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Hollywood Palladium Is Said To Be Up For Sale

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

OK. Let's go from the futuristic to a show biz monument from the past. The Hollywood Palladium is up for sale, according to according to the Hollywood Reporter. It's well known as a concert venue, hosting musicians ranging from James Brown to the Rolling Stones to Jay-Z. But we want to bring you back to the Palladium's beginnings as a stylish art deco ballroom back in 1940.

Here is how the Los Angeles Times remembered opening night. Quote: "Dorothy Lamour was there to snip the ribbon, spangled with orchids, as Jack Benny, Judy Garland and Lana Turner looked on, hundreds of couples danced the jitterbug on a dance floor made of maple wood."

Those couples were dancing to the music of Tommy Dorsey's big band, accompanied by a yet-little-known singer named Frank Sinatra. Well, now you can own the landmark ballroom for a mere $60 million - big price tag. But it comes with a Hollywood pedigree that few other buildings can rival. And we'll leave you now with what the music might have sounded like that night in 1940.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "STARDUST")

GROUP: (Singing) And beside a garden wall, when the stars were bright, you were in my arms...

GREENE: You're dancing to NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.