MotorCityRocks.com: The Detroit Dish

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2008-05-14T13:13:00.005-04:00

Gore Gore Girls Homecoming, Deastro to play Art Fag

2008-05-14T10:36:00.004-04:00

This week the Metro Times has a great interview with Amy Gore of the Gore Gore Girls. The GGG will be playing a homecoming with Danny 'Dollrod' Kroha's new band The Readies at Small's this Friday night; I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

After the Gore Gore Girls' show at Small's on Friday you can head on over to Art Fag late night for a sure-fire mind-blowing performance by Deastro; who is also featured in this week's Metro Times. However, MT neglects to mention the Art Fag show this weekend.

The Muggs, Hellmouth, Raconteurs, Detroit School of Rock

2008-05-12T22:10:00.005-04:00

The Muggs' Myspace page has been updated with songs off of their brand new album On With The Show. To get a copy head on over to Stormy Records.

Jason Navarro; former lead singer of the Suicides Machines, has a new thrash band known as Hellmouth. They rocked the Magic Stick last night, check out Hellmouth's Myspace page for more.

The Raconteurs now have their very own YouTube Channel, still waiting on that Facebook page?

Metromix goes in-depth with The Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music which has recently opened up their location in Downtown Royal Oak. For all you westsiders you might want to check out The Rock Band School in Ann Arbor because the way I look at it is you have two choices these days, either put a golf club or guitar in your kids hand's in hopes that one day they'll hit it big.

Dirtbombs Rock Golden Plains, Kid Rock Opens Hard Rock Park

2008-05-12T12:12:00.001-04:00

This past March, The Dirtbombs performed to a massive crowd at the Golden Plains Festival in Victoria, Australia. Among others, the the festival featured Ween, The Vines and Iron & Wine. Check out this post-show interview where Mick Collins tells of his secret desire to front INXS.

See more live clips on the Dirtbomb's Myspace Blog.

In other show news, Kid Rock will kick-off the Hard Rock opening of a new Disney World style theme park in Myrtle Beach tomorrow.

Also, The Toronto Star thinks Detroit rock is cool.

Love Meets Lust, Eat Sugar Live

2008-05-10T18:17:00.004-04:00

Head on over to our Live Gallery for a bunch of photos from last night's Love Meets Lust and Eat Sugar performances at The Painted Lady Lounge.

Love Meets Lust

Eat Sugar

Nathaniel Mayer Album Review, Music Video

2008-05-09T14:48:00.004-04:00

While Nathaniel Mayer recovers form his recent stroke; his latest LP Why Don't You Give It To Me? receives due praise form Julian Cope of Head Heritage.

Also, you can see Nathaniel Mayer in action as the music video for his 2004 song "I Want to Dance with You" has recently been posted on YouTube. The video was directed by current Dirtbomber Troy Gregory.

Walk The Dinosaur

2008-05-09T14:28:00.004-04:00

Don Was and David Weiss of Was (Not Was) talk to to The Detroit Free Press about their new album, Detroit roots, working with the The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson's philosophy and tonight's show at the Majestic Theater.

Detroit Weekend Lowdown - May 8, 2008

2008-05-08T13:17:00.016-04:00

Thursday (5/8)
MIA with Holy Fuck-Fillmore

Cut Copy with Black Kids- Magic Stick

Friday (5/9)
The Muggs CD Release Party with Tres Bien and The Sisters Lucas @ Magic Bag

Was (Not Was) @ Majestic Theater

Bootsy Collins @ Royal Oak Music Theater

Commerce & Hiller with The Cetan Clawson Revolution and Oblisk @ Paycheck's

ADULT. @ DIA's Rivera Court

Love Meets Lust, Eat Sugar and Cougar The Tiger @ The Painted Lady

My Secret Life @ Pub 1281

The Fifty, The Wednesdees and Play Guns @ Berkley Front

Luxury Pushers with Car City Call Girls @ Belmont

Saturday (5/10)
Bill Bondsmen CD Release @ Small's

The GO with The Pizazz @ The Masonic Temple

Loftfest featuring Sponge, Speedball, Bob Guiney Band, Solid Frog, Crud, Taproot, The Unheard, Spiral Crush, and Universal Temple of Divine Power and The Motor Dolls @ Crofoot

