Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
Los Angeles was a very different place 50 years ago, especially the Sunset Strip.
Today, it's known for luxury hotels, trendy shops and comedy clubs.
But in the 1960s, the Strip was home to nightclubs that helped launch the careers of bands like The Doors, Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention and Buffalo Springfield.
And Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" was written about events that happened fifty years ago this week.
Two days of protests sent the famous stretch of boulevard into turmoil, fueled by rock and roll.
Locals, business owners and city and county officials tried to clear out the kids hanging out on the Strip by closing venues and passing curfew laws.
And the young people revolted.
"They were against the harassment by the police and against the closure of clubs," says Domenic Priore, author of, "Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock'N'Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood."
Priore joined Take Two to explain how the atmosphere and politics of the Sunset Strip in 1966 led to the unrest.