the Castaways- K.C., MO (a newly discovered former tiki lounge) - Locating Tiki

8T 8FT Tiki Tiki Socialite Kansas City, MO Joined: Nov 30, 2003 Posts: 1411	8T 8FT Tiki Posted posted on Sun, Jan 23, 2005 9:24 PM Name:the Castaways Type:bar Street:4334 MAIN STREET City:KANSAS CITY State:MISSOURI Zip: country:USA Phone: Status:DEFUNCT Description: Aloha, This is going to be a little different from a lot of the reviews here in Locating Tiki. I believe I have stumbled onto a previously unknown former tiki bar here in my hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. It is a place I have never heard of before. Here is how it came to my attention: On January 20, 2005 I was shopping for tiki at a local antique mall and found an incredible super sized matchbook from a place called "the Castaways". As you will see in the photos, the graphics are colorful and very, very similar to artwork seen on Trader Vic's menus and ashtrays. (I hope to discover whether this was an authorized or "borrowed" usage.) On the spine of the matchbook is the phrase: Authentic South Sea Island Enchantment The back shows the "Famous Castaways Drinks"...."Vicious Virgin","Miserable Bastard","Scorpion","MalokoiMike","Daiquiri", and "Hurricane". This matchbook measures an amazing 12 & 3/4 inches long! I hope to find some older area residents that remember this place and I think that this unusual matchbook may be a real memory jogger if it was a plentiful item in its day. On January 22 I drove to the address on the matchbook hoping to find some building or evidence of this former lounge but I soon learned that this cold, empty parking lot is where the Castaways once thrived. Since that seemed to be the end of what I could learn from a site expedition, I returned home to do some research. I hope to learn much, much more about this intriguing location as I adopt the title of "Tiki Central urban acrcheologist" for the Castaways. Incidently, this address is only ONE BLOCK North of the site of the former Kona Kai restaurant!!!!!! It is on the opposite side of the street. One of the things I am hoping to determine is the years of operation for the Castaways. I started with a Google search and to my surprise, there is a fascinating story which indicates that the Castaways was instumental in the formation of the famous rock group "The Byrds". Fans of the group will know the name of band member Gene Clark who was born in Missouri and was entertaining in music groups from age 13. One of his bands was called "The Surf Riders" An excerpt from "The Kansas City Star" 01/17/99 describes in brief the interior of the lounge and Clarks appearances there: "He had a magnificent voice," recalls Jim Glover, today a Mexico, Mo., real estate loan officer. In 1963, Glover was one of three voices in the Surf Riders, the band that would be Clark's last Kansas City gig before heading for California. "The voice just came from within," Glover says. "Where your voice is supposed to come from." Among those startled by the quality of Clark's voice was Michael Crowley, who had formed the Surf Riders in the early 1960s and hired Glover and Clark as replacements in 1963. "Gene had a big, booming voice, a very nice polished sound for such a young kid," says Crowley, today a musician in Denver. He first encountered Clark when he showed up one summer afternoon at the Castaways lounge at 4334 Main St. Every Saturday the club hosted a hootenanny that offered a stage for anyone who had the nerve to get out on it. If there was a moment in Gene Clark's life that was more important than others, it was when Randy Sparks, the entrepreneur behind the New Christy Minstrels, stopped off at the Castaways to hear the Surf Riders and hired all three members of the group. The Surf Riders, like a lot of folk acts at the time, were modeled after the three voices of the Kingston Trio. It was also the era of Harry Belafonte's calypso music. Accordingly, the motif of the Castaways was something like Disneyland's "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride, to the point where papier-mache palm trees decorated the interior, and beach sand was spread here and there. "We dressed up in three-quarter-length cutoff pants and Hawaiian shirts, just to go with the decor," Crowley says. "We had people wrapped around the Castaways waiting to get in." The New Christy Minstrels group played Kansas City's Starlight Theatre in August 1963, and one night after their show, its members visited the Castaways club. Clark was hired for the Minstrels and the rest is Rock & Roll history! Well, that is as much as I have been able to gather in this first weekend. I will continue to search for more information including photos and any first hand accounts of the lounges interior/exterior features as I interview anyone I can find here locally that remembers going to the Castaways. 8FT Tiki [ Edited by: 8FT Tiki on 2005-01-23 21:26 ] [ Edited by: 8FT Tiki on 2005-01-23 21:27 ] [ Edited by: 8ft tiki on 2005-01-25 17:22 ]

