A lighthearted and loving look back at the glory days of the Shady Dell, the historic haven for teenagers in York, PA, and the magnanimous couple that created it, John & Helen Ettline.
CLOSE YOUR EYES. TAKE A DEEP BREATH. OPEN YOUR HEART.
SHADY DEL KNIGHT, ADMINISTRATOR
High School Yearbook Photo
"More than a place, the Shady Dell was and will forever remain a state of mind." - Shady Del Knight
HELLO STRANGER ... IT SEEMS LIKE A MIGHTY LONG TIME!
In February and March, Diane Renay's signature song
"Navy Blue" climbed the chart and finished at #6.
In May, Diane's follow-up single "Kiss Me Sailor"
reached the top 30.
In June, a Brooklyn act known as the Sherry Sisters
tried their luck with "Sailor Boy." Not to be confused
with a song of the same name recorded by both the
Chiffons and Goldie & the Gingerbreads, "Sailor Boy" by
the Sherry Sisters is one of the best girl group sounds
of the Sixties. The record had "hit" written all over it,
yet it never even reached the Bubbling Under chart.
It was a different story in Japan where "Sailor Boy"
floated their boats and went on to become a million
seller. Let's hear what American ears were missing.
"Sailor Boy" - The Sherry Sisters
(June 1964, uncharted)
DEE-ANNE
AND THE KITTENS
"Robot Man" is one of the lost rock 'n' roll recordings
by Connie Francis that's included on her Rocksides
compilation. Instead of playing Connie's version I'd like
you to hear an exciting rendition of the song performed
by the girl group Dee-Anne and the Kittens on Oh Boy!,
the first teen music program on British television.
The show originally aired in 1958 and 1959 and was
resurrected in the late 70s in a retro rock format.
Series regular Dee-Anne, now known as Deanne Blazey
of the band Baby Go Boom, was still in her teens
when she appeared on this 1980 episode of Oh Boy!
and did a fantastic job of covering Connie!
"Robot Man" - Dee-Anne and the Kittens
(from 1980 British TV show Oh Boy!)
Show of hands..........
Does anybody else see the resemblance between Dee-Anne and actress Haley Mills (at right)? Watch the next clip of Dee-Anne covering a Brenda Lee hit and let me know if you agree.
"I'm Sorry" - Dee-Anne
(from 1980 British TV show Oh Boy!)
DON COVAY
AND THE GOODTIMERS
In 1968 the courtroom was a familiar setting for soul songs.
Judge Shorty Long presided over "Here Comes the Judge."
The Unifics held "Court of Love" and R&B vet Don Covay
confessed: "I Stole Some Love" and was brought before
Judge Cupid for stealin' the love of another man.
Don - say it ain't so, buddy!
I remember obtaining this Don Covay record at Woolworth.
It was sold in one of those shrink wrapped bundles that
contained ten 45rpm records and priced at only 99 cents.
Those budget packs were like a box of chocolates.....
you never knew what you were gonna get. In the case of
this Don Covay single I got a double dose of ear candy!
"I Stole Some Love" - Don Covay & the Goodtimers
(October 1968, uncharted)
On the flip side of "I Stole Some Love" was a killer bee
called "Snake in the Grass."
This sssssidewinder was another sssssizzling
ssssslab of deep fried sssssouthern R&B
from Don Covay and the Goodtimers.
"Snake in the Grass" - Don Covay & the Goodtimers
(October 1968, uncharted B side of "I Stole Some Love")
THE BEAU BRUMMELS
They made the rounds of teen music/dance shows
like Shindig and Hullabaloo. Featuring the smooth
and soulful vocals of lead singer Sal Valentino,
the Beau Brummels exemplified the West Coast
folk rock sound of the mid 60s. The San Francisco
band had a top 20 hit with "Laugh, Laugh" and a
top 10 charter with "Just a Little."
My Pick to Click is a record that never reached the top 50,
probably because the Beau Brummels' small label, Autumn,
was going belly up by the time it was released. As I always
preach, chart position has absolutely nothing to do with
greatness, and here's one of the finest, purest folk rock
For my Valentine's dance this year I dusted off a stack of records that were popular around V-day during the 50s and early 60s. For decoration I tacked up some vintage
pin-ups and print ads depicting guys and girls on bowling dates.
