In the early 1980’s, nightclub legend Shannon Wynne opened The Tango Club at 1827 Lower Greenville Avenue. The club's calling card were six 10 foot-tall revolving frogs dancing and playing the guitar and the saxophone on the roof above it. The frogs were sculpted by Bob “Daddy-O” Wade—a Texas artist who had risen to fame by installing a 40-foot-long iguana sculpture atop the Lone Star Café in New York City. Unfortunately, the dancing amphibians spent only a short period of time as part of the East Dallas skyline. When Tango closed in 1985, the frolicking frogs were hauled off to a new home in the country, a place on Highway 35 just outside of Hillsboro, Texas known as Carl’s Corner.
Taco Cabana has recently purchased the three frogs that have been at the Carl’s Corner truck stop on I-35 all these years and are returning them to their original iconic status atop the Taco Canana location at 1827 Lower Greenville Avenue. “The troublemakers are coming back to Dallas,” a clearly delighted Daddy-O Wade told the DMN's Alan Peppard from his home in Austin. The amphibian sculptures are currently in Cleburne where muralist Stylle Read is giving them a loving restoration before they come home. “Now the three frogs have a great ending,” says Daddy-O. “They’re back where they started. You can’t write a story better than that.”
On June 26, Taco Cabana is hosting an ’80s-themed patio party called Throwback Thursday. The frogs will be placed by one of those Dallas BIG signs for photo ops with the guests. “We’ll actually have the frogs on the ground,” says Coerver. In the middle of the night, a crane will come in and hoist them on the roof. At 9 a.m. on June 27, Taco Cabana is hosting a media unveiling with Daddy-O in attendance.
So, where are the other three frogs? Living and playing the guitar, saxophone and morocco, on top of a Chuy’s Restaurant in Nashville, Tenn. Spit shined and looking good, Wade predicts that they are likely to live there happily ever after.
Source:
"What Really Happened to the Tango Frogs?" BubbleLife
"Tango Frogs Return to their Lower Greenville Rooftop" Dallas Morning News
Photos: (top) Dallas Morning News archives, (bottom) Texas Escapes