Chrome Spiders with the Jettators @ Park Bar

The Swell Season @ Royal Oak Music Theatre

Sik Sik Nation with The Questions, Silverghost @ Elbow Room

Scotch Bonnet, Universal Temple of Divine Power, Chapstik, The Hotness @ Blind Pig

Tuesday (5/12)
Jettators, Hadituptoheres, Elle & the Fonts and Best Friend @ Belmont

3-D Invisibles with Cinecyde and Circus Boy @ The Painted Lady

Pressing

2008-05-08T08:53:00.001-04:00

The Metro Times has everything you need to know about The Muggs album release party on Friday at the Magic Bag. Also, Real Detroit has the lowdown on this Saturday's Loftfest at the Crofoot in Pontiac, but so does the Free Press's Rachel May. While at Real Detroit check out the story on the Bill Bondsmen's CD release show at Small's in Hamtramck this weekend. You can also read up on one of the Detroit area's best twang bands, the Scarlet Oaks, who put on a well received performance last weekend at Jacoby's along with Millions of Brazilians and The Dead Bodies.

New MCR Podcast - May 7, 2008

2008-05-07T21:53:00.002-04:00

Head on over to the MCR Podcast Page to hear the latest installment featuring The Dead Bodies, Cetan Clawson and HiFi Handgrenades.

For One Night Only - Chrome Spiders, Jettators

2008-05-07T13:40:00.006-04:00

From the mouth of Jim Diamond we find out that this Saturday night, May 10th at the Park Bar, Tom Potter's Chrome Spiders will be preforming with the Jettators. The show starts promptly at 9:00 so don't be late.

The Silent Years, Martha Reeves, Kid Rock, CreateSpace

2008-05-06T11:15:00.005-04:00

On The Silent Years' Myspace page, they have posted four tracks off of their upcoming album The Globe. Email their Myspace page to get your hands on one of the 300 pre-sale copies of the album.

Motown legend and Detroit City Council member Martha Reeves's vacant childhood home was recently robbed.

Kid Rock has added a third Detroit summer show on July 22nd at the DTE Music Theater; so that makes 46,000 tickets total for all three shows.

Amazon will start selling major label out-of-print albums on their on-demand service CreateSpace.

Detroit is the New Hollywood

2008-05-05T16:32:00.007-04:00

Crain's tells how almost overnight Detroit has become the Hollywood of the Midwest, look for a bunch of A-list movie starts taking in a Tigers game later this summer (maybe).

The Detroit Festival of The Art's lineup is out and features several local area acts including American Mars, Stepping In It and Thornetta Davis. The Festival takes place June 6-8 in Midtown, Detroit.

In other news, musician Neil Young is moving his ~~stupid~~ Lionel Train company's headquarters out Metro Detroit (Chesterfield Township). Did anyone even know that they were based here?

Uncovering The Face of White Gold

2008-05-05T07:01:00.005-04:00

Last week we told you that members of The Electric Six are behind the genius of White Gold. Though Dick Valentine is in fact the voice of White gold, we stand corrected in proclaiming that Zack Shipps (a.k.a. The Colonel of The Electric Six) is the face of White Gold. MCR now has learned that the actor who plays White Gold is actually this guy.

In a further fueling of Detroit rock's connection to California Milk Processor Board Agency, today we point to the White Gold music video "Tame The White Tiger" which contains a short clip of Tarzan looking lad sporting a full beard and loan cloth peeking out from the trees. Could this "jungle boy" be non other then Augie of The Hard Lessons? You be the judge...

New Detroit Area Releases, Bands & Shows

2008-05-04T14:31:00.002-04:00

Human Eye's latest LP Fragments of the Universe Nurse will be out early this summer on Hook or Crooks records. Head on over to the Human Eye Myspace page for a preview.

Deep Cutz has got photos of Detroit newsiest bands, Danny Doll Rod's The Readies and Steve Nawara's Magic Shop. Both bands will be playing this year's CityFest, which was recently featured on NME.

