by Steve Miller
Dave Buick: Eventually Jack and I were at the mall, and we saw they were selling “garage jeans” at Hot Topic, and at that point we stopped caring about any of it.
Mick Collins: Seymour Stein saw the Dirtbombs play, and he fell asleep during the show. Tommy Boy Records was looking at us for a signing. Tommy Boy Records? It was ridiculous in 2001; it was the summer of stupidity.
Tom Potter: I got a free lunch from Seymour. Like most major labels, they just wanted cute and young. Me and most other musicians in Detroit were just not fitting the bill.
John Szymanski: That whole thing came to an end on its own. A lot of us moved on; it was a good time for some people to get jobs and get married. But some of the bands are still hitting it hard.
Eddie Baranek: Seymour came out a few times. “I want to see these bands.” And we were one of them. He took us out to dinner before our show, and he ended up leaving his credit card on the floor at the Magic Stick. Then we got the report back from Seymour. “Those Sights guys, they jam too much.” Seymour was sleeping sometimes when bands were playing. He was gluttonous, fat—you know, just kind of, “I know what I like and that’s what I do.” Same thing with Little Steven. When he came to Detroit he came to Jim Diamond’s, and he played the new record for Little Steven. He’s like, “Those guys got to quit smoking pot.” We jammed too much for Little Steven.
Ko Melina: Little Steven had heard the Ko and the Knockouts record, and he had just started the Sirius satellite radio thing. It was that year, 2001. He told me what he was doing and that he had Kim Fowley, Joan Jett—these names in music. He asked me, “Do you want to do a show for my station?” I said, “Yeah, of course, but why me?” I had never done any radio. He wanted, like, a younger voice at that point because everybody else was the sixties and seventies. I went to New York and did some demos for him. I did a test session, and he said, “Here’s a tape of it. Go back to your hotel and listen to it.” I listened to about five seconds of it, and I sounded horrible. I kind of had a nervous breakdown. It was really scary, and I think I cried. So he gave me a really great pep talk. The next thing I knew, it was like, “Now you have a radio show.”
Rachel Nagy: In a way it was cool because maybe some starving people could make some money. And at the same time, what sprang out of it were people trying to emulate it in a horrible way.
Jim Diamond: There were people from England coming here, interviewing us. I never thought anything of it at the time. I was just doing my job; I’m like, “This is great.” More bands are coming through. I’m getting people from out of town. This is good. I never thought anything of it, like, “Oh my God, these are special times.” Gregg Kostelich at Get Hip came here to talk with a band called the Paybacks. He’d put out their first two records. Greg told me later that it seemed to him like some people were getting big heads and talking like they were going to explode like Seattle and all this shit. He told me later he thought it was kind of “Eh, don’t let your heads get too big.” It might not happen like you’re envisioning. And lo and behold, it didn’t.
John Krautner: It was a goal of everybody to just live the dream: be a band and hang out. It wasn’t about big cars and big labels—just to be free, to go out any night you wanted. Tuesday night just might as well be a Saturday night. We were all smart enough to know that it was not the new Seattle. Maybe some of us were optimistic about it going somewhere. But nobody knew what it would seem like if it did go somewhere.
Chris Fuller: Detroit had been over before, but then Jack left; so did some other bands.
Jack White: I left Detroit in 2005. I felt horrible; I didn’t want to be alive anymore. I felt like I just didn’t have any friends and I couldn’t do anything that I loved. I loved my hometown and I loved music, and I felt like I couldn’t even go out and see a show anymore. It felt like everything had just turned completely upside down, and I couldn’t even figure out why or what I did to make that happen, and I just turned it all on myself, thinking it must be me, that I am not a nice person, or I might think I’m doing the right things but I’m doing the wrong things. I have no idea. I know it’s just a complete negative mess around me, and I can’t be here anymore. Either I just die, lay down and die, or I go away. And I thought a lot about different things. Maybe I need to go live by myself in Colorado or Mississippi and not have anybody around me for a while. Maybe I need to move to Europe or something. The problem is, I’ve never had any appeal for large cities like LA or New York, which is what you’re supposed to do, you know? I was trying to also be really loyal to Detroit. Like I said, White Stripes made a lot of money in 2001 but I stayed in the city of Detroit. I didn’t move to Birmingham or West Bloomfield. I stayed in the city and wasted a lot of money on taxes doing so. You don’t get any points for that, but you get attacked for leaving. It was almost like, “You guys left me, man. I didn’t leave you.” So it was a very bitter time for me at the time. I didn’t really know who to trust anymore or why I was even doing what I was doing, ’cause it was that kind of feeling like, well, this is what happens? This is the payoff? I would rather have my friends and the Gold Dollar instead all of this, if that was the choice.
