Bus tours hit sites key to city, suburban rockers

Chicago offers bus tours for restaurants, architecture — even ghosts and gangsters. Why not rock 'n' roll?

Local music fan Phil Rockrohr asked himself that very question as he was out jogging one day. Rockrohr, a native of South suburban Park Forest, grew up listening to the bands that were part of the city's small-but-influential music scene back in the 1980s. He figured there was an interesting story to tell about those years.

“When I looked into it and saw that there were no music tours here, I knew I had to start one up myself,” he said.

Rockrohr's first bus tour, “Chicago Rocks: 1980-2002,” takes place this weekend, on Saturday, April 2. It will visit the bars, music clubs, studios and record labels that played key roles in the development of that early rock scene — the one that produced such acclaimed bands as Naked Raygun, Big Black and the Effigies and paved the way for the Smashing Pumpkins, Urge Overkill and other alternative acts of the 1990s. This tour will also run on April 9 and April 16.

A second tour, titled “Chicago Rock Stars,” will take place on Saturday, April 23. This one will focus on the homes and work spaces of individual artists and bands. Both tours are three hours in length.

“There's such a great history of music in this area, and it goes deeper than most people probably realize,” Rockrohr said. “I think even serious fans will learn something new on these tours.”

Rockrohr scheduled the tours for April in part to honor the 30th anniversary of the first release by legendary Chicago music label Wax Trax Records. That label, home to bands such as Ministry, Front 242 and My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, was started by Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, owners of a North Side record store also called Wax Trax.

The label and the store have since shut down; Nash and Flesher have both passed away.

“That store gave punk and new wave fans a place to go,” Rockrohr said. “It created a real community. People from as far away as Peoria made the trip up to Wax Trax.”

The two bus tours will visit sites in the city, but they'll touch on numerous bands that emerged from the suburbs. Among the artists Rockrohr plans to discuss are the late Jay Bennett, a Rolling Meadows native and former member of Wilco; alternative rocker and Libertyville native Ike Reilly; Glendale Heights native Billy Corgan, leader of the Smashing Pumpkins; and the late Jim Ellison, an Addison native who formed revered Chicago band Material Issue.

Rockrohr, 47, now lives in Chicago and runs the writing center at King College Prep on the city's South Side. He has played in bands off and on for years and has written about music for publications such as the Illinois Entertainer.

“Music has always been part of my life,” he said, adding that the Clash, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young are favorites of his. “I don't play as much as I used to, but organizing these tours has been great fun for me.”

If the tours are successful, Rockrohr hopes to organize additional ones in the future.

“Chicago absolutely needs a blues bus tour,” he said. “That's a no-brainer. But we could also do tours about gospel, soul, hip hop — so much amazing music and musicians came from this area, and I'd love to help people explore it.”

<b>Rock 'n' roll bus tours</b>

<b>Chicago Rocks: 1980-2002</b>

<b>When:</b> 3 p.m. Saturday April 2, April 9 and April 16

<b>Where:</b> Tour starts at Schuba's Tavern, 3159 N. Southport, Chicago.

<b>Tickets:</b> $28 (must be 21 or older); go to chicagorockstour.com

<b>Chicago Rock Stars</b>

<b>When:</b> 1 p.m. Saturday, April 23

<b>Where:</b> Tour starts at 620 N. Clark St., Chicago.

<b>Tickets:</b> $28 (all ages, children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult); go to chicagorockstour.com