Vintage pin-Up by Art Frahm
If you're ready let's get the party started with
the King of Rock 'N' Roll. As my good buddy Karo
will tell you, too much Elvis is never enough!
"Too Much" - Elvis Presley (Valentine's Day 1957)
Some of my earliest bowling memories recall a time when establishments still employed human pinsetters. As I saw it, the pin boy had the coolest job in the world. Maybe he did!
Bowling alleys, as they were once called, began to change over to fully automatic pinsetting machines in 1946, but lanes I remember visiting in the 1950s at beach towns in Maryland and Jersey still used pin boys.
"Magic Moments" - Perry Como (Valentine's Day 1958)
Vintage pin-up by Edward D'Ancona
"Catch a Falling Star" - Perry Como (Valentine's Day 1958)
Vintage pin-up by Gil Elvgren
Something wonderful happened when I was eight years old. York's Suburban Bowlerama opened for business. Located atop South Queen Street Hill, the lanes were only a couple blocks from my home. Suburban Bowlerama quickly became one of my favorite hangouts.
My friends and I spent hot summer afternoons at the
Bowlerama striking, sparing, gutter balling, playing arcade
games and eating junk food. There was another reason why
we loved to hang out there. The place had one other thing
we could not get at home: air conditioning. In those days,
a/c was considered by many families, including mine, to be
a luxury rather than a necessity.
"Peter Gunn" - Ray Anthony & Orchestra (Valentine's Day 1959)
"Beyond the Sea" - Bobby Darin (Valentine's Day 1960)
With the TV antenna on my roof pointed toward the south
I was able to pull in a strong signal from the three Baltimore stations, WMAR, WJZ and WBAL. Along with kiddie shows, horror movie hosts, dance parties, Colts football and Orioles baseball, I enjoyed televised bowling programs including the ones created and franchised by Bert Claster, the man who also gave us Romper Room, a show originally hosted by his wife. Remember Miss Nancy?
Vintage pin-up by Edward D'Ancona
Pinbusters and Bowling for Dollars, both of which involved regulation tenpin bowling, and Duckpins for Dollars, which used shorter pins and much smaller balls, both aired on Baltimore's NBC affiliate, WBAL Channel 11.
"There's a Moon Out Tonight" - Capris (Valentine's Day 1961)
Vintage pin-up by Gil Elvgren
From 1960 to 1964 I loved to watch Make That Spare, the 15-minute program that featured top bowlers attempting
to make difficult spare combinations for cash prizes.
Don Carter was my favorite bowling celebrity.
I was awestruck by his skill and unusual technique.
Around Halloween 1961, Don became the first bowler
on Make That Spare to convert the very difficult
6-7-8-10 Grandma's Teeth super split, collecting
$18,000. That's the equivalent of a gazillion today!
Vintage pin-up by Edward D'Ancona
"(Do the New) Continental" - Dovells (Valentine's Day 1962)
Vintage pin-up by Bill Medcalf
"Little Town Flirt" - Del Shannon (Valentine's Day 1963)
Wrong place - wrong time!
My least favorite bowling memory was the night in 1966 when I pulled out of the Suburban Bowlerama parking lot in my VW but forgot to turn on my headlights. I got as far as Carlo's Pizzeria down the block before being pulled over by law enforcement. Seems the cops were on patrol that night looking for vandals who had recently smashed mailboxes in the vicinity. As luck would have it, the modus operandi used by the evildoers was to drive through neighborhoods with their headlights turned off.
"Please remember, ossifer," I pleaded. "All Dell rats are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law!"
WELCOME BACK FROM THE LONGEST COMMERCIAL BREAK EVER!
YOU'RE WATCHING MY 4 PART SERIES,
THE LONG AWAITED... HIGHLY ANTICIPATED
First Annual Shady Awards
HONORING THE BEST HARD ROCK AND HEAVY METAL BANDS, SONGS AND VIDEOS.
In Part 1, MISS CRAZY took the title of
New (to me) Band of the Year.
We now proceed to the next category,
the award for Video of the Year.
THE NOMINEES FOR VIDEO OF THE YEAR ARE.....
