Dinner inside a Wurlitzer at Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa, AZ
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- Опубліковано 3 жов 2024
- When my friends asked if I wanted to go for pizza inside a giant Wurlitzer organ, I naturally said heck yeah. What happened next was truly bonkers. America is just mental in the best way.
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The gentleman playing the organ, Charlie Balogh, recently passed away. He was amazing. RIP 😢
That's sad to hear! He was very talented.
Mario: Mamma Mia!
the video just does NOT do justice of how massive and magical this room really is.
Yes it does. No one wants to go to this schlockfest anymore. Look at all the empty seats.
I've heard only one. I must say iThe Mighty Wurlitzer is the original Stereo/HIFI of the early 20th century and is still the king!! Would love to hear this one someday.
You should have seen the original Organ Grinder restaurants. They made the Wurlitzer's absolutely sing. The whole restaurant shook.
I’ve been here it is so cool
@@Smokeless1167 when I was there it was packed af
We were very fortunate to have been to Organ Stop Pizza a few weeks before Charlie passed and had a chance to talk to him in person. RIP my friend.
I love it when someone is exposed to a theater organ for the first time. Like this gentleman. You can see the wonderment and happiness the instrument brings him. Which is exactly what a theater organ should do.
This and trains. Great stuff.
RIP, Charlie. You were well loved.
Oh My Goodness!
Happy to see another Wurlitizer preserved and available to the public. Hats off the the business owners.
FYI...the 3 current owners all started as bus boys, dishwashers, etc and 40 years later it's still going strong
I live like two miles from this place and have been there, this is more than eccentric Americanism. This is a world class organ for which only a few on the planet exist. This company just chose an odd venue for which to display it.
Same
@Lucy! Yes! To go to their website, google "Organ Stop Pizza" where you'll find their address and hours of operation.
@Lucy! Yes, he did. However, they have a fewl organists who rotate playing, as well as occasional guest organists from around the country. They just hired a new staff organist a couple weeks ago. All of them are awesome musicians and entertainers!
I live near Seattle, but my wife and I plan to have dinner there again next month. :-D All of the Pizza and Pipes places near us are no longer in business. :(
It sounds like that it's more worth it in real life than on camera I wish there was one near me but I live in Missouri
@@Nathan-ue5xq pppppppppp
What people need to understand is that this ENTIRE BUILDING is the organ. You can walk around and see different parts of it. Too bad you missed the organ rising out of the floor when he starts.
If you like stereo music, this is the place to go. There's organ pipes wrapped around the full interior, including the balcony The instrument is a 4-rank organ and they say there's over 7,000 pipes, which puts it right up there with the biggest Wurlitzers in the world.
We live in Mesa and my wife and I go here often. Our favorite place to go. We usually get there on the second set and stay to closing. No one mentioned they have a decent salad bar. We love the music and the dancing cats. Great place for an evening entertainment!
I grew up going to the original Organ Stop Pizza in Central Phoenix in the late 70s, 80s, & 90s. When ever family and friends visited from back east my parents took them there. They closed that one and another in Mesa combined all the musical instruments from the two and build this one big place. We're in the far North Phoenix area, and only get over there about twice a year. It's worth the drive, and the pizza is really really good! Glad to see a Brit enjoying the wild wild west!
Honestly their is still nothing in life so far that brings as much joy to me as when I see the curtain rise to reveal the cat puppets as Allet Cat plays
We've been there several times as snowbirds from Minnesota ... the cats make me laugh every time. A SERIOUSLY good time in store for you if you go ...
Amen
I have two Hammonds with Leslies, but this thing is crazy! We moved to Phoenix and I was told by a friend that I had to see this! I walked in and heard what sounded like a steam engine starting up and this guy comes rising out of the pit with this monster organ. He went into Chattanooga Choo Choo and shook the freaking building with enough low end to rival any rock concert! It's bonkers for sure!
The organist playing is the great Charlie Balogh. There were several Wurlitzer pizza restaurants in Michigan back in the 70's through the 90's. Charlie played in the Roaring 20's restaurant in Kentwood Michigan and later owned the restaurant known then as Good Time Charlies. After that closed, the Wurlitzer was saved and installed in the Grand Rapids Public Museum where concerts are still performed on it several times a year.
