Scandals bar was opened by Mike and Nancy Newman. The bar came about when the license holder of the previous LGBT bar there, "R Place, (Mike's son Danny Newman) left Madison. (Madison requires liquor license holders to reside within the city.) The full situation is described in a story in Wisconsin Light newspaper (see below). (Rumors at the time were that Danny had skipped town with cash, and thus the bar would be reborn as a result of a scandal. Good story, but the truth is somewhat different as the article explains.)

Scandals bar opened on March 1, 1997, with a 'Z & L Productions' show. The 'Steppin Out' column in 'In Step' magazine observed "Scandals will definitely be a great place to party". It didn't hurt that the location was two doors away from Madison's popular LGBT bar, the Shamrock Bar & Grille!

The bar was listed in the 'Quest magazine' Guide from issue 4-02 to 4-17, reading "features backroom dancefloor, fireplace and hot crowd".

Understandably though, the parents of the owner of the previous bar, R Place, were not keen on operating a 'gay' bar that their son had abandoned and left in their care. A notice appeared in October 1997 that owners Mike and Nancy handed over the keys to Kirby Sheldon and the place would be called Kirby's Klub.

Scandals was thus just the second in a long line of names for an LGBT bar in this location (121 W. Main Street, Madison) over a period of just 4 years:

• R Place (May-December 1996)
• Scandals (March-October 1997)
• Kirby's Klub (October 1997-July 1999)
• Millenium (July-August 1999)
• Rainbow Room (August 1999-July 2003)

Any additional information is available from anyone willing to contribute it.