"White Wedding" - Murderdolls (2008)
"Don't Change That Song" - Faster Pussycat (1987 with scenes from Russ Meyer's 1965 motion picture Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!)
"Hall of the Mountain King" - Savatage (1987)
"Dreamin' in a Casket" - Hardcore Superstar (2007)
"Somebody Save Me" - Cinderella (1986)
"Turn Up the Radio" - Autograph (1984)
"Balls to the Wall" - Accept (1984, lip sync circa 2006-09 performed by Japanese anime character Haruhi Suzumiya)
"Screaming in the Night" - Krokus (1983)
"Planet Boom" - Tommy Lee/Motley Crue (orig. 1994, rereleased in 1997 on soundtrack of movie Barb Wire
"Hot and Bothered" - Cinderella (1994)
"Hide Your Heart" - Kiss (1989)
AND THE SHADY AWARD FOR
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
GOES TO.....
(pregnant pause while envelope opens)
"Screaming in the Night"
by Krokus!
Why? Because it's a great song combined with a great video!
This band from Switzerland also impressed me with its
versatility and longevity. Krokus is still together and will
be releasing a new album, Dirty Dynamite, this month!
Named after (of all things) a flower, Krokus started out
in the mid 70s playing prog rock. The band achieved
much greater success when they switched to a more
aggressive, hard-edged yet commercial rock style.
"To the Top" - Krokus (1982)
Along with bands like Airbourne and Rhino Bucket, both
featured in this series, Krokus became adroit imitators
of the Bon Scott era AC/DC, a sound clearly heard on such
songs as "Long Stick Goes Boom" and "Playin' the Outlaw."
"Playin' the Outlaw" - Krokus (1982)
Krokus evolved into a pop metal band, mastered the
power ballad and scored a hit with "Screaming in the Night"
due in large part to the high budget conceptual video that
ran on MTV. "Screaming in the Night" is also nominated
for Song of the Year and will take on a field of worthy
challengers in the next phase of the competition.
Influenced by flamboyant showmen like Little Richard
and James Brown, white R&B party starter Mitch Ryder
challenged rocker Ted Nugent for the coveted title of
Motor City Madman. Mitch was one of the principal
players on the mid 60s Dell scene. In December of 1965
the blue-eyed soul shouter and his Detroit Wheels rolled
into the Dell packing heat. They kept the joint jumpin'
throughout 1966 and into the spring of '67.
HISTORY LESSON
In the beginning, you had to be a masochist to
go around uttering the phrase sock it to me
because to sock someone meant to hit them,
or to administer a beating.
"Sock it to the other guy, not to me," follow?
As time went by the urban slang expression took on new
meaning. Being the sockee was no longer a bad thing.
It was a good thing...in some cases a very good thing.
I always thought the earliest use of the phrase sock it to me in mainstream media was on the TV series Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in. When a cast member spoke those four magic words they typically got hit in the face with a cream pie
or drenched with
a bucket of water.
I assumed that the popular Laugh-in expression was the inspiration for the
Mitch Ryder song
“Sock it to Me-Baby!’
As it turned out I was putting the cart before the horse.
It only added to my confusion when I remembered Aretha Franklin singing sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me on her hit record “Respect.” I wondered if Lady Soul's sock it to me ad lib predated Mitch Ryder’s use of the phrase. In Otis Redding's original version of "Respect," released in September of 1965, the R&B titan used the phrase "give it to me." In their 1969 hit "I Turned You On" the Isley Brothers also shouted give it to me along with sock it to me and whip it to me. (I need to look it up in my Funk and Wagnalls, but I have a feeling they all mean the same thing, y'all.)
When I checked the chronology of events I determined that Mitch Ryder was the first of these recording artists to use the phrase sock it to me. His “Sock it to Me-Baby!" single started climbing the Billboard chart on February 4th, 1967. On Valentine's Day ten days later Aretha recorded "Respect" and made use of the sock it to me expression. Laugh-In, the vehicle most responsible for popularizing the SITM phrase, actually came last in order, premiering in September of '67.
It doesn’t matter who’s on first or what’s on second.
Mitch Ryder's "Sock It To Me-Baby!" cranked it up a notch
at the Dell during the winter of 1967. At position #45
it is the highest ranked of the four Ryder records
that made my Shady Dell Top 200 hit list.
