Read More

You can still find new friends at the bars. Credit: Bill Roundy for Chicago Reader

Are rainbow-festooned events full of glitter, sequins, and boas signs of progress? Strides made by LGBTQ+ people are increasingly under fire in the forms of violence, rhetoric, and quasi-legal attacks on the rights of the community. Has the LGBTQ+ community unwittingly played a role in this by seeking assimilation?

Some might say that the idea that LGBTQ+ people have achieved assimilation (or even acceptance) is up for debate. “I worry a lot less about being ‘assimilated’ than about the mental health and physical safety of queer teens in a country debating (again) whether it is OK for teachers to even acknowledge their existence,” says Dr. Lane Fenrich, distinguished senior lecturer in gender and sexuality studies at Northwestern University. “Heck, I worry about the mental health and physical safety of LGBT adults, especially trans adults of color.”

Dr. Amin Ghaziani, professor of sociology and Canada research chair in urban sexualities at the University of British Columbia, notes that queer spaces like gay bars are closely linked to the LGBTQ+ community’s sense of identity. “The history of gay bars is the history of trans people. We cannot think about one without the other,” he says.

Ghaziani continues, “If you consider the Stonewall riots as an example that has broad, even global recognition, then we know that members of the trans community were pivotal in the uprising, its motivational energy, and its effects in terms of affecting the American consciousness about sexuality, and the LGBTQ consciousness about politicizing our identities.”

These struggles for the right to exist in safety over time have become less radical and more accepted. Contemporary Pride events are reminiscent of where we have been before, with similarities to the drag balls Chicago has seen since the early 1920s. This is a history that has historically been remarkably inclusive in ways we haven’t seen in recent years.

The Prohibition-era sociologist Myles Vollmer wrote about Chicago drag balls for his research in 1933: “Physically, all types are there. Homosexuals thin and wasted, others slender and with womanish curves, others overfed and lustfully fat. Most of the younger homosexuals have pallid complexions with rather thin hair, due, perhaps, to overindulgence. There is a preponderance of Jews and the Latin Nationalities, although homosexuality is no respecter of races. Many of the men are of Polish blood. Negros mingle freely with whites. There seemingly is no race distinction between them.”

This celebration flew in the face of the customs and laws of the society at the time, providing a safe place for all manner of queer people to come together and enjoy their right to exist. These temporary spaces, drag balls, were eventually replaced, following the repeal of Prohibition, with more permanence in the way of gay bars.

These bars were places of activism and community from the civil rights era through the AIDS crisis and the quest for equality in the 90s. Bars were a mecca of sorts for LGBTQ+ people from all over—a lighthouse of hope in the sea of a society that continued to denigrate and abuse queer people—and, mostly, accepted people as they were without regard to race, size, gender, and the like.

The bars were such an important support for the community that some people used to call bars on the telephone just to listen in on the “happy laughter of other gay people.” As interviewee and community member Myrna Kurland told writer Marie Cartier in Cartier’s 2013 book Baby, You Are My Religion: Women, Gay Bars, and Theology Before Stonewall, “I used to phone up all the gay bars, just to hear them answer the phone. Just to hear the noise. I would just hear the noise and the laughter in the background. I just wanted to be there.” These days, the movement of many in the LGBTQ+ community away from LGBTQ+-specific spaces has in part led to their rapid decline. Though there is limited data, existing research including a 2019 paper by Greggor Mattson at Oberlin College shows that the number of gay bars nationwide has dropped by more than half since the mid 1980s.

“We’re not going to really understand the full impact of the loss of these spaces for a number of years,” says K Anderson, a cultural anthropologist who created the Lost Spaces podcast with this very topic in mind. “There is an older generation of queers who are recognizing and mourning the loss. Over the coming years, I think we’ll start to see more innovation, reimagining both the community and the spaces that hold them. People’s priorities and need for queer spaces have changed, and the scene needs to evolve to reflect that—hopefully, this means that there are spaces that aren’t exclusively centered around drinking and drugs, ones where people of all ages feel welcome. What that looks like exactly I don’t know, but we are a resilient and innovative community, so I’m excited to see what is to come.”

“Assimilation is a double-edged sword. We spent years trying to prove that gay folks are equal and just the same as straight people. Now that we’ve done that—marriage, military, kids, etcetera—we seem to have dumbed down our once gay culture,” St. Sukie de la Croix, a gay historian and inductee in the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame, tells the Chicago Reader. “Gay bars, bookstores, and newspapers are disappearing. Is that good or bad? As a gay senior, I’m very conscious of the danger of clinging to the past and not accepting new things. However, it does seem a shame that what made us different and exciting is now being watered down.”