Eddie Baranek: It was the Stripes and then what else can the major labels pick up? The manager of Fall Out Boy wanted to meet us; he said he wanted to manage us. We took every wrong turn; we were good at mismanaging ourselves. We’re in New York; we gotta go meet with this guy. “You wanna hit this joint first?” So he says, “Where do you want to go eat?” We were little boneheads. “Pizza.” At the same time was Rick Rubin. We were on our first tour of England, and we got this call from one of Rubin’s henchmen that we need to come back to the states, that Rick Rubin wants to fly us out to LA for a showcase. And we’re like, “Isn’t a showcase when you, like, play in an empty room at 5:00 p.m., and he sits at the end of the room and you’re on display like a fishbowl? Yes? We don’t do showcases.” And we’re like, “Yeah, we got Rick Rubin, man. We’re bad asses.” But he agrees to book us on a bill and puts us at the Troubadour with Johnny Polanski and Jesse Malin. Minnie Driver was there. It was the Ryan Adams-y Troubadour. We get in, and his minion takes us out to Dan Tana’s. We’re ordering a hundred dollars of this and that, and they’re feeding us drugs and everything—tons of blow. Next day we play our show, and Rick Rubin floats into the Troubadour. You know the upstairs balcony? He just floated in with a fucking cape on. I’m thinking, “Okay, what the fuck? Where is he? When’s he coming fucking shake my hand?” No, with Rick you get the call later. Another minion calls. “Rick enjoyed the show. Rick wants to meet you, Eddie, up at his house in the Hollywood Hills. You can’t take a cab. I’ll take you there right now, if you only say the word, ‘I shall be healed.’” I’m like, “What? This is fucked up.” I said, “No way, man, because this is my band. What is it—Eddie and the Chumps?” This is the fucking Sights, man. That’s weird man. Not weird like he’s going to touch my balls, but weird like, “Why can’t you talk to my friends? Why can’t we all have beers?” This was awkward. So I turned him down. We were Detroit; we weren’t LA.
Ko Melina: The question you always get asked is, “What is it about Detroit? Is it something in the water?” “Yes, there is something in the water here. You just have to start drinking it, and you’re going to be really good.” John Peel became a big champion of White Stripes and sent his producer, Anita, over to Detroit for a few days to do, like, a radio documentary about Detroit. I took her around; she stayed with me. I thought she did a really great job. So I thought—maybe naively—that all journalists are like that and everybody is, like, looking out for your best interest, and they were going to paint you in a positive light all the time and not really take you out of context or anything. I think that soon after the White Stripes started getting really big, I was getting mentioned in Billboard magazine and had one record. Why were they even talking about me? Yeah, it’s good, but at some point you realize that people aren’t necessarily out to get the truth. At the same time the local press didn’t rea
lly care about us at all.
Margaret Dollrod: I didn’t see it coming, and I’d like to know what other part of Detroit exploded. Please tell me what other person exploded other than Jack. Eminem? Kid Rock? They weren’t with us. Kid Rock saw us play and he told me, “You guys are crazy” in a complimentary way. Later I was at a party for WRIF, and I had come up with this great idea that he should go on stage with your stripper people and stuff and have your Little Joe come out. And you know the cartoons that have the dynamite TNT thing? Little Joe could do TNT dynamite thing and the girl’s tops will fly off and there will be fireworks behind it. Well, I never got to tell him the idea because Kid Rock said, “I don’t want anything to do with you.” When people would come to town to talk to the bands, no one would tell them to get in touch with us. We were kind of older and not really part of it by then.