Contributing to the record's popularity were its ambiguous
lyrics. My friends and I were convinced that we had another
“Louie Louie” on our hands because, to our jaded ears, it
sounded like there was at least one naughty word near the
beginning of the song and Mitch punched it. Along with
the provocative, possibly dirty lyrics that got the record
banned by several radio stations, "Sock..." boasted other
key elements Dell vikings loved - a frenetic beat and
Ryder's shouting, over the top R&B vocals.
“Sock It To Me-Baby!” (February '67)
Got time for a Mitch Ryder block party?
You've heard of the final four. Now hear the rest of
the vinyl four... the high octane dance records
by the Detroit Wheels that kept the Dell gang
singing along with Mitch in the mid 60s!
“Jenny Take A Ride” (December '65)
“Little Latin Lupe Lu” (March '66)
“Devil With A Blue Dress On & Good Golly Miss Molly” (October '66)
Is “Sock it to Me-Baby!"
my Pick to Click?
YOU
BET
YOUR
SWEET
BIPPY!
Got an itch for even more Mitch?
Gotcha covered, my friend!
Here's a bonus toe-tapper for your listening pleasure.
(Don't hurt yourself!)
“Words and photographs could never do those dancers justice because you had to be there - in a club with great music, like minded people and loads of atmosphere.” David Meikle of Glasgow, Scotland wrote those words in an article remembering the Twisted Wheel, the legendary northern soul club in Manchester, England. Yet, Mr. Meikle could just as easily have been describing the scene at my favorite "in" spot of the 1960s, the Shady Dell in York (Pennsylvania, not England).
THE SHADY DELL
YORK, PENNSYLVANIA
The Shady Dell: Part of York County's Colorful History
What began as a home based restaurant and bakery in 1945 evolved over the next two decades into the hottest teen nightspot in York county complete with indoor and outdoor dance floors. It went beyond that. Shady Dell owner John Ettline and his wife Helen put out the welcome mat offering hospitality, comfort, support, and encouragement to generations of young people. During its impressive 45-year life span the Dell became a home away from home for countless area youth from a variety of backgrounds.
At the height of its popularity in the early and mid 60s the Dell, located on the southern outskirts of the White Rose city, was as widely known as North York’s White Oak Park ("the Oaks"), Harrisburg's Raven club or any other youth-oriented venue in central Pennsylvania. The Dell attracted crowds from all over the region. It brought together under one roof kids from middle class families and kids from working class families - city kids, suburban kids, small town kids and farm kids.
The diverse cast of characters that constituted the Shady Dell family was a potentially volatile mix. Each of us had to find a way to fit in and get along (or risk being voted off the island). In the end, in spite of our differences, most of us learned to dance together without stepping on each other’s toes.
Shady Dell regulars were nicknamed Dell rats and we had at least two things in common: a love of the music that played on the Dell’s jukebox and a genuine respect for John and Helen Ettline who graciously made their home our home.
GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS
The Dell was a unique, magical coming of age experience - a proving ground - a secluded hideaway where adolescents could develop social skills, learn to handle responsibility and test the waters of adulthood free from the hassles of ubiquitous adult micromanagement.
SHOCKING TRUE CONFESSION: I WAS A TEENAGE DELL RAT! by Shady Del Knight
I became a Dell rat in 1965 at the age of fifteen. Disparaging rumors about the place had been circulating for years. If you were to believe the gossip the Dell was a snake pit where bad boys and bad girls went to do bad things. Some people, including my mother, referred to the Dell as a “den of iniquity.” Intrigued by the horror stories, I was determined to get there and see for myself what all the fuss was about.
In preparation for my grand entrance, I subjected myself to weeks of rigorous training at a Shady Dell boot camp of my own devise. I grew my hair longer and took up the smoking habit. I practiced in front of a mirror until I was convinced that my stance, walk, and dancing style were all cool.
To complete my extreme makeover, I went shopping for my 'uniform' which consisted of a tapered shirt from the Hub, slacks by H.I.S. and two wardrobe essentials: a pair of blue Jack Purcell sneakers and the all-important Baracuta jacket "Made in England." Wearing my 'Cuta' made me feel so terribly, terribly British, you know. Spot on for us bird watchin' blokes, right gov'na?
