2011 The Year in Review

2011
The Year in Music
Mixed Bags and a Dormant Passion

The music scene in the Great Lakes Bay Region is struggling. Live original music is surviving and occasionally thriving in small pockets as clubs, theatres and bars struggle to stay afloat. It’s like a 9 moving rapidly to a 3 and then jumping back to a 10 - unpredictable. It appears that the shared experiences of venue owners and music fans are held in one symbolic memory. We are all feeling the pull of ennui and confusion sensing that we are living in a state of deficiency that is waiting to be saved. Music and the arts are like a child that’s not really valued and grows up with an innate association to…nothing? It brings us to that part of us that is small and frail. It is the doorway into passion, a sacred place where love and truth are possible. This is our musical vision quest, an integration of mind, body and spirit into a cohesive narrative of the here and now.
That said - 2011 was a great year for music in our local scene!
Andy Reed achieved astonishing success touring as a full-fledged member of the seminal alt-rock band The Verve Pipe. He recorded and toured the USA and Europe with the band and experienced the life of a middle-class rock and roll musician – few make it to that pinnacle of success. Reed was flying higher than eagles fly, drifting toward the canyons of greatness. He was also busy with Reed Recording Studio producing CD’s for such great acts as The Tosspints, Arthur Autumn and his own band American Underdog. The results were spectacular! This trifecta of superbly crafted music led the charge in the Great Lakes Bay region. Reed also helped with Bryan Rombalski’s Two Steps Closer to Zen, a more complicated musical format that incorporated West African, Brazilian, and Indian rhythmic structures. Reed has proved to be a musical chameleon that can bring the best in the artists allowing form to follow spontaneous expression. He records in analogue and produces rich warm sounds. The Tosspints loved the sound so much they released their masterpiece Cenosillicaphobia on vinyl – it’s like sipping on a cup of white chocolate mocha at the Red Eye on a cold winter’s day. Delicious.
Tim Avram released his iconoclastic roots inspired, autobiographical journey into a core wound and an existential reality. In Era of the angry Young Man, Avram opens himself up and welcomes in his own emotional experiences – even if it’s painful. He conveys a sense of “I don’t know who I am.” The songs sound like they were created in a time before the rot set in, a time when people cared about Danny O’ Dell, Avram’s alter ego and the protagonist in this remarkable disc. This is simply the best piece of music released in Mid-Michigan in 2011. It deserves a wider audience.
2011 brought an eagerly anticipated reunion of sixties Michigan rockers The Scott Richards Case (SRC). In the mid to late sixties they were wooed by the Who’s leader Pete Townsend to sign with London’s Track Records. Instead they signed with Capitol Records (home of The Beatles) and released three highly regarded LP’s but never achieved mass popularity. For better or worse SRC wore the mantel as the nation’s first psychedelic band. They performed an outdoor show this past summer and re-created their intricate sound. The sellout crowd roared their approval despite leader Scott Richardson’s diminished vocal power. SRC performed songs from their entire catalog including Black Sheep, Hall of The Mountain King/Bolero, and Checkmate. It was a glorious experience.
November brought the legendary Dick Wagner back to Saginaw after a long absence. He struggled with health problems and was unable to sing or play his guitar for over five years due to the damaging effects of several heart attacks and strokes. We all wondered how Wagner was going to pull it off…but he did – magnificently. The set list spanned his career and included Baby Boy (Bossmen), Sweet Jenny Lee/ Black As Night (Frost), Darkest Hour (Ursa Major), Sweet Jane (Lou Reed), and Only Women Bleed/ Welcome to My Nightmare (Alice Cooper). Wagner was in great voice. He hit the high notes and joked around with the crowd. It was the most significant musical moment in the Great Lakes Bay region in 2011.
Sometimes anatomy does not equal destiny as evidenced by wildly popular bands fronted by talented women; Melissa May/Thunderchickens; Shar Molina/Banana Convention; Calista Hecht/Vagabond Wheels; Ruthy Kwiatkowski/Temporary Limbs. These women lead the pack. Despite the phallocentricity of our society, these talented and daring women have succeeded to make brilliant music. There is no Cinderella Complex limiting their perspective only a coherent view of femininity. A woman who leads a rock & roll band is metaphorically preserving an ancient ritual by means of couvade, the custom whereby the male takes to his bed when the women is having a baby – daddy stays at home while mama rocks.
Local venues such as Bemos, The Vault, Spencers, White’s Bar and the Hamilton Street Pub deserve kudos for keeping music alive. The Red Eye Cafe and Dawning of a New Day also contribute mightily to the cause.
The Great Lakes Bay Region is home to several other great bands that create incredible and original music. Kudos to The Honky Tonk Zeros, Kyle Mayer/Thick as Thieves, Brett Mitchell, Tension Head, Silverspork , Sprout, Brody & the Busch Road Trio, Severe Head Drama, Round & a Distant Few , Laurie Middlebrook, Mandi Layne, Neighborhood Muscle, All For the Cause and Rustbucket. Thank you all for keeping music alive and following your creative impulses!

