Latin Casino
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The Latin Casino was a Philadelphia-area nightclub famous for showcasing entertainers like Cherry Hill Estates neighbors Al Martino and Frankie Avalon (whose family owned "King of Pizza" directly across the street), Richard Pryor (who recorded his 1975 album ...Is It Something I Said? there), Frank Sinatra, Tom Jones, Don Rickles, and Engelbert Humperdinck. On September 29, 1975 while singing "Lonely Teardrops" Jackie Wilson suffered a massive heart attack while playing a Dick Clark show, falling head-first to the stage. Wilson was taken to Cherry Hill Hospital where he was comatose; and lived in a nursing home until his death at age 49. Tom Jones was also once jumped outside the backdoor following one of his performances by two fanactical Italian women going by the name Canni. Mr. Jones was not hurt but the ladies were banned from 'The Latin' and from any Tom Jones performance.
The celebrities & orchestra players performing at "The Latin" often drank in the lobby bar long past the official 2:00AM "last call" mandated by the NJ ABC, but winked at by local officials.
The supper club originally resided on Walnut and Juniper Streets in center city Philadelphia; in 1960 it moved five miles east to Route 70 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, diagonally across the Seashore Line tracks from Garden State Park. It closed in 1978 with the dissolution of the supper club set, but was reopened as the rock club Emerald City and boasted a neon light show over the dance floor that cost in excess of one million dollars.
Emerald City hosted major acts of the time that didn't have the drawing power to fill arenas and stadiums, including Prince on his debut tour. It was torn down in the mid-1980's and replaced by Subaru USA's six floor North American headquarters.
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