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Dee Clark bridged doo-wop, rock ’n’ roll, R&B, and soul

A black-and-white illustration of singer Dee Clark, active in doo-wop, R&B, rock 'n' roll, and soul music mostly in the 1950s through the 1970s, embedded in the title card for the Secret History of Chicago Music
Credit: Steve Krakow for Chicago Reader

Since 2005 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in the first place.


For nearly 20 years, the Secret History of Chicago Music has shined a light on musical underdogs. Some acts didn’t get the recognition they deserved because they had bad managers or made uncommercial music, but other times the reason isn’t so obvious—and I’m still scratching my head as to why multifaceted singer Dee Clark isn’t a legend. He might be remembered as a “one-hit wonder” due to the success of his 1961 single “Raindrops,” but that term elides his importance to Chicago R&B, soul, and rock ’n’ roll. Though popular in his day, especially locally, Clark is now a footnote (if that) in most histories.

Dee Clark was born November 7, 1938, in Blytheville, Arkansas, and Dee was short for “Delecta” or “Delectus” (sources vary, and we can’t ask him because he died in 1990). His family moved to the west side of Chicago in 1941, and his gospel-singing mother, Essie Mae Clark, encouraged him to pursue his love of music. At age 13, Clark started a trio called the Hambone Kids with Sammy McGrier, his classmate at Calhoun North Elementary on the west side (a victim of Rahm Emanuel’s merciless school-closing spree in 2013), and Ronnie Strong from Douglas Elementary on the south side.

The Hambone Kids were riding a craze around the “hambone,” a percussive dance that involves clapping, stomping, and slapping your own thighs and body. (Also called “juba,” it was originally brought to the American south by enslaved African people.) In 1952 the trio appeared on “Hambone” b/w “Boot ’Em Up,” a single billed to drummer Red Saunders and his orchestra and released by the storied OKeh label. On the A-side, the kids perform with singer and whistler Dolores Hawkins (also from Gene Krupa’s band), and on the B-side, Joe Willams (later of Count Basie’s orchestra) sings an ecstatic post–big-band number. 

The song reached the top 20 on the pop charts, but to my mind it’s even more notable that it was arranged by Herman Blount—who was about to change his name to Le Sony’r Ra and then become the cosmic being Sun Ra.

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Dee Clark was one of the “Hambone Kids” on this hit 1952 single by Red Saunders.

“Hambone” inspired similar tunes recorded by Frankie Laine & Jo Stafford, Tennessee Ernie Ford, and Carl Perkins. In a Yahoo Group called Shakin’ All Over, historian Dik de Heer made an even bigger claim about the song’s influence: “In 1955 one Elias McDaniel took a heavy variant of the rhythm and the same nursery rhyme lyrics, added his own powerful distorted electric guitar sound and immortalized the song and himself as Bo Diddley.” 

I’d love to believe that this is literally true—and because Bo Diddley lived in Chicago at the right time, he easily could’ve heard the original single. But while the so-called Bo Diddley riff is a crucial part of the bedrock of rock ’n’ roll and R&B, we’ll probably never be able to trace it back to a single source.

In 1953, while Clark was attending Marshall Metropolitan High in East Garfield Park, he joined an established doo-wop group called the Goldentones as lead tenor vocalist. They came to the attention of famed local DJ Herb “the Cool Gent” Kent, who took them under his wing and renamed them the Kool Gents.

Kent got the Kool Gents signed to Vee-Jay Records imprint Falcon (later Abner), and Clark’s gorgeous, elastic croon helped them rule the local scene in 1955 and ’56. (They also put out a few novelty singles as the Delegates.) When Clark’s relationship with the Kool Gents deteriorated, he went solo. “The group and I, we weren’t getting along too well, different things came about, and I came around to the company and asked Calvin Carter and Ewart Abner if they would record me as a single,” Clark told Robert Pruter in his book Chicago Soul. “Calvin said, ‘I’m glad you asked because we’ve been wanting to do that anyways.’”

Clark’s first few solo releases didn’t set the world on fire, so he tried taking a turn into early rock ’n’ roll. On his 1957 single “24 Boy Friends,” he did an uncanny Little Richard impression—a well-timed move, because that same year Richard left secular music to attend Bible college. 