My parents took my brother and I to the Kentwood (Grand Rapids area) Roaring 20s often. They own many vinyl records that were recorded there (I really need to get them digitized). I've yet to hear it played at GRPM.
Charlie was one of the best. What a great experience you had. This is still on my bucket list growing up being completely inspired by one of his albums pipes plus on HIS organ and then as well by Jonas Nordall on the Portland Oregon organ grinder that i never got to see.
These old “pipe organ pizza” places became sort of an awesome mid century fad across the states when organs were being scrapped from old theaters left & right. Amazing places to visit as a kid.
I went here as a kid and I could have sworn this place was a fever dream. Turns out it was real!
I grew up eating here and haven't seen it since I moved away 17 years ago. It's exactly how I remember it. They even still have the creepy cat puppets! 10/10 thanks for the memories
My diet would be entirely pizza with such a place nearby!
What an amazing instrument.
Amazed at some of your comments :) These machines were in so many cinemas in the UK in the 1930's. In fact, it's a Brit invention (just like the Jet engine) This particular one has obviously been modified to take all the normal percussion and drums outside the chambers, yes many cinemas had a piano attachment too! Be proud that it's one of your motherland's inventions! This particular one is of course an amalgam of many conserved and specially chosen pipes, with a new console built in the USA. It is currently the largest of it's type publicly seen daily and is played by a team of WORLD CLASS organists! Imagine rubbing your tummy patting your head, tapping a foot on the off beat, controlling some hundreds of tabs and buttons, with ten fingers and both feet .....all in the blink of an eye. That is what it takes! Glad you are impressed, you should be....only supermen (or women) can handle it!
Hate to break it to you but Pipe Organs were NOT a Brit invention. The first pipe organs were conceived and built in Greece around 200 BC.
Wow, not many Wurlitzer organs exist today I am 17 and work as a theater organist at a local theater in New York. Started piano at 4 and organ at 11 good to see that there is still a chance for the rest of the remaining organs to live to this day and much more
Daniel, Our Church is 105 years old this coming May. We have a Wurlitzer pipe organ console in the Choir Loft, and the pipes are stored up in the steeple chase, I have no idea why the organ was decommissioned, We also have a Wurlitzer analog organ that is not working properly I am missing an entire octave on the swell , so I record the music I need on My Home organ and transfer it to CD to use in Church. I sure wish that We would or could bring that pipe organ back to life ! Kevin
my dad bought a Hammond B3 way back In the late 60's and now my nephew has it and it is still in Mint condition
The national convention for the American Theatre Organ Society (ATOS) will be held in Rochester/Buffalo in July 2019. Hope you can attend to hear some amazing artists and terrific instruments! Also, if you've never heard of legendary theatre organist George Wright, check out my website: www.GeniusOfGeorgeWright.com :-)
also my sisters first husband was a musical genius and was quoted as the best organist in America and he played mostly progressive jazz
but he could play any type of music and once I asked him what kind of music he likes and he said everything except hip hop and rap and I agreed
We had a local man that had the restaurant organ power pizza in 1981.he first was in kearney Mesa and later he had a music store in lemon grove already. He then decided to close the store and transfer his large wulitzer to the store and ope a restaurant the building was originally the first indoor theater in lemon grove so it was still a portion of the theater. So he opened his restaurant down here and I remember a few Saturday nights we as a family including my grandmother and grandfather included and you had long picnic style tables and you would have your pizza and they served pitchers of coke for the kids and beer pitchers for the adults if they wanted. And it was such a nice place the pipes which some were as long as 25 ft would surround the theater and wow would that place just viberate.unfortunately it close a few years later but what a unique place where you could have a good clean time. I had not thought of that place in years until I saw the video of this place. I hope it's still in business. If anyone remembers the restaurant in lemon grove ca please post it here I would like to know what ever happened to the organ and the owner I don't know his last name. I do however remember first name was Tom also he went by Tommy he was the player of the organ as well. Brought back a good memory.
I lived in Glendale, so my folks never wanted to drive over there, but a couple classmates had birthdays there, so I got to go those times. It was great.
Place has been in business for a long time. I remember having birthday parties there when I was a kid. Really cool to see my own kid blown away by it when we visit.
This is why I love America!
Wintergatan would certainly love to have a dinner here inside this giant palace of music.