Saturday May 10th is Loftfest at the Crofoot in Pontiac, which will feature twenty area bands that have recorded at Tim and Andy Patalans' Loft studios. Bands scheduled to perform are Sponge, Speedball, Bob Guiney Band (a.k.a. Fat Amy), Solid Frog, Crud, Taproot, The Unheard, Spiral Crush, 60 Second Crush, Universal Temple of Divine Power and The Motor Dolls. Tickets for this rock estravaganze are $15 but Melody after Dark is giving away a pair of tickets.

Whatever Happened To Back Porch Video?

2008-05-02T08:00:00.006-04:00

Back in the early 1980's two revolutions met in a head on collision; the music video and public access. Here in metro Detroit, the king of this combined revolution was none other the Back Porch Video (BPV).

Last week I sat down with Lance Rosol; former Back Porch Video producer and music director, and talked about his recent Back Porch Video YouTube channel on what exactly made BPV so influential.

How did Back Porch Video start?
It was started by students under the direction of Dearborn High School teacher Russ Gibb. It was created as sort of a "local alternative" to MTV, which was in its early years and had only recently been added to the cable TV lineup in the city.

How did they come up with the show's name?
One of the executive producers, Paul Streffon, was the one who came up with the name for our show. The "back porch" is actually part of a video signal which can be seen on a waveform monitor. He thought it was a good name, since it had to do with video and also sounded like an informal show name. We actually built a set that looked like a back porch that we would set in the studio, although most of our main segments were hosted right from the video control room

What cities did BPV air in?
The program aired live in Dearborn, Michigan, and was syndicated to around 20 other cable providers in southeast Michigan. We were on the air live for 4 hours and each show was divided into 1-hour segments, each with its own host(s). Every hour of the show also played different genres of alternative music. The first hour being pop-alternative, second came more edgy alternative, third was metal or harder alternative, and the fourth hour was primarily hardcore/punk. This allowed us to package each hour separately for syndication, since the other cable stations only played a segment or two from each live broadcast. As well, we were broadcast on WIHT-TV Channel 31 out of Chelsea, Michigan for around 2 years, and also ended up doing 3 programs (edited, of course) which appeared on Public Television WTVS-Channel 56 in Detroit.

How many years was BPV around?
Our first show aired live on Dearborn's Group W Cable on January 28th, 1984, and stayed on the air for the better part of 12 years.

What was it like working with legendary Detroit rock icon Russ Gibb?
Russ Gibb is probably best known for being the owner of the Grande Ballroom in Detroit in the 1960's, and was responsible for bringing such bands as the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Iggy Pop and many others to Detroit. He also was the one credited with starting the "Paul McCartney is Dead" rumor while he was a DJ on WKNR Radio in Dearborn. In the 1980's Russ was a big promoter of hardcore music, and owned two concert clubs back then, the Hungry Brain in Del Ray, and the Graystone on Michigan Avenue.

Russ was the impetus behind the genesis of Back Porch Video. He had been an initial investor in building the cable infrastructure of Dearborn, and thus had a lot of influence with Westinghouse Broadcasting, who owned Group W Cable. He was also the media teacher at Dearborn High School, and the kids who worked on the first program (myself included) were all in his class.

While being the one who was behind the scenes at the show, and the one who initially got us contracts with the record companies to supply our music videos, he really just let the students "run the show" for the most part. He believed in our talents, both on-air and technical. Before the age of 19, I was already directing, lighting and doing graphics for BPV. It was really quite unheard of for high-school aged kids to be getting that kind of real-world television experience at that time. Basically, we were left to run (with minimal adult supervision) a million-dollar TV studio!

What were some of the most memorable BPV broadcasts?
One of our best known productions was a hardcore show we did called "Why Be Something You're Not" which we taped at Group W Studios in 1984. Bands such as Negative Approach, The Displaced and many others played on that show. We played mostly nationally known bands, but did have many DJ's from local radio stations (WLBS, WDTX, CJAM) on the show as guest hosts. They talked a lot about upcoming concerts of local bands, and we promoted all of the shows that came to the Hungry Brain and The Graystone.

What were some of your most outrageous in studio guests?
The "Why Be Something You're Not" show was quite interesting, as it was taped during business hours at the cable studios, which were just on the other side of a relatively thin wall from their sales department. Imagine a hardcore show going on in the next room and you can get an idea of why that show created such grief for us....

