Northwest Dance & Music Venues

The Red Carpet in About 1968
THE RED CARPET
AKA:  The Breakthru
"Young Adult Nightclub"
5212 South Tacoma Way
Tacoma, Washington
1963 ~ 1971

Some of the bands that performed at this popular 'Young Adut' dance venue between 1963 and 1971 were:

List indicates in brackets ( ), the number of appearances in the gig lists submitted by individual bands, individual contributors or advertisements in the Entertainment Pages of the Tacoma News Tribune between October 63 and December 66 or other submissions sent to the Webmaster.  Undoubtedly, more bands performed here, and the numbers next to the band names actually understate the numbers of times they may have performed there.

"IT WAS IN THE SUMMER of ’64 when a couple of DJs from Tacoma, Washington’s KTNT radio station began hauling a car-load of broadcasting gear around to various remote teen-dance venues in town and their weekly Teen Time program made its on-air debut. Every Friday night (10:35 p.m.—11:00 p.m.) for two years Teen Time featured live performances by energetic young local bands including the Regents, Galaxies, Accents, and Sonics."

By Peter Blecha
Space and Place: 1960s Garage Rock from the Pacific Northwest , 2007
 

 

Photo -  Gene Henkel (R.I.P.) and Rochelle "Rocky" at the Red Carpet - June 1966 - Courtesy of Kimberlee Henkel-Moody

The first day I got my drivers license, I went to see my Grandma who lived off 6th Ave in Tacoma. It was dark when I went home, and as I was going the back way to Lakewood, three men in an old caddie drove up next to me. They started following me, and would run up on my bumper, and then along side of me. I remember I was scared to death. My Dad had Pete Lovely, the one time race car driver, teach both my sister and I how to drive fast and control a car at at high speeds, because one of my Dad's friend's son was kidnapped near the Country Club, and Dad worried about his girls.  So, I had my sister's GTO, and I took off.  Next thing I know, I saw red lights in my mirror.  SH#@, BUSTED! The officer came to the window and said, " Miss, I clocked you doing 65 in a 35, and of course`I told him about what happened. He said he didn't see them... and proceeded in giving me a TICKET, on my first day!  I was so pissed, and then there was the problem of facing my Dad. To make a longer story shorter, a few nights after that, WE were at the Red Carpet. I walked in the door, and guess who was checking ID? Yep, Gene Henkel, the nice officer that gave me my ticket. I couldn't believe it!  But after I talked to him and explained my story, he had my ticket fixed, and we did a lot of laughing about it! Sue Isekite McNulty (Regents - Chandelles), April 2003

 

Staff
 

Rosanne Budinick
Sue Byassee
Stan Caputo
Julie Maycumber
Bonny Ronich
Penny Ronich
Susan Weaver
 

Inside the Red Carpet - 1964 ~ 1967

The Stage

The Statesmen at the Red Carpet - December 1965 - Courtesy of Bill Dean

The Regents - Early 1964

The Regents - Late 1965

Sandy Faye with the Stingrays

Willie Washington with The Stingrays

The Stage - 1965	Entrance and Coat Room That is Sue Isekite on right - 1965
Bob Crutchfield... Waiting for the first set to start and thinking to himself "The chicks dig me".	Sammy Carlson (Regents) chatting before the first set.  Loved the hair styles in '65.
More people filing in before the first song starts.  See any familiar faces?	We were Dance Bands in those days.  If the band didn't rock, the kids didn't dance...  result? The band wasn't invited back...  1965
Rob Lowery (Galaxies - Surprise Package) and Proprietor Donna Consola at the club's bar	Irene (back to camera) & Penny Ronich Click on Photo for Larger Version

"The Red Carpet!  What a flood of memories.  I remember the great vibe there.  The regulars were very into music and were in the know."

Jim Sola, The Deacons

My old drummer, Dan Dazell, checked in a few days ago.  Hadn't talked with him in probably 15 years.  Said he was following The Sonics and their reunion a couple of months ago.  He reminded me about one of the times we (The Pageboys) were playing the Red Carpet.  It was a two band show.  The other band being The Sonics.  As the story goes, we introduced a new original instrumental tune during our set called "Zulu".  It was a 1-4-5, heavy drums in G with the guitar player playing a barred G-7 up to a G#-7 and back as the 1.  He remembers it as real close to The Witch.  I, of course, have had way too many Budweisers to remember the gig at all.  Although I do remember playing The Red Carpet several times around the time we had our one hit out "Our Love".  Next time I see Parypa, I'll have to ask him if he remembers.

Bob Wikstrom, The Pageboys, January 2008.

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When Mitch Ryder played the Red Carpet in the summer of 1970, he and the guys were drinking straight whiskey from the bottles they had during the breaks. On returning to the stage after the second break, Mitch was so wasted he had to use the mic stands to hold himself up and get to his spot on the stage. The band then cranked out an absolutely perfect set! They were so tight you would never have guessed they were wasted

Ed Peterson, December 2013

In Memory of

Don Consola (March 1988)
Gene Henkel
Penny Ronich
Stan Caputo (October 1992)

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If you have more information, photos, one liner quotes, or stories to share about this popular 1960's young adult nightclub, please send them to webmaster@PNWBands.com

Last Update:  13 July 2018

Info Credits:  Tacoma News Tribune, Sammy Carlson, Donna Consola, Jim Sola, Bobby Summers, Rico Corpuz, Rob Henricksen, Susan Weaver Bishop, Tim Hill, Jeff Morgan, Rosanne Budinick, Jeff Morgan, Tom Walters, Sue Isekite, Carl Wilson, Bruce Partridge, Joel Johnson, Chuck Naubert,  Bob Wikstrom, Charlie Lewis, Bill Dean, Ed Peterson, Bill Englehart, Peter Blecha

Photo Credits:   L. Carlson, S. Carlson, Bobby Summers, Susan Weaver Bishop, Donna Consola, Brad Beck, Kimberlee Henkel-Moody, John Gordon, Bill Dean

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