Rachel Nagy: Let’s face it: the Stooges, the MC5, Motown—that’s the fucking shit. This is where it all comes from. And yet we’re the fucking apocalypse personified. I’ve been hearing ever since I was a child that “Oh, yeah, it’s gonna get better, and we’re gonna make Detroit better.” Yeah, that’d be great, but you know what? I don’t want it to change. It’s Detroit. I’ve watched all the cities in Ohio. I drive through Cleveland and even Toledo, and it’s like, “Whoa! What happened? Look at this. It’s amazing. It’s a real city.” I don’t really know if I want to see that happen in Detroit. Detroit is Detroit. It’s this beautiful place where you sacrifice your safety for a shitload of freedom.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In the early-eighties punk rock days, where I come from, the Thanks List was a vaunted place that usually included every bathroom attendant and half-girlfriend. My favorite reaction to that was always the Brit band Discharge, which simply put on the back of its first single, “Thanks to No Fucker.”
I like the sentiment, but that’s not the case here. I have some hearty thanks to give to both connectors and connected.
At the top of that list is any and everyone who spent their precious time with me both in person and on the phone, and this includes the accomplished stars, the aspiring artists, the promoters, producers, fans, record store workers, roadies, sound people, DJs, and scenesters who created and cultivated the Huge Deal that Detroit music was and is. You collectively created this book with your generous contributions.
Thanks also to Ben Blackwell, Brian Bowe, Robert Matheu, Dan Carlisle, Rich Tupica, my editor at Da Capo, Ben Schafer, and my agent, David Patterson, at Foundry Literary + Media.
I can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].
Hit Facebook.com/Detroitrockcitybook and my website, Avalanche50.com.
If necessary, corrections will be made in subsequent editions of the book.
THE PLAYERS
ACT I
Dan Carlisle: Disc jockey. WABX, WRIF.
Russ Gibb: Promoter, entrepreneur. Opened and booked the Grande Ballroom, Eastown Theater, and numerous other Detroit venues. Funded the Graystone Ballroom in the eighties.
Mitch Ryder: Musician. Vocalist, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Detroit with Mitch Ryder. The white James Brown.
Stirling Silver: Scenester. Record store guy, brought the New York Dolls to their first Detroit in-store.
VC Lamont Veasey: Musician. Bassist, guitarist, Black Merda, Detroit’s pre-Funkadelic psychedelic black rock band.
Robin Sommers: Artist, scenester. Friend of Creem founder Barry Kramer. Deceased.
Ron Cooke: Musician. Bassist, Detroit, Gang War, Sonic’s Rendezvous Band.
Don Was (Don Fagenson): Musician, producer. Vocalist, the Traitors. Cofounder, bassist, vocalist with Was (Not Was) with David Weiss. Grammy-winning producer with credits that include the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, and Paul Westerberg.
Mark Norton: Musician, journalist. Vocalist Ramrods, 27. Writer for Creem.
Hiawatha Bailey: Musician, scenester. Vocalist Cult Heroes. Only black man to work for the White Panther Party.
Brian Pastoria: Musician, producer. Drummer, Adrenaline.
Tom Morwatts: Musician. Guitarist, Motor City Mutants, the Mutants.
Dave Leone: Promoter. Booked the string of teen clubs called the Hideout with Punch Andrews and later formed Diversified Management Agency, which handled loads of Detroit acts.
Jerry Bazil: Musician. Drummer, Dark Carnival with Niagara and Ron Asheton.
Jaan Uhelszki: Journalist. Creem magazine.
Pete Cavanaugh: Disk jockey, promoter. WTAC, booked shows in areas north of Detroit.
Punch Andrews: Promoter, manager. Bob Seger’s manager from almost the beginning. Andrews also promoted and booked Detroit’s Hideout teen clubs.
Jeep Holland: Founder, A-Square Records. Manager, Rationals, SRC, and host of others. Deceased.
Robin Seymour: Disc jockey, television personality. Host of Swingin’ Time, DJ at CKLW. Introduced Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger, Glenn Frey, and Ted Nugent to local television audiences.
Art Cervi: Talent coordinator, Swingin’ Time, Bozo the Clown in Detroit.
