I LISTENING POST I

We've Made A Lot
Of Great Albums.

There are a host of reasons to host an affair at the
new Sheraton Southfield Hotel.
We've just undergone a multi-million dollar
renovation and our facilities are second to none. You'll
find an elegant ballroom that can accommodate 850
people in style, superb food and an experienced,
knowledgeable staff that will take care of all the
details. Our prices are surprisingly reasonable, too.
So whether you're planning a wedding, anniversary,
bar mitzvah, reunion or whatever, consider the new
Sheraton Southfield Hotel. Call our
S
Director of Catering at 559-6500.16400 J.L.
Hudson Drive, Southfield.

I BEST OF EVERYTHING I

A 1941 Chevrolet Tiruck
Hosts Restaurant Entertainment

L. .1 .4

Sheraton Southfield Hotel

The hospitality people of ITT

00 OFF

ON YOUR NEXT TRAY

MEAT OR DAIRY

ORIG.

• 1 Coupon Per Person
% • Good Holidays
• Minimum 8 People

.4
LET US
CATER
• Expires 3-31-91
YOUR
Featuring
NEEDS
Gourmet
FOR ALL
TORTES, FLANS
OCCASIONS
& CHEESECAKE
29145 Northwestern Hwy. at 12 Mile Rd.
356.2310
Franklin Shopping Center

.

I

ItUNNIMMIEMMUMMEMOOMMINNIMIMMONEMEMPINW

1/2 OFF ON OUR

I

LEBANESE DELI COUNTER ITEMS

— MONDAYS ONLY —
ALSO

BUY ONE SANDWICH AND GET A
CUP OF HOMEMADE SOUP FREE!

Tables also available for your convenience • Expires 2-28-91 JNJ

BITElbEIS

AUTHENTIC LEBANESE CUISINE

Carry Out
Full Service
THE BOARDWALK
12967 WOODWARD
6887 ORCHARD LAKE RD
Highland Park
West Bloomfield
867-0923
932-3770
Fax: 932-3811
ABOVE COUPON GOOD ONLY AT OUR WEST BLOOMFIELD LOCATION

Quality Food, Simple
Setting, Reasonable Prices

The Restaurant
of the '90s

Le Metro

Introducing Dinner Specials

5:30 p.m. to 6:30 Monday Thru Thursday

Entrees Ranging From $7.95-$9.95

2 9855 Northwestern Hwy. • Applegate Square • Southfield • 353.2757

68

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1991

DANNY RASKIN

Local Columnist

A

sign as you enter says,
"City Ordinance. No
eating in cars." . . .
You see cutout automobiles
all around and wonder what
gives . . . Then comes the in-
formation that it is an old
sign and thankfully doesn't
pertain to the place you are
in.
This is Doug's Body Shop
on Woodward between Eight
and Nine Mile in Ferndale,
which was recently re-opened
by its original owner, Doug
Diehl, after seven months of
remodeling . . . and is now
preparing to celebrate its
17th anniversary in April.
There I sat, in the cutout of
a sturdy-looking 1951
Packard, complete with black
leather padding, leather arm
rests, refurbished dashboard,
padded roof and even window
wipers.
But this is not the Doug's
Body Shop I used to know,
where the restaurant was
upstairs and its entertain-
ment action downstairs in
what was called the Grease
Pit.
Here was a totally different
look . . . still an automotive
museum to be sure . . . with
its Sinclair dinosaur sign, old
gas pumps, oil cans, license
plates, cocktail tables made
from steering wheels, muffler
pipes and camshafts, flying
red horse Texaco sign, Hup-
mobile insignia, stop-and-go
signal light, etc., in a very
unique atmosphere.
The remodeled Doug's Body
Shop now seats 150 and has
a large center stage in front
of its upstairs restaurant por-
tion . . . built on the back
flatbed of a 1941 Chevy truck.
And on that flatbed might
well be one of the best enter-
tainment buys in town . . . a
Las Vegas-like lounge act
show featuring Norma Jean
Bell and the All Stars . . . at
the $5 cover.
Norma Jean is the young
lady who got her start back in
1984 and stayed through
1987 with Larry Loberman
and his dad Max at Axel's on
W. Eight Mile between Ever-
green and Lahser.

