Chuck E. Weiss (Image via ANTI- records)
Singer-raconteur Chuck E. Weiss lived in a world of flickering neon where every ashtray was filled and sunset hearts wandered on the edges of empty. Weiss was popularized in the 1979 Rickie Lee Jones hit “Chuck E’s in Love” but I came to know him in 1987 when he was headlining Chuck E. Weiss and the Godddam Liars, an industrial-strength rock n’ soul revue at The Central in West Hollywood, Ca.
Chuck Edward Weiss died on July 20 after a battle with cancer. He was 76 years old.
Exit numbers: 7/20/21. Sounds lucky.
Once in a while, the Chicago Sun-Times [...]
Long foul balls from this new Wisconsin stadium could land in Illinois.
BELOIT, WIS.—Minor league baseball is about coming and going.
No one wants to stay put.
But after the ABC Supply Stadium opens on Aug. 3 with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers taking on the Beloit Snappers in downtown Beloit, the ballpark will be there for years to come. Fans will walk through the centerfield gates along the bed of the timeless Rock River. Located on the Illinois-Wisconsin border, long foul balls hit over the first base facade could land in the Illinois zip code. Hopefully, they won’t get super [...]
The late Buck O’Neil visits his Monarchs with a rainbow on opening day 2021 (Courtesy of Kansas City Monarchs.)
KANSAS CITY, KS.—The Kansas City Monarchs were the royalty of baseball’s Negro Leagues. They played in Kansas City, Mo. between 1920 and 1961 and their graduates included Hall of Famers Jackie Robinson (1945), Ernie Banks (1950-53), and Satchel Paige (1934 and 1940-47). The team produced more major league players than any other Negro League franchise.
The Monarchs have taken a new flight as a member of the American Association.
These Monarchs play at Legends Field in Kansas [...]
Sly Stone at his Marquette Park piano. We should have written a song together. (Photo by Phil Moloitis.)
I don’t recall the tip that led me to the Prime & Tender, an oddball nightclub-restaurant at the corner of 63rd and Harlem in south suburban Stickney. It was the spring of 1983 and I was a staff writer at the Suburban Chicago Sun-Times and was freelancing for the Reader and the Illinois Entertainer.
The Prime & Tender was not the Pump Room. Patrons walked through a cheesy, long mirrored hallway as if they were boarding an old cruise ship. They sat along the perimeter of the multi-colored dance [...]
