City Within a City: The Biography of Chicago’s Marina City
Mike Kobluk: Former Marina City resident and voice of a generation
1963-67
(Above) Mike Kobluk, an original member of Chad Mitchell Trio, his father-in-law, Lester Foran, and wife, Clare, on the Kobluk’s west tower balcony in May 1964. Mike and Clare lived in unit 4707 from 1963 to 1967. Photographer unknown. Remaining photos by Mike Kobluk.
Mike Kobluk was an original member of Chad Mitchell Trio, a popular folk music group in the 1960s known for social commentary, mostly in the form of satire.
Born in 1937 in British Columbia, Mike moved to Chicago in 1963. He and his wife, Clare, lived in unit 4707 in the west tower at Marina City from 1963 to 1967.
 |
(Above) On the Chicago River in August 1965, the Michigan Avenue, Wabash Avenue, and State Street bridges are raised to allow passage of a freighter. The empty lot at the intersection of Wabash Avenue & Wacker Drive is where Seventeenth Church of Christ Scientist will be constructed in 1968. Marina City’s east tower is at far left.
(Left) Looking down from west tower toward base of east tower in August 1963. |
 |
(Above) View from State Street Bridge in June 1965. At left, Phillips 66 marina and Seay & Thomas Real Estate sign. The sign was owned by White Way Electric Sign & Maintenance Company, the same company that erected the beacon on the broadcast tower on Marina City’s west tower. Toward center, Marina City Restaurant and construction starting on the theater building.
(Left) Marina City from United Insurance Building (now known as One East Wacker Drive) in August 1965. |
(Above) Henry John Deutschendorf Jr., better known as John Denver, plays a guitar in his Marina City apartment in June 1967. John and his wife, Annie, took over the lease of Mike Kobluk, an original member of Chad Mitchell Trio. They lived in unit 4707, a one-bedroom apartment on the 47th floor of the west tower. Denver joined the trio in 1965, replacing Chad Mitchell, who left to pursue a solo singing career. Seated on the sofa are, at left, Annie, and Bob Hefferan, a guitar accompanist for Chad Mitchell Trio. (Kobluk could not recall the names of the other people in the photo.)
The trio got together in 1958. Highlights of their career include singing with Harry Belafonte at Carnegie Hall and a concert tour of South America as part of a cultural exchange program sponsored by President Kennedy.
The group had six albums that peaked in the top 100 on the Billboard music charts, including a 1964 album, Reflecting, that was recorded soon after the assassination. It included a medley of In the Summer of His Years and Rally ‘Round the Flag.
Kobluk continued to perform with the trio until 1968. He currently lives in Spokane.
Written by Steven Dahlman
Presented for nonprofit educational purposes
Presented for nonprofit educational purposes