May 5, 1962: “Emcee Bruce Lundy twists to the music of the Moongooners at the Peppermint Stick, a teenage nightclub at 15463 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. A Valley chiropractor, Dr. David Rosen of Van Nuys, hopes his club ‘will help combat juvenile delinquency by providing teenagers and young adults with a healthy and entertaining environment.'”
“Shown in Van Nuys police station after their arrest on suspicion of violation of State Narcotics Act are Fred Zinn of North Hollywood and Barbara Gonzales of Los Angeles. One detective was injured when Zinn made a futile escape attempt.”
If you let your daughter do the twist, but surround her with nice boys in ties, she won’t become a beatnik poetess with a drug habit. She won’t appear in the local paper like a hard Bettie Page aspiring to Patti Smith. A gloomy album cover. A bad example.
That was the idea, anyway. In 1962, some people thought it might work. Let a little Chubby Checker in, but keep a dress code and the id-driven forces will stop at 3rd base. Permit just enough of the Devil to rob him of his mystique, then have a highball and hope for the best.
How’d that work out? Here’s Cherie Currie of The Runaways, in her bedroom in Reseda, 1977.
Photo credit: Valley Times Collection. Brad Elterman.