In the year we lived in Southern California, 1993-94 we stayed in a beachfront hotel, a one bedroom studio apartments. Believe it or not, Vacation Village in Laguna Beach was only $600 per month which is how we afforded it. We had a rare old time, drinking flagons of wine, eating great sacks of tortilla chips and seeing local bands, who were always amazing. The Missiles Of October especially, who incredibly enough still play around the area, 32 years on.
It was right on Pacific Coast Highway and faced the sea. Opposite was a burger stand; a wee place that you could walk or drive up to. It was excellent and very popular. We loved their tofu burger which came with a burning hot sauce and was chargrilled.
So we were there regularly. What we didn’t know was it was favoured by all sorts of film, rock and music people until one day when I went across the road for our usual order when I literally walked into Bette Midler, who lived in the town. She was lovely, clearly used to schmoozing the public and movie star glamorous. She moved like a spotlight was always on her. She got the tofu too.
Then I started looking out for more stars. We had run into Nick Nolte in an LA bar and I held the toilet doors open for Jack Nicholson in Newport Beach. So it wasn’t so unusual that a few days later I saw Simon LeBon of Duran Duran pull up in a sports car and get a burger. Hardly a rock star though.
Phil Collen of Def Leppard who lived in Laguna Niguel used to drop in for a tofu burger. He’s vegan I think. Eric Burden, a Geordie from Walker, which is where we used to live who I think lived over in Palm Desert, was another visitor. I got quite blaze about it. ‘I think he’s famous’ I’d routinely say because I’d seen someone from REO Speedwagon, Foghat or Savoy Brown who looked vaguely familiar.
Of course, I didn’t know if I should say anything to these people. We held a coffee shop door open for David Crosby near Big Sur and I still regret not saying something instead of trying to be cool. Just to thank him for the music. I mean, these people must hear this sort of thing all the time, but now, all these years later and the moments are long gone, I do regret not even acknowledging them.
