Jackie Wilson at the Latin Casino

A Philadelphia club moves across the river

The Latin Casino's Cherry Hill story began before the town had that name. Cherry Hill Township's history says the club moved from Philadelphia and opened in Delaware Township at the end of 1960. It became part of an entertainment district around the Garden State Park racetrack and nearby inns. Its stage hosted performers including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Liberace and the Temptations. Later reporting places the club on the Route 70 parcel subsequently occupied by Subaru of America's headquarters. The address, 2235 Route 70 West, identifies the former property; it does not identify where a particular performer stood onstage. Cherry Hill Public Library local history; Cherry Hill Courier site history.

Wilson's final performance

On Monday, September 29, 1975, Jackie Wilson appeared at the Latin Casino in Dick Clark's oldies revue. A next-day Associated Press report said he collapsed onstage around his performance of “Lonely Teardrops.” Clark called for the curtain and then asked the audience to pray. Wilson was taken to Cherry Hill Medical Center in critical condition. The music trade paper Record World independently confirmed the date, the revue and his critical condition the following day.

Later accounts place the collapse at a particular lyric, but the next-day AP report says he had just finished the number. The exact moment within the song is uncertain. What is clear from the contemporary reports is that the collapse ended his performing career; it did not end his life that night.

From emergency care to Medford

Billboard reported in March 1976 that Wilson had emerged from a coma after roughly three and a half months, but his brain injury left him unable to manage his affairs. Its July report described a court-approved insurance settlement for medical bills. A later Billboard obituary dates his move to Medford Leas to May 1977. Wilson died at a Mount Holly hospital on January 21, 1984, after years of profound disability, as a contemporary UPI report confirmed. His Medford Leas story follows that later chapter.

The venue after the Latin Casino

The building did not immediately disappear. Billboard reported in October 1981 that it had been refurbished as Emerald City, first as a disco and then as a rock club. The operator had filed for bankruptcy and the club had ceased operating in September. Subsequent redevelopment replaced the venue with Subaru's headquarters. This sequence matters when locating Wilson's performance today: the club itself no longer stands. Cherry Hill Public Library local history; Cherry Hill Courier site history.