This is a strong act . . . She
herself is a bevy of talent .. .
singing, dancing, playing the
alto sax and soprano sax .. .
while another gal once in a
while slides a small hand
flute in between singing and
dancing.

With Norma Jean are six
more very versatile enter-
tainers. The two lassies and
two gents singing and danc-
ing are backed by keyboard,
electric guitar and drums .. .
with end man at a mike also
strumming a rhythm guitar.
Plenty of dancing goes on to
shake the floor of that anti-
que 1941 Chevy truck flatbed
as the seven rock in plenty of
rhythm.
It's a high-energy show put
on by Norma Jean "The
Queen" Bell and the All Stars
. . . going from rock to soft
romantic ballads with Norma
doing vocal highs and lows in
much chord control . . . then
on to rhythm and blues . . . in
a performance of much
versatility.
They're there Fridays,
Saturdays and Sundays .. .
putting on two shows each
night, 10 p.M. and 12
midnight.
Doug's Body Shop has a
dance floor now too, amid the
auto grills and a multitude of
car artifacts . . . People call
and ask to be seated in the
car of their choice . . . a 1965
Mercedes, 1960 Mercury,
1958 Edsel, or the 1951
Packard . . . All have tables
inside . . . In the bar, which
was not there before, is a 1960
Chrysler and 1964 Thunder-
bird . . . Even a jukebox in the
bar is the cutout of a
yesteryear's auto, a '56
replica.
The restaurant is run by
Doug and his wife, Charlene
. . . Her 25-year-old son and
Doug's stepson, Larry Drum,
is their competent general
manager . . . Another son,
16-year-old Jason Drum,
works as a prep cook in the
kitchen . . . after graduating
from washing dishes and bus-
ing tables.

The history behind Doug's
Body Shop is a colorful one
. . . It took guts for someone
to open a Mobil gas station on
this corner . . . in 1931, heart
of the Depression . . . 1946
was a lot better when the gas
station became a candy store
and then a tire store . . . Then
came 1974, when Doug Diehl,
owner of Minser's Collision,
did a lot to preserve much
Motor City heritage by open-
ing the very novel Doug's
Body Shop restaurant and
museum of Detroit's auto in-
dustry . . . It wasn't long
before the restaurant was
honored by the Michigan
Restaurant Association with
it's "Innovator of the Year"
award.

CONGRATS ... to Mat-
thew Joshua Raskin . . . today
in Atlanta, Ga. . . . on his
fourth birthday.
SHE WOULDN'T give
him a second look because
"he was too young" . . . Pam
West, daughter of Carmen
and Don West, was 17-years-
old when three United
Synagogue Youth units went
to Israel (California, Georgia
and Michigan, represented by
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
Summer Group) . . . Scott
Stone of the Californians was
16-years-old.
Twelve years later, while at-
tending the University of
Michigan, she was with
classmates to see Michigan
play in the Rose Bowl at

The unique stage
holds Norma Jean
Bell and the All
Stars.

Pasadena . . . and then to San
Francisco to look up old
friends who had been on the
Israel trip.
Pam moved to Los Angeles
six years ago . . . and two
years later she and a
girlfriend went to San Fran-
cisco to visit the friends .. .
Pam saw Scott again.
Last year, she sent him a
birthday card and he called to
say how nice it was of her to
remember . . . and kept call-
ing week after week . . . until
deciding to stop making
Pacific Bell richer by coming
to see Pam.

The pretty Pam waited 34
years for "Mr. Right" to come
along . . . and he turned out
to be the fellow who once was
"too young" for her . . . as she
and Scott recently tied the
marital knot.
CONGRATS ... to Stacey
Shapiro . . . on the big one .. .
her 21st birthday today.
WHEN WAS the last time
you heard an electric harp
playing songs like "Stardust,"
"Misty," "When I Fall In
Love," "Embraceable You,"
etc., including mom's favorite,
"Let Me Call You Sweet-
heart"? . . . It made for
beautiful music amid the
romantic setting of Cafe Cor-
tina, 10 Mile east of Orchard
Lake Road on Valentine's
evening.
Cafe Cortina is celebrating
its 14th anniversary at the
site Rina and Adriano Tonon
purchased 14 years ago
because funds were too low to