De la Croix isn’t the only one worried about this loss of culture. World Business Chicago’s vice president and director of marketing and communications Andrew Hayes agrees. “The Gay Pride Parade that began to help demonstrate the community’s collective power is today a traveling party, a drink fest. While the acceptance and assimilation have led the community to realize greater access to what others enjoy, it has also, in my humble opinion, given us less of point-of-distinction, too. Our once ‘rallying cry’ has been silenced. We are now happily blended—but thinking back to the days of ACT UP and the need to protest for the rights denied us, but afforded others, united the community in ways we don’t see today.”

In preparation for June’s Pride Month, young staffers in Hayes’s office passed around rainbow flags and other decorations. He says, “Watching this unfold stopped me in my tracks. While I appreciate and am genuinely touched by the outward demonstration of support this was intended to represent, I couldn’t help but think that all those who fought for our rights, and died from discrimination in all its forms, were reduced to desktop flags. At that moment, having known friends who were dying weekly from AIDS, and having seen regular protests and fights for our civil rights, I wished for those younger than me to see LGBTQ history as so much more than a desktop flag.”

These experiences differ based on circumstances. Dr. Ghaziani says, “Attitudes about homosexuality have liberalized at unprecedented rates, as we can see from the Gallup poll [Ghaziani is referring to his research based on a 2011 Gallup Poll asking respondents, “Do you think gay or lesbian relations between consenting adults should or should not be legal?”]. Sometimes, we falsely assume that aggregate statistics about public opinion apply to all LGBTQ people. This is not true, unfortunately. Cis white gay men and women have a set of experiences that are different from racialized and trans communities. As an example, we see that these groups are systematically more susceptible to anti-LGBTQ violence.”

“We receive the protection of popular culture, as the ways we look, and love, are synthesized by the mainstream. The benefit is we may become less threatening. We lose being viewed as radical. At the same time, we become diluted and divided as other ‘isms’ like sexism, classism, elitism, and racism rise to the surface,” says Dionne “Choc Tréi” Henderson, executive director of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ kink organization Paragon Cooperative and Club and a board member at Chicago’s Leather Archives and Museum. “In other words, we sacrifice the uniqueness that binds us together by mimicking heterogeneous customs.”

These “isms,” and others, sometimes make gay bars themselves less than inclusive. This leads to finding other venues—such as cruising places or recently, apps. Dr. Ghaziani adds, “Cruising places have been foundational to the history and culture of gay men. In the 1960s and 1970s, political liberation was inextricable from sexual liberation. To have sex was a radical act, a liberatory act, an act in the service of pleasure as well as politics.” 

Though cruising places still exist, one needs only look at websites like Squirt to find out which neighborhood park or library restroom hosts men looking for sex with other men; other online platforms have taken the place of that risky activity. “While platforms such as Grindr and Scruff make hooking up a virtual certainty for those looking to do so, they aren’t the wild ruptures in the sexual culture they’re often depicted as. Neither do they impede the formation of friendships or the development of communal ties,” Dr. Fenrich says. “Although I’ve sat through many a dinner party where such suspicions were aired as certainties.”

Depending on your perspective, there is much still radical about the LGBTQ+ scene in our city. Many LGBTQ+-owned gay bars and businesses serve the community as a space to congregate and affirm—just not as many or in the same ways as in their heyday. The danger exists in our allowing them to close without replacing them with something aspirational, welcoming, and distinctly our own.

Read More

You can still find new friends at the bars. Credit: Bill Roundy for Chicago Reader

Are rainbow-festooned events full of glitter, sequins, and boas signs of progress? Strides made by LGBTQ+ people are increasingly under fire in the forms of violence, rhetoric, and quasi-legal attacks on the rights of the community. Has the LGBTQ+ community unwittingly played a role in this by seeking assimilation?

Some might say that the idea that LGBTQ+ people have achieved assimilation (or even acceptance) is up for debate. “I worry a lot less about being ‘assimilated’ than about the mental health and physical safety of queer teens in a country debating (again) whether it is OK for teachers to even acknowledge their existence,” says Dr. Lane Fenrich, distinguished senior lecturer in gender and sexuality studies at Northwestern University. “Heck, I worry about the mental health and physical safety of LGBT adults, especially trans adults of color.”

Dr. Amin Ghaziani, professor of sociology and Canada research chair in urban sexualities at the University of British Columbia, notes that queer spaces like gay bars are closely linked to the LGBTQ+ community’s sense of identity. “The history of gay bars is the history of trans people. We cannot think about one without the other,” he says.