'JACKS'
AN ABSOLUTE MUST...FOR DANCIN' ON DELL DUST!
THE CLASSIC NATURAL COLOUR BARACUTA
STRICTLY CONTINENTAL, MATE!
Moment of Truth: Boy Meets Dell
Too young to drive, I made my first Dell visit happen by bumming a ride one night with my college-age cousin and two of his buddies. Clearly, none of the above was thrilled to be babysitting.
As we drove past York Hospital on South George and headed toward Violet Hill, what began as giddy anticipation was turning to apprehension. Fear of the unknown started creeping into my brain. What if the rumors turned out to be true? Would I soon be sharing a needle with a gang of rowdy bikers?
At Violet Hill, we made a dogleg turn to the right and began to climb the narrow, winding, bumpy Starcross Road. By this time my breathing had become labored and I felt queasy. It was as if, on a foolish dare, I had agreed to spend the night with Vincent Price in his House on Haunted Hill. Was it too late to leap from the car and bolt?
"I See the Lights... I See the Party Lights..."
We rounded a bend and I caught my first glimpse of her a short distance up the road. Perched on the hillside was a three-story brick house. Down to the left stood a barn. The festive glow of colored lights rose skyward from an area behind the house. As I would soon learn, the atmospheric illumination originated from strings of lanterns hanging above a patio rigged with remote speakers for outdoor dancing.
As we banked to make our final approach I detected the percussive beat of uptempo music emanating from the barn. We turned left into a gravel parking lot overflowing with vehicles. Here, in all of her rustic splendor, stood the infamous Shady Dell, my destination for the evening and my obsession for years to come!
I Found My Thrill on Violet Hill
My heart was thumping as we climbed the steps that led to the entrance and approached the admission booth. Following my cousin’s lead, I slid a quarter through the window and looked up to see a balding, bespectacled old man grinning back at me. Old? John Ettline would have been 59 at the time. I'm older than that now. Yikes!
“Good evening, gentlemen!” John delivered his cheerful salutation in a booming baritone. Immediately, my anxiety vanished. John’s warm welcome made me feel right at home. It made me feel like I belonged. I didn’t get it at the time but later came to realize that John’s presupposition that we were "gentlemen" was a clever and tactful way of admonishing us to behave accordingly.
Toto, I've a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore!
From the moment I entered the compound I was hooked. The Shady Dell was a private playground for teenagers - a candy land - a fun factory - a safe haven where kids could congregate and blow off steam without having to worry about parents and teachers giving them the evil eye. Instantly I became intoxicated - not by alcohol - but by a sense of total freedom. The place gave off a vibe that was completely new to me – an exhilarating blend of romance, adventure and danger!
Instead of placing a ton of restrictions on their young patrons, John and Helen granted them the independence they craved. The Ettlines were willing to take a step back and trust our judgment. It was okay for us to party as long as things didn’t get out of hand. Most of us eagerly embraced that arrangement. If and when we screwed up, the Ettlines gave us another chance. John and Helen cut you plenty of slack, but if you disrespected them or trashed their establishment both were capable of unleashing a fiery temper.
Of Rats and Men
Contrary to popular belief, the Dell did not harbor gangs of juvenile delinquents eager to conceal their wicked deeds from law enforcement. Sorry, Mom - there weren’t any guns, switchblades or brass knuckles - no gangs, career criminals or prostitutes - just a bunch of ordinary teenagers who loved to meet, mix and mingle, dance and have fun.
Fights were few and far between. There was tacit agreement that it was our duty to preserve and protect the unique setting that the Ettlines had created for us. It required us to police ourselves to prevent incidents that would generate negative publicity or hassles with the law. Scuffles were settled quickly, often through John’s bold intervention. The first lesson a guy learned at the Dell was as follows. Don’t let the gray hair fool you. Nobody messes with John. He’s the boss!
A Special Welcome to All Incoming Freshmen!