The National picture is much bleaker for reasons that are at least partially due to ascendance of technology, mass preference for downloading music and the decline and fall of rock radio. Sure the Foo Fighters are keeping the music alive in 2011 with a hard rockin’ disc entitled Wasting Light as well as a retrospective documentary of the band’s illustrious career. Grohl will forever be linked to his former Nirvana band mate Kurt Cobain – a welcome presence as we come to terms with the end of rock & roll as a popular idiom.
REM just released Part Lies Part Truth Part Garbage 1982-2011, an anthology that represents a coda to their career. It is magnificent. The highlights are all there; Man on the Moon, Everybody Hurts, Stand, Losing My Religion just to name a few. They also included three new songs that blend perfectly with the songs on Anthology: We All Go Back to Where We Belong; A Month of Saturdays; and Hallelujah. I remember taking my son and a few of his friends to see REM in Ann Arbor about 15 years ago. Patti Smith made a cameo appearance and danced her ass off. Radiohead opened and they were simply breathtaking. But REM was on top of their game and pulled of a coup d’état despite the brilliance of their supporting cast. I will miss them
Mirror Traffic is the most recent release by Steven Malkmus and the Jinks. It’s a must for any music fan who enjoys literate yet obscure lyrical references The former front man for Pavement has a brand new lease on life with this brilliant, caustic, and hybrid blend of rootsy yet progressive Americana. Beck produced this LP and created a soundscape that is easy to digest with the sing-a-long melodies but is equally frustrating (or compelling) is Malkmus’ tendency to change chord progressions, keys and tempo. I love it. Malkmus has a facility for composing ironic lyrics that reveal everything by saying very little - as in the song Senator in which he combines dioxin poisoning with entitlement:
I know what the senator wants
What the Senator wants is a blow job

Tom Waits released Bad As Me in 2011. It was his first studio album of new music since 2004. About time. Waits is in fine form, his voice is raggedy strong and soulful. He growls, moans, slurs and spits out lyrics like a demented Captain Beefheart. Waits has concocted his most accessible LP to date. The songs are mean and lean and contain a joyousness that comes from creating music with a perspective of a deep soulful truth, even if the songs are melancholy. As Waits tells it, “I’m a sticks and wires guy.” On this LP he does an edgy Eddie Cochran on “Get Lost” and croons like Sinatra on “Downbound Train.” Waits even brought in Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards to sing harmony on “Last Leaf” and play guitar (5 string with open tuning) on a blues rocker entitled “Satisfied.” This disc is a MUST!

Foster the People, an obscure Indie band from Los Angeles, have reached the stratosphere by concocting the biggest hit on the planet, Pumped Up Kicks. It was written and recorded by Mark Foster while working as a jingle writer at Mophonics Studio. The song sounds like a jingle. It has a metronome beat, a catchy upbeat rhythm and a heavy bass line. The sing song singing belie a more ominous meaning to the lyrics. Foster says, “It’s an FU to the hipsters.” Like it or not this is one of the biggest songs of 2011. It is almost irresistible. Take a peek at the lyrics.
Robert’s got a quick hand/He looks around the room/He won’t tell you his plan
He’s got a rolled cigarette/He’s a cowboy kid
Yeah he found a six-shooter gun in his dad’s closet/In the box of fun things
Don’t even know what/but he’s coming for you/Yeah he’s coming for you

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
Run, better run, out run my gun
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
You better run, better run, faster than my bullet


There were several notable (and expensive) deluxe editions from various rock legends. The Kinks re-released a deluxe edition of Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire). It was expanded from one to two discs with the addition of several obscure period 45’s. Arthur enjoyed almost unanimous acclaim upon its release in 1969 and became the Kinks calling card back to America. It was initially conceived as a soundtrack to a Granada Television play developed by Julian Mitchell. Alas, the project was never completed so leader Ray Davies simply released it as the next Kinks LP. Rolling stone raved that Arthur was the Kinks finest hour. Another reviewer claimed it was the best British LP of 1969. Unfortunately, Kinks music could never live up to such heavy praise despite its musical integrity. The Kinks were always outrageous, sloppy and spontaneous.

