Party Players

Founded Founded by Joe Max and Manny
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Status Active

The Party Players’ history can be told in two parts, the first part begins in the year 1977 when “Capone” organized a party crew that would be called “Party Players.”  The members of the crew started at the intersection of 48th and Racine in the Back of The Yards neighborhood. The original Party Players were not a gang banging crew, instead these were guys that loved to travel around the south side and go to different parties, they especially partied with the K-Town Party People along 26th Street in the Little Village neighborhood.

In the year 1981 one of the original members became incarcerated for murder after he was defending someone he was close to against a drug dealer, after he went to prison the Party Players completely called it quits and the organization was officially extinct.  In that same year of 1981 a youth by the name of “Manny” wanted to revive the organization but for the intentions of gang banging, the original members were not a part of this revival it was completely started over by Manny and a group of young teens as they started this new Party Players group at 48th and Wolcott as they took original Party Player symbols and colors.  The new Party Players cliqued up with the Two Sixs and developed a deep hate against the Saints in the neighborhood.

In the fall of 1988 the Two Sixs and Party Players teamed up to shoot up members of the Saints which resulted in a murder that caused the leadership of the Two Sixs of the Back of The Yards to be incarcerated.  I think this murder case was the very event that caused Two Six and Party Players to go to war because a short time later the Party Players joined the People Nation in early 1989. Now the Party Players began to get back up from the Latin Kings in the area and much of the war with the Saints died down because the Saints joined the People Nation the same year.

The Party Players were now able to spread their influence into the Marquette Park neighborhood at 65th and Spaulding which became the Marquette Park headquarters.  As the late 1980s and 1990s would progress the Party Players expanded all over Marquette Park to 63rd and Troy “Trigger Town,” 73rd and Homan, 65th and Sacramento, 63rd and Whipple.  The Party Players also opened up in the Gage Park neighborhood at 57th and 53rd and Rockwell.  Party Players opened a section at 36th and Seeley in the Mckinley Park neighborhood.

Eventually the vast majority of Party Player sections were shut down including all of their Gage Park and Mckinley Park operations.  The Party Players also lost almost all their territory in Marquette Park accept 65th and Spaulding.  They had set up in the suburbs of Burbank, Oak Lawn and Rockford but they lost Oak Lawn.  The Party Players engaged in vicious gang wars with the City Knights of nearby 48th and Wood and also the Satan Disciples.  Party Players always remained at odds with the Saints even after the Saints joined the People Nation, they may have been cool with each other for a few years after they both joined People but it was war before and war since.  The only sections that stayed open for the Party Players in later years were 48th and Wolcott and 65th and Spaulding.


  1.  What exact year did Party Players form?
  2. What caused the war between Saints and Players?  What exact year did the war start?
  3. Why exactly did Party Players have a falling out with Two Six?
  4. Who took over after Joe Max went to prison? And what were the time line of leaders up until 2000?
  5. When did the other sets open and when did they close?  What year did 65th and Spaulding open?
  6. Why did Party Players never join Folks in the earlier 1980s?