Ghaziani continues, “If you consider the Stonewall riots as an example that has broad, even global recognition, then we know that members of the trans community were pivotal in the uprising, its motivational energy, and its effects in terms of affecting the American consciousness about sexuality, and the LGBTQ consciousness about politicizing our identities.”

These struggles for the right to exist in safety over time have become less radical and more accepted. Contemporary Pride events are reminiscent of where we have been before, with similarities to the drag balls Chicago has seen since the early 1920s. This is a history that has historically been remarkably inclusive in ways we haven’t seen in recent years.

The Prohibition-era sociologist Myles Vollmer wrote about Chicago drag balls for his research in 1933: “Physically, all types are there. Homosexuals thin and wasted, others slender and with womanish curves, others overfed and lustfully fat. Most of the younger homosexuals have pallid complexions with rather thin hair, due, perhaps, to overindulgence. There is a preponderance of Jews and the Latin Nationalities, although homosexuality is no respecter of races. Many of the men are of Polish blood. Negros mingle freely with whites. There seemingly is no race distinction between them.”

This celebration flew in the face of the customs and laws of the society at the time, providing a safe place for all manner of queer people to come together and enjoy their right to exist. These temporary spaces, drag balls, were eventually replaced, following the repeal of Prohibition, with more permanence in the way of gay bars.

These bars were places of activism and community from the civil rights era through the AIDS crisis and the quest for equality in the 90s. Bars were a mecca of sorts for LGBTQ+ people from all over—a lighthouse of hope in the sea of a society that continued to denigrate and abuse queer people—and, mostly, accepted people as they were without regard to race, size, gender, and the like.

The bars were such an important support for the community that some people used to call bars on the telephone just to listen in on the “happy laughter of other gay people.” As interviewee and community member Myrna Kurland told writer Marie Cartier in Cartier’s 2013 book Baby, You Are My Religion: Women, Gay Bars, and Theology Before Stonewall, “I used to phone up all the gay bars, just to hear them answer the phone. Just to hear the noise. I would just hear the noise and the laughter in the background. I just wanted to be there.” These days, the movement of many in the LGBTQ+ community away from LGBTQ+-specific spaces has in part led to their rapid decline. Though there is limited data, existing research including a 2019 paper by Greggor Mattson at Oberlin College shows that the number of gay bars nationwide has dropped by more than half since the mid 1980s.

“We’re not going to really understand the full impact of the loss of these spaces for a number of years,” says K Anderson, a cultural anthropologist who created the Lost Spaces podcast with this very topic in mind. “There is an older generation of queers who are recognizing and mourning the loss. Over the coming years, I think we’ll start to see more innovation, reimagining both the community and the spaces that hold them. People’s priorities and need for queer spaces have changed, and the scene needs to evolve to reflect that—hopefully, this means that there are spaces that aren’t exclusively centered around drinking and drugs, ones where people of all ages feel welcome. What that looks like exactly I don’t know, but we are a resilient and innovative community, so I’m excited to see what is to come.”

“Assimilation is a double-edged sword. We spent years trying to prove that gay folks are equal and just the same as straight people. Now that we’ve done that—marriage, military, kids, etcetera—we seem to have dumbed down our once gay culture,” St. Sukie de la Croix, a gay historian and inductee in the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame, tells the Chicago Reader. “Gay bars, bookstores, and newspapers are disappearing. Is that good or bad? As a gay senior, I’m very conscious of the danger of clinging to the past and not accepting new things. However, it does seem a shame that what made us different and exciting is now being watered down.”

De la Croix isn’t the only one worried about this loss of culture. World Business Chicago’s vice president and director of marketing and communications Andrew Hayes agrees. “The Gay Pride Parade that began to help demonstrate the community’s collective power is today a traveling party, a drink fest. While the acceptance and assimilation have led the community to realize greater access to what others enjoy, it has also, in my humble opinion, given us less of point-of-distinction, too. Our once ‘rallying cry’ has been silenced. We are now happily blended—but thinking back to the days of ACT UP and the need to protest for the rights denied us, but afforded others, united the community in ways we don’t see today.”

In preparation for June’s Pride Month, young staffers in Hayes’s office passed around rainbow flags and other decorations. He says, “Watching this unfold stopped me in my tracks. While I appreciate and am genuinely touched by the outward demonstration of support this was intended to represent, I couldn’t help but think that all those who fought for our rights, and died from discrimination in all its forms, were reduced to desktop flags. At that moment, having known friends who were dying weekly from AIDS, and having seen regular protests and fights for our civil rights, I wished for those younger than me to see LGBTQ history as so much more than a desktop flag.”

