Very Chicago-centric today
This is a record I learned about, as I did about a bunch of great stuff, from Dusty Groove
Dusty Groove was started by 2 WHPK DJs, JP Chill (who had the long-running hip hop show on Friday nights) and Rick (who hosted the Dusties party on Thursdays)
They initially ran the business out of an apartment, then an annex behind Kimbark Plaza, and then to successively bigger retail locations
But their real deal was being one of the first record stores on line
They do enormous sale numbers on the internet, to buyers from all over who trust their buying taste, grading, etc
Many Chicago DJs get their wax from there
They also have developed a very good historical pricing index
So good in fact, that they know exactly how much even very rare records will go for, and they never let them sit
They’re like the anti-bleaker bob
So when a big-time record pops up, it’s almost always sold within hours
Joanne Garrett’s record on Chess was on the wall in the early days
Unfortunately I was really broke then and didn’t buy it
This was particularly stupid
But I did then note the rare records on the wall for future reference, just as I do now by sorting online by price (highest first)
Joann grew up on the west side but her family moved to the Taylor homes not too long after they opened in the early 60s
On the YouTube comments, you sometimes see people who remember her and her family from their building
She was also, apparently, much admired and chased after for her looks
When her family moved to Robert Taylor, she started attending the local high school, DuSable
Everyone there thought she had a great voice, so they encouraged her to play talent shows and try out for gigs at The Club
She was still a sophomore in high school!
Garrett signed up for a talent show at the Regal Theater (47th and what’s now King Dr) at the age of 15
Some online articles say she won, but the more definitive accounts indicate she actually finished second
Side trivia note: Guess who those accounts report finished first?
Based on that, she won a record contract at the mighty Chess Records
The album is killer
The Dells do backup vocals on a bunch of numbers
This cut is definitely my favorite though
The kicks, highs, and snares are soul-snapping goodness
And the weird bend that runs through it foreshadows the very non-PG story that plays out in the lyrics
Jealousy, possession, threats, till the final piercing scream
The record was actually a huge hit locally in Chicago
The singles got big airplay on local radio stations
But it never did much beyond the Chi
She was a local celebrity for a while (ask anyone familiar with black Chicago in the late 60s early 70s)
But then disappeared
The Regal was closed in the late 60s, not too long after the talent show, and demolished in early 70s
(The Avalon Theater on 79th and Stony was briefly renamed The New Regal in its honor, and was a big spot when we were in high school. It too closed and sat vacant for a long time, though it’s recently undergone a renovation)
The Taylor Homes were taken down in the late 2000s under Daley’s “Plan for Transformation”
Dusable High School, after the demolition, went through a bunch of closings, “reconstitutions” and reforms
Building still stands, and houses 2 small high schools
For many years, it housed the greatest music program in the city, led by Walter Dyett (after whom Dyett middle and then High School were named)
Dyett was phased out from 2014-16 and reopened as an arts school recently
Dusty Groove, owned by 2 white DJs, selling predominately black music, is a hugely successful business, with the biggest buyers being from Europe and East Asia
Don’t know if JP still lives in Hyde Park
Kinda doubt it
I think I figured out why some accounts have Garrett winning the talent show at the Regal, and others have her finishing second
No guesses as to who was reported as the winner in the latter?
-Aretha?
No, but that’s not a bad guess
She’s too old and from Detroit
But did spend some time in Chicago
It was the First Family of Soul
And there’s sort of an interesting class subtext
Charles Burke Sr was a policeman
His kids went to Harlan, a relatively new school on 95th
It’s still around
When the talent show was advertised at the Regal, they said whoever won would get a record contract
His kids had already been performing around the way
But he was nervous about them getting involved in the record business
Because he knew there were a lot of drugs, sex, and criminal activity in the industry
But he decides to put them in anyway
According to a radio interview he did, the kids (named the Stairsteps cuz they were all siblings in a row, each one a step shorter than the one before) blew out the competition
On the interview, he says he heard from some of the radio DJs at the contest that it was actually set up for someone else to win
He says he doesn’t want to name names, but says “she” so it’s obviously a female
Claims she ended up coming in second, so they put on ANOTHER talent show the next week, which she won
Gotta figure that this was Joann
Which would explain why some accounts say the 5 Stairsteps won, and some say Garrett won
The interview is intriguing: Clarence Sr talks about why he decided they would sign with Curtis Mayfield, how he trusted and knew the people involved, and that they were “wholesome”
He also describes the importance of showing an upstanding black family to the world
Since he was CPD, when they went on the road, other police departments helped protect them
This was vital, cuz black artists often faced trumped-up charges in other cities