I was punched in the face three times during my first year of matriculation on the campus of the Shady Dell School of Hard Knocks. Apparently a few of the guys were determined to teach me a lesson. Yet, getting socked in the kisser did not dampen my enthusiasm or scare me away from the place. In fact they had the opposite effect. They whet my appetite for more! As a Dell newbie desperate to break free of mom’s apron strings and earn respect and acceptance, I wasn’t about to let a bloody nose deter me. For the first time in my life I felt like a man instead of a boy and I loved it. Like Secret Agent Man I was living a life of danger. I was addicted to the rush!
Determined to create an image that would allow me to blend in, appeal to the ladies and avoid becoming a frequent target of the tribe's dominant males, I did a lot of posing, posturing and pretending. I decided that it would be advantageous for me to look tough even though I wasn't. Whenever I strolled into the dance hall, I made sure that my hair was messed up, my shirt tail was hanging out, a lit cigarette was dangling from my lips and my game face was on.
One afternoon before anybody else arrived, my best friend and I rolled around on the dance floor of the barn so that we could properly break-in our new Baracuta jackets by getting them coated with Dell dust. This drove my mother crazy. She kept asking me how I got my jacket so badly soiled. She was even more perplexed when I forbade her to get it cleaned. How could I explain to her that I didn’t want to risk weakening my status with the other guys by wearing a clean jacket?
In my mom’s day the ideal guy wore a white sport coat and a pink carnation. His hair was neatly cropped, oiled down and slicked back off his forehead. That look would have spelled social suicide at the Dell in the mid 60s. My goal was to look like I had just been in a fight at reform school, and if I got my uniform dirty or bloodied in combat, it was a GOOD thing.
Helen & John Ettline
Shady Dell Owners
Helen and John: Not Your Typical Mom and Pop
Even by mid 60s standards, John Ettline seemed part of a vanishing breed of men. John never called me by my first name. He always chose to address me as “Mr. Knight." John maintained that friendly formality through all the years I knew him. I’m very glad he did. John always made me feel important when he added the title “Mr.” to my name. Making insecure teenagers feel good about themselves was John’s greatest gift. He always treated young people with dignity and respect and that made them want to return it.
Along with his outstanding people skills, John possessed a photographic memory. He could always match a face with a name. He seemed to know a lot about anything or anybody that you happened to be discussing. John Ettline had a million stories to tell - all of them interesting.
Although old enough to be our grandparents, there was no generation gap between the Ettlines and their teenage guests. They seemed to remember better than other grown-ups what it was like to be young. John and Helen stayed in touch and in tune with the youth culture. Never was that more in evidence than one day at the York Fair in September, 1968. I was sitting in the grandstand awaiting the start of the James Brown concert. I turned around to search the crowd for familiar faces and there, a few rows behind me, sat Helen and John. In a year when racial tension was running high in York and elsewhere, it was remarkable to see a white couple in their 60s at a James Brown concert, chanting along with the rest of us, “Say It Loud: I’m Black and I’m Proud!”
John and Helen were cool. Young people felt at ease talking with them. Unlike many adults, John and Helen listened to us. They cared without preaching or judging. The Ettlines treated their teen visitors like extended family. They believed in the potential of every young person, including troubled youth from broken homes. They spoke to us about the value of an education and honest hard work. They sponsored athletic programs and honored America’s armed forces. They shaped young lives by instilling a sense of pride and self esteem. John and Helen went out of their way to make all of their kids feel like somebody - even those whose families were telling them they were nobody.
The Dell Jukebox: ALL KILLER AND NO FILLER!
Upon arriving on the Dell scene I soon realized that the jukebox in the dance hall was loaded with the greatest, most danceable records to be found anywhere. There were quite a few songs that I had never heard before and would never hear anywhere else. The music mix that played nightly at the Dell was consistently better than what I was hearing on the radio. In the mid 60s the Dell's musical menu was an exciting blend of Motown, Chi-town, New York and Philly soul, Memphis, southern R&B, blue-eyed soul, Brit beat, sunshine pop, garage, psych and folk-rock plus a few do-wop favorites held over from the 50s.
Shady Dell regulars, the gang I now refer to as the Rodentia Intelligentsia, prided themselves on having radar for cool. Year in and year out they discovered and popularized songs that radio stations across the country overlooked. Records that lingered near the bottom of the national chart often became cherished classics at the Dell. Forgotten flips were elevated to mega-hit status by Dell rats unfettered by the limitations of radio play lists.
