Baby Huey - Article In Chicago Reader

[Mike]

"Listen to me" has had a few plays here this afternoon, and this led me to stumble across this interesting article from a few months ago on Baby Huey that may be of interest in the Chicago Reader.

https://www.chicagoreader.com/TheMeter/041217.html

clip above link for full article

The Thumbs Up, on Broadway just north of Diversey, was a tiny, no-frills bar with a modest stage. Beginning in 1964, the Babysitters made it their home base, rehearsing their choreographed stage show at the club during the day and gigging there five times a week, usually delivering four sets a night. They played almost exclusively covers, from Beatles hits to Motown favorites, but remade the tunes in their own image, writing radical, funked-up arrangements to complement Huey's full-throttle showmanship.

"People would come and see us, get up to go to the phone or leave, and bring friends back with them. They'd be like, 'You gotta come and see this. I can't even describe it to you,'" says Jones. "We went from like 20 people a night to 40, to 80, to 160." Late in 1964 the Babysitters were written up in the Tribune and the Sun-Times after police and fire marshals had to deal with crowds overflowing into the street outside the club. (Huey also made the papers that year when he was busted for pot possession.) Before long the Thumbs Up moved to