Slash Joins the Sunset Strip Festival to Honor L.A.'s Rich Rock History

Although Los Angeles' Sunset Strip is most infamous for the rock & roll debauchery of the '80s when bands like Guns n' Roses, Motley Crue and Poison roamed the L.A. streets in leather and hairspray, the Strip has also fostered artists like Nat King Cole and Marilyn Monroe, and served as the playground for the Doors and Janis Joplin. It's this rich and diverse history that was honored at the first Sunset Strip Music Festival this weekend.

The festivities kicked off Thursday night with a tribute at the House of Blues honoring the Godfathers of the Strip: Lou Adler (the Roxy), Mario Maglieri (the Whisky A Go Go, the Rainbow Bar & Grill) and Elmer Valentine (Whisky, Roxy, Rainbow). Sugar Ray frontman and Access Hollywood host Mark McGrath emceed the event with presenters like Slash, Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas and Cheech and Chong, while Camper Van Beethoven, Soul Asylum and Everclear performed. "The fact that the Rainbow is the longest standing rock & roll institution in the world and is still there… deserves props," said Slash, introducing Maglieri. Slash then recalled fond memories of dressing in drag in his mother's clothing to sneak into the Rainbow for ladies' night since his fake ID wasn't working. "It was fun, until I found myself standing in the Rainbow in girls' clothing by myself. It was a novel idea at the time." Michelle Phillips, who introduced Valentine, also had fond memories of the early days of the Strip: "There aren't music scenes that this today, so it's really important to honor such a meaningful scene that these three guys created."

Other highlights of the three-day fest included Friday night's B-Real show at the Whisky A Go-Go with special guest Slash, who put the crowd into a frenzy for the set's two closing songs, the Cypress Hill hit "Rock Superstar" and Gn'R's "Paradise City." The show brought out rockers, rappers and members of the local fire department who snapped photos, flashed metal horns in the air and blatantly ignored the clouds of pot smoke filling up the air. One firefighter who asked to remain nameless summed up the event: "This is what the Strip is about."

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Star Trek' Is Crazy Good
• 
  TV 10 Shows to Watch This Summer
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter