Van Halen @ Detroit-area McDonald's in 1978

[lafontaine]

McDonalds in Des Plaines, Illinois Street View

The large building behind is McDonalds world headquarters.

Nothing seems to match the photo.

The McDonalds Museum is on Lee St in Des Plaines. It is now closed

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11370

[jcole]

The McDonalds Museum is on Lee St in Des Plaines. It is now closed

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11370

The building doesn't have the arches that the one is Des Plaines has. And the arch is differnt. The pic supposedly from Detroit says "Licensee of" and doesn't have the .15 cent part.

[Jimaz]

The McDonalds Museum is on Lee St in Des Plaines. It is now closed

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11370

Thanks. Good article. I was way off.

Here's the Street View of that location.

It still doesn't seem to match the photo.

[cmwiley2]

Hello from St. Louis. I ran across a group in Facebook, that is local to St. Louis, and there was a post of this pic of Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth, from the late 70's, in front of McDonald's. A couple dozen people from STL said or agreed the photo from the book Van Halen: A Visual History 1978 - 1984, was mis-identified as being from a McDonald's located in the Greater Detroit area. The pic is actually take at a McDonald's in Crestwood MO. I went searching for the McDonald's, since the world is at our fingertips, for the McDonald's in Detroit or even Des Plaines IL, outside Chicago, which some say is where the picture was taken. That's how I found this Detroit Area group. What I'm seeing here, is no one in Detroit is really sure where this McDonald's is located. The current Des Plaines, IL site, the street and surroundings look nothing like the pic. What you guys here are telling me, is there are no memories or a definitive current day location in the Detroit area that resembles the 40 year old pic. I would like to present an image from Google street view of the oldest McDonald's in the St. Louis area on historic Rt. 66[[Watson Rd.) in Crestwood MO. Back in the day, it had the old style sign as shown in the pic. The location is still a McDonald's today. Next to this McDonald's is a Shell/Circle K Gas station. Back in the 70's though, it was a Site Oil gas station. Site was all around the STL area as the founder Alvin J. Siteman, the founder of the company, was from STL. Although many/most of the businesses on this stretch of Watson Rd. have changed over the years, the Power poles in the background are the same. Someone posted, earlier in this thread, that they wondered if the photographer misidentified the location of this picture. I think they were correct in their assumption. By the way, this McDonald's location in St. Louis, is located about 1 mile west of the oldest continuous format Rock Station in the country, KSHE 95 FM, founded in 1967. It makes sense that Alex and David Lee could have stopped by the station on one of their many stops in St. Louis. I made a composite photo of 2 pics, one from the book and one from Google SV from 2016. I also copied the power/telephone poles, from the background, side-by-side in the pic on the left....they match. I think this is pretty compelling that the pic was taken at the Crestwood, MO Mcdonald's and not in Detroit or Des Plains [[Chicago).

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.5566...7i13312!8i6656

[EastsideAl]

Very interesting summation, and very convincing. However, there is one sticking point. VH played St. Louis on April 1, 1978, and according to NOAA historical weather records the temperature there on that date was a high of 71 and a low of 57, with highs in the 70s and 80s on the previous 3 days. So the obvious snow on the ground and the jackets don't really match up.

They returned to St. Louis on the second leg of the tour on Sept. 16, but there certainly wouldn't have been any snow there then either. I saw the soundcheck for the show here in Detroit at Cobo Arena 2 days before that on Sept. 14 [[they were opening for Black Sabbath on that leg of the tour) and then stood outside and sold tickets, and it definitely wasn't anywhere near freezing then.

[jcole]

Found this pic with a license plate; not a 1978 MI plate. They were red white and blue that year, but it could be a historical plate or something. I can't make out the state on it.
http://www.rockandrollgallery.com/ca...VH-RU-004.html

[jcole]

Here's the artist catalog with the Van Halen shots and catalog numbers; they all reflect that they were taken in Detroit area
http://www.rockandrollgallery.com/ca...rd_upper7.html

[EastsideAl]

Found this pic with a license plate; not a 1978 MI plate. They were red white and blue that year, but it could be a historical plate or something. I can't make out the state on it.
http://www.rockandrollgallery.com/ca...VH-RU-004.html

In '76, '77 & '78 Michigan used the distinctive and well-remembered bicentennial plates [[with stickers for '77 & '78). I still have the one off of my 1967 Ford pickup, reused as part of a hat rack.



Getting back to an earlier discussion, that certainly looks a lot more like a 1978 Illinois plate than it does either a Michigan or Missouri [[black with yellow letters) one.



Another question brought up by that photo: what is that structure in the lot behind the McDonalds? Could that be a clue?

[cmwiley2]

I had the same issue. That is a lot of snow for STL, but not uncommon to have piles like that on occasion. With the way they were criss-crossing the States on this tour, I could see them possibly passing thru on an off date, and doing a radio interview at KSHE, that didn't coincide with a tour stop. The background matches up exactly with the pic. The Site Station and the telephone poles that match like a fingerprint, that are still there today.

[cmwiley2]

The location of the McDonald's in STL/Crestwood is about a 25 minute drive from Illinois. Illinois plates are common around there.

