Before you get to Heaven...

With last nights post I tried to paint a picture of what Club Heaven was like on Fridays and Saturday nights. I began to think about Club Bookies which I detailed as one of the primary stops of the evening. Bookies started out as punk club in the 70's and early 80's but when the punk movement faded the club was taken over by the Black gay kids "the chilren" as it were. The logo was retained but inversed to have white letters on a black background.

I started to go there around 1986 or 87 and it was the place to go for House music which was probably at its high point as a music form around the same time. Bookies was one of several clubs and businesses which made up the gay center of Detroit. Restaurant bars like the Glass house and La Dolci Vita and the infamous Back Stage Dinner which was open to all hours and a place where you would find the kids after the bar cutting up and laughing into the wee hours of the morning. The only gay book store, Chosen Books was sandwiched between the Glass House and Menjos which was where the blond perky white kids would go. In the day Menjos was the bar that would ask for nine pieces of id if you were black... today its found its way into the 21st century and maintains a mixed crowd.

Bookies was separated from Menjos by a shared parking lot and had a black and grey art-deco facade of the old Frank Gagens Club which must have been the joint in the 40's, 50's and 60's. The almost all black interior also was very art-deco in design with large sweeping circular cut outs in the main floor ceilings. I think the all black interior was part of the draw as the little to none lighting made it possible to nearly disappear once you got in. As the music came to a crescendo it could get quite hot and it was not uncommon for the shirts to come off on the floor resulting in an undulating mass dancing to the beats. After 1am you might see the heat and the sweet overcome a couple and witness open sex acts out on the dance floor.

If you liked to watch people Bookies was the place to be.

The basement was where you could get a drink in a little more relaxed environment and enjoy the occasional dancer boi... as there were regular floor shows of four or five dancers who went way past any codes Detroit may have had for dancers at the time. There were so many good times at Bookies for me and many of my friends. Rachien who I have written on previous was usually my date when I went... again he knew everyone and it only enhanced the experience. On one occasion I went with my friend Aaron and that particular evening the club was on ram with so many people. I remember Aaron and I were drinking long Island Ice Teas and as it was getting pretty late I had only enough loot for one more... Poor Aaron misunderstood my screams over the music and ordered two, when we didn't have the full amount, William the perpetualy dancing bartender thought we had had to much and had us literally thrown out! I mean flying through the air and the door thrown out! We must have been a sight as we cussed each other out while dusting each other off, I telling Aaron he had to much wax in his ears. There was no permanent damage and we were back dancing and drinking the following weekend. (err with a few more bucks in our pockets;-)

As I never took a camera of my own into Bookies, I have found some pictures on the net and included some Polaroid's taken by a photographer that would often take pictures at the club for 3 dollars! I am also including a few links below where you can download a couple of recordings of Ken Collier and the link to the official Bookies website. Bookies burned to the ground in the late 90's... it was tragic event for some of us... but writing some of this down has brought back some great moments I will always have.

For two Ken Collier mixes go to:

http://www.deephousepage.com/mixes.php?nRecSet=1050

Just type Ken Collier into the search window

For the History of Bookies:

http://www.bookiesclub870.com/