History center: Orlando rocked
Once upon a time, it was Molly Hatchet Week in Orlando.
And it was official. Mayor Carl T. Langford proclaimed it so back in 1980. The mind reels. That’s one of the fun throwback facts on display in “Long Way to the Top: Hard Rock in Orlando, 1977-1985,” an exhibit that opened at the Orange County Regional History Center in downtown Orlando last weekend.
In the days after the official announcement that the Rolling Stones would perform at the Citrus Bowl this June, it feels appropriate to use the displays as a time machine. Among the relics: concert Tshirts, ticket stubs, advertisements and gold records from back in the day.
Display text informs us that hard-rockin’ Orlando was anti-disco long before that genre’s semi-official death on Disco Demolition Night at Chicago’s Comiskey Park in 1979. What follows is an array of newspaper ads touting clubs such as Fern Park Station (“We’re putting Orlando rock back on the right track”) and the Joint in the Woods. A Disco Sux Dance was held at UCF.
But there was also a serious business here at the time. “Long Way to the Top” salutes studios that had successes in that era, including Bee Jay Recording Studios. Pieces of that establishment, including a stained-glass window, monitor speakers and gold records — there’s Molly Hatchet again — are present.
Cutting a record here is one of the attributes that landed Molly Hatchet praise from the mayor. Other artists to work at Bee Jay included Judas Priest, Blackfoot, Pat Travers and Krokus. A soundboard set is replicated, which reminded me of the pre-show at Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, although no super-stretch limo was within sight.
Nearby, a wall is dedicated to the album-oriented rock radio stations of the period. A vintage TV news clip from WESH reports on the phenomenon of Zeta7 license plates that popped up all over town — including on the front of an ambulance. (Buzz-kill officials decided this just wasn’t proper, perhaps even offensive.)
Another “Long Way” video presentation is bootleg footage of a 1982 nighttime concert by The Who. It was a different time, boys and girls, long before iPhones made it easier, not to mention more subtle and less obvious to security guards.
Big concerts and their venues, including the Lakeland Civic Center, are remembered. That facility was a Central Florida hotspot in Orlando’s pre-arena days.
There’s a good deal of square footage given to the Rock Super Bowl series of concerts at the Tangerine Bowl, a previous incarnation of today’s Citrus Bowl. After a mid-1970s renovation, Mayor Langford decided to open it up for major concerts. First up: Fleetwood Mac, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, Kenny Loggins, Chick Corea and Return to Forever on May 29, 1977.
All that for $12.50, day of show, according to a poster in the exhibit. (The first 20,000 advance buyers paid a meager $8.50.)
Vendors included some bygone names such as Infinite Mushroom in Orlando (now the site of a Chipotle).
The concert photography of the Tangerine Bowl performances is pretty phenomenal, capturing tons of people and a wee little scoreboard on the far end.
Later Rock Super Bowls — designated by roman numerals — featured acts such as the Eagles, Jimmy Buffet, Kansas, J. Geils Band, Doobie Brothers, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Little River Band, REO Speedwagon, ZZ Top, Police, Heart, John Cougar (pre-Mellencamp), Joan Jett and, yes, the Rolling Stones.
The 2015 Stones concert tickets go for between $69.50 and $399 or so.
The exhibit is on the second floor, across the hall from the larger “And Still We Rise” quilt exhibit.
A history center promotion, which offers free admission on Sundays, continues through May 3. “Long Way to the Top” remains through June 14.