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Good morning!
Friday, Feb 27, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller * When I was young, I was both a band kid and a theater kid and had a bit of a chip on my shoulder. To me, way back when, Sly & The Family Stone embodied all of that… Boom laka-laka-laka This is an open thread.
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- @misterjayem - Friday, Feb 27, 26 @ 7:29 am:
And they still do.
– MrJM
- Six Degrees of Separation - Friday, Feb 27, 26 @ 7:47 am:
Terri Hemmert, long-time WXRT DJ, reminisces on Sly’s 1970 Grant Park show that wasn’t to be.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/vanishedchicago/posts/23970064509300316/
- Friendly Bob Adams - Friday, Feb 27, 26 @ 8:50 am:
The documentary Sly Lives is on Hulu. Definitely worth a watch.
- FormerParatrooper - Friday, Feb 27, 26 @ 8:57 am:
From a time when music was great.
- Amtrak Lincoln Service Resident - Friday, Feb 27, 26 @ 9:09 am:
Sly and the Family Stone are one of those bands you just cannot define…in a good way. Pulling from R&B, funk, blues, early hip hop to create their own sound. I was born in the late 90’s and wish I could’ve seen them at their peak in the 70’s!
- Chicago Voter - Friday, Feb 27, 26 @ 9:46 am:
=Six= Thanks for sharing that backstory. Love Terri Hemmert. I was just a young kid in 1070 and didn’t know the real story. I always thought it was because Sly was a no show.
Also grateful to my older brother for turning me on to Sly and the Family Stone. Their music hold up today.
- TinyDancer(FKASue) - Friday, Feb 27, 26 @ 10:04 am:
I was at the Sly concert. Can’t remember if I saw an opening act. All I remember is sitting on a blanket right in front of the stage. Sly was late appearing and the crowd became angry, chanting, etc. They started climbing on top of the bandshell, tearing off tiles from the roof, etc. Then all he__ broke loose.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Friday, Feb 27, 26 @ 10:27 am:
The 500 songs podcast has two great episodes on Sly. Very interesting life before he formed the band.
https://500songs.com/podcast/song-175-everyday-people-by-sly-and-the-family-stone-part-1-different-strokes-for-different-folks/
- TinyDancer(FKASue) - Friday, Feb 27, 26 @ 11:04 am:
I do clearly remember the Grant Park location of that Sly concert - the stage was directly in front of us and the Field Museum was right behind us, so it was the south end.
- Annon'in - Friday, Feb 27, 26 @ 12:04 pm:
Good stuff. Best watched if you blow up screen to full size. Also crappy lighting makes it a little more zany. Hopefully folks like Don Tracy, Beetle Bailey and Blowhard Nolan tune this in.
- Leslie K - Friday, Feb 27, 26 @ 12:26 pm:
I can’t really add to the Sly discussion. Amazing music.
On a different topic, Mr K and I saw the documentary “The Tinley Park 5″ earlier this week. Heartbraking story of the still unsolved mass murder at the Lane Bryant store in 2008. Respectully done and worth a watch whether you remember the tragedy or know nothing about it. Hopefully there will eventually be justice and closure.
- Loop Lady - Friday, Feb 27, 26 @ 12:32 pm:
When he passed recently, I downloaded his greatest hits and was so blown away.
I never attempted to to see them cuz they had a tendency to not show up and people went berserk.
One of a kind.
- Dotnonymous x - Friday, Feb 27, 26 @ 3:09 pm:
I always gravitated towards people with a chip on their shoulder…I suppose because of mine?…I finally realized it was only me who could brush it off.