Cards
Description: In the summer of 1960, the first Melody Top Theatre was opened in Hillside, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. Now, a mere three seasons later, the second Melody Top venture is launched with a promising career in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.On the afternoon of Thursday, September 19, 1991, a two-alarm fire gutted the theatre building. Melody Top Theatre was finished.
Description: Muskego Beach Amusement Park (1861–1967), later known as DandiLion Park (1968–1977), was a popular amusement park located on the southern bank of Little Muskego Lake. The park was closed and demolished when attendance dropped after Great America opened in Gurnee, Illinois. The Tailspin roller coaster was dismantled and the wood was sold off for firewood. Some of the buildings were burned and used as practice for the fire department. The land was eventually developed into housing.
Description: Greater Milwaukee's first bona fide shopping mall was developed by Ed Schuster & Company, a local department store chain, and designed by Seattle's John Graham, Junior. The retail facility was built on a 57 acre site, located 7 miles northwest of the Central Business District. Ground was broken in September 1953. It was demolished in 2001
Description: The Grand Opening occurred in August 1972.In 1992, Jesse Anderson stabbed his wife to death in the parking lot of a TGI Friday's near the mall, claiming two men had attacked the couple and stabbed his wife to death; it was later revealed he fabricated a false alibi. Him and Jeffrey Dahmer were killed by an inmate in the Columbia Correctional Institution in 1994. The mall eventually closed in 2003
Description: Gimbel Brothers (Gimbels) was an American department store corporation that operated for a century, from 1887 until 1987. Adam Gimbel opened his first store in Vincennes, Indiana in 1842. In 1887, the company moved its operations to the Gimbel Brothers Department Store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Gimbels closed in 1997.
Description: The Bugle or Bugle-American (the original name) was an underground newspaper based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Distributed throughout the state from September 1970 to 1978, it was published weekly for most of that time for a total of 316 issues. The Bugle, an early example of the alternative newsweekly genre.
Description: The Bugle or Bugle-American (the original name) was an underground newspaper based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Distributed throughout the state from September 1970 to 1978, it was published weekly for most of that time for a total of 316 issues. The Bugle, an early example of the alternative newsweekly genre.
Description: In January 1978, the station flipped to AOR as WLPX. The station became an immediate success in the ratings, even pushing rival WZMF to tighten their format, and later drop it altogether for beautiful music. WLPX also sponsored future NASCAR driver Alan Kulwicki on local racetracks. In the summer of 1983, WLPX abruptly switched to CHR, first as 97X, then shortly after as WBTT, B-97.
Description: In December 1970, WRAC-FM flipped to a rock-based Top 40 format with the WRKR call sign, primarily targeting Racine, Kenosha and the southern part of Milwaukee County. WRKR gradually started targeting the whole Milwaukee market. At one time, WRKR was the Milwaukee-area affiliate of American Top 40. In September 1987, the station became new-age music-formatted WBZN-FM (Breezin' 100.7).[5] The station flipped to Urban contemporary on June 6, 1991, becoming WKKV-FM (V-100 FM)
Description: The 98.3 frequency was home for many years to WZMF, which signed on the air in July 1966. At its inception, the station aired a MOR format. WZMF was located in a small house on Shady Lane in Menomonee Falls. WZMF's pop music programming eventually became more experimental, and the station evolved into a freeform progressive rock format by October 1968, one of the first stations to do so in the midwest. WZMF was sold and went silent on March 23, 1979.
Description: WQFM, beginning in 1958. The station had various formats, including classical music, big band music, jazz and ethnic programming before a short-lived automated Top 40 format. For many years, starting in 1973, this was Milwaukee's dominant album oriented rock station. March 1, 1996, at 10:15 a.m., WQFM ended its rock format with "Long Live Rock" by The Who, and flipped to smooth jazz as WJZI.
Description: On June 10, 1966, the Ad Lib Nightclub opened kicking off 10 years of non-stop go-go drama. Within its first year, the highly regarded nightclub welcomed Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Wes Montgomery, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Herbie Mann, Lionel Hampton, Dorothy Donnegan, Henny Youngman, Rusty Warren, Art Van Damme, Gene Krupa and many, many more. June 30, 1975, it all ended with a whimper when the liquor license quietly expired
Description: The Red Baron bar (also known simply as "The Baron") was a popular disco/ dance bar opened in 1977. The bar had two levels, with disco dancing on the upper floor and a more relaxed lounge bar (the Baron Lounge) on the lower floor. The Red Baron hosted several popular performers at the time. Most notable was a show by legendary disco diva Grace Jones. It closed down in the mid 80s.
Description: The history of the Unicorn, Sydney Hih’s famous basement club, is storied and well-documented for people that had an ear to the underground in Milwaukee. They opened in 1984, and later hosted Nirvana, Soundgarden and the Smashing Pumpkins in its tiny space, ensuring its legendary status. The club closed in the late 90s.
Description: Teddy's opened in 1973 hosting local and national live music. John Lee Hooker played there in the early days, as did Muddy Waters, who played five straight nights to close out 1974. In 1975 Teddy's embraced disco...and added a mechanical bull at some point. Teddy's closed in 1984.
Description: The State Theater was a 1,206-seat single-screen movie theater located at 2616 W. State Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It opened in 1915 and by 1930 it was taken over by the Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp. The cinema closed in 1957. Between 1976 and 1979 the building was renamed the Electric Ballroom and used as a live music venue, hosting acts such as AC/DC, REO, Cheap Trick, The Police, Tom Petty and The Runaways. The building was destroyed by a fire in 2017.
Description: Disco was fading when Papagaio opened in December 1981. Inspired by crackling Rio nightlife, Papagaio spun—and hosted—the most groundbreaking 1980s acts. The bar’s popularity increased with the opening of Underground, an upstairs live music venue. The club closing in August 1987.
