Hey friends and music lovers,
For anyone who has a deep passion and affinity for Toronto’s great music scene and who has often attended concerts at the city’s many great music venues, you will know about the historic building situated at 464 Spadina Avenue with the neon palm tree sign. Last Friday I aired a special show that was dedicated to that legendary Toronto music venue, the El Mocambo Tavern. I decided to put together a write-up in honour of the El Mo along with a podcast which features the interview I had with the El Mo’s past owner, Sam Grosso (you’ll find the podcast at the end of this page).
The El Mo officially opened 68 years ago, way back in 1948. Since then, the venue has been host to performances by such iconic artists as: The Rolling Stones, April Wine, The Ramones, Blondie, Bo Diddley, Joan Jett, Elvis Costello and Spoons. But it was the 1977 surprise show by The Rolling Stones that really went down as one of the most memorable nights in the history of the El Mocambo. As the story goes, the Stones were looking for a small venue to record a live show and since they already had two performances scheduled at the El Mo, they set the first one as a secret show while billing themselves as “The Cockroaches”. They ended up recording that whole set and releasing it as one side of their double album, Love You Live, which charted at #3 in the UK and #5 in the US. April Wine was the opening act for that night and the Stones followed suit and came onstage to exuberant cheers from the crowd which included Margaret Trudeau.
After that famous 1977 show, radio hosts would announce shows at the El Mo by beginning with the catchy phrase “Under the neon palms…” (in relation to the El Mo’s iconic neon palm tree sign– that is important as the building itself) as listeners would tune in to hear which great act would be performing that week. It was an excellent promotional support for the venue back in its heyday but unfortunately as radio evolved it brought an end to those announcements. As well, while the venue attracted large crowds back in the ’70s, ’80s and even in the ’90s when it was a mainstay of the underground music scene, in the past decade or so things changed as the ownership was turned over multiple times that included brief closures of the venue in 1991 and 2001. Just a couple of months ago, it was announced that the El Mo’s owner, Sam Grosso (who purchased the club in 2012 and also remains the owner of The Cadillac Lounge at 1296 Queen St. West in Toronto), was looking to sell the El Mocambo. As much as Grosso wanted to keep the El Mocambo afloat and as much as he would miss it, Grosso simply did not have the money to continue buying out investors.
Grosso knocked on many doors in hopes of finding someone who had the financial resources to take over ownership of the El Mo and preserve it as a live music venue. Grosso hoped to find someone who not only had the resources but also had the passion for live music. Because according to Grosso, the only reason someone gets into the live music industry is if they LOVE live music. But by this time it was October 2014 and Grosso had already contacted people from all over (including Jim Carrey) but the only offer he had received was from Canada Computers. But Grosso would not give up too easily and did not want to see the great El Mocambo being turned into a computer store. Eventually, he made a big move which created quite a buzz online and on the radio. Grosso was advised to put the legendary neon palm tree sign up for sale on eBay. He kept it up on the site for several days and it was talked about on the radio and in the news and he even received a call from eBay Canada advising him to raise the price.
Sam Gross (left) next to his rock ‘n’ roll idol, the legendary Bruce Springsteen.
Grosso actually ended up removing the posting, but not before Michael Wekerle heard about it on the radio at which time his interest was immediately peaked. Now, who is Michael Wekerle? Well, he is a big-time Canadian investment banker, the newest star to join the panel on Dragon’s Den, has recently launched a chain of Wahlburgers in Ontario (the gourmet burger joint founded by actor Mark Wahlberg and his brothers Paul and Donnie), a philanthropist and a self-described “Mick Jagger meets Warren Buffett”. Wekerle happened to be one of the guys that Grosso was trying to contact about taking over ownership of the El Mo, but Grosso had been having trouble getting in touch with the busy financial mogul. But not long before the El Mo would close down and Grosso would decide to sign it over to Canada Computers, Wekerle heard a radio announcement about the El Mo’s neon palm tree sign being up for sale on eBay and he immediately contacted Grosso to find out if the El Mocambo itself was up for sale. Long story short, at the 11th hour, Wekerle offered $3.8 million for the El Mocambo and Grosso shook on the offer without any hesitation. So as hard work (and a little luck) would have it, Grosso’s persistence paid off and in his own words he says:
“Trying to get a hold of Michael Wekerle was like–instead of the bat signal I lit up the neon sign, and putting it on eBay was like shining the bat signal up in the clouds, and instead of getting Bruce Wayne/Batman I got Tony Stark.”
On November 6th, the El Mocambo held its annual Light of Day Canada benefit concert (to raise money for Parkinson’s disease research)–what was originally meant to be the final show at the historic venue. And that night, to uproarious cheers from the packed venue, Grosso announced that Wekerle would be taking over ownership and keep the El Mo as the legendary live music venue that it is. To end the night on an even more glorious note, Wekerle had always dreamed of performing on the El Mocambo’s stage and that night he and his band took to the stage with more energy and exuberance than you could imagine.
Now, if you’re interested in listening to the podcast you can tune in below. It starts off with live recordings from April Wine and The Rolling Stones at their 1977 show followed up by clips from my interview with Sam Grosso. You’ll hear him talk about why the El Mo is so important to Toronto’s music history, his fondest memory of the El Mo, how he feels about Michael Wekerle taking over the ownership and what Wekerle has in store for the El Mo in the future.
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