These experiences differ based on circumstances. Dr. Ghaziani says, “Attitudes about homosexuality have liberalized at unprecedented rates, as we can see from the Gallup poll [Ghaziani is referring to his research based on a 2011 Gallup Poll asking respondents, “Do you think gay or lesbian relations between consenting adults should or should not be legal?”]. Sometimes, we falsely assume that aggregate statistics about public opinion apply to all LGBTQ people. This is not true, unfortunately. Cis white gay men and women have a set of experiences that are different from racialized and trans communities. As an example, we see that these groups are systematically more susceptible to anti-LGBTQ violence.”

“We receive the protection of popular culture, as the ways we look, and love, are synthesized by the mainstream. The benefit is we may become less threatening. We lose being viewed as radical. At the same time, we become diluted and divided as other ‘isms’ like sexism, classism, elitism, and racism rise to the surface,” says Dionne “Choc Tréi” Henderson, executive director of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ kink organization Paragon Cooperative and Club and a board member at Chicago’s Leather Archives and Museum. “In other words, we sacrifice the uniqueness that binds us together by mimicking heterogeneous customs.”

These “isms,” and others, sometimes make gay bars themselves less than inclusive. This leads to finding other venues—such as cruising places or recently, apps. Dr. Ghaziani adds, “Cruising places have been foundational to the history and culture of gay men. In the 1960s and 1970s, political liberation was inextricable from sexual liberation. To have sex was a radical act, a liberatory act, an act in the service of pleasure as well as politics.” 

Though cruising places still exist, one needs only look at websites like Squirt to find out which neighborhood park or library restroom hosts men looking for sex with other men; other online platforms have taken the place of that risky activity. “While platforms such as Grindr and Scruff make hooking up a virtual certainty for those looking to do so, they aren’t the wild ruptures in the sexual culture they’re often depicted as. Neither do they impede the formation of friendships or the development of communal ties,” Dr. Fenrich says. “Although I’ve sat through many a dinner party where such suspicions were aired as certainties.”

Depending on your perspective, there is much still radical about the LGBTQ+ scene in our city. Many LGBTQ+-owned gay bars and businesses serve the community as a space to congregate and affirm—just not as many or in the same ways as in their heyday. The danger exists in our allowing them to close without replacing them with something aspirational, welcoming, and distinctly our own.

Read More

Since 2004 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in the first place.

I love a good mystery. Sometimes even my most exhaustive research turns up nothing more than a few details about a great musician, not enough to tell the full tale. As much as I might want to blast that story from the mountaintops, I also respect the value in leaving an artist’s mystique intact—a rare and even beautiful thing in this era of digital information saturation. Creators deserve privacy, and some actually manage to maintain theirs, as impossible as it can seem. Soul diva Barbara Livsey might be doing just that, and in any case, she left the limelight long ago. Her career is worth celebrating, though, so I’ll do my best. No matter where Livsey is now, the allure of her songs endures.

Barbara Livsey was born May 27, 1946, in Atlanta, Georgia, and around 1958 her family moved to Chicago, where she attended Parker Academy on the south side. In high school Livsey (also known as Barbara Bates) took music classes and formed her first group, the Du-Ettes, with her cousin Mary-Francis Hayes. They specialized in brash, hard-edged soul that was perfect for riling up teenagers, and like many R&B acts of the era, they got their big break at a local talent contest. 

Representatives from One-derful Records, a Black-owned Chicago label founded by George Leaner, saw the Du-Ettes win the competition and signed them. Beginning in 1963, they released a series of slammin’ singles for One-derful and its subsidiaries, most frequently the M-Pac! label. The gritty but tuneful “Mister Steel,” the group’s debut, was cowritten and produced by R&B legend Andre Williams. The hard-groovin’ “Move On Down the Line” and its mellower girl-group B side, “Have You Seen (My Baby),” were both arranged by Milton Bland (aka Monk Higgins) and produced by Otis Hayes (aka Little Otis).

The Du-Ettes debuted in 1963 with the single “Mister Steel.”

Williams also produced the Du-Ettes’ next 45, “Every Beat of My Heart” b/w “Sugar Daddy,” released by One-derful imprint Mar-V-Lus, which made them labelmates with local dance-craze king Alvin Cash (of “Twine Time” fame). Its thumping, powerful soul earned the single a UK release via President Records in 1972 (it’s still beloved overseas by Northern Soul aficionados). The Du-Ettes’ final platter, the 1965 single “Please Forgive Me” b/w “Lonely Days,” was even more danceable—the A side features lively hand claps, rollicking sax, and a fierce tempo. 