How were some of your most outrageous on air moments?
I have one clip posted where a camera-person fainted live on the air and it was caught on camera (see "Greatest Back Porch Clip Ever" on YouTube).

I hear you guys had a lot of crazy fans?
Yes. As a result of being on broadcast on WIHT-TV out of Chelsea, we were seen in Jackson prison. The on-air personalities (or Porch Jockies as they were affectionately known) were always asking for viewers to send in fan mail. So when a bunch of inmates saw cute young girls and guys on the TV asking for mail....well, you could say that they were just doing what was asked of them. Of course, some of the letters got a little "scary", and we decided it was best not to show them to some of the hosts for fear that it might scare them off the air!

What are the crew and hosts up today?
Hundreds of kids worked on BPV through the years, so we got a little of everything. Dino Kovas went on to be one of the stars on the "New Monkees," and Steve Turner ended up in Hollywood, and has worked as producer on such shows as Northern Exposure, the Crow, Gilmour Girls, and most recently, "Big Love" on HBO. Another guy who had a few appearances on our show probably had the most success, Dave Goyer, who is one of the hottest writers in Hollywood. Goyer has penned such films as Batman Begins.

Your Youtube shrine to BVP is pretty nitrous, how long have you been posting videos on YouTube?
The first channel I started was back in November of 2006. What happened was I had saved a bunch of old Betamax tapes from when we were on the air (mostly from 1984 and '85) and I had transferred them to DVD. Well, I got the idea to edit them down and post them on YouTube to see what type of response I would get. Well, it turned out to be a big hit, and not only did I get a lot of subscribers and comments, but many of the people who used to work on the show saw the channel and wrote to say "hi". That channel was pulled from YouTube after about a year because of Warner Bros. complaining that the channel was showing copyrighted material. Of course back then we had contracts with all the record companies to show the videos, but it is unclear whether or not those contracts would still hold up today. After a couple months off the web, I decided to start reposting, and just to avoid putting up videos already posted by the "big" companies.

What is the most watched clip on your YouTube channel?
For my first channel, is was "My War" by Black Flag. This time around, it is an interview that one of our kids did with Henry Rollins. It really is a classic interview, and very entertaining. It is also the video that has received the most comments posted.

Is the music video dead?
I really don't seek out music videos anymore, except for home-made ones on YouTube. I don't know if they are dead, but they certainly don't have the "star making" ability that they once had. It is sad that that is nowadays left up to shows like "American Idol," which I think is a little depressing.

Catch Back Porch Video's Greatest Hits on YouTube before they kick Lance off again.

Is The Electric Six's Colonel the face of White Gold?

2008-05-01T10:11:00.019-04:00

And the plot thickens, I mean curdles. Yesterday we reported that Dick Valentine is the voice of White Gold, today we report that we have reason to believe that The Colonel of The Electric Six is the face of White Gold.

We pose this question to our readers, are hidden commands being subliminally implanted within each song and commercial? Is this all part of The Electric Six's elaborate plan to rule the world, and if so why then dairy? Stay tuned to motorcityrocks.com.

Detroit Weekend Lowdown - May 1, 2008

2008-05-01T09:00:00.007-04:00

Thursday (5/1)
The Pop Project with Which Way Is Home, The Javelins and Empire Empire @ Magic Stick

Friday (5/2)
Magic Shop @ the Park Bar

Cetan Clawson Revolution, The Darts, The Crooks, Third Coast King @ Jacoby's

Satin Peaches @ The Pike Room

Dead Meadow, Blue Song, Oscillating Fan Club @ Magic Stick

Saturday (5/3)

Scarlet Oaks, The Dead Bodies and Millions of Brazilians @ Jacoby’s

Great Lakes Myth Society: Farewell to Leopold Brothers Show @ Leopold Brothers in Ann Arbor

Ghostland Observatory @ St. Andrew's

Curare III featuring: Carjack(ing), PINKEYE, Oscillating Fan Club, Netherfriends ,The Frustrations, Beekeepers, The Directions, Lenny Stoofy, Jehovah’s Witness Protection Program and 1964 @ CAID

Sunday (5/4)
Deastro with Zoo's of Berlin @ Alvin's

Green Street Fair featuring The Wrenfields, Jill Jack, The Great Lakes Myth Society, The Ragbirds and Need To Breathe @ Downtown Plymouth

The Go On "My Name Is Earl"

2008-05-01T07:30:00.006-04:00

Tune into tonight's episode of My Name Is Earl to hear music from The Go's latest release Howl On The Hunted Beat You Ride. The Go have been featured on this show several times throughout the years.

