Gay life in Chicago this week, back in... 1979, 1989 and 1995

(July 4-10, 2019)

Gay life in Chicago this week, back in...

1979

An item in Richard Cooke's Discovery column in Gay Chicago reads:

"New Town has a new restaurant on its way and you heard it here first (Sorry Aaron). Conveniently located next to the Broadway Limited will be Hutton's, what promises to be an alternative in dining. This new eatery will specialize in manly portions of meat dishes. One of their specialties being good old-fashioned roast beef.

"This heavily gay employed restaurant fills a much needed gap in New Town."

[St Sukie note: Hutton's was located at 3126 N. Broadway]

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IMAGE: Cover – Gay Chicago January 24, 1985

Another item in Richard Cooke's Discovery column reads:

"The Bistro's reopening last week was nothing less than grand. Recent additions to their disco room include a fog machine, a snow machine behind mirrored walls, new carpeting, wallpaper and four ceiling mounted nurf canons, ala Studio 54."

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IMAGE: Scalawags – Gay Life May 13, 1977

DJ Michael Graber shares the Top 14 tunes being played in Alfie's and Carol's Speakeasy: 1) "Bad Girls" – Donna Summer; 2) "Just Can't Stop Thinking About You" – Ta Ta Vega; 3) "Cuba" – Gibson Bros. 4) "When You Wake Up Tomorrow" – Candi Staton; 5) "Here Comes That Sound" – Love Deluxe; 6) "Crank It Up" – Peter Brown; 7) "Aint No Stopping Us Now" – McFadden & Whitehead; 8) "Lady Night"– Patrick Juvet; 9) "Born To Be Alive" – Patrick Hernandez; 10) "We All Need Love" – Triano; 11) "Get Up & Boogie" – Freddie Jand; 12) "Everybody Here Must Party" – Direct Current; 13) "I Got the Next Dance" – Denise Williams; 14) "Found the Cure" – Ashford & Simpson.

1989

Contributors listed on the masthead of Gay Chicago reads:

"Atty. Roger V. McCaffrey – Paul Adams – John Schmid – Morgan Summer – Gale Harris – Don Eric – David Murray – Daniel Sotomayor – Peter Clark – Tommy Parks – John Preston – Joseph Turek – Dr. David Coynik – Tycho – Allen Smalling – Tom Hagerty – James Stevens."

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IMAGE: The Blue Parrot – Gay Chicago January 17, 1985

In the bars and clubs, it's Boyer's Sleazy B-Day Bash with DJ Fred Hands at Carol's Speakeasy, 1355 N. Wells; Bulldog Road, 2914 N. Broadway, goes "Pink" Thursday mornings; the Chicago Meatpackers perform every Friday and Saturday at Bistro Too, 5015 N. Clark St.; an information meeting for volunteers at Open Hand Chicago takes place at Paris Dance, 1122 W. Montrose; Big, Bad, and Blonde Look-Alike contest takes place at Berlin, 954 W. Belmont.

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Gay Chicago's Garden Walk of Beer Gardens includes these bars:

Bachelors: A sloping courtyard with ivy and flowers leads to this lower level bar in the midst of Lincoln Park.

Berlin: Distinctly urban in feel and appearance, the "L" rumbles by regularly. Love that barbed wire.

Bucks: A brick patio and awninged cabana make this an unexpected oasis.

Different Strokes: Andersonville's only beer garden is the site of barbecues and other surprises.

Double RR Lounge: Cal City's only patio offers a separate bar and privacy fences in an attractive blacktopped setting.

His 'N Hers: A quiet spot on Broadway. Marge has constructed separate areas for quiet conversation and sports activities.

Hunter's: This large patio looks like a small town main street. If it were utilized fully, it'd be like a gay version of DisneyLand's Main street.

Inn Exile: Picnic tables, lattice work and shade trees make this a home away from home for southsiders.

Inner Circle: Reminiscent of a New Orleans courtyard. Ben Allen has fashioned a surprisingly restful spot on busy Clark Street.

JJ's: This is not the best year for JJ's patio, what with all the construction going on and expansion, but watch out next year.

Loading Dock: No frills here. Concrete and lawn chairs are all you get (or need) for this late-night dance spot.

Lucky Horseshoe: Under construction, but with the folks from Inner Circle involved its certain to be great.

Manhandler: Perhaps the largest, and at times, the lushest garden. It's no wonder, co-owners Pete and Jerry also own Village Green. Don't miss the Back 40.

IMAGE: Touché – Gay Chicago January 30, 2003

Nite Line: The gardens thrive here. Three different bars have utilized this attractive decked area.

Piggen's Pub: Streetside seating on Diversey make this a popular place to sip a cocktail and watch the world go by.

Rick's Retreat: An exceptionally well-tended garden and creative design (by our own Dave Myler) make this retreat behind Rick's Retreat a favorite.

Roscoe's: Designed by Schema and tended by the staff of Roscoe's, this spot features two gardens that make the most out of limited space and also offers a glassed-in year-round atrium.

Sidetrack: The recent expansion may make you forget that Sidetrack also has a beautiful patio with a large bar and video!

Touché: What can one say about Touché's patio that hasn't been said, or done, for that matter?

1995

An extract from the OOZE in Babble reads:

"A full house turned out for the Chicago premiere of "Wigstock: The Movie" at Piper's Alley last Tuesday. A benefit for Reeling (the gay film festival). Guests arrived promptly, enjoyed every last droplet of champagne available, and consequently enjoyed the movie immensely. Lots of local lovelies including Godiva, Candy Apple, Silky Jumbo, Mz. Alanna, Rachel Lindsay, and Cookie Dough graced the festivities with their smashing wigs and delightful frocks – amongst other bright lights in this big city. We noted one Tony Marchese de Vortex paying awfully close attention to the movie part. Guess he, like us, just loves him a good 'wig ball' – bless his heart."

Homework

Who remembers Babble?

Who remembers the garden at Touché?

Who remembers the song "Cuba" by the Gibson Bros?

Gay Chicago Photo Rewind

Terry Gaskins photographs IML for Gay Chicago June 6, 2002

Graysong and St Sukie de la Croix photograph at Touché for Nightspots January 1,

2003

St Sukie de la Croix photographs IML for Nightspots June 5, 2002

Thanks go to publishers Michael Bergeron for Chicago Gay Crusader, Ralph and Craig Gernhardt for Gay Chicago, Grant Ford and Chuck Renslow for Gay Life, Malone Sizelove for Babble/Gab, David Costanza and others for Chicago Free Press, Jeff McCourt for Windy City Times, Stacy Bridges and Mark Nagel for GRAB, and Tracy Baim for all the publications at the Windy City Media Group, which aided the above research. St Sukie de la Croix is an internationally published reporter, playwright, photographer and historian. He is also the author of Chicago Whispers: A History of LGBT Chicago Before Stonewall published by the University of Wisconsin Press.