Then Beach Boys released a huge deluxe reissue of lost but not forgotten tapes of the legendary Smile LP - Brian Wilson’s psychedelic masterpiece. Many of the unissued versions of released songs (Good Vibrations, Heroes and Villains, Surfs Up) have been circulating in bootleg circles for the past thirty years or so. It includes vinyl, CD and video as well as a sixty page booklet. It is expensive. I’d love to spend some time with it but I’m convinced I would tire after listening to the 33rd take of Heroes and Villains or the 24th version of Good Vibrations. I might be tempted to do an Elvis all over it. Despite the herculean effort and the loving care of the Beach Boys archivists, it does not uncover the masterpiece amongst the roughage. This is only for the completest.

Bob Seger just released 2-disc retrospective entitled Ultimate Hits. Well, it’s not exactly… ultimate - but it does pack 26 songs on two discs. It touches on Seger’s mega hits from the seventies and eighties including such homegrown anthems as Night Moves, Rock & Roll Never Forgets and Mainstreet. He even included the original 1968 version of Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man. Sweet Justice Jesus. A complete Seger anthology should also include early gems such a Heavy Music, East Side Story,2+2=, Ivory, Lucifer, Back in 72, Rosalie, and Looking Back. This is for the casual fan.

Peace
Bo White

Dick Wagner Live in Saginaw

Dick Wagner
Live @ White’s Bar
November 19th, 2011

It seems that Dick Wagner is a cat with nine lives. He’s a rock & roll Stallone. Just about the time he’s down for the count, he lifts himself up, dusts himself off and puts his dukes up for another around. I hadn’t seen Dick for about 6 years or so and I was struck by his presence. He was confident but self-deprecating, and …well, funny. It was as if he underwent a magical transformation, a rebirthing of his original joy about the world, letting go of a lifetime of being pushed, pinched and driven…dissatisfied. Nowadays, Wagner seems to have accepted his true nature, warts and all. His flaws reveal his divine imperfection and he can now perceive the grace and beauty in the faces of family, friends and fans. Finally, the mystery man can face his demons and remain comfortable in his own skin Wagner’s newfound serenity has given him a true clearness of vision regarding his craft. His music has evolved. It is both grounded and spacious. In this concert performance Wagner casts fate to the wind and trusts his own natural gifts. He let go of his tattered mystery man image and restored himself through the music he created and then altered. The constriction gushed out and energy and harmony returned. Wagner is BACK!
The show started with a few squeals and squawks from an overburdened PA protesting the second night of hard rocking sounds from the exquisite band assembled by the maestro . Wagner was in no hurry and he seemed to enjoy the opportunity to goof around with the crowd and tell stories. A nearby fan was rabidly clicking off photos when Wagner turned around, lifted his lip into crooked Elvis smile and scolded, “You’re stealing my soul; it’s being sucked into the lens of your camera.” The hapless fan was stunned speechless for a brief moment, turned red as a beet, and then laughed, realizing Wagner was yanking his chain.