“Every Beat of My Heart” was reissued in the UK in 1972, and it’s still beloved by Northern Soul fans.

To support these records, Du-Ettes toured extensively (sometimes under the name “Tate’s Du-Ettes”) with a revue headlined by One-derful labelmates the Five Du-Tones, who’d had a hit with the first recording of “Shake a Tail Feather” in 1963. But by 1966, the Du-Ettes had called it quits—Livsey got married and moved to Detroit.

The B side of the Du-Ettes’ final single, initially released in 1965 (and later reissued by Lost-Nite Records)

Within a few years, though, Livsey came back to the Windy City and started making music with her sister in a duo simply known as Barbara & Gwen. They performed in clubs for a stretch and then in 1969 signed to New Chicago Sound Records (owned by Leo Westbrook, C.D. Wilson, and Bill Parker). They released two singles with the label, the soulful “Just the Two of Us” b/w “I Love My Man” and the downright funky “Right On (to the Street Called Love)” b/w “Take Me as I Am (Don’t Try to Change Me),” but aside from some local airplay for the latter, neither got much traction. 

Barbara & Gwen released “I Love My Man” in 1969.

The label added Doris Lindsey to the group, who changed their name to Barbara & the Uniques. They started out with a bang on small New York label Arden with “There It Goes Again” b/w “What’s the Use.” The smooth, brassy A side was written by Eugene Record of the Chi-Lites, and it became a national hit, spending 11 weeks on the Billboard soul chart in late 1970 and early ’71. 

Arden released some excellent follow-up tunes by the group, such as the wah-wah-addled “I’ll Never Let You Go” and the bouncy “You Make Me Feel So Young Again.” California label Abbott  Records put out the 1972 single “Take Me as I Am” b/w “He’s Gone (and It’s All Over Now).” Sadly, none of them sold especially well. Livsey, now known as Barbara Blake, signed the Uniques with producer Jimmy Vanleer, who’d had some success with the likes of the Southside Movement and Jackie Ross. 

Vanleer brought Barbara & the Uniques to the fairly large 20th Century label, which released a proper album by the group (and a fair number of singles from it). It’s the Uniques’ most professional-sounding production, though the group by this time was just Livsey and several male studio musicians. Why the 1975 LP Barbara Blake & the Uniques wasn’t a smash is a head-scratcher to me—Livsey’s confident voice mingles with the group’s confident backing vocals on a consistent lineup of stylish tunes. “Let Me Down Easy” and “Everlasting Thrill” should’ve been snappy, dance-floor-filling smashes—if you ask me, they’re on par with anything by Sister Sledge or Anita Ward. The soulful ballads “Teach Me” and “Superman” equal or even surpass the best of Gladys Knight & the Pips or the Three Degrees.

Barbara Livsey (then going by Blake) cut this burner for her sole LP in 1975.

Now comes the mystery—after Livsey’s contract with 20th Century Records expired later in ’75, she all but vanished from the public record. I can’t be certain if she’s dead or alive, but it seems pretty clear that she left the music business and never looked back. On social media I found a woman named Barb Livsey with a not-much-to-see account who meets her description, but my requests for an interview went unanswered. 

If that’s the same Livsey, I have a feeling she doesn’t want to be found—or else she’s simply living her life and not looking at social media often enough to notice music writers trying to find her. We may never know. But Livsey’s music and her gutsy, passionate voice live on for all who take time to look—so maybe there’s no need to locate her bad self.

Read More

Since 2004 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in the first place.

I love a good mystery. Sometimes even my most exhaustive research turns up nothing more than a few details about a great musician, not enough to tell the full tale. As much as I might want to blast that story from the mountaintops, I also respect the value in leaving an artist’s mystique intact—a rare and even beautiful thing in this era of digital information saturation. Creators deserve privacy, and some actually manage to maintain theirs, as impossible as it can seem. Soul diva Barbara Livsey might be doing just that, and in any case, she left the limelight long ago. Her career is worth celebrating, though, so I’ll do my best. No matter where Livsey is now, the allure of her songs endures.