“I liked Little Richard’s style ’cause he was like number one back then and I could imitate fairly well for having a tenor voice,” Clark said in Chicago Soul. “Little Richard had thrown his rings in the water, quit that scene. The guy who was booking Little Richard on the east coast heard my record and had me come [in November 1957] and do the remaining dates that was on Little Richard’s itinerary.” 

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Dee Clark’s 1958 single “Nobody but You” was his first of several consecutive Top 40 hits.

Clark’s 1958 single “Oh Little Girl” b/w “Wondering” featured backing by “the Original Little Richard Band,” aka the Upsetters. But later in ’58, Clark sang in his own style again on the smoothly soulful single “Nobody but You” b/w “When I Call on You.” His subtle, powerful performance on the A-side sounds more indebted to Jackie Wilson or Sam Cooke than to Little Richard, and the pleading B-side gets a gentle, nostalgic feel from its easy tempo and a phalanx of backup singers swaddled in ghostly reverb. 

Clark returned to pounding rock ’n’ roll with a tough Bo Diddley shuffle on the 1959 single “Hey Little Girl,” cowritten by Otis Blackwell (who also cowrote “Fever,” “Great Balls of Fire,” and “All Shook Up”). The song, which featured Phil Upchurch on guitar, stayed on the pop charts for 15 weeks, peaking at number 20. (Clark also cowrote the Phil Upchurch Combo’s 1961 smash “You Can’t Sit Down.”)

Over the next couple years, Clark continued to enjoy great success locally and sometimes charted nationally, and in 1961 he had the biggest break of his career. On the way back from a New York gig, Upchurch was driving the two of them through a storm, and Clark started singing to the rhythm of the windshield wipers and jotting down lyrics. That birthed the classic tune “Raindrops,” which bridged doo-wop with the emerging sound of soul. 

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The original 1961 version of Dee Clark’s hit “Raindrops”

“Raindrops” combined stormy sound effects, sweeping strings, and a melody to die for. It climbed to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and number three on the R&B chart. Soul music was largely a singles game, but the song also appeared on Clark’s third and final proper LP for Vee-Jay, 1961’s Hold On. . . . It’s Dee Clark. Over the years, the tune has been covered by the likes of David Cassidy, Tony Orlando & Dawn, Jan & Dean, and country singer Narvel Felts.

Clark released other excellent singles in ’61, including the classy and catchy “Don’t Walk Away From Me” b/w “You’re Telling Our Secrets,” but they didn’t reach the same heights. For the 1963 release “Crossfire Time” b/w “I’m Going Home,” he moved to the Constellation label, started by Abner after he was fired from Vee-Jay. Clark consistently got lots of airplay in Chicago, but further mid-60s Constellation singles such as “Warm Summer Breezes” (with a fab Johnny Pate arrangement) and “Come Closer” didn’t hit nationally.

In the late 60s and early 70s, Clark bounced among various labels, among them Columbia, Wand, Liberty, and Rocky, with the latter releasing a new version of “Raindrops” in 1973. Two years later, a funky number on Chelsea Records, “Ride a Wild Horse,” became a surprise UK hit, but Clark failed to make good on its promise. “He was booked for a European tour, he was sent the money for his air fare, and then he disappeared with the cash,” wrote de Heer. “No Dee Clark in the UK, no international tour. And since then, no record deal.”

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Dee Clark’s 1975 single “Ride a Wild Horse” hit the charts in the UK.

The 80s were unkind to Clark. Relegated to the oldies circuit, he got by on small gigs, and for a time he lived in a motel in Toccoa, Georgia. In 1987, Clark suffered two heart attacks and a stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed and struggling with his diction. Because he didn’t have insurance, he kept performing to pay for his treatment—until December 7, 1990, when he died of another heart attack in Smyrna, Georgia. He’d played his last gig at the Portman Lounge in Anderson, South Carolina, with the Jimmy Gilstrap Band. He was buried at the Oakridge-Glen Oak Cemeteries in Hillside, Illinois.

Thankfully, Clark’s early work still has a life among hardcore fans of soulful music. Even during his life, his recordings were being reissued on compilations: London label Charly R&B released Keep It Up in 1980, and Bay Area label Solid Smoke released Dee Clark With His Groups . . . the Kool Gents & the Delegates: His Best Recordings in 1984. 