Wagner has noticeably aged. His hair is pure white and combed back elegantly. He has trimmed down a bit and moves minimally about the small stage. He raps about writing a song with Alice Cooper, sipping sweet nectar on a veranda overlooking a golden beach and the magnificent white-water swell of the ocean. Wagner said it best, “We just hung out on the beach, played golf every morning, and ate steamed clams in the afternoon. It was a stressful life.” He then introduced I Never Cry, “This is a song I wrote with Alice Cooper. It was our biggest hit.” This is spare rendition with just Dick’s voice and guitar. Wagner’s vocal is raspy and strained but he somehow reaches the notes; it is a voice of the ages. He is like Santiago in the Old Man & the Sea, a man who possesses an earthy but dignified wisdom and understands that there is honor in struggle. Wagner’s rugged intonation of the lyrics gives them poignancy, a deeper meaning informed by the years. He is more assured yet achingly vulnerable. Wagner found his voice:
Take away. Take away my eyes
Sometimes I’d rather be blind
Break a heart
Break a Heart of Stone
Open it up
But don’t you leave it alone
Sweet Jenny Lee is a rearranged version of the old Frost chestnut Sweet Jenny Lee that is also re-birthed as a heavy rocker, with a complex chord structure, tempo changes and masterful solos by Wagner and axe man Ray Goodman (SRC, Mitch Ryder). They play off each other like radar, expert timing with just enough space between the lead and the back-fills. This would fit nicely on the brilliant but obscure Ursa Major LP. This is a pop song re-imagined by the maestro as a truly dark, harder edged rocker about a woman that has no conscience. It is slowed down with a syncopated drum riff that drives home the anger that is folded into the lyrics.
Wagner introduced the band - a great band with some real history behind it. Wagner has known guitarist extraordinaire Ray Goodman since their Grande Ballroom days. Prakash John (Parliament/Funkadelics) was Wagner’s bass player on Lou Reed’s Live Animals and Alice Cooper’s Welcome to my Nightmare. Brian Bennett (Cherry Slush) and Al Bodnar have played piano and organ with Wagner for years. Jordan John (Prakash’s son) played drums and Robert Wagner (Dick’s son) sang lead and harmony parts.
It was a family affair.
Dick introduced Black As Night as “a Frost song – one of my favorite Frost songs. This is another re-conceived blast from the past. It follows the original chord structure but the tempo is slowed down and it rocked harder. The heavier arrangement mirrors the despair in the lyrics:
Cold as ice
Looking deep in to your soul
Wonder why we never made the grade
Something always standing in the way
Wagner and Goodman created a space for each other as they penetrate the dharma and build the architecture of the sound. They traded off guitar lines so comfortably, as if they are one unified mind. Wagner recreated the Hey Jude inspired ending of the original 1970 Frost version from the great but underrated LP Through the Eyes of Love.
Back to the Land is a heavy hitter from the Ursa Major catalog. Dick opened it up with a soft guitar line. Robert Wagner took over the lead vocal. His strong emotive tenor is the perfect vehicle to deliver the apocalyptic vision of the lyrics. The images are startling - soldiers fighting, dust settling and cities on fire. This is a heavy metal anti-war anthem that resonates to this day. As war decimates the cities, it is time to get back to the land. Wagner is on top of his game here. He’s playing big notes and fluid runs with perfect tone and execution. The song is complex with abrupt tempo changes, quiet and loud segments that take you around the block. This song is visionary and ahead of its time. It is a tribute to our veterans but was originally conceived as an ode to the Universal Soldier cloaked in respect for our soldiers sacrifice Its an obscure masterpiece. The clear-eyed lyrics tell the story
I Found an answer
I know we can journey from Darkness
Back to the land
Somewhere in the distant mountains
Men died for freedom; died for you and me
Soldiers of fortune empty your hands
Carry your families back to the land

