Help preserve history!

     A friend of mine is doing serious research on the history of gay life in Detroit and Michigan in general. Especially if you are over 60 years old and are willing to talk with him and share your stories, please shoot me a email and I will forward it on to him. Also, when you look at a post for a bar on this blog, you will see "comments" at the bottom of the post, click on the word comments to expand and see what other people wrote about the bar and share your stories as well.

My email is detroitsocialclub@gmail.com

The Death of The Gay Bar?

     Maybe it is because of my age, but I remember when gay bars were totally packed and oh so much damn fun. A lot has changed since I was a naive 18 year old in 1985. I look back and realize how green I was in 1985, my first visit to Menjo's, I was shaking, I was scared, but I was in awe. Menjo's was packed on Thursday nights, yes, as it is still busy today. But, Menjo's was even more packed on Friday nights, I remember having to park three blocks away just to get in on Friday nights. You could hardly move in the place. It seems like today gay bars have a hard time just making enough money to stay open at all. This makes me sad, as I am old (Yes, I am old) and I remember the good old days when gay bars were so damn much fun. What happened? Well, the internet for one, people who don't like the "bar scene" can now meet people online for either dating or sexual hookups. Back in the day before the internet, if you where gay, you HAD to go to a gay bar to meet other gay people. There was just not any other place to meet gay people. Gay bars were very mixed, by that I mean, age wise, everyone went to the gay bar, young and old. I miss that feeling of comradery.

     The world has changed a lot since 1985, progress has brought more acceptance. Gay people can now go to straight bars and be accepted. I remember the feeling of going to a gay bar was something like going to speak easy in the days of prohibition, it was daring, dangerous and exciting. It was a secret world, if I saw someone who I knew from my "straight world" in the gay bar, I got very scared that they would "out" me. They of course, felt the same thing, and everyone kept it hush-hush.  I have tried to embrace the whole online dating thing, but I find myself spending hours online wasting my time and I get very frustrated and give up on it. I really think there is nothing like meeting people in person, not some stupid online profile which is mostly made up of lies.

     "The death of the gay bar?" Gay bars in Detroit have been struggling just to make enough money to be viable. This is funny to me because at one time they use to be cash cows that made tons of money. I hear some young people say "Why do I need to go to a gay bar?" They feel more accepted by their straight counterparts and can socialize with them in straight bars.  I have seen a lot of people who thought that they "knew" how to run a successful gay bar only to fail. It used to be that just being a gay bar meant that you got a large crowd. Not so much any more. People have been very critical of Murray and Peter who now run both Menjo's and Backstreet. I have to give them credit, they have "special" events, i.e. D list celebrities, etc which draw larger crowds on those nights. You cannot just expect that being a gay bar alone will draw large crowds, you have to give them a reason to come out.

      "The dance bar" Both Menjo's and Backstreet used to be known as cutting edge dance bars. They both played the best dance music, had the best sound AND light shows. For decades both bars never had a drag show, it was pure heart pounding music and dance with great lights. What ever happened to good lights on the dance floor? Now, they put a few of these crappy computerized lights on the dance floor and that is it? They used to always have a DJ and a guy who just pushed the buttons to control all the lights on the dance floor. The lights, being controlled by a separate person, went along with the song being played and often created a sense of euphoria with the song being played. They had smoke machines and strobe lights, I even remember flashing neon tubes that could change color and pulse to the music. Menjo's had Chad Novak as a DJ, he wrote for Billboard and Menjo's was nationally known as one of the best dance bars. Chad would even post the Billboard top dance hits on the wall in the bar. Now, some young people like this hip-hop crap music, which, I will make no apologies for, I can't stand. I was at Menjo's recently and the DJ was playing this crap music and I saw the people on the dance floor just kind of "bopping" in place a little bit. How can you dance to this crap? I've been to gay bars in other big cities such as Chicago and they don't seem to play this crappy hip-hop crap music. Why just in Detroit? Gay bars have to give people a real reason to come, I think that going back to having seriously good DJs playing great dance music and having a great dance experience is the answer. It actually makes me sad to say that I hear much better music in straight bars. For years, this was not the case, gay bars had the most cutting edge music and light shows.

     Why go? why go to a gay bar? For me, we live in a heterosexual world. The fact that more straight people accept us is wonderful. But I still feel a sense of comfort, a sense of ease, being with my people, my family. Lets face it, you have to feel more at ease, more comfortable in a gay bar right? It is the comradery of being with my gay peeps, that social interaction of gay bar-ness that I love.  A while back before Backstreet re-opened on Saturday night, if you didn't like going to ICE there was nothing on Saturday night to do? Look at Friday nights now, what bar is great on Friday night? Necto? Necto is good but it is a long drive from Detroit. It really blows my mind that there is really no good gay bar on Friday night in Detroit? I can remember in my youth going to gay bars 7 nights a week in Detroit, and every night was fun. So, what can you do about it? GO OUT. Go out and support your gay bars. Stop staying at home on the damn computer. That picture of him is from 10 years ago in his profile, meet a guy in the flesh, dance to the music and have some fun socializing with your friends. Maybe, just maybe we can get the gay bars to go back to their roots and play good dance music again.

