ayanacontreras
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a Chicago Be-In at Promontory Point, 1967
What’s a Be-In? Check the video below from the Lincoln Park Be-In for more background on the celebration of “Turning on and Tuning In”. Around the time of Chicago’s storied Blizzard of 1967 which dumped 23 inches of snow over the course of about 35 hours, out in San Francisco, the first “Human Be-in”…
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Pat and Pam: sisters in soul.
Pat and Pam Cordell were twin singers who followed in the great tradition of Chicago Kiddie (or in their case, Teen) Soul in the early 1970s. They also happened to be original WVON Good Guy Lucky Cordell‘s daughters. Lucky Cordell (pictured at left) was a disc jockey turned General Manager at one of the most…
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The Buckinghams: Chicago’s answer to the British Invasion.
The Buckinghams were by far one of the biggest pop-rock hit makers to come out of our city. Named for The Buckingham Fountain in Chicago (of course), the group was originally known as the Pulsations. They changed their names to a British-sounding name in hopes of benefitting from the British Invasion, the trend in the…
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A whole new (art) thing? Chicago’s 2012 Cultural Plan.
CITY OF CHICAGO LAUNCHES 2012 CULTURAL PLAN INITIATIVE Public Town Hall Meetings Begin Tonight! The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) is asking residents, cultural organizations and community groups for their input in developing the 2012 Chicago Cultural Plan. The plan will deliver a set of recommendations to support the arts and artists…
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La Cade: The little hair care company that made some big waves.
La Cade Products was another of many Chicago-based black hair care firms (that I detail here) during the late 60s through the 1970s. Though not as well-known as Supreme Products (who created Duke and Raveen) or Johnson Products (who created Soft Sheen, Afro Sheen, and Ultra Sheen), La Cade left behind scant but fascinating evidence…
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Don Cornelius: made Soul a household name.
One of the most amazing things about the life of Don Cornelius (and to be clear, this post is about his life… not his death) is the trajectory of his rise to prominence as an ambassador of Soul. Starting out as a radio journalist here on Chicago’s WVON in the early 1960s, he built important…
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See Potential: helping us all envision the rebirth of abandoned buildings on the South Side.
See Potential in what’s around us. That’s the goal of photographer Emily Schiffer’s See Potential initiative: affixing huge weatherproof photographic works to undervalued community assets. It’s a great idea that can help harness the public imagination for the greater good. It’s the sort of greater good that Schiffer always hoped her art would serve. She…
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Darkjive’s February Dance Card
Brown Sugar Bakery’s Artist Market Saturday and Sunday February 4th and 5th 328 East 75th Street (75th & Calumet) Chicago Il 60617 773.224.6262 Come have some fun if you are stepper, you like to spank… How about a lil Al Green? Real music off of Real records! All Artist’s work is Handmade, Original, & One…
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Growing Home: reclaiming the earth beneath the concrete.
I’m itching for spring. Here in Chicago, the weather has been mercifully mild… Visions of a vegetable and herb garden in my backyard dance in my head. I am swooning over Kale and Basil! But dreams of building up my South Side neighborhood (through green jobs, better food, and economic empowerment) dance, too. I’m a…
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More and More: Little Milton’s plea for more as the cost of living was skyrocketing.
Whew. That was a long blogpost title, huh? I know. But, let me explain: In late 1967, Chess Records’ Checker subsidiary released this record entitled “More and More” by Little Milton, where the chorus sings and growls: “More and More… all the time!” Ironically, the flip is a meandering soulful blues cut called “The Cost…
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