Metro Times: Music Blahg

DWELE'S TRIBUTE TO "THE KING"

An off-the-cuff tribute from one of Detroit's current heavyweights. As Dwele posted on youtube: "june 25th, at home washing clothes for upcoming tour. . .had 45 minutes to set up the camera and have some fun in tribute to mike, mistakes and all, all in fun. R.I.P. mike!! "

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MOTOWN'S CANDLELIGHT VIGIL IN PHOTOS

The Motown Museum played host to one of the three "official" or authorized candlelight vigils to Michael Jackson last night, Sunday, June 29th. The other two were in Jackson's native Gary, Indiana as well as his adopted home of L.A. Not quite a thousand people showed up but there were certainly hundreds and hundreds. Radio and Pistons voice John Mason led the crowd in a sing-along (first sound sample below). Bishop Charles H. Ellis of Greater Grace Temple gave a rousing ... well, it sounded like a sermon (second sample below). A representative of Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery told the crowd that the people's impromptu memorial at the museum will be gathered after a month for a permanent resting place at t ...

OUTSIDE THE MOTOWN MUSEUM TODAY

ALL PHOTOS BY W. KIM HERON

There will be a candlelight vigil for Michael Jackson in front of the Motown Museum this Sunday, June 28th, at 8 p.m.

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THOUGHTS ON THE PASSING OF THE KING OF POP

Thoughts on the passing of Michael Jackson:

1) When my teenage son told me the news on Thursday, my first comment was about what a sad, unenviable life he’d led, even among the ranks of sad, unenviable star lives. Son ...

MICHAEL JACKSON DEAD AT AGE 50

The mainstream press is reporting he was rushed to the hospital, not breathing and in total cardiac arrest...but TMZ is reporting that the former Motown Records child star and self-appointed "King of Pop" has died. Hate to say it 'cause we think Harvey Levin is the devil these days, but much like the print tabloids, TMZ usually has it right when it comes to this kinda stuff. Will post more when something is confirmed.

UPDATE: The L.A. Times and now NBC News have confirmed it. Michael Jackson dead at age 50 in Los Angeles.

This is probably the ...

SO LONG, SKY...

Sorry to hear of the death of Sky Saxon, one of the pioneers of what became known as garage rock and one of the more colorful characters in all of rockdom, in Austin earlier today. He was supposed to play a show (with a new version of the Seeds) at the Magic Bag in August with the Electric Prunes and an updated version of Love featuring Johnny Echols and Baby Lemonade. Was really looking forward to it. Bummer...

Check out regular MT contributor Serene Dominic's obit, titled "Similar to their "Who's the Greatest Rapper Alive?" poll competition last year, which Eminem swept hand-down (despite five years of inactivity), Vibe Magazine is currently sponsoring a "Who's the Great Rapper Ever?" on their Website.

Yeah, we think polls are kinda silly, too...but hasn't hip hop always been about competiton -- first on the streets and now on the Internets? Anyway, the contest has entered its semi-finals stage, with the contenders narrowed down to four spots. Em is in the running for first place with the late Tupac, the equally late Notorious B.I.G. (who narrowly escaped defeat by Nas with 53 percent of that vote) and Jay-Z (who took ...

LOCAL MUSIC TIDBITS

*The Los Angeles rock community is all in a tizzy about the show Jack White's new band, the Dead Weather, played at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip Wednesday night, June 17th, similar to the "surprise" show they did last Friday here at the Magic Bag. It wasn't the show itself that had everyone super-excited today, though we're sure it was just fine ...

HONORING STEWART; STEWART HONORING OTHERS

We've been a little lax here regarding recent news about our old friend Stewart Francke, who's not only one of this region's better-known and dedicated musicians but used to be a regular columnist right here at Metro Times back in the day. But it's been quite an eventful year for the blue-eyed soul singer-songwriter thus far.

He released a live album, Alive and Unplugged (recorded at the Ark in Ann Arbor), this past January that's received a great deal of national attention thus far. (The album can be purchased and downloaded at stewartfrancke.com, to download on the new site's homepage, where all his catalog is on sale for a special summer rate of $5). ...

WEEKEND WARM-UP

Was kinda touched to discover that Question Mark (yes, that Question Mark -- are there any others?) left me a voicemail yesterday, personally inviting me to the Mysterians' local show this Sunday night. So, just in case you missed it when we posted it earlier this week. The legendary ? & The Mysterians will be playing a show this Sunday, June 14th, at at the All Around Bar, 25621 Ecorse Rd. in Taylor. Phone 313-292-6838 for more info. I saw them at the Hamtramck Festival during the summer of '07 and they were terrific, certainly not an "oldies" act (remember, Smash Mouth had a hit with their "Can't Get Enough Of You, Baby" earlier this decade and they ...