In 2022, UK label Acrobat issued the 55-track Dee Clark compilation Raindrops: The Singles & Albums Collection 1956-62. As far as I can tell, that’s the newest release, but there can never be too many—Clark needs to be heard by new ears, so that maybe one day he’ll be mentioned in the same breath as Smokey Robinson, Wilson Pickett, and Curtis Mayfield.


The radio version of the Secret History of Chicago Music airs on Outside the Loop on WGN Radio 720 AM, Saturdays at 5 AM with host Mike Stephen. Past shows are archived here.


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Maps show timeline of UnitedHealthcare CEO killer’s movements and escape

Bullets used UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting had words written on them, officials say


Bullets used UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting had words written on them, officials say

03:04

NEW YORK — As the manhunt continues for the gunman who shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan, investigators are trying to piece together the shooter’s movements before and after the targeted attack.

Thompson was in New York City for an investors conference at the Hilton Midtown hotel. The 50-year-old father of two was killed early Wednesday morning outside the hotel on Sixth Avenue.

Chilling surveillance video shows the suspect lying in wait for Thompson before shooting him in the back and the leg, using a gun with a silencer. Police said the suspect escaped through an alley and then rode a bike up to Central Park.

Here’s everything we know about when and where the masked gunman was seen.

CEO shot outside Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan

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UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed on Dec. 4, 2024 outside the Hilton Midtown hotel in Manhattan. 

CBS News New York


The Hilton’s Midtown hotel is located on Sixth Avenue between West 54th and 55th streets. The investigation shut down West 54th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues for the morning commute. 

“We are deeply saddened by this morning’s events in the area and our thoughts are with all affected by the tragedy,” a spokesperson for the hotel said in a statement.

UnitedHealthcare told CBS News the shooting took place during the company’s annual investor relations conference. It was scheduled to be livestreamed starting at 8 a.m., roughly an hour and 15 minutes after Thompson was shot. 

“We are deeply saddened and shocked at the passing of our dear friend and colleague Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. Brian was a highly respected colleague and friend to all who worked with him,” UnitedHealth Group said in a statement. “We are working closely with the New York Police Department and ask for your patience and understanding during this difficult time. Our hearts go out to Brian’s family and all who were close to him.”

Executives canceled the conference in wake of the shooting. 

Timeline of UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting

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UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed on Dec. 4, 2024 outside the Hilton Midtown hotel in Manhattan. 

CBS News New York


  • Thompson arrived in New York City on Monday from Minnesota, where he lived. He was scheduled to speak at the investors conference Wednesday morning.
  • Police say the gunman was seen on surveillance video around 5 a.m. Wednesday near the Frederick Douglass Houses, a NYCHA complex on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
  • At 6:17 a.m., the suspect was seen at a Starbucks near the hotel, where a law enforcement source says he paid cash. Sources say surveillance images may have captured enough of his face to run through facial recognition, and investigators are running forensic tests on a water bottle and candy bar wrapper they believe the suspect left behind.
  • At 6:39 a.m., police say the gunman arrived outside the hotel on foot.
  • At 6:44 a.m., Thompson walked from his hotel across the street to the Hilton.
  • By 6:46 a.m., police say the gunman had shot Thompson twice from behind. They say the suspect ran into the alley between West 54th and 5th streets, then hopped on a bike and rode up Sixth Avenue to Central Park.
  • Police say the suspect was last seen riding the bike on Center Drive at 6:48 a.m.
  • Video obtained by CBS News appears to show the suspect riding out of the park just before 7 a.m. and turning onto West 85th Street.
  • At 7:12 a.m., Thompson was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai West hospital.

Map shows gunman’s escape route to Central Park

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A map shows where UnitedHealtcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and the escape route used by a gunman, who got away on a bike, according to police. 

CBS News New York


Police say the gunman rode a bike up Sixth Avenue, also known as the Avenue of the Americas, to Central Park. 

The hotel is located about five blocks south of the park. It’s also blocks away from Rockefeller Center, where the annual tree lighting was held Wednesday night. 

Police say the suspect was last seen at 6:48 a.m. riding a bike on Center Drive, which is a path that travels through Central Park.

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UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed on Dec. 4, 2024 outside the Hilton Midtown hotel in Manhattan. 

CBS News New York


CBS News obtained additional video that appears to show the shooter leaving the park shortly before 7 a.m. and then turning onto West 85th Street on the Upper West Side. That would put the suspect about 30 blocks north of the hotel on the opposite side of Manhattan.

