En Vogue - Give It Up, Turn It Loose (1992)

If you turned on The Channel Formerly Known as MTV in 1992, you had a pretty good chance of catching an En Vogue music video.  In fact, if you watched any sitcoms in 1992, you had a pretty good chance of hearing a theme song by En Vogue.  Their sophomore album Funky Divas outsold their 1990 debut, spawning the top ten hits My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It), Giving Him Something He Can Feel and Free Your Mind.  All had amazing videos that were in heavy rotation, the latter winning 3 MTV Video Music Awards.  

Their fourth single, Give It Up, Turn It Loose, is an old-school jam offering sound advice for surviving heartbreak and bad relationships.  For the video, the girls hang out at a beauty salon in 1960s Harlem.  Initially I thought the video may have been filmed there, but an online article indicated it was shot on Hollywood Boulevard east of Highland Avenue.  Marcus Nispel, who spent most of the 90s directing music videos for such artists as Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson and Hi-Five, helmed the clip in black & white.

Give It Up, Turn It Loose was filmed in Los Angeles, CA

Location Visited: June 2021

Locations Master List

 

What’s Happening!! (1976-1979)

Hey, hey, hey!  Raj, Dwayne and Rerun are three African-American teens living in South Los Angeles.  They frequently gather at Frank's Place, where they're served up a healthy serving of sass by waitress Shirley Wilson.  Raj gets more sass at home from his precocious sister Dee while receiving healthy dosages of wisdom from his divorced mother Mabel.  

What's Happening is loosely based on the 1975 film Cooley High.  Squabbles behind the scenes, including higher salary demands from Fred Berry and disagreements of the show's direction from Mabel King, led to major changes and eventually an abrupt cancellation.  The series saw great success in...reruns and would return to syndicated television from 1985-1988 in the revival series What's Happening Now!

Location: The Thomas House

Address: formerly 1147 Tamarind Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

The house was torn down some time ago...

Location: Dwayne's House

Address: formerly 1343 Tamarind Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

Based on Google Maps, it appeared Dwayne's House was currently obscured by trees, but when I showed up, the house wasn't there at all.  Looks like I missed it by a few weeks.  At least the apartment complex next door is still recognizable...

Location: Rerun's House

Address: 1201 Tamarind Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

Rerun's house has been remodeled but it still recognizable.  Unfortunately a few small trees prevented me getting a good comparison shot...

Location: Hopping On The Truck

Address: Lexington Avenue & Tamarind Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

Locations Visited: June 2021

Locations Master List

Porky’s (1981)

A group of Florida high schoolers are on mission to lose their virginity.  Hoping to score a prostitute at the titular strip bar, they find themselves humiliated by the owner.  Hellbent on revenge, the gang concoct a plan and end up sinking Porky's into the Everglades but not before spying on their female classmates in the shower.

Bob Clark, who directed the horror classic Black Christmas, takes a stab ;-) at lowbrow comedy with the teen sex romp Porky's, which was based on his high school experience in 1950s Florida.  The film was mostly dismissed by critics but held the title of highest grossing Canadian film for 25 years.  Two sequels followed, but neither came ;-) close to the original.  Unfortunately not too many of the filming locations remain.  The exterior of Porky's was built in Oleanta State Park and Cherry Forever's house was built in Greynold's Park.  The interior of Porky's was a restaurant that has since been demolished.

Porky's was filmed in Miami, Miami Beach and Hollywood, FL

Location: Angel Beach High School

Address: 1424 Drexel Avenue, Miami Beach, FL  Feinberg Fisher Adult School

The egg and condom scenes were filmed on the other side of the adult school at the Feinberg Fisher K-8 Center at 1420 Washington Avenue...

Location: The Showers

Address: 2450 SW 1st Street, Miami, FL  Miami Senior High School

Location: Deadbeats

Address: 298 Arizona Street, Hollywood, FL   McGowan's Oceanside Tiki Bar

Locations Visited: March 2021

Locations Master List