[jcole]

Looks like Diamond Dave in the drivers seat of that car; you can see the bushy hair in the window. I wonder if they drove into town?

[jcole]

The thing that still makes me think it's around Detroit is the actual photog's catalog says all of the pics are in Detroit

[cmwiley2]

Do you think the photographer was with them? Looks like Dave, Eddie and a 3rd unknown person, not in the pictures. It looks like they were on a road trip driving the early 70’s Plymouth Duster with IL plates. Their level of fame at this point in their careers, wouldn’t justify a hired photog following them around.

[carolcb]

I thought it looked like an Illinois plate as well - and I still have my parent's bicentennial plate - hanging in the garage with all the rest.

[jcole]

Yes, I would think the photog was with them or he plagarized the photos. He has his brand on them and the details of what film, etc, he used to take them. That particular photog was young at that time too. He was hired by record companies to do the promos; not by the artists themselves. This was VH first tour and they were doing promotion for their first single

Do you think the photographer was with them? Looks like Dave, Eddie and a 3rd unknown person, not in the pictures. It looks like they were on a road trip driving the early 70’s Plymouth Duster with IL plates. Their level of fame at this point in their careers, wouldn’t justify a hired photog following them around.

[MikeM]

This was VH first tour and they were doing promotion for their first single

If this was a promo tour for the single, as the website says, then the concert tour dates may be irrelevant, and the photo could be in St Louis other than in April. Or Detroit not in March.

[cmwiley2]

Tske a look at these side by side pics of the front of the bldgs almost 40 yrs later. Are they the same?

BTW, Ronald sez Hi! This is the original Ronald McDonald from 1963!

[jcole]

If this was a promo tour for the single, as the website says, then the concert tour dates may be irrelevant, and the photo could be in St Louis other than in April. Or Detroit not in March.

The photog gallery website says it's Detroit, so

[MikeM]

The photog gallery website says it's Detroit, so

I was adding to your post in responding to Al's post about the weather.

[jcole]

Sorry, I see it now.

I was adding to your post in responding to Al's post about the weather.

[jcole]

That McD's reminds me a lot of the one on 9 Mile near Kelly that I used to go to in the 70's. I don't remember if there was a gas station nearby though

[Colombian Dan]

Hola amigos en Detroit. As an ex pat living in Bogota Colombia I've been following this post. After a bit of research online, in my opinion these photos were taken at the McDonalds at: 9915 Watson Rd, St. Louis, MO 63126. CMWILEY2 is correct. EastsideAL, did you forget your weather history? 1978 doesn't ring a bell? Not only Detroit but most of the mid west, including St Louis got slammed that winter into March with heavy snow. On March 8th 1978 St Louis got hammered with 9 inches on top of an already crazy winter. So a few days in the 70s wont affect the snow too much on the ground. Also, heavy coats to many might be needed with all that snow on the ground; would still feel chilly. Also, from the Google street view, the utility poles match perfectly. In addition, there are pine trees along the side wall also near a utility pole that still stand today. The location is not a mystery. Crestwood, MO April 1, 1978. http://www.stltoday.com/news/archives/march-the-last-snowfall-of-the-worst-winter-st-louis/collection_6ca9b5fc-22d5-11e8-a30e-13ea9d8e0896.html

[EastsideAl]

Maybe living in Colombia made you forget, or maybe you have never lived in a place where it snows, but I have lived in snow country all of my life [[and, yes, I remember the winter of '78 quite vividly). Several days of temperatures in the '70s will easily melt any exposed piles of snow, even several inches of the stuff. And snow on the ground will definitely not make the air feel chilly enough that anyone would feel the need to wear heavy winter coats with temperatures in the '70s.

Now it could be, as cmwiley2 suggests above, that VH passed through St. Louis for some reason on some non-concert date earlier in their tour. Perhaps at some point in early March, when there would have still been a lot of snow on the ground from storms in February and early March [[last day it snowed significantly in St. Louis that year was March 8) and temperatures would still have been cool. But it is simply not possible that these photos are from April 1 in St. Louis.

An article about snow in St. Louis in 1978:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/archive...a9d8e0896.html

[Colombian Dan]

Al, I agree, an inch or two snowfall will melt quickly, but 9 inches on top of an existing season of snow prior to the storm of March 8 makes for lots of plowing. When you plow that snow into mounds you are talking feet of snow[[not inches) in a concentrated area. I remember at the corner of 13 and Woodward in Royal Oak, those mounds would sit there for a month no matter the temperature. In those McDonalds pictures the snow is mounded up and melting fast. These mounds of snow would have clearly lasted until April 1 regardless of the outside temperature. The parked cars are another indication that piled snow is old. You don't see any packed snow under the rocker panels, bumpers or behind the wheels.. That Duster doesn't have a speck of snow on it....

[Colombian Dan]

cmwiley2, You do realize this was the first McDonald's in Missouri. The original building was in 1958. The picture with Eddie was not from 1958. Nor is the McDonald's building today from 1978. McDonald's has strict standards and has mandatory remodeling and tear down times. So yes, the elevation is going to be off by feet depending on which building you are discussing. I suspect the new building or remodel after 1978 needed a drive through window or a modern version thus the contractor had to lower the surrounding property to accommodate it. Look at the original 1958 building..