The musical and the movie Rock Of Ages is a fun trip down memory lane, back to the late 80’s. It is based on rock music from the 80s and spins around a story about a couple with dreams of a music career. The female character’s name Sherrie Christian which is created from two songs which also played in both the musical as well as the movie; Oh Sherrie by Steve Perry from Journey and Sister Christian by Night Ranger. Both of these songs have a more prominent role in the musical and only a very short part of the intro to Oh Sherrie is used in the movie, while Sister Christian is mixed with two other songs.
It’s a fictional story, but several of the places where the story takes place in the movie is based on real locations from late 80s Los Angeles, even if some of the names are changed.
Sunset Strip
Sunset Boulevard from Havenhurst Drive to Sierra Drive feature some of the most famous rock clubs in the world and is known as the Sunset Strip. This is where most of Rock of Ages story unfolds.
Bourbon Room is based on Whisky A Go Go
The club where much of the action takes place is of course named with Whisky A Go Go in mind (Bourbon being the name of American whiskey) and the Whisky is, just as Bourbon Room in the film, located on a corner of Sunset Strip. This is where bands such as Van Halen and Mötley Crue started out.
Tower Records
A huge record store that unfortunately no longer exists. It was located in a curve of the Sunset Strip just south of the rock clubs. There were lots of record releases for major world artists held here. One of the more spectacular of these events was when David Lee Roth release his Skyscraper album. On the album cover of Skyscraper, as well as in the video to the song “Just like paradise”, Roth is rock climbing. (The song Just like paradise is also featured in the beginning of Rock Of Ages.) On the roof of Tower Records an artificial mountain was built, which David Lee Roth climbed on.
Unfortunately, Tower Records went bankruptcy in 2006 and now is this classic store gone. Tower Records did not sell instruments, as they do in the film, but held a huge range of vinyl, CD, DVD etc. Slash of Guns N’Roses worked here a period before his career took off.
Capitol Records – a Hollywood icon
This landmark circular building is home to the famous record label Capitol Records. The building, located on Vine just north of Hollywood Boulevard, has also acted as trademark for Capitol Records.
The Capitol Records building appear several times in the movie, including in the background of the bus station where Sherri arrive at the beginning of the movie. Quite rightly, there used to be a Greyhound bus station a few blocks south of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine, and you could actually have seen the Capitol building from its location
The Venus Club is based on the Seventh Veil
The strip club in the film is probably loosely based on the well-known club Seventh Veil, which also is featured in Mötley Crue video for the song Girls, girls, girls and even named in the lyrics to the song. It is also close to this club that Hugh Grant was arrested with a prostitute once upon a time. Seventh Veil is not on the Sunset Strip, but a bit further east on Sunset Boulevard near Hollywood Boulevard at 7180 West Sunset Boulevard.
The Hollywood sign and grand views of LA
The main characters Sherrie Christian and Drew Boley reunite by the familiar Hollywood sign at the end of the film. The magnificent views of the city, could easily be seen from Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills. The sign, is a bit east of this. However it is forbidden to climb on the letters, and to get to them you have to walk across private land, an illegal trespassing. Police monitor the location and call out via a loudspeaker anyone trying to reach them.
The year they say it all happened
It’s said in the movie that the story takes place in 1987, but maybe it would fit even better a few years later in 1989? Lars (one of the creators of LimeWave.com) lived in LA for 1.5 years between 1989 and 1990, and much of the action fits perfectly over those years. There are also songs that are included in the musical that wasn’t released in 1987 such as Every Rose Has It’s Torn by Poison.
The set of songs are slightly different between the musical and the movie. The musical includes the song High Enough by Damn Yankees, but the song was not released until 1990.