Oh my goodness, this brought back so many memories when I was a kid. There was a pizza place in my town with an organ and I LOVE going there. They also had a toy train that circled above you around the perimeter of the restaurant. It sadly closed down, but this place reminds me of it!!! How rad!! Thanks for sharing!
Bet you're talking about Tucson, and the Organ Stop that used to be on Tanque Verde. They were part of the same "chain". I never knew why that one closed.
We had one in Fort Wayne, Indiana and it was my favorite place to eat. (I was a kid then) Sadly it too closed, and is now a bingo parlor.
Bro i remember going here every once in a while when i was younger and watching this is making me tear up man 😭
I miss Paramount Music Palace in Indianapolis, this place in AZ modeled their organ layout after the Indy restaurant layout. Apparently even the pizza number board here is the original one from Indy. Grew up going to Music Palace when I was a kid for pizza and ice cream. Unfortunately it closed in the 90s. I'll have to come to AZ to see this one and bring back some of those memories.
This place is on my bucket list! I don't even have one but Organ Stop Pizza is the first one on the list!
I've been to the Organ Stop, and its quite its own experience. The emporium is only open from 4PM to 8PM, and the Mighty Wurlitzer is only active from 4:30 to around 7:30. There is a rotating cadre of 5 (!!) organists, and they solicit requests from the audience as to what they should play. I requested "St. Louis Blues" and "The Fanfare To The William Tell Overture," and a couple other rousing pieces, and all of them were played. The Wurlitzer in the building has (as I recall) over 6,000 pipes, and the trumpet section was right behind my right ear in the balcony. And, it must be said that in addition to their fabulous organ, they have excellent pizzas too.
I used to live a few miles out from this place and I went there a few times as a child. Don't have many memories of it now, but when it's safer to do so I'd love to see if my family and I can go there again.
I paid a visit here when I was on a driving trip from San Diego to San Antonio a few years back. I only got to hear a half-hour of selections before closing but it was worth the one-hour side trip from our planned route.
Thw theater ORGAN is NOT DEAD. Most of us have no idea just what it is. And , just what it can do. Theater Organ was and is still AWESOME ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ~
as a local those kitty cats mean EVERYTHING to me
I showed this to a friend who's visiting Mesa soon and he also went nuts over the dancing cats!! What's better than that?!!
I didn't know it still existed. I thought it died with the 80's.
It's a Pipe Organ, it can play anything from Ragtime, to Hymns, you name it.
we flew from arizona to visit family, and to meet my baby cousins and aunt for the first time. i looked at my sister, and said, phantom of the opera would sound amazing in here. MERE SECONDS LATER HE PLAYS PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. r.i.p. charlie, i met him and had the wonderful honor to speak with him for a few minutes, and he was such a kind, talented man.❤️❤️
We use to visit the Paramount Music Palace Indianapolis, Indiana back in the 1970s. It had a Wurlitzer pipe organ. Same concept as Organ Stop pizza. It closed in the 1990s because someone with a lot of money wanted the property where the PMP sat. The organ got sold off to another Pizza restaurant in Florida. That closed and now, no one knows where the organ is.
The console is returning to its original home, the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California.
I used to visit that very same place! I was mesmerized by the size and power of that organ. I used to have some recordings of it in action.
I miss Paramount Music Palace, and was there for the final day it was open. I visited the organ later when it was in Florida, and have wanted to see it again wherever it ends up. This AZ place is basically a copy of Music Palace and I'll have to visit it for some great memories.
This is... everything! lol
The console disappearing into the stage just beats all. Gotta go see this thing in real life, looks like an awesome show!
IT's MAGICAL
I knew this organ back when it lived in Good Time Charley's in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A very memorable place.
I remember it as well, plus the previous versions of Roaring 20s and Noodles.
The organist shown in this video is Charlie Balogh. He was an organist at the Grand Rapids location for many years, moving to Arizona after the Grand Rapids location closed. Sadly he passed away a few years ago from a stroke.
i must visit mesa arizona one day to see this! all the pizza and pipes around my childhood has shut down sadly.
Parts of the Organ Grinder in Portland were used to build this.... makes me feel a little better knowing that they're still making music
Some of the Portland system (including its Wurlitzer) wound up in a music hall in Massachusetts.
@@dan_hitchman007 thats awesome. At least its still making walls vibrate
ok I love tis place.... it's my heaven.