White Gold's True Identity Revealed

2008-04-30T17:58:00.009-04:00

Webvomit was right, the voice behind the viral online Got Milk! Campaign White Gold is none other then Detroit's very own Dick Valentine of the Electric Six. According to The Hard Lessons' Myspace Blog, Ko Ko Louise offers up her backing vocals with Dick on the White Gold and The Calcium Twins song "Do You Love My Hair." Catch all the nonsense at whitegoldiswhitegold.com

In other Hard Lessons news, the band has completed the final touches on their new album B&G Sides. A CD release bash is set for Saturday, July 26 at the Crofoot Ballroom in Pontiac, MI.

DMA on Spin.com

2008-04-30T11:57:00.003-04:00

Travis R. Wright of Spin.com takes on the 2008 Detroit Music Awards

Millions of Brazilians, Leopold Brothers, Was, Not Was

2008-04-30T10:00:00.012-04:00

Tonight, Millions of Brazilians will be opening for international pop superstars The Foals and The Ruby Suns at the newly reopened Alvin's in Detroit. If you haven't yet seen Millions of Brazilians live yet then get to this show early. Take it from us, you don't want to miss it!

Since Ann Arbor brewpub Leopold Brothers will be closing up shop and moving to Denver, Great Lakes Myth society will be playing a farewell show for the pub this Saturday night, May 3rd. First Denver stole Brother Gary Blackwell and now Leopold Brothers. I hope the Red Wings shut the Avalanche down on Thursday night.

The Metro Times talks with Detroit guitar prodigy Cetan Clawson. If you happen to be wondering who is the next great guitar player to come out of Detroit, look no further. Also in this week's MT, Chris Handyside points us in the direction of some tasty, free local music downloads.

Real Detroit Weekly heads right for the Ass N Titties of Detroit's DJ Assault. DJ Assault will be at The Box in Clinton Township on Saturday night.

NPR has a review and a cut, off of the new Was, Not Was album Boo!. Was, Not Was will be at the Majestic next Friday, May 9th.

Detroit Band Meshup - Instant Album Party Returns

2008-04-29T16:21:00.011-04:00

Showing off the song writing muscle that this town can flex; yesterday was the 2008 installment of the Instant Album Party.

After a two year hiatus, this year's event was held in Ferndale, MI and featured members of several local bands including; The Pop Project, The Hard Lessons, Revolutionary Politics of a Danceparty, Deastro, Child Bite, Serenity Court, Love Axe, The Word Play, Sea of Japan, The Silent Years, Javelins, Modernlull, Elle & The Fonts and solo artist Angela Duncan.

According to Suburban Sprawl Music's Zach Curd:

The concept is to invite a bunch of musicians to a party, put their names in a hat, draw the names, and then form "bands. "

THEN, the newly-formed bands have one hour to write and record an original song.

THEN, we put the results online for free.

Head over to the Instant Album Party website to hear what these fine folks cooked up.

Open Up and Bleed Out In Paperback

2008-04-29T09:41:00.012-04:00

In support of the paperback issuing of the Iggy Pop biography Open Up and Bleed, author Paul Trynka will be at the Detroit Edison Branch Public Library tomorrow evening - Wednesday, April 30th at 6PM. Iggy's chronology is shown in slides and accompanying anecdotes to flesh out the persona of Iggy and James Osterberg. For more details click here.

People's Records Returns, Rockin' on the Riverfront Schedual

2008-04-28T19:02:00.007-04:00

People's Records is relocating to Detroit's Midtown after this past Winter's fire at Forest Arm's Apartments.

Detroit area legend's Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad and Mitch Ryder will be playing together on the Detroit Riverfront on Friday, July 11. This annually "Rockin' on the Riverfront" summer concert series is free of charge. For the complete lineup of bands click here.

Wildy's World has got a review of the new Woodward album.

Hey, if your original local band isn't bringing in the coin you desire, why not start a cover band