There Is No Surf in Cleveland

procyon: 20th Sep 2006 - 05:42 GMT

wow, the buses look almost exactly the same as they do now!

little ukraine: 21st Sep 2006 - 15:38 GMT

I once heard that from above, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is designed to look like a record player. Personally, after a visit to wikimapia, I was not impressed.
Also, I love the fact that this post contains the second picture in as many weeks to feature that KeyBank Building reflected in a window.
I'd like to see someone do a post dedicated to your main drag there, and, borrowing a joke from us math people, call it "Here's Looking at Euclid"

joey: 27th Sep 2006 - 04:24 GMT

little ukraine; what kind of math people are you?

zagg: 11th Oct 2006 - 01:49 GMT

When I was 16, I was given the opportunity to choose where my family went for our summer holdiay.

I chose Cleveland so that I could go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - hahah.

Beadle and Tatum: 11th Dec 2006 - 05:51 GMT

Whoever made that postcard must not have seen the NY Times frontpage today...

sorry to be repetitive

procyon: 13th Dec 2006 - 18:29 GMT

I remember being really annoyed about a lot of things at the rock hall. Like the blurb or caption somewhere (in a list of important songs or something compiled by "experts") saying that "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" exemplified Morrissey's depressing lyrics and put-upon attitude or something like that--clearly there was absolutely nothing sarcastic about that song.
I remember going down to the parade when it opened, though, and being so excited about it; my mom bought me a t-shirt and everything... I've always thought it was a cool looking building (I had my high school senior pictures taken nearby, which is sort of embarassing, but so are senior pictures in general), and anything that brings money into the Cleveland economy is okay by me. If only the record executives, artists, etc. would actually deign to visit the building for inauguration ceremonies, etc. Or... well, there are a lot of ways they could make it a more interesting place to visit, but this isn't really the time/place.

little ukraine: 13th Dec 2006 - 19:18 GMT

i think it is total bullshit that the inaugurations are in new york and not cleveland. and that is a pretty annoying blurb about morrissey, i don't think anything about that song is a put-on. i'm sure CG will weigh in on this issue. i'm interested to know what exactly the quote was.
i'm amazed that there seem to be so many clevelanders with crazy love for their city, like a whole cadre of young-20s kids with a mission. i love it.
can someone explain the history of this whole 'no surf in cleveland' thing? was it a song? a book? just a popular phrase from the 70s?

colavitos ghost: 13th Dec 2006 - 19:39 GMT

to chime in on the morrissey issue: i'm generally bothered by critics' or---as seems to be the case here---curators' analyses of the intentions behind complicated artistic works. if you're gonna inclue a quote from the artist to back up an analytical leap, fine. however, if it's just some "educated" outsider's interpretation, whatever.

morrissey may be annoying, but he's a pretty enigmatic personality, hard to really figure out. my note to art critics everywhere: don't tell me what artists are saying. let the artists themselves do that!!!

procyon: 13th Dec 2006 - 19:53 GMT

to clarify, the "--clearly there was absolutely nothing sarcastic about that song" (a sarcastic statement itself) was my addition; the blurb was just saying that the song exemplified self-pitying, depressing, whiny old Morrissey. I'd always heard that he'd written the song as sort of a sarcastic jab at the critics' caricature of him, but looking for quotes on it now is giving me stuff like:

"On the very brief spasms of employment that I had in the past it always seemed to me there were moments of the day when I would realise that I was here working with people that I despised and I had to talk to these horrible people and ask them what they did yesterday. And I would have to report to a boss that I couldn't stand and when you're in that position - which is the absolute basis of 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now' you realise that you're actually spending your entire life with people that you do not like - which was incredibly distressing."

So I guess I was wrong and he was serious, or at least claimed he was in interviews. Either way, the blurb's simplistic look at the Smiths (hey look! they're depressing and full of self-pity!) was still out of place, and in my personal opinion they could have picked a more representative/influential song for the exhibit (which apparently was/is called "500 Songs That Shaped Rock & Roll").

little ukraine: 13th Dec 2006 - 20:36 GMT

CG, couldn't agree more. morrissey is a complicated lyricist and it is dangerous to start throwing around interpretations, especially when the interpreter has as an intention showing how the song fits into a rather ridiculous list (though i admit i am a sucker for lists like that). procyon, i don't think you are wrong - in any case i find it just as easy to believe that morrissey was having fun with critics as that he was being 100% genuine in that song. i really wouldn't rule out the possibility of both situations being true.

colavitos ghost: 13th Dec 2006 - 23:09 GMT

this thread is out of control!!! please continue conversation on ILM.

(just kidding guys, this is fun).

joey: 25th Mar 2007 - 05:34 GMT

pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/cus/STORE/X2007zvb3/2007zvb3_ciim.gif

joey: 23rd Nov 2007 - 22:03 GMT

can someone explain the history of this whole 'no surf in cleveland' thing? was it a song? a book? just a popular phrase from the 70s?

none of the above. it was something i thought of after living on the west coast for a few years and then coming back 'home' for a visit to cleveland. a jingle of sorts to add to the photo i took and creating a post card. i designed and sold post cards for a living in that era.

Guy: 24th Feb 2008 - 06:24 GMT

It was at the very least a song. A band called the Euclid Beach Band made up of studio musicians including David Sanborn recorded a song by that name in 1978. A homemade vid of it is on youtube. The song was produced by Eric Carmen (The Rasberries, All by Myself, etc.)

little ukraine: 24th Feb 2008 - 06:45 GMT

ok.. what's the story here? joey it seems to me perhaps one of the guys from EBB saw your postcard and.. just thought it was an awesome phrase? in any case this is great..
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4diS3khW-5k

colavitos ghost: 24th Feb 2008 - 21:13 GMT

joey: when did you first release that particular design?

please tell me it was prior to 1978!

joey: 16th Feb 2009 - 07:24 GMT

i was on the west coast when i thought of no surf in cleveland. i have no knowledge of this other occurance. it's a coincidence. this looks like the original- do you see any dates ?