Wagner offered up Sweet Jane, the Rock & Roll Animal” version from his days with Lou Reed. Wagner and Goodman re-created the Wagner/Hunter collaboration with incredible skill, producing majestic full-bodied notes and cascading runs. The band is in the pocket and tight as a sailor’s knot that holds strong and let’s go easy. The incredible tandem guitar opening and superb harmonics introduce the melody line and Robert Wagner’s hip-talking bluesy Lou Reed vocal. Ray Goodman contributed some tasty funky guitar bits - he’s always been a soulful player. Wagner tore it up on the coda to a wildly ecstatic response. It took us back to 1973
Wagner introduced the next song as a “story about growing up in Detroit.” Motor City Showdown is taken from Wagner’s 1978 solo album on Atlantic Records. The LP was an underappreciated gem that was capsized by a meager budget and poor promotion. Wagner’s iconic guitar work is all over this deep-end song like a long dormant passion that is suddenly awakened. It’s a song about violence in the big city. Wagner’s fiery solos scaffold the restlessness and fear in the lyrics. But in the coda, Wagner’s playing is more contemplative and hopeful. His majestic major chord statements suggest that a better world is possible. Wagner is on fire!
The crowd begins chanting Wagner’s name as former Ursa Major bassist Grant West climbed up on the stage. West played with Wagner in the last year of Ursa Major’s reign when they toured the southern regions of the USA. Dick played the intro - that familiar melody line in My Darkest Hour. This is a ballad for the ages with universal themes that speak to our primal need to merge with others. It goes beyond love and loss to a deep existential need. It’s a struggle between hope and despair and a realization that emotions can signal something. Robert Wagner sang the lyrics like a prayer. Dick took the vocal on the second verse
I spend my nights sleeping in your arms
I’ll spend my days dreaming of your charms
You set my soul on Fire
Grant West adds a prolonged bass solo during an extended jam in which all the players get a chance to flex their musical might. Wagner takes up the vocal line, returning to the first verse and ending with an almost shouted erotic plea
Lady Lady you’re my hearts desire
Lady Lady you set my soul on fire
Wagner ends the show with Rock & Roll Music. Wagner intro…”I’m thinking, I’m thinking, I better stop thinking.” Jordan John recreates that simple but insistent 4/4 beat. Dick sings lead with Robert filling in the cracks and singing harmony. This is a concise literal reading of the original Frost version without any frills, jams or lyrical twists. It was perfect.
“Rock & Roll Music is all that you need to be free” – Dick Wagner 1969
Wagner created a perfect Trifecta of brilliant songs for an extended encore. Wagner is in a talkative mood and he introduces Only Women Bleed with another revealing Wagner rap.
“This was written by Alice Cooper and myself – based on music I wrote in 1968 for the Frost. But we didn’t record it…’cos the lyrics just didn’t make it. So, I presented it to Alice in 1975. He loved the music but hated the lyrics. It took about half an hour to write the song”
Dick began softly playing that famous guitar intro, then the keyboard came in and the cymbals swooned. Dick began singing…
Man's got his woman to take his seed
He's got the power - oh
She's got the need
She spends her life through pleasing up her man
She feeds him dinner or anything she can
She cries alone at night too often
He smokes and drinks and don't come home at all
Only women bleed
Wagner’s vocal is spare and a bit ragged. There is a sadness in his voice that comes from living, losing and letting go. He is no longer a thief of hearts nor is he life’s mistake. He has achieved hard-fought wisdom through surviving all the brutality that life and the music industry sent his way. This is what makes this particular version so powerful especially without the frills or pretension of the hit version. It is a stone masterpiece
Welcome To My Nightmare comes next. It is a brilliant rendition with the added punch of Tony High (T-Bone), an extraordinary musician. He blows a hot trombone on this jazzed up and funky remake. T-Bone’s incredible trombone solo was one of the musical highlights of the evening. He was blowing some serious jams when the music abrupt stopped; an air-tight pocket of silence signaled the music to start back up. T-Bone took it back for another go around – it was the most melodic trombone notations I’ve ever heard. He’s got the good Juju. And he had everyone under his spell.
The show ended with a rousing version of the Bossmen’s 1966 hit Baby Boy. It is a phenomenal version with the original drummer Pete (I love you man; I love you too, man) Woodman pounding the drums like a prize fighter and perfectly re-creating that incredible 8 beat/2 measure drum roll that connected the bridge to the next verse. Wagner changed the chorus in a small way to “Don’t cry so long (too hard) baby boy.” Robert sings the lead with Dick assisting on the chorus. The song holds up well 45 years after it was initially released. It was the Bossmen’s last and most popular 45 rpm. It was a perfect closer and a personal favorite of mine

“That’s the end of our show tonight. I love you”
- Dick Wagner

November 19th, 2011

Donny & Marie -Christmas in Detroit

Donny & Marie
Christmas in Detroit
Live @ The Fox Theatre
12/3/2011

Donny & Marie Osmond has been a fixture in our collective unconscious for over five decades now. They grew up in the biz. This is what they know; it is what they do. Without performance and applause, they would be left alone without honor or purpose. It would be like trying to breathe without air. They recently released an album that made a big splash in the country chart, reaching #7, while simultaneously charting #30 in the pop chart and #1 on the folk chart. It’s the highest charting album of their entire career. Currently Donny is busy working on his 60th album while Marie charted in 2010 with an inspirational album entitled I Can Do This. Lately Donny & Marie have experienced a renaissance that is in part a measure of their unflappable nature as well as a tribute to their undeniable deep pocket talent.

