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Here’s a recently-restored and upscaled vintage TV news segment from the famous Organ Grinder restaurant in Denver, Colorado. This segment was produced in the early-to-mid 1980s by KOA/KCNC-TV Ch4 (Now CBS Colorado). The Organ Grinder Documentary Project has digitized and restored dozens of hours of vintage footage which has been contributed by fans. Perhaps you…
As part of the Organ Grinder documentary project, we visited Organ Piper Pizza in Greenfield, Wisconsin during our Midwest Road Trip. Organ Piper is one of three remaining establishments where you can enjoy live theatre pipe organ music with your pizza. Organist Zach Frame kindly allowed us to film a complete 45-minute set, in order…
featuring Tangela – Vintage 1980s Here’s a recently-restored and upscaled vintage TV news segment from the famous Organ Grinder restaurant in Denver, Colorado. This segment was produced in the early-to-mid 1980s by KOA/KCNC-TV Ch4 (Now CBS Colorado). It features reporter Linda Farrell taking a young girl in the foster care system to the Organ Grinder…
Here’s another newly-restored and upscaled vintage commercial from the famous Organ Grinder restaurant in Portland, Oregon. This ad was produced in the early 1980s. (Date determined by presence of Zaxxon arcade game, which was released in late December, 1981, and Donkey Kong, released in the summer of 1981, which means this commercial was likely produced…
First, The Good News The last time I put out a full project status update was in October, 2025, with a full “State of the Project Address” video. I’m pleased to say that the video was received very well, and the vast majority of the goals laid out at that time have been achieved, including…
Inside a warehouse in Franklin, Wisconsin, belonging to Carma Labs, Inc. (the makers of Carmex), is the world’s largest theatre pipe organ. As part of the Organ Grinder documentary project, we visited Carma Labs during our Midwest Road Trip to see what weird and wonderful things people are doing with theatre pipe organs today. The…
We’re proud to announce our new Silver Sponsor, RMCATOS – Rocky Mountain Chapter American Theatre Organ Society. The Rocky Mountain Chapter American Theatre Organ Society was founded in 1964 as a local chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society, covering Denver Colorado and the surrounding areas with a focus on promoting and preserving theatre organs…
The Barr-Fox Wurlitzer began as “THE” Wurlitzer at Fox Studios, and can be heard on many famous movie and TV soundtracks, including Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and The Sound of Music. John Williams used it in Empire of the Sun, Witches of Eastwick, The Fury, and…
Tucked away in a modest light-industrial district in Tarzana, California, just off the Orange Line Busway, sits a warehouse with a special secret inside. (OK, it’s not a big secret – but most people in the area don’t know it’s there.) The building is the home of Bandrika Studios, custom-built by composer Nathan Barr, to…
In February of 1996, shortly before Organ Grinder Portland closed, fans turned out to visit the restaurant one last time. Fortunately, several brought their camcorders with them, and have provided their footage to the documentary project. In this video, patron Ted Welty recorded organist Don Feely’s medley of themes from Disney’s animated hit “Aladdin” (1992)….
Back in September, we visited the Basement Bijou, otherwise known as the house that Fred Hermes, Sr. built in the 1950s in Racine WI. Inside this unassuming three-bedroom home on the shore of Lake Michigan, is a 18ft-deep basement, built to house a very rare 5-manual Wurlitzer pipe organ – Wurlitzer only built three organs…
As part of their annual “Pizza Week” coverage, the Portland Mercury has posted an online article about the Organ Grinder and the documentary project. Excerpt: Amid the strip malls and used car lots along SE 82nd, one big building, now home to Super King Buffet, looks out of place: glass walls stretching tens of feet…
Sam Battle is a popular YouTuber in the vintage tech and music spaces. He’s best known for his channel “Look Mum No Computer”, and related channels “This Museum is Not Obsolete” and “Look Mum No Engine”. Among Sam’s many projects, he created a series of videos where he restored a residential pipe organ that was…
After a whirlwind trip filming in Wisconsin, I returned home and jumped right in to attending Doc Camp, an intensive workshop for documentary filmmakers to share their works-in-progress and meet with industry veterans, organized by Oregon Media Lab. It was a highly rewarding experience. (There is more about the latest Wisconsin trip in this post.)…
Here’s a newly-restored and upscaled vintage commercial from the famous Organ Grinder restaurant in Portland, Oregon. This ad was produced in the late 1980s, and features cameos of brother-and-sister Jay and Stephe, children of Organ Grinder co-founder Dennis Hedberg. The Organ Grinder Documentary Project has digitized and restored dozens of hours of vintage footage which…
Featuring Jonas Nordwall and Sawyer Best. The Cleveland High School Theatre Pipe Organ began in the late 1920s as a nine-rank Kimball from the Columbia Theatre in Longview, Washington. In the 1930s, it was installed in Portland’s Simon Benson High School, as a gift from the graduating class, and enlarged by Seattle’s Balcom & Vaughn…
(And Switches and Knobs) Playing a theatre pipe organ inherently requires keeping track of a lot of things simultaneously – with many controls such as: And of course, powering up the blower and relay (the organ’s brain) that make everything possible. But for the organists who performed regularly in pizza parlors, that was just the…
Portland, Oregon’s Fox affiliate, KPTV, has just aired a feature piece about the Kimball pipe organ at Cleveland high school, which is being removed due to a project to replace the school building. The new school, unfortunately, will not have room for the organ. Footage from the Organ Grinder documentary was provided to KPTV to…
In February of 1996, shortly before Organ Grinder Portland closed, fans turned out to visit the restaurant one last time. Fortunately, several brought their camcorders with them, and have provided their footage to the documentary project. In this video, patron Ted Welty recorded organist Don Feely’s rendition of “Powerhouse”, which you may recognize as the…
John Ledwon is a music educator, theatre organ enthusiast, and experienced performer. We caught up with John (no easy feat, as he often commutes between Henderson, NV and Los Angeles) in November during our Southwest Road Trip. The interview took place at Old Town Music Hall in El Segundo, CA. (Special thanks to the board…
