Observations and introspections: 6122 1/2 Santa Monica Blvd

That image above this paragraph is a screenshot I took from a 1987 Los Angeles Street Address Directory, available online at the Los Angeles Public Library's website if you know where to look (I knew where to look; I first found that Directory in 2015 or so; it's one of my prime sources as an investigator of 1980s L.A. street history).

I took this screenshot on August 6th, 2017 at 1:44 pm, seven months before Matthew Dike passed away on March 13th, 2018 (R.I.P. to him, that was surprising news).

At the time, no one had publicized online (nor in any book or article as far as I know; or anywhere else, as far as I know) the location of Matt Dike's apartment; where he often had Jean Michel Basquiat as a visitor, and where early recording for the Beastie Boys second album, Paul's Boutique, was done in 1988.

In August 2017, I was trying to find out the location of that apartment, having found out from Dan LeRoy's book on Paul's Boutique that the apartment was located in/near my part of Hollywood (I live in East Hollywood), and on Santa Monica Blvd (I live near Santa Monica Blvd). So even though no available source was saying the exact address (no cross street was given, and no local landmark to narrow down the location; they weren't even specifying East Hollywood, but from their description I deduced they were referring to a location in or near East Hollywood; the apartment is actually located a little west of East Hollywood, in south Hollywood), that was enough for me to try to find his name and apartment listed in the 1987 Los Angeles Street Address Directory (which Directory I had used for other investigations previously). And on August 6th, 2017, I found his name listed there, showing the address of the apartment, and I took this screenshot, which a check will show it was indeed taken 08/06/2017.

I had planned to do a blog post about my discovery immediately, but first I wanted to go there to the building as it is now and take some current pics of the place. I did that later in 2017 or early 2018. Then because I wasn't sure about whether I really wanted to do the blog post, I procrastinated and put it off, did a bunch of other stuff, and almost forgot about the blog post I had planned; then in 2019, Peter Relic publishes his book on the relationship and working relationship of Basquiat and Matt Dike, and in that book and/or in a 2019 article about the book, which I'll link to, he publicises the address of that same apartment, before I do my blog post. I had almost two years before the publication of Relic's book to do that, but I procrastinated and wasn't sure whether I wanted to do it. Yeah so he publicized it before I did, unless texting my brother about it in 2017 can be considered publicising. Maybe so! ☺

So even though the discovery got scooped due to my hesitation, I'm doing this blog post about it anyway, which though is coming out different from the one I had planned, because the original version wouldn't have had all this explanation about how the discovery got scooped. This is another example of why I have to blog at a quicker pace, as I was saying in my previous post from yesterday. Notice though that I am the first to publicize his phone number that he used at the time ☺ 👍 I'm also the first one to publicize this entry from the 1987 Los Angeles Street Address Directory, which shows his 1987 address and phone number. I think it's pretty cool.

The apartment was located at 6122 1/2 Santa Monica Blvd; above Rapid Brake Service, which was located downstairs at 6122 Santa Monica Blvd during 1987 and 1988 and 1989, and likely since the early 80s, perhaps even earlier. But as you can see below, in the photos I took, in 2018 a psychic has his or her business where the Brake Service used to be; and that psychic is located directly below 6122 1/2 Santa Monica Blvd; next to the psychic, there is a curio, art and furniture store called The White Buffalo Furniture. These photos which follow were taken by me in December 2018, well over one year after I had already decided to blog about the place. But I think I also have an earlier set of photos that I took of the place. If I find those, I'll post them as well.

The 8th picture in this set of 10 shows a studio ("Studio 9"; it's been there and with that same "superhero holding a guitar" mural since 1997! That's crazy long for a mural to last; the reason that mural has survived so long is because it was commisioned by Studio 9 specifically to decorate their studio front; but it's still unusual that it's lasted so long there; note though that that mural wasn't there in the 1980s or early 1990s) that is located at 6110 Santa Monica Blvd, just a few businesses to the east of Matt Dike's former apartment. I've seen no mention that the Beastie Boys ever recorded there or in whatever studio was there in 87 and 88 and 89 (the 1987 street address directory indicates that there was at least one audio recording studio there in 1987, see the listings for 6110 Santa Monica Blvd); but as mentioned above, the Beastie Boys did do some recording in Matt Dike's apartment, Mario Caldato and Mark Nishita having been hired to build a little recording studio inside the apartment some time before they began working with the Beastie Boys, and before they began the talks with the Beasties.

I've also posted a pic (which I took from the Beastie Boys Book by Mike D and Adrock, published in late 2018, and which I received as a Christmas gift from my brother in December 2018, over a year after I had decided to do this blog post, and over a year after I found out the exact address of Matt Dike's apartment) of MCA standing on top of a car, parked directly across the street from the small building housing Matt Dike's apartment; next to it, to the east of the 6122/6124 building where the apartment was located, you can see two businesses: one dealing with used appliances (listed as "Warehouse Used Appliances" in 1987; in 2018 there was still a used appliance business there, called "Pete's & Aguero's Appliances", very probably the same owners/the same business that was there since the 1980s, but with a name change; that business might still be there now in September 2020) and one dealing with leather (listed as "Leather By Leather" in 1987; this business is no longer there; a glass business is there now, "A & S Glass Service"; check my pics and you'll see that).

Both of those businesses seen in the MCA/Run-D.M.C. photo (the leather retailer and the used appliance store) are listed in the screenshot taken from the 1987 directory, and coincidentally (and I think it's kinda funny), one gentleman (is that Run from Run-D.M.C. wearing that jacket? I think one of the other two guys next to the car is D.M.C.) in the photo is wearing a jacket that says "Tougher than Leather" (on the backside of the jacket, facing the camera; "Tougher Than Leather" is the title of Run-D.M.C.'s fourth studio album, released May 17, 1988); coinciding of course with the leather business which was located there ("Leather By Leather"), and whose signage can be seen in the photograph (I took a photo of the photo in a lighting that wasn't bright, so maybe I'll retake the photo soon; meanwhile, if you have the book, you'll be able to see the signage on those two businesses as well as what it says on that jacket; the photo is on page 269).