Welcome to LA

Lost Notes is a podcast from KCRW. It's about music, and artistic legacy, and people. Listen to this episode about David Bowie's favorite rock band, Fanny. Then, go subscribe in your podcast player. See you soon for more Welcome to LA.

Trevor Pan launched his architecture career by building his first building with his own hands in a barren patch of Arizona desert. It didn’t have running water or electricity, but it got him some attention in the architecture world and his career was off to a promising start. But then Trevor made a decision that, from the outside, seemed completely totally crazy.

Before he launched one of the most successful porn companies in America, Rob Navarro was a chart topping Christian rock star and the voice of Ronald McDonald. Then he got the help of a few good men from the U.S. Marine Corps.

Luis Gutierrez Sanchez, also known as "Grace of the Sea," had been living in a garage in South LA for six years. He sold bacon-wrapped, pineapple-stuffed hot dogs on a street corner a few blocks away to make a living. Miraculously good at finding beauty in dark places, he tells his story of surviving as a gay undocumented immigrant in Los Angeles.

The Court TV genre started with a frustrated game show producer who pitched an idea that would make housewives’ fantasies come true. That show tanked. So instead he made “The People’s Court,” eventually creating a lucrative empire that feeds off the petty disputes of everyday Americans. This is the story of the one case that started that empire.