Oh, we forgot to tell you about being mentioned in Atlanta magazine‘s annual Best of Atlanta issue! They generously gave us the superlative “Best Blog for Understanding Atlanta.” This accolade plus Creative Loafing‘s “critics’ pick” divided by the memory span of the internet equals us screeching “I’ve Written a Letter to Daddy” alone with a case of vodka by no later than mid-January. MARK MY WORDS.
But really – go check out the December issue of Atlanta as it highlights other Pecanne Log favorites like My! My! My! and City Issue.
In keeping with the trend of vintage cable access gems, here are two we’ve been hanging onto for a while. The main reason we’ve waited until now to post them is that it they are kind of boring but, sorry, you have to watch them because they are from the hit series Club Scene with your host Brian Smith, which aired on North DeKalb Community Television in 1985. I mean:
and:
And the theme music for the opening credits is the kids’ choir singing, “Na-na-na-nananana…” from Tears for Fears’ “Suffer the Children.” What?
WAIT. Before we go any further, picture in your mind what you think this “Brian Smith” who hosts a cable access show called Club Scene in mid-’80s Atlanta might look like. Got an image?
Haha, you were so wrong!
In fact, if you are male under the age of 40 and you are not a juggalo, there is a 100% chance that right this minute you are wearing an outfit identical to Brian Smith’s!
Anyway, the point of Club Scene is to take viewers of North DeKalb Community Television to Atlanta’s “other nightspots.” Bars for straight people? I don’t get it. “Places you may have passed by a hundred times and never noticed.” Oh, I see. So, like Kat’s Cafe.
Here are Brian Smith’s other nightspots: the beloved Stein Club in Midtown (formerly across from the Margaret Mitchell House) and Churchill Arms in Buckhead (which is still open). If you mention the Stein Club to anyone who lived in or hung out in Atlanta before the redevelopment of Peachtree Street into “Midtown Mile” you’ll see their eyes roll back into their heads in sentimental bliss. You can already tell just from Club Scene the deep emotions the Stein Club stirred in the hearts of its patrons, who love telling long stories about the attempted hate crimes and wacky trivia nights that only a place like the Stein Club can provide.
Now, before I leave you to these videos, let me warn you both are nearly 10 minutes long!
“A Visit to the Stein Club”
“A Visit to Churchill Arms”
One last image of Club Scene fashion from Churchill Arms’ resident Simon and Garfunkel cover duo:
DREAMY!!!
If you can make it all the way to the end of this very special episode, you’ll see the insane afterparty of the Atlanta Barbershop Peachtree Chorus. They sing a song with the lyrics, “For I just got from Santa Claus / A ticket to Atlanta, ’cause…” – WHAT ARE THE REST OF THE WORDS TO THIS SONG?!
Previously: Our children will never know refreshment
Tags: cable access, churchill arms, club scene, the stein club
Congratulations
Can we make videos of some of the great places in Atlanta that are bound to be gone soon — Morris Lounge, that creepy place behind the New Baby Furniture on Cheshire Bridge,Nicks, Nicky’s Seafood, most of the places that are in Ansley Mall, etc. and post them somewhere for someone to find in 30 years?
Didn’t Brian Smith kinda look like Pete Townsend? Perhaps next you can unearth some videos from WVEU TV69!
As a native, I am loving your blog as I wind my way back through it. I’m one of those folks that gets a tear in my eye at the mention of Stein Club. It was so damn good there. I actually found out about your blog from flipping through an the Atlanta Magazine while waiting in an office. Go figure.
Congratulations on being featured in Atlanta Magazine! I read through most of the issue and when I saw “Pecanne Log,” I thought to myself, “I know that name from Decatur Metro’s sidebar!”