I have been there.It is insane.I can't help wonder if Rick Wakeman has ever been there.I'm sure he would have a ball with this organ.I actually saw him play the Mighty Wurlitzer at Radio City Music Hall in N.Y.C during a Yes show in the early 2000's.
That's amazing! I would love to see him visit this place :-)
Probably. I know that when Matthew Bason was out here he played it. Christian Cartwright plays it when he comes out.
We had one of these over here in Ohio just outside Cincinnati. I was a teenager and it was awful even back then in 1984. Domino's ran an ad campaign that was hilarious and used organ-playing pizza restaraunts as the punchline. I cannot believe these places still exist.
Pizza and Pipes, Redwood City CA!!! Great times loved when he did the sounds of a Train
Ive been there for my school fundraiser, the same place and the same guy playing the organ, he is really nice and i got to talk to him. It was a drama clun fundraisor for the play i was in and I was drama club president and I got to meet the guy, its was so cool!
Was there on my trip in 2015. Arizona is a place I want to go back to.
We had a place like this in Indy YEARS ago.
This is really cool
Paramount Music Palace!
i loved seeing your absolute delight and joy at experiencing this magnificent instrument in all it's grandeur. I grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana and there was a similar place there in the early 1980's called Paramount Pizza Palace. It too had a massive Wurlitzer Pipe Organ, and was just as spectacular as this place was. Sadly, that venue was torn down and the organ split up into many pieces. I wish there was a place like this near Chicago. I'd be a regular there.
Well said!
I miss Paramount Music Palace too, this place actually used the Indy location as a model for their organ and restaurant design. It looks exactly like PMP, the only thing I don't remember in Indy was those puppets.
My organ teacher told me about this restaurant. I would love to play there one day.
THIS is a pizza parlor. Sadly, to have a pizza parlor obtain an organ, it has to be at least 2 floors or higher since you need the space for the pipes.
Love Organ Stop Pizza! Can't wait to get back.
We are excited! Very soon from Melville Saskatchewan to Mesa, Arizona! Our 2nd time around.
You are 5:05 Welcome, I'm sure. There is an abundance of cra cra here, but please come back soon. You ain't seen the tip of the ice berg yet. Glad you enjoyed Organ Stop Pizza!. No telling what you'll see on your next visit. Bring friends and just tell them the USA is like visiting a circus! It's no lie, that's fer sure.
Thanks! I live here now so I'm getting a great first hand experience!
@@peanutismint I never recommended that. You might live to regret it. However, you take life with a rich attitude. You'll be fine. Hope you've mastered driving on the fright side of he road. As time passes, you'll realize all the lights and signs.... well, most gaze at them, chuckle and understands these things are only suggestions. Feel free to drive where your car will allow for a safe passage. I had destroyed my Jeep a few years back from driving it over railroad tracks too much. The fastest way...one line between two points works. No airplane, so I used AmTrak lines when there are no trains. I do yield for them, and still use those lines in my need to get between 2 points, but FAST.
This is just like the Paramount Music Palace that was in Indianapolis. It's been closed since the early 90s, but so glad to see something from my childhood! I may have to make a trip to AZ!
I miss Music Palace too, I'm gonna have to go out and see this one since it's nearly identical. The Indy organ moved to Florida for awhile but that place closed too.
These old Gals need a Comeback. We need more "Feel at home" Lodges again, Dance Halls & Roadside dinners!!! 2:28 this just screams the ROARING 20s... Sounds of what a Wonderful life it must have been.
Oh the mighty Wurlitzer!!! We used to have organs in California but. Haven't seen one in over 30 years. A pipe Organ that is.
Michelle Mankin Mee There's quite a few still. Just need to know where to look.
We have the 4 manual, 41 rank Wurlitzer in the Berkeley Community Theatre that is used for concerts. It's one of the finest in the country. There are numerous theatre organs playing in SoCal.