From there, it’s unclear where he went.

The NYPD is offering a $10,000 reward in the case, asking the public to call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish. You can also submit a tip via their website. All calls are kept confidential. 

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Search for gunman in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO

Search for gunman in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO – CBS News

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Surveillance video from the scene shows the moment a person approaches UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson from behind and opens fire with a handgun equipped with a silencer outside a Manhattan hotel. The NYPD is processing forensic evidence the suspect left at a Starbucks before the shooting. They are also analyzing shell casings found at the scene, along with a cellphone recovered nearby.

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Two children injured in shooting at northern California school

Two children injured in shooting at northern California school – CBS News

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Two kindergarten students were wounded and the suspect is dead after a shooting at a school in Palermo, California. Officials say the suspected gunman had a meeting with a school administrator to enroll a prospective student. Investigators have not verified if that was the meeting’s legitimate purpose or a ruse.

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What to know about the investigation into the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO

What to know about the investigation into the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO – CBS News

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Rodney Harrison, a CBS News law enforcement contributor and former Suffolk County police commissioner who spent three decades with the NYPD, joins “CBS Mornings” to discuss the latest on the manhunt for the shooter in the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO.

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Reader Bites: Pot roast sandwich at Punky’s Pizza & Pasta


The outside of Punky’s Pizza & Pasta looks like many other Chicago Italian-ish pizza parlors, so you might not expect much. The old-school sign with the decades-old green, white, and red logo has been refurbished by Bridgeport’s Scarlata family, who opened the restaurant in 2002, but otherwise, it seems like it could be a neighborhood pizza place (which it is, to the delight of the residential section of Bridgeport that borders the south part of Chinatown).

The foodies of TikTok blew off Punky’s unintentional veil last year when, in an attempt to incorporate a burgeoning “what’s the best chicken Caesar wrap” trend (yes, it was a trend), several influencers discovered Punky’s and waxed poetically about their optional croutons (giving the wrap a satisfying but not overwhelming crunch) and huge portions. Despite what you might be telling yourself about the nutritional benefits of Caesar dressing, this is not a culinary choice for the strictly health-conscious eater, but it’s goddamn good. 

I am not a foodie TikTok person, but I do like food, and lots of it—and thankfully, there are plenty of people like myself in the Punky’s delivery area, so they’ve been thriving for years despite the fickle nature of Internet trends. I do like the wraps there, but for the truly hungry, your best bet is the pot roast sandwich. It’s a massive slab of marinated beef layered with grilled onions, sauteed mushrooms double-basted in beef juice, and the blessing of someone’s grandmother urging you to eat more because you’re looking a little thin these days. The first time I had one, I had to ask if they had the rest of the pot roast the night before. The sandwich was fresh, to be clear, but it felt like an exorbitant amount of care for a $16 sandwich: surely, this was a bigger affair at some point. But no, Punky’s made it that day, and they threw in a bag of fresh potato chips— hot, salty, and right from the fryer, making me feel almost patriotic. 

an illustrated pot roast sandwich on red and white checkered paper, with illustrated mushrooms in the background
Pot roast sandwich at Punky’s Pizza & Pasta Credit: cori nakamura lin | onibaba studio

The pot roast sandwich comes with provolone melted into the bread and meat, and it’s served on toasted garlic bread. It’s a Chicago meal for sure, and a tribute to someone’s home recipe in that it’s not a grab-and-go—you will want a fork, and you will need napkins and a table, so that you can rest your head every five bites or so and make satisfied cooing sounds. Trust me, the time spent concentrating on your sandwich and staying off your phone will be worth it.


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Professional poker player pleads guilty to massive bettor fraud scheme

Professional poker player Cory Zeidman has pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection with a yearslong sports betting scheme, authorities said Wednesday.

Zeidman, 63, was arrested in connection with the $25 million scheme in 2021. He pled guilty in a federal court in Long Island, New York, the United State’s Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York, said in a news release.

The poker player helped run an organization that placed national radio advertisements to lure bettors in New York and Florida to use their services for sports betting advice, according to court documents. Zeidman and his partners used fake names and high-pressure sales tactics, and falsely led clients to believe the organization had access to non-public information about things like player injuries and “fixed” matches. In reality, the information was fake or based on public information, according to court documents.

