Bay Area Reporter :: Barchive News

50 years in 50 weeks: BARtab's 2010 debut

January 6, 2022 | by Jim Provenzano

When asked to create a nightlife spinoff mini-magazine for the Bay Area Reporter, it took editor Jim Provenzano only a few seconds to devise the title, BARtab. Putting out a monthly second publication took a lot more time.

Tripping through history: 'The Letters of Thom Gunn' as a roadmap to San Francisco's past

by Michael Flanagan
Dec 22, 2021

'The Letters of Thom Gunn' is both an intimate portrait of the poet and a window on the development of what would become gay and leather culture, and the rise of the hippies and drug culture.

50 years in 50 weeks; 2008's loved 'shack

by Jim Provenzano
Dec 21, 2021

In the second week of August, 2008, a beloved drag show reached its zenith, as host Heklina hosted the last weekly Trannyshack night at The Stud before exporting it to DNA Lounge and other larger venues.

50 years in 50 weeks: The Gangway, 'still here' in 2005

by Jim Provenzano
Dec 2, 2021

A classic neighborhood bar, The Gangway was a tiny yet cozy tavern noted for its exterior décor of a boat's bowsprit. Inside, colorful locals drank from the early hours.

Larry Townsend: celebrating the man behind 'The Leatherman's Handbook'

by Michael Flanagan
Sep 21, 2021

Being Folsom Week, we dive into the early roots of leather culture, specifically in California. 'The Life and Times of Larry Townsend: Saluting the 50th Anniversary of The Leatherman's Handbook,' by Jack Fritscher, is a festive romp.

GLBT History Museum to screen rare Gay Games videos

by Jim Provenzano
Aug 27, 2021

As part of its ongoing Mighty Reel series, the GLBT Historical Museum will screen excerpts from videotapes of the first two Gay Games, held in San Francisco in 1982 and 1986.

Romanovsky and Phillips: gay music duo's fascinating, groundbreaking history

by Michael Flanagan
Aug 10, 2021

Incredible as it seems, it has now been more than 20 years since Romanovsky and Phillips called it quits. Part of the reason it seems so amazing is that accolades continue to pour in about them all these years later.

50 years in 50 weeks: 1986 - Call me

by Jim Provenzano
Jul 22, 2021

Determined to pick some prominent arts event from 1986's Bay Area Reporter issues, what stuck out more prominently was the high number of phone sex ads.

50 Years in 50 Weeks: 1978, Glad to be Gay

by Jim Provenzano
May 27, 2021

While the Tom Robinson Band, then known for the inspiring folk-derived anthem, "Glad to be Gay," had a performance at the Old Waldorf (444 Battery St.), the venue's promoters used the ad to politicize their pro-gay presence.

50 years in 50 Weeks 1977; Drawn to It

by Jim Provenzano
May 19, 2021

The B.A.R.'s June 23, 1977 illustrated cover, an ad for The Balcony bar, took a macho cartoonish focus with art by Chuck Arnett, who was known more famously for his mural on the wall of the Tool Box bar.

50 Years in 50 Weeks: April 1974: Undies at The EndUp

by Jim Provenzano
Apr 29, 2021

As advertised in the April 17, 1974 'Bay Area Reporter,' the EndUp's Jockey Short Contest, immortalized by Armistead Maupin in his best-selling 'Tales of the City' series, took place frequently at the South of Market nightclub.

50 years in 50 weeks: May 1, 1971: In all their plumage

by Jim Provenzano
Apr 6, 2021

As we continue to celebrate the Bay Area Reporter's 50th anniversary, each week we'll take a nostalgic look at a highlight from each year's issues. In May 1, 1971 , a plumaged party seemed like a lot of fun.

Go West: How the B.A.R. brought me to California and halfway around the world, twice

by Jim Provenzano
Mar 31, 2021

With more than 900 articles penned for the Bay Area Reporter, I feel a strong connection as the newspaper celebrates its 50th anniversary this week. I thought to share some behind the scenes tales as well.

That's (adult) entertainment: veteran editor & columnist on the B.A.R.'s erotica true connection

by John Karr
Mar 31, 2021

Our veteran erotica reviewer reminisces about the early glory days of gay porn on film, vintage B.A.R. coverage, and porn's rise, (ahem) in popularity before changes made into VHS and online formats.

The bars that brought us the B.A.R. - from the Tavern Guild to the Bay Area Reporter

by Michael Flanagan
Mar 30, 2021

The Bay Area Reporter first published on April 1, 1971, two years after the New York Stonewall Riots. But the paper's emergence grew not out of activism, but from San Francisco's growing gay bar scene.

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