Barbara Livsey was born May 27, 1946, in Atlanta, Georgia, and around 1958 her family moved to Chicago, where she attended Parker Academy on the south side. In high school Livsey (also known as Barbara Bates) took music classes and formed her first group, the Du-Ettes, with her cousin Mary-Francis Hayes. They specialized in brash, hard-edged soul that was perfect for riling up teenagers, and like many R&B acts of the era, they got their big break at a local talent contest. 

Representatives from One-derful Records, a Black-owned Chicago label founded by George Leaner, saw the Du-Ettes win the competition and signed them. Beginning in 1963, they released a series of slammin’ singles for One-derful and its subsidiaries, most frequently the M-Pac! label. The gritty but tuneful “Mister Steel,” the group’s debut, was cowritten and produced by R&B legend Andre Williams. The hard-groovin’ “Move On Down the Line” and its mellower girl-group B side, “Have You Seen (My Baby),” were both arranged by Milton Bland (aka Monk Higgins) and produced by Otis Hayes (aka Little Otis).

The Du-Ettes debuted in 1963 with the single “Mister Steel.”

Williams also produced the Du-Ettes’ next 45, “Every Beat of My Heart” b/w “Sugar Daddy,” released by One-derful imprint Mar-V-Lus, which made them labelmates with local dance-craze king Alvin Cash (of “Twine Time” fame). Its thumping, powerful soul earned the single a UK release via President Records in 1972 (it’s still beloved overseas by Northern Soul aficionados). The Du-Ettes’ final platter, the 1965 single “Please Forgive Me” b/w “Lonely Days,” was even more danceable—the A side features lively hand claps, rollicking sax, and a fierce tempo. 

“Every Beat of My Heart” was reissued in the UK in 1972, and it’s still beloved by Northern Soul fans.

To support these records, Du-Ettes toured extensively (sometimes under the name “Tate’s Du-Ettes”) with a revue headlined by One-derful labelmates the Five Du-Tones, who’d had a hit with the first recording of “Shake a Tail Feather” in 1963. But by 1966, the Du-Ettes had called it quits—Livsey got married and moved to Detroit.

The B side of the Du-Ettes’ final single, initially released in 1965 (and later reissued by Lost-Nite Records)

Within a few years, though, Livsey came back to the Windy City and started making music with her sister in a duo simply known as Barbara & Gwen. They performed in clubs for a stretch and then in 1969 signed to New Chicago Sound Records (owned by Leo Westbrook, C.D. Wilson, and Bill Parker). They released two singles with the label, the soulful “Just the Two of Us” b/w “I Love My Man” and the downright funky “Right On (to the Street Called Love)” b/w “Take Me as I Am (Don’t Try to Change Me),” but aside from some local airplay for the latter, neither got much traction. 

Barbara & Gwen released “I Love My Man” in 1969.

The label added Doris Lindsey to the group, who changed their name to Barbara & the Uniques. They started out with a bang on small New York label Arden with “There It Goes Again” b/w “What’s the Use.” The smooth, brassy A side was written by Eugene Record of the Chi-Lites, and it became a national hit, spending 11 weeks on the Billboard soul chart in late 1970 and early ’71. 

Arden released some excellent follow-up tunes by the group, such as the wah-wah-addled “I’ll Never Let You Go” and the bouncy “You Make Me Feel So Young Again.” California label Abbott  Records put out the 1972 single “Take Me as I Am” b/w “He’s Gone (and It’s All Over Now).” Sadly, none of them sold especially well. Livsey, now known as Barbara Blake, signed the Uniques with producer Jimmy Vanleer, who’d had some success with the likes of the Southside Movement and Jackie Ross. 

Vanleer brought Barbara & the Uniques to the fairly large 20th Century label, which released a proper album by the group (and a fair number of singles from it). It’s the Uniques’ most professional-sounding production, though the group by this time was just Livsey and several male studio musicians. Why the 1975 LP Barbara Blake & the Uniques wasn’t a smash is a head-scratcher to me—Livsey’s confident voice mingles with the group’s confident backing vocals on a consistent lineup of stylish tunes. “Let Me Down Easy” and “Everlasting Thrill” should’ve been snappy, dance-floor-filling smashes—if you ask me, they’re on par with anything by Sister Sledge or Anita Ward. The soulful ballads “Teach Me” and “Superman” equal or even surpass the best of Gladys Knight & the Pips or the Three Degrees.

Barbara Livsey (then going by Blake) cut this burner for her sole LP in 1975.

Now comes the mystery—after Livsey’s contract with 20th Century Records expired later in ’75, she all but vanished from the public record. I can’t be certain if she’s dead or alive, but it seems pretty clear that she left the music business and never looked back. On social media I found a woman named Barb Livsey with a not-much-to-see account who meets her description, but my requests for an interview went unanswered. 