Name:the Castaways
Type:bar
Street:4334 MAIN STREET
City:KANSAS CITY
State:MISSOURI
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:
Status:DEFUNCT
Description:
Aloha, This is going to be a little different
from a lot of the reviews here in Locating Tiki. I believe I have stumbled onto a previously unknown former tiki bar here in my hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. It is a place I have never heard of before. Here is how it came to my attention: On January 20, 2005 I was shopping for tiki at a local antique mall and found an incredible super sized matchbook from a place called "the Castaways". As you will see in the photos, the graphics are colorful and very, very
similar to artwork seen on Trader Vic's menus and ashtrays. (I hope to discover whether this was an authorized or "borrowed" usage.)

On the spine of the matchbook is the phrase: Authentic South Sea Island Enchantment

The back shows the "Famous Castaways Drinks"...."Vicious Virgin","Miserable Bastard","Scorpion","MalokoiMike","Daiquiri", and "Hurricane".

This matchbook measures an amazing 12 & 3/4 inches long! I hope to find some older area residents that remember this place and I think that this unusual matchbook may be a real memory jogger if it was a plentiful item in its day. On January 22 I drove to the address on the matchbook hoping to find some building or evidence of this former lounge but I soon learned that this cold, empty parking lot is where the Castaways once thrived.

Since that seemed to be the end of what I could learn from a site expedition, I returned home to do some research. I hope to learn much, much more about this intriguing location as I adopt the title of "Tiki Central urban acrcheologist" for the Castaways.

Incidently, this address is only ONE BLOCK
North of the site of the former Kona Kai restaurant!!!!!! It is on the opposite side of the street. One of the things I am hoping to determine is the years of operation for the Castaways.

I started with a Google search and to my surprise, there is a fascinating story which
indicates that the Castaways was instumental in the formation of the famous rock group "The Byrds". Fans of the group will know the name of band member Gene Clark who was born in Missouri and was entertaining in music groups from age 13. One of his bands was called "The Surf Riders"

An excerpt from "The Kansas City Star" 01/17/99 describes in brief the interior of the lounge and Clarks appearances there: "He had a magnificent voice," recalls Jim Glover, today a Mexico, Mo., real estate loan officer. In 1963, Glover was one of three voices in the Surf Riders, the band that would be Clark's last Kansas City gig before heading for California.

"The voice just came from within," Glover says. "Where your voice is supposed to come from." Among those startled by the quality of Clark's voice was Michael Crowley, who had formed the Surf Riders in the early 1960s and hired Glover and Clark as replacements in 1963.

"Gene had a big, booming voice, a very nice polished sound for such a young kid," says Crowley, today a musician in Denver. He first encountered Clark when he showed up one summer afternoon at the Castaways lounge at 4334 Main St.

Every Saturday the club hosted a hootenanny that offered a stage for anyone who had the nerve to get out on it.
If there was a moment in Gene Clark's life that was more important than others, it was when Randy Sparks, the entrepreneur behind the New Christy Minstrels, stopped off at the Castaways to hear the Surf Riders and hired all three members of the group.

The Surf Riders, like a lot of folk acts at the time, were modeled after the three voices of the Kingston Trio. It was also the era of Harry Belafonte's calypso music. Accordingly, the motif of the Castaways was something like Disneyland's "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride, to the point where papier-mache palm trees decorated the interior, and beach sand was spread here and there.

"We dressed up in three-quarter-length cutoff pants and Hawaiian shirts, just to go with the decor," Crowley says. "We had people wrapped around the Castaways waiting to get in."

The New Christy Minstrels group played Kansas City's Starlight Theatre in August 1963, and one night after their show, its members visited the Castaways club. Clark was hired for the Minstrels and the rest is Rock & Roll history!

Well, that is as much as I have been able to gather in this first weekend. I will continue to search for more information including photos and any first hand accounts of the lounges interior/exterior features as I interview anyone I can find here locally that remembers going to the Castaways.

8FT Tiki

[ Edited by: 8FT Tiki on 2005-01-23 21:26 ]

[ Edited by: 8FT Tiki on 2005-01-23 21:27 ]

[ Edited by: 8ft tiki on 2005-01-25 17:22 ]

Post #137021 by 8FT Tiki on Sun, Jan 23, 2005 9:24 PM