REMEMBERING CALIFORNIA DREAM

Let’s flash back to the California Dream – initially at 137 Peter St.,then on Yonge between Sheppard and Finch.

In this pic is the family behind it all, Sean, his wife Erica, and Erica’s mom.

Those who know Erica will attest to the fact that she was smart, beautiful, captivating, the essence of California Dream, yet renowned for running a strict operation – no liquor after hours, lights on at 2:45, no foul music, no smoking, and always good security including police if they were needed.

While so many nightclubs were closing around her, strong Erica played by the rules and enabled the Dream to survive for probably over a decade, filling the gap for those wanting pure R&B and Soul with a little bit of this and that mixed in, all inside a mature ‘dress-coded’ environment.

California Dream was advertised hard on WBLK, I did all their commercials. This was a time when our promoters did not trust leaving ads to be made by the WBLK staff, event though they would be produced at a very small additional cost.

Instead, Erica, and other Toronto promoters and nightclubs advertising there, would make their commercials inside my Apache Studios and then Fed-X them to Buffalo when the session concluded for next day delivery on 1/4” reels.

It was an independent and creative stage, only ending when Flow came along and knocked out WBLKs signal and unlike Buffalo, they understood how to make commercials appeal to the Canadian market.

And yeah, the best dee-jays that ever held it down at California Dream; DJ Dale Evans, Ebony Sound Crew, and DJ Starting From Scratch, but there were many greats who played there.

Big yourself up Erica, one of the best female entrepreneurs I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with, we actually had a friendship, spent a lot of time on the phone.

FYI – Erica closed the California Dream after the lease expired on the Yonge Street location and the government wanted the building back.