Certain songs resonated with the Dell crowd to such an extent that they stayed on the jukebox for years. The best example of this phenomenon is the record ranked #1 on my survey of the 200 Greatest Hits Of The Shady Dell. It remained one of the most popular jukebox selections a dozen years after its initial release in the 50s. That very special song, the greatest and longest lasting Shady Dell hit of all time, was "Close Your Eyes" by the Five Keys.
THE FIVE KEYS
"Close Your Eyes" Ranked #1
Del-Chords & Magnificent Men
Another mighty evergreen at the Shady Dell was "Everybody’s Gotta Lose Someday," an intense, power-packed r&b/soul ballad by the Del-Chords, a racially mixed group from York. Released in 1964, the record was still being played heavily two years later, jamming the floor with slow dancers several times a night. Dave Bupp and Buddy King, lead vocalists from the Del-Chords, eventually merged with band members of Harrisburg’s Endells to form a blue-eyed soul group called the Magnificent Men. The “Mag Men,” as we called them, were white guys who had a passion for black music and the vocal talent and musicianship to authentically perform it. Their inspiring ballad "Peace of Mind" was the first in an impressive string of Dell hits for our hometown heroes.
Magnificent Men
HEAVY HITTERS AT THE DELL!
The Emperors of Harrisburg
Records by the Emperors, another home-grown act, were also enormously popular with Dell dancers. A black group from the state capital, the Emperors were exponents of the “Harrisburg sound,” a blend of r&b, soul, garage and Latin influences. "Karate," the Emperors’ best known recording, was the first of eight raw, funky, organ-driven numbers to achieve hit status at the Dell in 1966 and 1967.
THE EMPERORS
DELL ROYALTY - THEY RULED!
End of an Era
Once addicted to the Dell, I pretty much lived there until the fall of 1967 when I left York to attend an institution of higher learning. Over the next four years I visited my Dell family whenever possible during holidays, spring breaks, and summer vacations. My stint as a Dell rat officially ended in 1971 when I found a job in another city and moved away from York for good.
My final visit to the Dell came in March of 1984 when my career took me out of state. My last piece of business before leaving was to drop in at the Dell and say a final goodbye. I entered the house to find John sitting on a stool at the lunch counter reading the newspaper. “Well, hello stranger!” John bellowed, rising to his feet and extending his hand. “Long time no see, Mr. Knight!" After shaking hands with John and exchanging a few pleasantries, I inquired about Helen. I was stunned to learn that she had passed away a few weeks earlier. I never got the news! John and I stood alone in Helen’s snack bar, reminiscing about the good old days and lamenting how much things had changed since the Dell’s golden era.
After a brief chat with John I excused myself and walked down the sidewalk to check out the barn. The old dance hall was dimly lit and nearly vacant. The only customers were two boys with shoulder length hair standing by the jukebox with a couple of girls. No music was playing. The place was dead or, more accurately, in the final lonely stages of life. If it had been twenty years earlier, the joint would have been jumpin’. The four young people eyed me suspiciously. Is this guy a narc? I put myself in their combat boots and realized that the sight of a stranger in his mid thirties was probably making this new generation of Dell rats uncomfortable. I promptly exited the barn and returned to the house to bid farewell to John.
That night marked the last time I ever saw John or entered the Shady Dell. I made one final pilgrimage in 1988 when I returned to Pennsylvania to visit my parents. I drove up to the Dell one afternoon with every intention of going inside. I’m sure I would have encountered a smiling John Ettline and that he would have immediately remembered my name. Yet, I never got out of the car. I chose not to enter because I didn’t want to further contaminate my memories by seeing how much older John looked and how much more dilapidated the Dell had become. All I could do was sit there in the parking lot gazing at the barn, the house, the bench and the steps to the admission booth where the whole journey started. My mind flooded with a thousand memories of the people, the place, and the time of my life.
John Ettline closed the Dell in the fall of 1991. He died at the beginning of 1993. John’s family auctioned off the restaurant equipment, signage and other Dell paraphernalia in the spring of that year.
(Mike Argento's 1993 article in the York Daily Record was used as a reference source for portions of this cover story.)