TV'S HULLABALLOO TEEN SCENE/PURPLE CIGAR

We see in the 1967 City Council minutes that a woman named Mrs. Barbara Jacoby of Wayzata asked for a dance hall permit to operate a teenage night club. She said she held a $17,000 franchise from Teen Clubs International, and was negotiating a lease at 6520 Cambridge Ave. to open a club called “TV’s Hullabaloo Teen Scene,” one of 70 such clubs across the country. It was a tight vote, but the Park Council is always pretty ready to say yes, and it was approved. She said her goal was to be open on May 12, 1967. The Club did open for the first time on June 22.  The July 2, 1967 TMC Insider announced that "Bob Goffstein of Marsh Productions reports The Sparklers were voted by the Hullabaloo Scene as the Twin Cities most promising band, and that the group will act as a house band for the new St. Louis Park Club." She was approved to operate on a month-to-month basis, at least through October.
 

Today, the closest thing to 6520 or 6514 Cambridge is 6530 Cambridge, an industrial and commercial building it the heart of Skunk Hollow, at the end of the street at Edgewood.  The building was built in 1959.  Here's what it looked like in 1960, courtesy of the City Tax Assessor:

Other evidence of the Hullaballoo Scene:  there is an ad for a place with just such a name at 6514 Cambridge in the Robin Hood Days Program in August 1967. Still more evidence is in a tape of the day the Monkees took over KDWB for four hours the day of their concert at the St. Paul Auditorium, August 4, 1967. During the show it was announced that on the following day, admission to the Hullabaloo Scene in St. Louis Park was only 97 cents (plus tax) - and an empty carton of Fresca. City council minutes don't mention the place in 1968 except to say that Mrs. Jacoby owed them money.

 The September 27, 1967 issue of the St. Louis Park High Echo had an article on this new hot spot for teens. Some exerpts:

Grey on the outside, it boasts only two small neon signs to mark its presence.

 

Inside are, in contrast, constant light, motion and sound.  Flashing lights, rotating pinwheels, loud music and bodies in constant motion typify the inside of TV's Hullabaloo Scene....

 

Mrs. Jacoby finally got the go ahead..  She feels that the club is gaining acceptance with the city council as a  whole.

 

This acceptance Mrs. Jacoby attributes to the patrons themselves.  She indicated that "the young people need and deserve a place that is clean and fun.

 

"They realize that this is their place, and that the future of the club depends on their actions."

 

Mrs. Jacoby feels that an experimental club such as hers can benefit the community as a whole.

 

She pointed out that by initiating a club and showing that it is a workable arrangement, the door is opened for others to establish teen clubs.

 

This should eventually give teens enough places to go for entertainment that they won't seek "less desirable places for their recreation."

 

The dances are supervised by members of the St. Louis Park Police force.   Mrs. Jacoby stated that "the same ones repeatedly volunteer for duty here, which is another indication that it is running smoothly."

We don't know how long the Hullaballoo Teen Scene lasted, but we do know that its successor was The Purple Cigar, which was listed at 6514 Cambridge in St. Louis Park.   The club was owned by Arnie Sagarski, hence the name. We know that a teen dance (ages 16-20) was held at the "purple playground" as a part of Robin Hood Days in August 1967. For $1.50 you could dance to the Stillroven, and free records were offered for “the first 200 swingers.” Permission to hold "dances" had to be obtained from the City Council, which granted them on a month-to-month basis.  Neighbors from along Cambridge came to protest. The first mention in the City Council minutes comes in January 1968.  In March they were approved through June, but they had to have at least five Hennepin County Sheriffs on duty.  Sagarski was looking for an alternate site.  Renewal of the permit may have been due to the testimony of Victor Olson, Youth Director of Westwood Hills Lutheran Church, who said that Sagarski was doing a good job of operating the club.

From Johnny Canton: 

Arnie Sagarsky asked Scott Burton and myself if we could obtain some record talent for a show at Purple Cigar. I came up with Strawberry Alarm Clock ("Incense & Peppermints") and, if memory serves me, 5 Americans ("Western Union"). Even though it was heavily promoted on-air, the show bombed! Scott and I emceed.

From Ben Wilson:

The Purple Cigar and its predecessor were indeed located on Cambridge St. in a (then) white industrial-type building.  If no one has yet written you about this, I'm surprised, as the places were packed. All the big local acts catering to teens played there, including St. Louis Park's own High Spirits. The Litter used to smash their instruments at the end of each performance...   I always thought they should just give them to me instead, and wondered how they made a living that way.  Don't recall how many nights a week they were open, but certainly Fri. and Sat. and maybe some weeknights, especially in summer. The kids were pretty well-behaved...don't recall fights and the like. They may have come with a few beers in their bellies, but don't recall dope-dealing, at least in '67.  Didn't go there as often in '68. Never had real good luck cruising the place, but the music was great and the club was well-attended.

 

I believe Mr. Sagarski also ran the legendary teen club at 770 E. 7th St. in St. Paul, the name of which eludes me.  Or the SLP owner may have been his son. The older gent was a grandfatherly type, but one knew he must have been rather worldly to be running some of the hippest local venues of the time. Very friendly man, short and rotund, low-key but fearless.

Dave Weist remembers:

I lived very close to the club, just over the tracks and down two blocks to the west. The club was across the tracks from where Sam's Club currently is located. There were a lot of local people that went to the club on weekends. Some of the bands that played there were Showtime parts 1 and 2, Michaels Mystics, The Litter and numerous other local bands. Our group Mike Fiedler, Barry Gilmer, Bob Laurus and I started a light show that The Litter used there. As a result we got to spend some time behind the scenes. Mrs. Jacoby was quite nice to us but you did not want to be overtly drunk or under the influence or she would have you arrested. We also went to the Prison, Magoos, The Barn, Someplace Else, Bimbos and a few other clubs. It was a fantastic era and I was not happy when it all disappeared. It would probably take me days to recount all the good times and trivia about these teen dance halls.








NB: Morton Kaufman and Leo Fine, owners of Park Music Center at 7200 Minnetonka Blvd., voiced their disappointment that a permit was issued to an “outsider,” as they had tried without success to find a place to launch their own teen club.