill the late night after bar greasy-spoon niche.

So this entry's pretty short, I don't have a wealth of info or memories to share about The Clock but please post some of your own. That's what this thing is for!