If that’s the same Livsey, I have a feeling she doesn’t want to be found—or else she’s simply living her life and not looking at social media often enough to notice music writers trying to find her. We may never know. But Livsey’s music and her gutsy, passionate voice live on for all who take time to look—so maybe there’s no need to locate her bad self.

Read More

Is Greece on your bucket list? Dreaming of the Aegean Isles, but don’t know which islands to see or the best way to see them?  Greece has over 2,000 islands, yet only 200 are inhabited. The best way to grab the most for your hard-earned travel dollars is island hopping aboard a cruise and getting an authentic Greek experience at every knot.

Put Celestyal Cruises on your GPS   

Sail the Greek Islands aboard Celestyal Crystal. Photo courtesy of Celesytal Cruises.

The Hellenic people are proud of their centuries-old heritage and contributions to the world in art, theatre, philosophy, and democracy. But don’t just go on one of the bigger ships and hope for the best. I recommend going with a cruise line that truly captures the very essence of the Greece experience.

Celestyal Cruises creates a deeper, richer more immersive cruise. They believe in the Greek philosophy of “Kefi” – joyful, spirited with a love of life and infuse this into every aspect of your sail. Celestyal Cruises knows the destinations and offers an outstanding experience. For shorter trips, try the Olympia which offers 3 and 4-day cruises, stopping at two islands each day. Many cruisers opt for repeated trips on this itinerary because it gives them a chance to “do Greece” at a great price. The Crystal offers 7-day cruises across three continents, giving you more in-depth travel.

Celestyal Cruises is authentically Greek with music, cuisine, and culture adding ambiance to every part of your cruise. Check out Greek Folk Dancing, Greek crafts, and Greek language classes. You’ll also love their Greek Wine Tasting event featuring six wines, fruit, and cheese.

Sample wine, fruit and cheese from the islands at the Greek Wine Tasting event. Photo by Mira Temkin.

Everything’s Included, Plus Several Shore Excursions

I sailed on the Celestyal Crystal, which included deluxe accommodations, on-board-dining, live entertainment, plus two complimentary shore excursions. Even port charges/gratuities were included, saving you time, money, and the hassle of doing all the planning.

My Seven-Night Cruise started and ended in Piraeus (Athens), followed by port stops in Thessaloniki, Kusadasi, Crete, Rhodes, Santorini, Crete, Mykonos, and Milos. Board in Thessaloniki or Kusadasi, if you want.

I opted for a suite and discovered lots of room, closets, and places to store our stuff. The suite offered other perks, too, like the private dining room for breakfast and lunch. We chilled out with fresh fruit, aperitifs, and petit fours brought to our stateroom throughout the day, so we could enjoy a private moment.

You’ll appreciate their other dining options, both casual and formal. Meet your fellow passengers from across the globe in the Amalthia Restaurant.

Dining aboard the Celestyal Crystal. Photo courtesy of Celestyal Cruises.

During the day, listen to the musicians on deck playing lively Greek tunes.  At night, it’s show time, from the music of Abba, Odyssea, and Broadway to a celebration of Ancient Greece and more. Nightlife aboard the ship goes late with the Helios Bar, Eros Lounge, Horizons Bar, and Disco open til 1 a.m.

Gourmet Dining at Greek Table

If you want to dine like a Greek god, Celestyal has partnered with Greek culinary expert, Diana Kochilas, author of 18 cookbooks and creator/host of the “My Greek Table” TV show for The Greek Table Experience. Available on both ships, this optional dinner features an elegant, six-course feast with wine pairings featuring outstanding Greek cuisine. Their epic Greek Village Cheese Platter is to die for.

An awesome Cheese Plate awaits you at the Greek Table Experience. Photo by Mira Temkin.

I spoke with the head chef who explained to me that the Mediterranean diet features fresh, simple, healthy cuisine. They use olive oil, lemon, and other citrus fruits for flavor. If you’re vegan, you’ll find lots of delicious options.

I was told before I cruised that each of the islands is different with its history, identity, and handicrafts. If you see something you like on a Greek Island, buy it. Chances are you won’t see it anywhere else.

Thessaloniki Blends the Old and New

White Tower welcomes visitors to Thessaloniki. Photo courtesy of Celestyal Cruises.

Our first stop was Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece, filled with Byzantine, Roman, and Ottoman relics.  We visited the  White Tower on the Aegean Sea, the iconic symbol of the island. Near it is a statue of Alexander the Great, the Macedonian leader who ruled in 336 BCE. We loved the hustle and bustle of Aristotle Square with its open-air cafes, lovely boutiques, and grand hotels, highlighted by exquisite views of the sea.

