Episodes
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Punk rock came roaring to life in a cramped, dingy bar on New York Cityâs Lower East Side called CBGB at 315 Bowery. More known for its filthy bathrooms than its drinks or foodâlegendary rock photographer Bob Gruen said with a laugh, âIt was not a place youâd eat at.ââit is significant for its oversized influence on rock ânâ roll history. Itâs the punk rock Cavern Club, a launching pad for new genres of music that still reverberate today. Punk scene likely would have happened without CBGB, but the grungy little club gave it a homebase.
In this podcast Iâll talk about the unruly story of an accidental cultural incubator born out of a unique moment in history where outsiders, like The Ramones, The Dead Boys, Talking Heads and Blonde, were brought together, celebrated and encouraged to be themselves.
Joining me to tell the story of CBGB are photographer Boib gruen, filmmaker, co-founder of âPunkâ magazine and CBGBite Mary Harron, The âBâ Girls singer Lucasta Ross and The Punk Rock Museum co-founder Lisa Brownlee. Topping it off is an interview from the vault I did with CBGBâs owner Hilly Kristal in 1992
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Feeling lonely? "Are You Home" is a virtual party and everyone is invited. Tune in, drop by, hear a few stories and spend some time with us.
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Situated next to the grand Pantages Theater, once the home of the Academy Awards and still one of the leading venues for live theater in Los Angeles, the Frolic Roomâs store front is humble⊠but you canât miss the extravagant neon sign.
Like all great bars it is an egalitarian place, a truly democratic space where, for the price of a drink, you are welcomed, whether youâre Charles Bukowski, Frank Sinatra or a just thirsty person off the street.
Itâs a classic, welcoming place, the way it has always been. âIf you changed the Frolic Room, I think it would ruin the business,â owner Robert Nunley says. âIt works this way.â
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Imagine a bar with an indoor lagoon. Now imagine that it rains, indoors every half hour. Itâs not just a flight of fancy, itâs the Tonga Room, a classic restaurant and tiki bar in the Fairmont San Francisco hotel. Named after the South Pacific nation of Tonga, it is an eye-popping example of high-style Tiki that has been igniting the imaginations of customers for more than seventy five years.
Designed by Metro Goldwyn Mayerâs leading set director, it is the tropical paradise Anthony Bourdain called, âthe greatest place in the history of the world."
Learn about the invention of Tiki, the California Gold Rush and the legendary Tonga Room!
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On this episode of âLast Call with Richard Crouseâ we visit Sardi's, located at 234 West 44th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, in the Theatre District of Manhattan, New York City. It is Broadwayâs most famous restaurant, and you may recognize it as the place where Kramer falsely accepts a Tony Award on "Seinfeld," or where Finn and Rachel met Patti LuPone in an episode of "Glee" or perhaps you know it as the place where Don Draper and Bobbie Barrett celebrated the sale of a television pilot on "Mad Men." The walls of celebrity caricatures are iconic and unmistakable.
Listen to the whole story of the "Clubhouse to the Stars" where the Tony Awards were born!
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On this episode of "Last Call with Richard Crouse" we visit McSorleyâs Old Ale House on Seventh Street in New Yorkâs East Village. McSorleyâs may not be New Yorkâs oldest bar, the Bridge CafĂ© (dates to 1794), Ear Inn (circa 1817) and Chumley's (established 1830s) all predate John McSorleyâs business, but it is one of the most colourful. Itâs sometimes hard to sort between the fact and fiction that swirls around the barâs legend, but one thing is for sure, there is no arguing with their motto, âWe were here before you were born.â
At the afterparty Rafe Bartholomew stops by to talk about the bar where Abraham Lincoln once had a beer and its history. Rafe's father Bart worked there for 45 years, the family lived upstairs for a time and on the weekends heâd help his dad get the place up and running and later, in his twenties, he continued the family tradition and worked behind the bar. His book, "Two and Two: McSorley's, My Dad, and Me," is a great read about fathers, sons and one great bar.
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On this episode of "Last Call with Richard Crouse" we visit Paris and James Bond's favourite bar. The home of the Bloody Mary and "An American in Paris," Harry's New York Bar at 5, Rue Daunou, is one of the world's most legendary cocktail bars. With the help of cocktail historians Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller of Mixellany, Richard traces the history of the bar where real life "International Bar Flies" like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Coco Chanel, Humphrey Bogart, Edward VIII and George Gershwin all bent elbows. Join us for a story of a disgraced sport superstar, cocktails, and a New Year's Eve wild goose chase around Paris.
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We can't go to bars right now, so here is a chance to safely soak up the ambiance of the world's greatest watering holes. Last Call with Richard Crouse is a podcast on the stories behind the places where everybody knows your name.
