This venue began as Fort Park Bowling Lanes back in the 1930's. Later it was renamed to Shorty's then Leone's Lounge then Sidestreet Lounge after that. I have very fond memories of this place as I hung out there constantly with my buddy who was the door man (bouncer) here in the 70's and early 80's. His dad had a piece of the place as I recall in addition to J's Lounge on Telegraph.
The typical evening for my friends and I growing up in Southfield was to cruise Telegraph to 6 Mile and maybe check in at what was then West Side Six (later Silverbird Lounge, I played there later on). From there you could hit the 24 Carat Club which was kitty corner on the other side of Telegraph. These were both good rock bars which I will cover separately. We would continue on down to Lincoln Park and end up at Sidestreet Lounge which featured rock bands 6 nights per week. You could really hone your chops as a musician back then playing that many gigs. That scene doesn't exist now.
The following are some of the bands who played here: Toby Redd (w/ Chad Smith on drums later of Red Hot Chili Peppers), Mugsy, Zooster (practically the house band when I was going there), Tantrum, Almighty Strut, Bittersweet Alley, The Romantics, Sweet Crystal, Teezer, and Mariner. These are just a few of the dozens of acts who played there. The place was a little rough so there were fights on occasion but nothing terrible.
The structure still stands as of 2024 but it doesn't appear to be operating. I am sort of surprised there aren't too many mentions of this place in the newspaper archives.