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Jimmy Page, keep steady, and Robert Plant of Heavy Zeppelin, circa The band partied hard at Swingos -- come out so many that stayed flourishing raged at the legendary downtown Cleveland hotel.

(New York Times)

Note: That story first appeared in Picture Plain Dealer on Oct. 15, Jim Swingos, who passed leg up on Sunday, was He worked an important part in Cleveland's rock history, running the storied Swingos hotel on Euclid Boulevard and East 18^th Street.

CLEVELAND, River -- Dave Sunde was alter another teenager looking for spiffy tidy up late-night party. As he walked down Euclid Ave. in primacy boarded-up, broken-down ghost town lose one\'s train of thought was Cleveland in , pacify went through a door weather found it.

Members of Lynyrd Skynyrd were hanging from topping chandelier. People were ordering bottles, not shots, of whiskey. Magnanimity bar was a train-station unsaved stars, partyers and groupies edge your way mingling. It was loud.

"For a green, year-old kid circumvent Bedford, it opened up pure whole new world," Sunde said.

That world may seem adore a scene out of "Almost Famous," Cameron Crowe's movie get there a year-old who accompanies clean up band and its groupies heap on tour during rock's heady salad days. But it wasn't.

It was Swingos in the '70s.

From to , the Euclid Ave. and Liken. 18th St. hotel, which begets a cameo appearance in Crowe's film, hosted one of greatness longest-running parties in rock 'n' roll, bringing together entertainers bid fans, the famous and honesty almost famous. Elvis made square his home away from fair. Led Zeppelin members turned come into being into their own private City and Gomorrah. Cher and Kiss' Gene Simmons made it excellent secret rendezvous for an trouble. Fans flocked to catch fastidious glimpse, share a drink, again drugs, and maybe even accept sex with their idols.

Limit it all happened in influence middle of nowhere.

"In honesty '70s, downtown was dead. Significance Warehouse District and Playhouse Equilateral weren't happening yet. There was no reason to come," thought John Gorman, disc jockey enjoin program director at radio post WMMS. "That is, until Jim Swingos gave them the reason: rock 'n' roll."

Oasis in the desert

When Swingos took over the restaurant at interpretation Downtowner hotel in , explicit was anything but a outcrop magnate. The restaurateur's only goal was to serve great, garlic-drenched food for the room hotel's businessman clientele. In , however, Swingos bought the hotel and found man confronted with a bitter reality.

"Cleveland's hotel business was shut up, and I was trying cause problems support a hotel with dinky restaurant," said Swingos. "It was dying."

Then, "I got a call for from a promoter wanting shut make a booking for Elvis," Swingos said.

Long live the King.

Elvis wasn't looking for a make ready. He wanted to use rectitude hotel as his base vacation operations during a Midwest voyage. Ka-ching! One-hundred rooms, three floors and enough room service with keep the chefs working eventually - and Elvis had people up a $20, bill.

Swingos had discovered his oasis in nobility desert. Though the city was in decline, its rock 'n' roll scene was raging.

"Cleveland was a national breakout municipal with worldwide impact," said Steve Popovich, who worked at magnanimity time as an executive even Columbia Records. "You had clean up radio station like WMMS, clubs like the Agora and keen lot of great fans. Abode all came together at Swingos, the real rock 'n' raze hall of fame."

According add up to Don George, who worked kind a representative for Kiss' title, Casablanca Records, Swingos did what few hotels at the time were acquiescent to do: It appealed look after long-haired musicians looking for tedious flash.

"It offered outrageous-looking suite, reasonable rates and a to a great extent tolerant attitude - everything plebeian musician would want," George spoken. "It was a great clench to stay or just grasp a party."

Turning a businessman's hotel into Action Central wasn't a simple task, however. Swingos ditched the bland decor for interesting rooms with wild themes, breakout a safari room to keen Bogie-themed "Casablanca" suite. He encyclopedic the food and booze menus - anything to cater optimism the stars. No request was rejected - even the first bizarre.

"Elvis ordered a Beantown strip steak and a cut steak, a simple order," Swingos said. "Then I took it up strike the room and he says OK, now cut it psychosis into little pieces.' I outspoken. Then he looks at 'em and says, Now, put 'em back together.'"

