The Alcove

[azafran]

Who remembers the Alcove in the 70's on Woodward between Warren and Putnam?

[Hamtragedy]

The one that moved to Bookies on W. McNichols in Highland Park in the 80's?

[gazhekwe]

I remember it, and that I used to meet a friend there for lunch, but that's all remember.

[EastsideAl]

Used to go there a lot way back during the days of 18 year old drinking. A burger and a beer or two [[or three...) made a pretty nice library study break.

[brucek1958]

I think Z's Place began operations there after the Alcove moved. Z's then expanded into the pharmacy located on the corner of Woodward and Warren. Later, Z's relocated to Piquette Ave., just east of Woodward.

[65memories]

During my days at Wayne State in the 60's, the Alcove was the place to go. We'd stop by there between classes and gulp down way too many 25 cent shells. The Alcove and Vernes were WSU institutions.

[Detroitnerd]

The one that moved to Bookies on W. McNichols in Highland Park in the 80's?

I remember it as Bookies and as the Alcove. Was it under the same ownership as the original Alcove people around WSU? The old Bookies was Vince Bannon, right?

[EastsideAl]

Well, the original Bookie's was actually founded by the original Bookie - Bookie Stewart. Bookie was the legendary manager and owner of several earlier Detroit gay bars, including the famous [[infamous?) Diplomat on Second.

In 1978 Scott Campbell brought in his band, the Sillies, to play there and thus inaugurated a new music policy. So it was Scott who founded Bookies as a punk rock club, and ran the place, booked the bands, rented and ran the PA, etc. I was around there several nights a week back in those days.

Vince Bannon's band, Coldcock, was one of the earliest bands to play there, and Vince helped Scott run the place for awhile. There was eventually a dispute over the running of the club in the early '80s, and Bookie himself threw Vince out. That's when Vince went and started the original Clutch Cargo's in the old Womens City Club building on Park downtown.

As for the Alcove, the original owner died some time in the late '70s and his family sold it to some guys who worked there who were the ones that turned it into Z's Place. I was regularly in both places back then.

I didn't know that there was anyplace else called The Alcove after that, but it probably happened during the time I left town. When I left here Bookie's was still running at 870 W. McNichols, but by the time I returned the building was vacant, burned out, and on its way to being torn down.

[Detroitnerd]

I didn't know that there was anyplace else called The Alcove after that, but it probably happened during the time I left town. When I left here Bookie's was still running at 870 W. McNichols, but by the time I returned the building was vacant, burned out, and on its way to being torn down.

Thanks for the history lesson, Al. I've learned from some of the punk old-timers that, since they couldn't book hardcore shows at regular bars, they'd have to have a "punk night" at gay bars instead. [[Hence the Tesco Vee line about "Bookies, Nunzio's, Menjo's too.") Yeah, the old Bookies went under the Alcove name around the mid-to-late 1980s. Last time I dropped in there was, I think, April of 1989. It was an all-punk crowd by then. Little did I know it was gonna go the way of all things so soon.