It is really great this instrument has as complete a "toy department" as I've ever heard. I think I even hear a Wurlitzer Brass Trumpet - I can't tell from the recording - they were exceptional - can anyone confirm this?. When I was in Toronto for a pipe organ builder's convention (1988?) Herr Laukhauff, myself, and a couple other people went to a pizza joint with a Wurlitzer. The young man playing the instrument was astounding - reminded me of when I met Keith Chapman in 1973 at Wanamaker's (he played the entire sound track to 'The Sound of Music' at my request when only 5 pistons on that organ worked- tragic loss to all he flew his plane into a mountain.) Me, being a stupid Yankee, asked the young man at the Canadian pizza place to play 'The Stars and Stripes forever'. The observation was made to me, in spite of how wonderful this young man played, of just how quiet the place had become !!! Next time, it's 'God Save the Queen' ! Sometimes we Americans really are idiots without even knowing it. Forgive us, as we will fight and risk death for your freedom as well.
As for you, "Peanut Turner", learn the instrument. I took it up in 1966 at age 16 and I have never regretted it. Neither will you or anyone reading this. The organ is not the hardest to play, but it is the hardest to play musically. Listen to this and tell me you don't want the joy of making this kind of music forever: ua-cam.com/video/K7gMDXylzW8/v-deo.html
Trust me, you weren't inside the organ. If you were, and it were played, you'd be deaf now.
This brings back so many childhood memories
Great video! Makes up for me not bringing a video camera when i was out there. You recorded it in just the way I would have.
I gave the organist that night a pretty obscure request and he pulled it off brilliantly.
Amazing! Looking forward to having our Family Reunion here in 3 weeks!
Wowowwwowww! I didn't think these kinds of restaurants existed anymore, so I thank you deeply for pointing me to Mesa, AZ!
There are only 3 such places left, and this is by far the grandest.
We have been here several times. The organ replacement would cost $5 million.
There was a pizza place like this back home, and it was my favorite place to go as a kid. My mom said the food sucked, and thats why it closed.i always wondered what happened to the organ, and I had bad visions of it being destroyed. Fortunately it was sold and moved to Washington.
That gave me chills!!!
Great childhood memory. So perfectly bizarre.
Hey thanks! And I loved you in Godzilla! :-D
Used to go to the Music Palace in Indianapolis all the time. Same organ. Wonder where it got moved to.
Used to be one in California. I miss the old days
Excellent! 👌🏽
As I remember Tucson tried this out for a couple years (I think in the early '70's) but it didn't catch the public's attention like it should.
I was there tonight. Great place. Also it was the same guy.
Theater Organ is NOT Dead .!
Theatre Organ is Still Alive!
Gadzooks! That is music there folks!
This is incredible. I gotta go here.
The late, great Charlie Balogh! 😢
Awesome!
today a lady friend of mine lives in Arizona and has been to this restaurant
I wish I could play like that.
I remember going there last year
going for my birthday this sunday!
What about stereo? Or Dolby surround sound.
This everywhere sound
Creepy cat puppets!!!!
Been there! It is amazing!
i've been here before on a band field trip since i live half an hour away and it was actually so amazing to see live 😩
Charlie Balogh is a maestro!
Charlie Balogh’s Death
For all you viewers who want to hear more, check out Steve Ashley's two podcasts *Hotpipes* - 30 and 60 minute Shows - where he features this organ and hundreds of others from around the world. His website is at *hotpipes.eu* and the archive is downloadable. He'll take requests, and donations are always welcome.
Omg I was legit there just yesterday!
With the same composer too!
After growing up in Portland, Oregon with the Organ Grinder, this mostly white and very sterile looking environment just doesn't look right. It's like they found some new modern building to house this super classic idea and it just seems way too formal. Its pretty, but this would do nothing at all to bring back memories from my childhood.
Just happy to see a place like this up and running though.
That's quite a managery !
There was a place call pizza and pipes with pretty much the same set up in ellenton Florida
I would love to see this theatre organ in this pizza parlour.
Dude you didnt even apriciate the pizza and lemmy tell you that stuffs GOOOOD there are to many reasons everyone should go here!
The pizza was mediocre. Probably above average by Mesa AZ standards :-D but hey any pizza is pretty great.
Just was there😎
lol i live 3 minutes away from there
Thanks for making this video. Years ago there was a similar place in San Diego called Organ Power Pizza. Actually there were four. And its probably already added to these comments, but here's a list of restaurant pipe organs www.hotpipes.eu/Restaurant-Organ-List.html
I used to go there all the time with my grandparents!!
They have some good ass pizza
Keep in mind this is a cash only establishment
There old puppets though, you can tell because how rugged they are and exposed parts to them.