     Go the fuck out.

Chris H.

Karma (Gay Bar)

Karma was a large dance bar located on Woodward Ave in Ferndale which later switched to Boogie Fever which it still is today. It think it was only gay for about a year. Share you stories....

 Photo source: DJ TimmyD

Cobalt (Gay Bar)

Cobalt was the old Doug's Body Shop in Ferndale. They re-modeled Doug's into Cobalt. Cobalt was a fun place and I enjoyed it while it lasted. The bar was partly owned by Tom G from Backstreet. Tom had sold Backstreet and still held the liquor license to Backstreet. He got into a fight with his new owners of Backstreet and closed it down which resulted in a lawsuit which Tom lost. The Oakland County Sheriff's dept did undercover surveillance of the place (Cobalt)  and found some drugs being sold (Wow, really? drugs in a nightclub?) and because one of the bartenders had his ass showing they forced it to close. It is now called Posh and is a straight club. People complain that there are no good large dance nightclubs in the suburbs, but if anyone does open one, the police harass the shit out of them.

Doug's Body Shop (Gay Bar)

Doug's was a straight bar and restaurant for years then it changed to gay. It later became Cobalt. It had old cars that were made into booths that you would sit in. It was popular for a few years. Post your stories and comments..

Q (Gay Bar)

Q was located on Nine Mile in Ferndale. I used to be a bank many years ago. It is owned by Tom who owns Soho. He later changed the name to "9" It was quite popular for a few years. They had a problem in the winter time with checking coats and taking cover, etc at the door which created a long line to get in. People thought they were doing this on purpose (To make it look like it was a popular club) and got pissed off because of the long wait outside in the freezing cold. The gay crowd is very fickle in Detroit, piss them off and they won't come back. This rumor spread that they were doing this on purpose and the club slowly died. Also, the music totally sucked. Tom is very cheap when it comes to paying DJs. You can't have a dance club with crap for music. I remember I was there for a Halloween party and the DJ (who will remain nameless), didn't have Thriller! That's like having Christmas without Santa Claus. Post your stories and comments... Also check out my other blog: motorgay.net

Soho (Gay Bar)

Soho is located on 9 Mile in Ferndale. It is a video bar, although they don't really play videos? It is owned by Tom who is a really nice guy. But, the drinks are over priced compared to Pronto, thus Pronto always wins the crowd. Tom thinks of his drink prices compared to straight bars, he can't get it through his skull that really the only competition on the planet earth for Soho is Pronto. Why go to a bar that is less crowed and pay more for a drink? Post your stories...

Soho's website

Pronto (Gay Bar)

Pronto is located on Washington Ave in Royal Oak. It is a video bar and restaurant. The food is just ok, always has been.  Deli sandwiches are made fresh and and the only thing I would eat there. The video bar is still quite popular. The crowd is mostly over 30 but mixed. The music is terrible for a video bar, most of the patrons grew up in the 70's and 80's and they play almost no 70's or 80's music. They recently expanded their patio and it is huge. Wednesdays have Karaoke and it is quite busy and fun.

Pronto website

Maxie's (Gay Bar)

Maxie's was located in a strip mall at I-96 and Telegraph Rd. It was not open for very long. I was a large bar I remember. The interior I would describe as "Upper scale white trash nightclub decor" I never really liked it but a lot of people did. Post your stories....

The Rainbow Room (Gay Bar)

The Rainbow room is on 8 Mile Rd around hoover-ish. It used to be called the Railroad Crossing and was a lesbian bar. It is just a gay bar now. I've only been there once and it reminded me of the bar from the original Star Wars movie, I have not gone back.

The Railroad Crossing (Gay bar)

As I remember in the 80's the Railroad was a lesbian bar. I never went there in the 80's and was told that you couldn't get in unless you were with a girl. It is now called the Rainbow room. Post your stories...

Chains (Gay Bar)

I don't think I ever went to Chains and can't remember where it was located. Post your stories and what you know...

The Wild Goose (Gay Bar)

I can't remember where the Wild Goose was located? I did go there a few times. Post what you know about it...

Bretz (Gay Bar)

Bretz is located in Toledo. I include it because it is close to Detroit and many of us have made the trip. It is quite a fun bar and it still there. My ex, Tenya (Bill) Sasse was from Toledo and we used to go there. Sadly, he committed suicide some years ago. Post your stories...

Bretz myspace page

Innuendo (Gay Bar)

Innuendo is located on the service drive to I-75, between 6 & 7 mile. It was a stripper bar for a while, then it was popular for after-hours for a few years. It slowly changed from a white crowd to African American. I went there one night and there was a black lesbian riot going on in the parking lot, the police showed up, it was crazy. After that, everyone stopped going there. It is still open and is strictly a black club now. It is run by Jim Stewart.  Also check out my other blog: motorgay.net