The Donny & Marie – Christmas in Detroit is as slick as skid marks on an icy road. Every quip is well rehearsed, every smile is practiced to perfection and the show must go on. Because…well, it HAS to, otherwise Donny & Marie would cease to exist except for the celluloid memories of when they were young and Andy Williams put Marie on his lap and she won our hearts, forever. Now Donny & Marie are middle aged. They have grandchildren and have experienced losses and regrets and the tyranny of a fan base that wants them to be forever young. As incredible as it sounds Donny & Marie ARE ageless. They are trim and athletic. They are beautiful…even still. They sing with voices pure and true and dance backing it up like Beyonce celebrating motherhood.

The 2 hour show is well conceived. There is a decorated Christmas tree stage left, wrapped gifts, dancing and caroling. Besides our heroes onstage, there are eight dancers who know how to shake their groove thing and nine professional musicians who never missed a beat or a cue. It’s peculiar to me that they all seemed to be having fun. I recall a trip to the New Grand Old Opry in Nashville back in 1976. Those Nashville cats sure knew how to make it sing and moan and the drummer kept the tempo like a heartbeat - but they looked so bored - uncomfortably numb - same old crap; just another day. Three massive video screens were mounted up on the stage that served up a tasty treat of past photo and video clips from the Osmond archives. It was like home movies that were really fun. It helped us remember a not so distant past when television was free and we invited our heroes into our living room by just a flick of a dial. In some odd way, I felt like I was growing up with them and as each year passed and the hair and clothing styles changed. I could see Donny & Marie reflecting those changes back to me as I continued my journey to the other side.

Donny & Marie are seasoned professionals that are as sleek and polished as a new Corvette. They know how to play and audience and they roamed the main floor of the Fox like the Calvary looking for Buffalo. They shook hands, patted backs and smooched just about everyone within the reach of their protruding lips. I got close to Donny as he sang and schmoosed his way back to the stage. When he turned the other way I spanked him hard, square on the ass and when he turned around his smile became a grimace. There was hate in his eyes. I just looked innocent, shrugged my shoulders, lifted my eyebrows and tilted my head to the woman standing next to me….well, that was my fantasy anyway. The show was a stoned immaculate Las Vegas Revue that covered Christmas songs, country hits, show tunes and even a bit of Motown soul. I don’t think Stevie would mind. The video screens were an integral part of the overall presentation. Donny & Marie excavated archival footage from each era from their television performances. Donny did “YoYo” as he and his onstage dancers mimicked each movement that his 1970-era brothers did on film. Very cool.
They did their old hits – Paper Roses, Go Away Little Girl, Puppy Love. It was a tongue in cheek yet an affectionate reading, poking fun at their long ago selves and hoping not to embarrass them. They sang along with their video images. It was a highlight out of many highlights during the show.
Donny poked fun at his teeny bopper image, pointing out that he had THAT haircut before Justin Bieber. He also tagged the early career comparisons between the Osmond Brothers and the Jackson 5. At one point Donny introduced “my” brothers – Tito, Marlin, Jackie, and Jermaine. The crowd got it immediately. A highlight included Donny singing liv with his brothers singing harmony via the magic of a well synchronized videotape.

The duo harmonized perfectly on their latest (and greatest) countrified single The Good Life and did a rocking Christmas medley that included “Little Saint Nick” and “What Christmas Means to Me. Marie did several show tunes from her Broadway days including Climb Every Mountain from The Sound of Music and Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Pie Jesu – a vehicle that revealed Marie’s tremendous four octave range as a vocalist. She did a rousing version of “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and Donny countered with a high energy reading of Rock This Town by the Stray Cats. They sang Remember When as photos and video images of the famous artists they’ve worked with through the years including Andy Williams, Dean Martin, Bob Hope and others. It was an incredibly moving trip down memory lane.

The Donny & Marie - Christmas in Detroit was a touching remembrance of a time and place, a cultural zeitgeist that will be forever etched in the archives of the baby boomer generation. Our heroes may be just a musical footnote in the history of pop music but they sure made a splash during their triumphant residence in Detroit.

Peace
Bo White