Famous spot on Ventura Boulevard

News reports of a Crips gang party in Studio City on Wednesday night made me smile, if only because of the location. The stories gave the club's name as Platinum Live, but the building at 11345 Ventura Boulevard has seen a lot of action under many names since the 1930s — when that was U.S. Highway 101 between L.A. and points north. On August 23, 1964, it was a teenage club called the Cinnamon Cinder, owned by radio DJ and promoter Bob Eubanks, long before he became Mr. Rose Parade. Eubanks was promoting the Beatles' first Los Angeles appearance ever that night at the Hollywood Bowl. Before the show, he summoned the press to a news conference with the band at his club on Ventura. As I wrote a few years ago at America's Suburb.com:

At about 7 p.m., the Beatles tried to sneak in. Word got out, however, and Ventura Boulevard was mobbed. "More than 400 teenagers staged a mass attack," the now-defunct Valley Times reported. One 15-year-old girl threw herself in front of the Beatles' limousine, but was unhurt.
Fans who didn't get to see the Beatles at the Cinder or the Bowl always had the drive-in. That week, "A Hard’s Day Night" was screening at the Sepulveda Drive-in.

Tony Castro in the Daily News got it right. Alas, the only YouTube video off the Cinnamon Cinder press conference has been taken down for rights violations. By the way, a little historical context from a 2005 post:

That was so long ago that the Vietnam War began that month with the Tonkin Gulf resolution. Watts had yet to explode. Sam Yorty was just getting started as mayor of Los Angeles. There was no art museum on Wilshire or skyscrapers on Bunker Hill. The Angels actually did play in Los Angeles.