The bettors were charged “exorbitant fees” for the information, according to court documents, and told that it allowed them to gamble on college and professional sports with little to no risk. Over more than 16 years, Zeidman and his partners collected $25 million in fees, CBS Sports reported in 2021. 

Zeidman pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, as well as forfeiture and restitution of approximately $3.6 million, according to the United States Attorney’s Office. 

Zeidman, who lives in Florida, has amassed $690,146 in career earnings as a professional poker player, CBS Sports reported.

Sports betting has surged in recent years, since a 2018 Supreme Court decision opened the door for states to legalize the activity. Since then, 39 states have done so. Americans have spent more than a quarter of a trillion dollars on sports betting, 60 Minutes reported in June. 

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Youth vaping is still a public health crisis

No one is blowing smoke when they say e-cigarettes marketed to children are not flash-in-the-pan flavors of the month.

Here’s proof of that: Nearly nine out of 10 middle and high school students who vaped this year used a flavored product, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And young people are exposed to e-cigarette marketing nearly everywhere, the CDC has found, including in retail settings, online, on TV and streaming services.

Even among the adolescents who don’t smoke e-cigarettes (or marijuana), their willingness to take a puff increases when a vape product has candy, dessert, fruit, and fruit-ice combination flavors, a recent California-based study found.

The good news, however, is that youth vaping levels tumbled to the lowest in a decade this year, the federal National Youth Tobacco Survey revealed in September.

Also encouraging is the commitment of some of our leaders to try and get the numbers even further down — 1.63 million middle and high school students currently use e-cigarettes, even with the decline — in spite of President-elect Donald Trump’s vow to “save” vaping.

This editorial board has for years championed efforts to curb youth vaping, while still keeping e-cigarettes available for adults, especially those who want to quit traditional tobacco cigarettes. Targeting flavored products and illegal products is essential.

Going after China

Here in Chicago on Monday, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., joined Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and doctors at Lurie Children’s Hospital to tout initiatives combating youth vaping, including a new U.S. investigation into illicit vape manufacturers based in China.

Around 95% of vaping products used globally are manufactured in China, according to Krishnamoorthi, a ranking member of the U.S. House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. Hundreds of illegal products, packaged and marketed in ways that appeal to young people, are sold nationwide despite the Food and Drug Administration only authorizing 34 tobacco-flavored e-cigarette products.

On the same day of the news conference at Lurie’s, a majority of Supreme Court justices hearing arguments in a key case involving the FDA’s authority to regulate e-cigarettes, didn’t seem to buy the argument that the agency unfairly shifted its standards before rejecting applications from companies that sell sweet-flavored vaping products. The FDA has rejected — rightly, in our view — some 1 million applications for sweet-flavored vaping products.

“I’m not really seeing what the surprise is here or what the change is here,” Justice Elena Kagan said while listening to oral arguments on the FDA’s appeal of a lower court ruling that sided against the agency. “Everybody basically knows that flavors are particularly dangerous in terms of kids starting the use of smoking products.”

The case centers on challenges to FDA authority brought by Triton Distribution and Vapestasia, which manufacture flavored liquid for e-cigarettes.

“Jimmy the Juice Man Peachy Strawberry” and “Suicide Bunny Mother’s Milk and Cookies” were some of the flavors listed on Triton Distribution’s application in 2020. Vapetasia’s offering included “Iced Pineapple Express” and “Killer Kustard Blueberry.”

Sure, there may be some adults who are drawn to those flavors, but let’s be blunt: Their cool, catchy names are catnip for kids.

We hope the Supreme Court eventually rules in favor of the FDA, and that more elected officials continue the battle against the bad taste of vaping products marketed to children.

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‘Black Doves’ review: Netflix series packs a lot of action, humor into six tight episodes

Another week, another slick and pricey-looking spy thriller streaming series. This time around it’s the fast-paced and twisty, exciting and at times wickedly funny “Black Doves” on Netflix, and good on you, “Black Doves”! You get high grades for virtually all the entries on Spy Thriller Series checklist:

  • Do we have a top-level star creating a memorable character while leading a terrific ensemble? Check! Keira Knightley, who often seems to be changing from one period-piece drama costume to another — e.g., “Pride and Prejudice,” “Anna Karenina,” “King Arthur,” “The Duchess,” et al., — turns in some of the finest work of her career as a present-day wife and mother who also happens to be a badass operative for a covert organization known as the Black Doves.
  • Are the flashbacks used judiciously, and do they contribute to the richness of the storylines, as opposed to so many streaming series that bombard us with a dizzying overload of flashbacks executed mostly for the sake of style? Yes, to the former!
  • Is the series stretched out to nine or 10 chapters, when the plot would have been better served with tighter editing and a more succinct plotline? A resounding no. “Black Doves” packs in a TON of story in just six episodes and wraps things up in satisfying fashion — and yet leaves the door open for more cloak-and-dagger intrigue, and in fact Netflix has already renewed the series.