Ancient Ephesus Beckons in Kusadasi

The ancient city of Ephesus. Photo courtesy of Celestyal Cruises.Grand amphitheater at Ephesus, Turkey. Photo by Mira Temkin.

Kusadasi, Turkey was the next port, highlighted by the ruins of Ancient Ephesus from the third century, BCE. We walked through these amazing streets and admired the remarkable condition of the relics. Our guide told us the multi-story Library of Celsus actually stored 12,000 Scrolls of parchment scrolls, made with calfskin.  We imagined the roaring crowds at the Great Theatre which held 24,000.

Santorini – Whitewashed, Sky Blue Domes

Skies and seas of blue in Santorini. Photo courtesy of Celestyal Cruises.

You’ve probably seen pictures of Santorini with its whitewashed houses set against sky blue doors and domes. They’re probably from Oia, a city made from the caldera and volcanic ash. Explore the marble stairs and hidden alleyways, all set against the turquoise waters. Take in the spectacular sunset.

Mykonos – Party Time

Mykonos. Photo courtesy of Celestyal Cruises.

Mykonos is known as the “Island of the Winds,” where you’ll enjoy the gentle breezes on a hot day. You’ll love ducking into the alleyways and getting lost in the maze of streets. It’s also a party city where the nightlife pulsates until the wee hours of the morn in  bars and clubs. Opa!

Milos – Where Venus De Milo Was Discovered

Roman theatre where Venus de Milo was discovered. Photo by Mira Temkin.

Sarakiniko Beach has pure white stone sculpted by volcanic eruptions with an almost other-worldly sense to it. You’ll think you’re walking on the moon. Check out the ancient Roman amphitheater where the armless wonder, Venus de Milos was discovered in 1820. Experts believe this ancient Greek sculpture was created between 150 and 125 BC and depicts Aphrodite the Greek goddess of love. Find her in the Louvre in Paris.

Athens – The Acropolis and Parthenon

Photo courtesy of Celestyal Cruises

Perched high, almost above the clouds, stands the Acropolis, a symbol of the once mighty Greek Empire, built around the 5th century, BCE. Imagine living among all of this splendor and history in your daily life? On this historical hill stands the renowned Parthenon, dedicated to the goddess, Athena, the city’s protector. Walk through the well-preserved ruins and see the Temple of Athena Nike, gorgeous iconic columns, and splendid temples. Be sure to check out the Acropolis Museum next door with its see-through glass floors and stand in awe of the structures below.

People asked me about COVID protocols aboard the Crystal. A negative COVID test is required before you board the boat, masks were required throughout the ship, and I felt protected.

Loaded down with baklava, olive oil, and Greek coffee for gifts, our Celestyal cruise soon came to an end. Etched in our minds were thousands of years of ancient history, coupled with a newfound appreciation for Greek cuisine. We can’t wait to sail with Celestyal again!

Celestyal is planning to expand with new routes and new itineraries for 2023. For more information, call +1 (877) 784-2648 or visit celestyalcruises.com

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The Chicago White Sox will be without closer Liam Hendriks for at least two weeks after the closer was placed on the 15-day injured list Tuesday due to a right forearm strain.

The move is retroactive to Saturday.

A two-time All-Star, Hendriks was not available for Monday’s 9-5 win against the Detroit Tigers due to what the team said was a sore arm, but he did play catch before the game.

He is 1-2 with an AL-best 16 saves, a 2.81 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 25 appearances this season. A year ago, he led the league in saves with 38.

In other moves Tuesday, the White Sox reinstated right-hander Joe Kelly (hamstring) from the 15-day IL, recalled righty Davis Martin from Charlotte and optioned lefty Bennett Sousa to the Triple-A affiliate.

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Our contributor Isa Giallorenzo attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s fashion show in May. The annual event returned to an in-person format this year (the theme: “Humanature”) after a two-year hiatus to address safety concerns around COVID-19. Here are some images Giallorenzo shot of some of the over 100 pieces of student-designed work that made their way down the runway, along with photos of some special guests in the audience.

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Our contributor Isa Giallorenzo attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s fashion show in May. The annual event returned to an in-person format this year (the theme: “Humanature”) after a two-year hiatus to address safety concerns around COVID-19. Here are some images Giallorenzo shot of some of the over 100 pieces of student-designed work that made their way down the runway, along with photos of some special guests in the audience.

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