The Riverside Club at 1015 N. Halsted Street, Chicago was a private non-alcoholic, membership club for men around 1982. This tape is now 37 Years Old and is a flash back to the past and the begining of House.

Carol’s Speakeasy became an incredibly successful club, despite the death of Mother Carol in September 1979. Greg Collier from Detroit was one of its first DJs. (His older brother Ken Collier was already well-known in Detroit.) Frankie Knuckles even spun there for a time. Michael Graber and Grant Smith experimented with film and video there in the early ’80s. Graber would go on to open the Riverside Club, which became the Power Plant under Knuckles.

This Reel to Reel is a performance of DJ Michael Graber at his club The Riverside Club. Enjoy.

I went to the Riverside Club just once, with an acquaintance. It was truly a membership club; I still have my key. I'm number 675, so there must have been at least that many men who paid to join. It was basically a warehouse floor that was turned into an after-hours club for gay men who still wanted to dance after 4 a.m. On drugs, perhaps, though I didn't see any obvious drug activity on my one visit. The 'décor' was non-existent; a card table selling soda pop, a dj on a slightly raised platform, a coat closet, a toilet, and perhaps a few old sofas. The rest of the space was available to dance, on the bare wooden floors, without even a designated 'dance floor' marked off from the rest of the club space. There must have been some tracer lights and a mirror globe, too, but I wouldn't swear to it. It was an OK experience, but nothing compelling enough to make me want to go all the way down there, to a spooky, deserted commercial district, in the hours before dawn.

Gay History: Chicago Whispers
by Sukie de la Croix
2003-08-20

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    Tracklist
    11:30   Bobby Thurston - You Got What It Takes (Remix)
    14:00   Shalamar - Make That Move
    3:06:00   ABBA - Lay All Your Love On Me


    Classic Gay Dance Remix, The Riverside Club, Sleaze Party, DJ Michael Graber, 1982
    • Type: Mix
    • Release Date: 09/04/1982 03:00
    • 130 bpm
    • Key: Bm
    • © All rights reserved
    • Chicago, United States of America
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