The great thing here is that while “Black Doves” indeed follows and nails the formula for this genre, it constantly upends our expectations and plays with the style in admirably creative fashion. One minute, we’re at a lavish cocktail party; the next, we’re in the middle of hand-to-hand combat that plays like something out of a “Bourne” movie. For as long as Knightley and co-star Ben Whishaw (in my favorite Ben Whishaw performance to date) are committed to this series, count me in as well.

Season One is set in London at Christmastime, but don’t expect Andrew Lincoln to show up on Keira Knightley’s doorstep with cards telling her, TO ME, YOU ARE PERFECT. Knightley is Helen Webb, the beautiful and charming wife of the U.K. Defence Secretary Wallace Webb (Andrew Buchan), that rare politician who is widely popular and respected and will likely be calling 10 Downing Street home for Helen and himself and their adorable twins in the near future. Helen seems well-suited to her comfortable and traditional and old-school standing as the woman behind the man, but here’s the thing: She’s also a longstanding member of the secret espionage organization, as Helen happens to possess a very particular set of skills, which we learn more about in flashback. (Her real name isn’t even Helen.)

The Black Doves have no political affiliation, no prime ideology. As Helen’s manipulative and mysterious and all-knowing supervisor Reed (a brilliant Sarah Lancashire) explains it, the Black Doves are masters at obtaining information — and then they sell that information to the highest bidder, and they move on. That’s the game. That’s the job.

Ben Whishaw tackles the somewhat clichéd role of the Assassin Who Develops a Conscience and turns it into something special. Whishaw plays Sam Young, a dashing, champagne-sipping killer who’s as fast with a quip as he is with a gun. In flashbacks, we see Sam training Helen, who becomes his best friend and his partner in secrecy. (Sam also has a double life, as his friends and his romantic partner believe he’s a mild-mannered sophisticate who travels a lot because he’s in … insurance.)

Sam (Ben Whishaw, right) keeps his life in espionage secret from partner Michael (Omari Douglas).

Sam (Ben Whishaw, right) keeps his life in espionage secret from partner Michael (Omari Douglas).

“Black Doves” announces itself as a gripping gut-punch of an espionage saga in the early going, when a civil servant named Jason Davies (Andrew Koji) and two of Jason’s associates are assassinated on the same night. Turns out Helen had a special connection to Jason, and the killings could be related to the death of the Chinese ambassador (Andy Cheung) and the disappearance of the ambassador’s party-girl daughter Kai-Ming (Isabella Wei). Further complicating matters, our man Sam, who has become estranged from his partner Michael (Omari Douglas) in the interest of preserving Michael’s life, learns it’s time to pay the debt he owes to the erudite and terrifyingly calm Lenny (Kathryn Hunter, great), the boss he betrayed many years ago.

There’s a lot to unpack in “Black Doves,” but the various machinations and shock-developments are handled in a clear-cut fashion that makes it relatively easy to follow along. This is simply one of the best and most entertaining spy thriller series of the 2020s.



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Person of interest in custody in Lincoln Park slaying

A person of interest was in custody after a fatal shooting during an argument in Lincoln Park late last month, Chicago police confirmed Thursday morning.

Charges have not been announced.

Authorities released photos and videos of the alleged gunman Tuesday asking for help identifying him. Footage from a surveillance camera shows him dressed in all black.

Around 4 p.m. last Wednesday, 34-year-old Alexander Nesteruk was “exhibiting erratic and dangerous behavior” in the 2400 block of North Clark Street when he instigated an argument with a group of people, one of whom pulled out a gun and fired shots, Chicago police and Ald. Timmy Knudsen (43rd) said.

Nesteruk suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and was taken initially in critical condition to Illinois Masonic Medical Center. Nesteruk, of Wheaton, was pronounced dead at 1:19 p.m., Monday, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The investigation remains ongoing, police said.



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