Dark Side, St. Louis MO

A pictorial article came to my attention recently, and while looking through it I came upon some pictures that I thought would be of interest. A search turned up nothing, so I'll share these here. They are of a club called Dark Side. I assume the band are the Quartet Tres Bien featured on the banner in the exterior shot. Check out the interior decor...velvet painting, puffer fish and glass float lighting, netting, bamboo, and grass matting. I just thought it was a cool period glimpse into what must have been one of many such hole in wall places across the U.S. that while not exactly Tiki Temples, speak to the spirit and fashion of the time.

Blurb from the article, with mention of thousands more pictures...attention St. Louis area Tiki archivists!

"This week's feature looks at St. Louis nightlife and those who helped shape it. No discussion of St. Louis' social scene would be complete without mentioning Gaslight Square of the 1950s and '60s, centered on what's now Boyle and Olive streets in the Central West End. Artists, musicians and patrons flocked to the vibrant entertainment district, which was home to jazz clubs, cabarets, restaurants and more. The State Historical Society has literally thousands of Gaslight Square photos -- here are 27 we especially love. All photos courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri."

http://photos.riverfronttimes.com/27-incredible-vintage-photos-of-artists-in-gaslight-square/#1

[ Edited by: ManFromT.I.K.I. 2016-01-07 12:41 ]

WOW! Killer photos!

Good stuff! Central West End is still a cool place, but certainly not as boho as that.

I recall hearing from family that the communities that were condemned for the construction of the Gateway Arch were a vibrant arts scene, up until they started tearing the places down.

This could have been a Polynesian-style hideaway with another name once, and when it failed it became the "Dark Side". If someone could cross-check the address with local Poly pop places…?

Because even as Tiki was at its height, older, out-dated Pre-Tiki "bamboo huts" closed down, as told about in this 1961 movie "The Right Approach":

Synopsis:
Army buddies return home to Pasadena, California, and convert a restaurant known as The Hut into a five-man bachelor pad.

One of them has a brother, Leo Mack, who will stop at nothing in his desire to succeed as an actor. Leo cons the guys out of clothes and money. He also conspires with a carhop, Ursula, who hopes to seduce one of the roommates. The young man happens to be from a wealthy family, so Ursula and Leo intend to split whatever they can get.

A magazine writer, Anne Perry, is romanced by Leo and persuaded to do an article about The Hut, which is mainly about him. Leo gets an agent and Hollywood offers, and seems on top of the world until a scorned Anne exposes him publicly for the cad he is, as does Ursula, who is pregnant with his child.

More info: http://lecinemadreams.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-right-approach-1961.html

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2016-01-07 18:39 ]

Kansas City tikiphile here who was born and raised in St Louis, so it's always neat to come across posts like this. Even if it is a year later. th

Quartet Tres Bien was a St Louis based jazz quartet who ventured into afro/latin exotica occasionally and cut numerous jazz albums. The title track off their album Kilamanjaro being a prime example.

Found this little write-up about The Dark Side club from owner Bob Anslyn in a story on Ancestry.com of all places.

THE TRUE BEGINNING OF GASLIGHT SQUARE..................... "In the late
1950's, four lounges existed in the Olive Street/ Boyle Area in midtown St.
Louis. These lounges were - The Golden Eagle - Vanity Fair - Smoky Joe's And
Crystal Palace. Two blocks to the west was a small lounge called LeJazz Hot.
Steve McQueen was living in this area in the late 50's. At this time the
area was not known as Gaslight Square.

In December 1959, I opened the first new lounge in the Olive Street/ Boyle
Area. This lounge was called The Dark Side. A young man I met in the area
became my bartender, his named was RED GARNER.

In the early 1960's, the original four lounge owners named the area Gaslight
Square. Several lounges began opening up and down Olive Street. The area
was popular with the Suit and Tie Crowd. Dixieland music at the Golden Eagle
Opera
House, Afro/Cuban jazz at the Dark Side, Joe And Charles Lounge became a very
popular lounge with the Clayton crowd. The Crystal Palace bringing in new
singers and comedians such as BARBARA STREISAND, THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS.

The owners of the Crystal Palace [The Landsdemens] brought in off-Broadway
shows like A Walk on the Wild Side. Other lounges such as the Roaring
Twenties, and O'Connell's Bar became meeting places for the fun bunch the
area flourished until the later part of the mid 1960's when Rock and Roll and
the Go-go Dances became not just in a few places but completing taking over
the area. The Young Rock and Roll Set took over the area and the Suit and
Tie set migrated back to the county.

By the early 1970's the Gaslight Square area was gone. Joe & Charles moved
to Clayton, MO, Golden Eagle moved to the Soho area by Kings Highway and
Linell and O'Connell's moved to Kings Highway and Shaw.

Remember me, BOB ANSLYN who built the Dark Side and his bartender friend Red
Garner, well, after a few years with Playboy both Red and I went different
ways. I [Bob Anslyn ] became a business man in Kansas City and my friend Red
Garner continued to tend bar. By the way, anytime you want to talk Gaslight
Square Trivia go to O'Connell's Bar on Kings Highway and Shaw. Just walk in
an look behind the Bar, RED GARNER is still there. "

As far as I can tell, Bob still lives here in KC with his wife Grace.

So I found some new info on the Dark Side and the photos of the band posted above.

Turns out that those are not in fact photos of Quartet Tres Bien, but in fact the Don Cunningham Combo. In researching another tiki venue in Gaslight Square, The Islander, I discovered that Don Cunningham was a musician and band leader of the Don Cunningham Combo that played at the Dark Side since its opening, and then later moved to The Islander. When they left the Dark Side, Cunningham reccommended Quartet Tres Bien to the owner. (source: https://www.stlmag.com/arts/It-Takes-a-Quiet-Village-The-Journey-of-Don-Cunningham/). The true tell on the group in the pictures is the fact that Marion Miller was the piano player in the Don Cunningham Combo, and you can clearly see him seated at and playing the piano in those pictures.

Reference photo of Marion from his album Marion at the Mainlander

Two clear photos of Marion Miller at the piano playing with the Don Cunningham Combo

I also read that the Dark Side and Quartet Tres Bien were featured in an episode of Route 66 with the bar being the backdrop for a scene and a speaking roll for percussionist Percy James.

Now when watching this scene...The Dark Side interior really doesnt look anything like the pictures featuring the Don Cunningham Combo posted above.

So it makes me wonder...are the contact sheets that the MO State Historical Society scanned from the negatives provided by the family of the original photographer Thelma Blumberg incorrect? Is that not the Dark Side, but instead really the interior of The Islander?

Here's the outside of The Islander (which I intend to create a post about since I can't find any info on TC about it thus far).

Just makes me wonder...