ROLLERrewind Cleveland Rollercade Bill Zopfi OTHER RINK MEMORIES Wurlitzer Theater Organ
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- Опубликовано: 4 окт 2024
- Back in the 50's & 60's, the Cleveland, Ohio area boasted some 30 roller rinks within 60 miles of town. Most had live organ music, nightly! Families like the Kommersmith's, went around to most of them to skate. Skater's collected patches from each rink to put on a shirt or jacket. This video features a collection of this advertising, sent to me by Doug Kommersmith from his family archives. The elder Kommersmith's were friends & regulars at Berea Roller Bowl, where I played organ in the 1970's. They spent much of their time, skating at the Cleveland Rollercade on Denison Ave.
Here we pair the Kommersmith collection with the actual recordings of Organist, BILL ZOPFI at the WURLITZER THEATER PIPE ORGAN; which was used at the Rollercade for a few years in the 1960's. Enjoy! Johnny Sharp 
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This just makes me cry
Excellent and very enjoyable. In the mid sixties there was a sticker club and people swapped stickers for their skate cases. At our rink in Pennsylvania we have on display a map of the stickers. Each sticker has a string attached leading to the location on the map. The color string represented the type of music played at each rink, organ, reel to reel or juke box.
What rink is this? I'd love to take a road trip to your rink
Wow, good one! A lot of work! Hey I do the same.. a lot of work writing about rinks! Of course, rinks back in the mid-century pretty much a stone throw from each other back then. Now, its Dollar stores. Haha. Ah!
How cool . My father always took us to the Berea skating rink. Thanks for refreshing the memory
Just imagine how sweet it was in those days to think "Let me see which of the 30 wonderful roller rinks will I skate at today?" Each one has it own unique beauty. It will be fun just thinking about which one to visit! LOL!!!! As the Great One Jackie Gleason used to say "How sweet it is!!!!!"
We had many choices in the 50s,60, and even 70s
All Skate! Boy I love the sound of those words! They remind me of the Paramus Skating Arena. In the 1970s A bus trip during the summer and one during the winter would be scheduled every year. I would wait counting the days for those trips to Paramus, New Jersey! The rink is now a PETCO! However, the Paramus Skating Arena will always live in my heart and memories! Thanks Johnny for all the wonderful clips you post on RUclips. I enjoy them all over and over again! Dude You Rock!!!!
I am so grateful to the nice folks who put this video together. I really enjoy it! Especially since these old time Roller Rinks which play this type of music are no longer around. (At least not that I know of.) I never visited these places but I am sure they were wonderful! Thanks (sigh!)
Super excellent with very good interesting video
Loved some of the pics from Euclid Beach. My dad used to work and skate there in his younger days. He would tell me stories about being at the Beach.
Thanks Johnny my dad would have liked this. I liked the Euclid Beach photos at the end I went there a couple times before it closed in 1969 Doug
Excellent images and very rare popular music organ playing with the absolute skill of a real TPO player! A player like Bill Zopfi is rare indeed!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR JOHNNY!
thank you for your comments!
JOHNNY SHARP You are welcome and great playing yourself btw...I have a Hammond X-66 I've been enjoying...takes a bit longer to grow me than the old B/C/A100's did, but worth the effort, it's coming around, especially after I added a Leslie and another old Hammond ER20 tone cabinet:)
Of all of your videos which are with an X-66? Can you point any out ( links or title names?). BTW I made an X-66 playlist called ' Hammond X-66 American Made World Played '. Lots of X-66 videos and a few obscure records too.
Thanks and take care, Paul- in Columbus
ruclips.net/video/5U1Wo0g6FBY/видео.html TRY THIS ONE ON FOR SIZE! It's maybe the best I've ever seen. Happy New Year!
@MrGto1967 Thanks so much! I know he would be happy that this collection is being seen by skaters'. I'll always find a way to use anything you find. I only wish the pics were clearer after uploading. They are so good! Appreciate your input, Doug!
Yes, of course, old films get degrading and the quality of film back then were pretty much like those.. I recalled our family's 8 mm films and projector (still have it, and screen).
Ron...The Wurlitzer, I'm told was the original Cleveland Palace Theatre organ, removed from there and placed in Rollercade in the mid 60s. I have have not been able to find out where it ended up after it was removed in 1968. The Western Reserve Theatre Organ Society tried to find out for me. Glad you enjoyed this rare piece. The actual recording was made with a mic in the middle of the floor on reel to reel tape, after public hours.
Maybe I can help you where it is now. I just worked on the profile for Rollercade. This is a copy and paste of my profile on Rollercade what happened to the organ-- After three years it was sold to James C. Webster (Private), Penfield, New York (Rochester, NY area), who added a 2nd Vox Humana. In 1999, sold to Shanklin Music Hall Groton, Massachusetts. That is where it is now.
Sure Tom. I am on here and FB as well.
My skating page is ROLLERrewind. js
As a kid at the Hub rink in Norridge, isn't time for skating to make a comeback?
Hey Johnny:
When the organ was playing its sweet music could it be heard by the people living close by?
Johnny...great stuff! I'm researching "flagship" rinks during the Golden AGe of roller skating and the Rollercade is among those that I profile. If you're still online...drop a note. Would like to learn more
Yes. I am on here, and can be reached at ROLLERrewind@yahoo.com. Johnny Sharp
Walk Right In is the first song.
What happened to the Rollercade organ and what is its history ? Where did it originate ?
What is the name of the first song he played?
first song is "Walk Right In" Thanks for asking!