[Dixielandjazz] Re: Pizzas, How Much Dough? part 1

[Robert S. Ringwald]

Ivor Jones asks:
  (snip)
I keeping hearing from the States about Pizza Parlours and band engagements.
Are these special places, we have 'Pizza Huts' here, but no room for a band
nor any possibility for a decent fee.  Only idle curiosity,
(snip)
 Ivor,
In 1954 or so, two college students opened an English pub that served German
beer & Italian pizza.  The two students were Ed (somebody, can't remember
his name) & Sherwood (Shakey) Johnson.  Ed was the biz man & Shakey was the
front man.
Right after opening, Shakey hired a banjo & piano team.  it was so
successful that in later years, as Shakeys Pizza pubs were franchised around
the world, they all featured the piano/banjo duos.  Shakey used to send
musicians out to other states & countries to train other musicians.  At one
time, he had over 600 duos working in various Shakey's around the world.
Very shortly after opening, our ex listmate Burt Wilson, took a 8-piece Lu
Watters band in Shakeys.  For years after that, while Shakey featured the
duo 6 nights a week, he featured a Dixieland band on Friday nights.
As the places began to be franchised around the world, the various new
places would use different combinations of duos up to complete Dixie bands.
Shakey even bought an hour on a local fifty thousand watt clear channel
radio station at 2:00 AM when the bars were getting out.  Since TV was
coming in, he got it on a 10 year contract for a song & a dance.  Thus, as
the places were franchised in various towns & states, the people were
already waiting for them to open.
End of Part 1 -- Continued: in part 2.