Jerry Wexler: Record exec, producer, considered by some the man who made Aretha Franklin. Deceased.
Scott Morgan: Musician. Guitarist, vocalist, the Rationals, Sonic’s Rendezvous Band.
Deniz Tek: Musician. Guitarist, Radio Birdmen.
Scott Richardson: Musician. Vocalist, Chosen Few, Scott Richard Case, SRC.
Steve Forgey: Musician, scenester. Guitarist.
David Teegarden: Musician. Drummer, Teegarden & VanWinkle, Bob Seger, Silver Bullet Band.
John Sinclair: Band manager, starmaker, inmate, actvist. Managed the MC5 and headed the White Panther Party.
Iggy Pop: Musician. Vocalist, the Stooges, solo.
Gary Rasmussen: Musician. Bassist, the Up, Sonic’s Rendezvous Band, Iggy Pop.
S. Kay Young: Photographer.
K.J. Knight: Musician. Drummer, Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes.
John Finley: Musician, scenester. Guitarist, the Lourds (pre-Amboy Dukes Nugent band). Deceased.
Rusty Day: Musician. Vocalist, Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes, Cactus. Deceased.
Ted Nugent: Musician. Guitarist, the Lourds, the Amboy Dukes, solo. Also known as the Nuge and the Motor City Madman.
Dennis Thompson: Musician. Drummer, MC5, New Order.
Jon Landau: Music writer, producer.
Jac Holzman: Record exec, Elektra.
Frank Bach: Musician. Vocalist, the Up.
Bob Sheff, aka Blue Gene Tyranny: Musician. Keyboardist, the Charging Rhinoceros of Soul, the Stooges, Laurie Andersen, John Cage.
Rick Kraniak, aka Rick K: Promoter.
Leni Sinclair: Photographer. Coauthor of Detroit Rocks! A Pictorial History of Motor City Rock and Roll 1965–1975.
Gary Grimshaw: Photographer. Coauthor of Detroit Rocks! A Pictorial History of Motor City Rock and Roll 1965–1975.
Sigrid Smith: Ex-wife of Fred “Sonic” Smith.
Fred “Sonic” Smith: Musician: Guitarist, MC5, Sonic’s Rendezvous Band. Deceased.
Sun Ra: Musician. Composer, pianist, synthesizer. Sun Ra Arkestra, solo. Deceased.
Dennis Dunaway: Musician. Bassist, Alice Cooper.
Norm Liberman, aka Panama Red: Musician. Vocalist, the Frut.
John Kosloskey, aka Kozmo: Musician. Bassist, the Frut.
Neal Smith: Musician. Drummer, Alice Cooper.
Pete Woodman: Musician. Drummer, Popcorn Blizzard, Floating Circus, Bossmen.
Susie Kaine: Musician. Keyboardist, Popcorn Blizzard, Floating Circus.
Jack Bodnar: Scenester.
Bill White: Musician. Bassist, Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes.
Rick Stevers: Musician. Drummer, Frijid Pink.
Donny Hartman: Musician. Guitarist, vocalist, the Frost.
Michael Lutz: Musician. Guitarist, bassist, vocalist, Brownsville Station, Ted Nugent.
Shaun Murphy, aka Stoney: Musician. Vocalist, Wilson Mower Pursuit, Stoney and Meatloaf, Bob Seger, Silver Bullet Band.
Dave Palmer: Musician. Drummer, Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes.
Greg Arama: Musician. Bassist, Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes.
Al Jacquez: Musician. Bassist, vocalist, Savage Grace.
Bobby Rigg: Musician. Drummer, the Frost.
Patti Quatro: Musician. Guitarist, Pleasure Seekers, Cradle.
Suzi Quatro: Musician, actress. Bassist, Pleasure Seekers, Cradle, solo. Played Leather Tuscadero on seventies sitcom Happy Days.
Nancy Quatro: Musician. Vocalist, Pleasure Seekers, Cradle.
Johnny Badanjek: Musician. Drummer, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Detroit, the Rockets, Ronnie Montrose, Nils Lofgren, Alice Cooper, Edgar Winter.
Ray Goodman: Musician. Guitarist, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, SRC.