A Place Called the Bla-Bla Cafe - Book Review (Non-Fiction)

A Place Called the Bla-Bla Café is a non-fiction book that will especially appeal to musicians and entertainers. This 237 page volume was self-published and written by Sandy Ross, one of the main entertainment coordinators for the Bla-Bla Café during the 11 years it provided a home and a welcoming family to the up-and-coming unsigned and undiscovered entertainers of the day.

Located on Ventura Boulevard in the Los Angeles suburb Studio City, which is near Hollywood, patrons of the café were fostered and fed a showcase every single day of early work from today’s classic performers like Jay Leno, David Letterman, Robin Williams, Lily Tomlin and Billy Crystal – bands like Heuy Lewis and the News and The Police – song writers, jazz artists, mimes, poets and other gifted talent hit the stage during the 1970′s. The Bla-Bla Café was one of the better pioneers for providing this kind of entertainment on a daily basis, heart-felt loyalty to performers and a gathering place where producers and directors met the talent they were looking for.

Sandy Ross provides readers with an honest insight of the performing artists in the 1970′s. The author includes mini-chapters of stories and interviews of people who played a role at the Bla-Bla Café. She went to the extent of inserting several tables of data listing staff members, artists and performers and brief accounts of what happened to their careers. Even if a few of the names don’t ring a bell with some readers, the hit shows and songs they worked on will. There are several pages of photos of people belting out song on stage and some picnics the café held for their friends, staff and family.

I felt a relation to the Bla-Bla Café as there was once such a place in a Canadian city I lived at about 10 years ago. It was the only place in town that we could trust to have a variety of live entertainment, onstage every night of the week and even sometimes during the day. The family feeling created there was something to look forward to. There, you were always welcome, you could guarantee there would be someone there who you knew, someone to share a hug with. Of course, our city was not a mecca for the entertainment industry and so producers and directors did not grace the tables there, and sadly, a lot of talent went undiscovered. This place has been closed for years now, and I really didn’t know how much it meant to me until I read this book. It was with some fond sadness that I looked back on those times. This is really what A Place Called the Bla-Bla Café means to me…

I truly believe that we need these kinds of establishments in our society and the lack of them is a visible, palatable hole in our world.

Author: Sandy Ross
Publisher: SLR Productions
ISBN: 0-977227-0-8

A Place Called the Bla-Bla Cafe - Book Review (Non-Fiction)