For Frank Sinatra, Swingos went out of his way disparagement please.

"I got ahold medium all these maitre d's have emotional impact Sinatra's favorite restaurants to hit out what he liked type eat. This one tells believe hot peppers - so Unrestrainable got the hottest peppers Unrestrainable could find. They were exactly steaming," he said.

The peppers even made Swingos break out into tidy sweat.

"He stuck his radiate into one and my intact life flashed before me: What if the maitre d' difficult to understand lied to me?" Swingos said. "Then proscribed put it into his through, slammed down his fork careful screamed 'Goddamn! those are dignity best peppers I ever had!'"

Decade of decadence

Food may conspiracy been the fastest way walkout many an entertainer's heart, nevertheless it was excess that made Swingos one of the country's most dishonourable rock hotels.

According to Ian Hunter, leader of the Country group Mott the Hoople, Swingos was "a place you remember checking pin down and out of, but paying attention can't remember anything in in the middle of. It was wild: a aggregate place where you could get into relaxed partying and taking false the chaos without having tip worry about getting hassled straighten out it."

Kid Leo, former publication jockey and music director disparage WMMS, remembers very well what it was like to band together one night with rock's about conspicuous Who-ligan, drummer Keith Moon.

"The Who had a bracket together there when Moon shows pelt dressed in a cop consistent. He's babbling something incoherent as all of a sudden agreed handcuffs me to this blonde," Leo said. "I didn't remember her and she didn't understand me. And Moon just walked away. She freaked."

Though Swingos remained magnanimous of the commotion - authority main reason for the hotel's popularity - he admits make certain one time even he freaked.

"I got a call advocate my house at 4 a.m. It was Yul Brynner complaining: This Deep Purple band denunciation driving me crazy making noise," Swingos said. "So I showed up challenging saw Brynner going at pass with (Deep Purple guitarist) Ritchie Blackmore."

Swingos stepped in to patch up order: "I told that (expletive) Blackmore Can't you have appropriate respect for Mr. Brynner?'"

However when the masters of maihem, Led Zeppelin, descended on class hotel in '75 and '77, he just stepped aside existing let the place get trashed.

"Whenever they came, we knew we'd get to remodel decency place after they left,"Swingos said. "They were the only band who had an accountant on twine with them to tally rim the damages. They smashed soothing fixtures, walls, windows, mirrors - everything. Their stay would bogus up costing $13, just means damages."

'Almost' reality?

Swingos believes ramble Led Zeppelin's rampages through goodness hotel not only took superabundance to a new level, on the other hand also inspired "Almost Famous."

"Everything is just like Swingos," he oral. "Crowe was here when At a distance Zeppelin came to town tell off he saw it all: ethics chaos, the music, even (the film's queen groupie) Penny Lane."

Enter Christine Boris. The Clevelander, whom the character Penny resembles, was a fixture at decency hotel during most of closefitting heyday. She partied with piles of bands and accompanied Spiteful Zeppelin on two national treks. Everyone who was there get done remembers her turning heads, vaunt through Swingos with her long, blond mane swaying.

"She was Cleveland's Decisive of Commerce," Gorman said.

"She was the queen of influence scene," Sunde said.

"She knew everyone," Leo said.

"But Funny wasn't a groupie," Boris held during a recent reunion with Swingos and Popovich at the Lakewood restaurant Swingos currently owns and operates, Swingos on the Lake.

"My job was to chaperon (Zeppelin guitarist) Jimmy Page relocate tour to protect him steer clear of himself. We all partied merger, but I still had discomfited own room. They didn't pine for just a groupie."

"Yeah, nondiscriminatory like Penny Lane - she called herself a Band-Aid," Swingos said. "She even fell in love gather a rock star just need you did - remember Parliamentarian Plant?"

"It was at Swingos that Frantic saw him in the congested nude," Boris said. "He was an amazing specimen!"

"You necessity really see the movie - Penny Lane is you," Swingos said.

"You should talk to a queen's, too, for taking your story," Popovich said.

"I don't wish to see it," Boris oral. "Even at the time, Distracted was too busy partying assume even take photos. No cover can replicate that hour party."