By Scott Baker, Gary Johnson, Fred Reif, Mike Beattie
5
44 ratings
The podcast currently has 106 episodes available.
Steve Swart was on the bandstand and in college at CMU just in time to see owner Harvey Vanier turn The Foolery into Rubbles. Mt. Pleasant has always been at the dead center of the state of Michigan when it comes to cross-over touring due to WCMU and the college music market. One quick look north from Kalamazoo, Ann Arbor, Detroit and Lansing, all eyes hit the college town. The blended artistry from roots folk, to deep blues, power pop, metal, and first generation punk all huddled in this marketplace, long after the '60s Flint scene dispersed.
Yes, you could see Texas blues man Gatemouth Brown, followed by funky rockin' Fishbone, and then a tour stop for the punk legends Dead Milkmen. Or how about Blues Brother Matt 'Guitar' Murphy? Verve Pipe? Etc...this was a Michigan hub town thanks to the venues, Theatres, and WCMU radio.
While Swart notes that much remains in historical value, the word-of-mouth of the area's scene is more of a recollection and myth, than the hub it once was. North of Mt. Pleasant lies Interlochen, which seems to have taken on the persona that Mt. Pleasant used to be known for. A quick look at Traverse City, Petoskey, Alpena, or over west to Big Rapids or Grand Rapids, or even east to the Tri-Cities and you can see speckles of the majestic college town scene. Swart is taking the Mt. Pleasant music history seriously and is not only documenting it, but releasing lost shows on YouTube. Steve has compiled a fantastic episode that not only covers his music, but some of his rock/metal expeditions (magnetite)--which is not rock/metal like you think ;) Tune in and check this out too! Here is his Link List for this episode:
"Legacy of Harvey's Foolery": https://www.facebook.com/groups/38403127560/
Youtube Playlist Legacy of Harvey's Foolery https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxX1AiehvuPKAgF_VtCwzWJ6iclZIJRY1
Clarke Historical Library website at CMU: http://www.clarkehistoricallibrary.org/p/about-us.html?m=0 Michigan bands that we hosted and recorded in concert at The Broadway Theatre in Mt Pleasant: Steppin' In It Levi Rose and Hooker Man Mollie O'Brien and Jive at Five Alma College Percussion and Drum Ensemble Jeff Haas Quintet with Marcus Belgrave THOSE Delta Rhythm Kings (Lansing area) Earl Haynes and Friends (subject of the song "Mr Easy" ala Walmsley/McCray) Brian Koehler Chris Freeman (Sitar) Myk Rise Hurry The Jug YouTube Playlist - Live at The Broadway 2003-2005: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxX1AiehvuPJkLJDeREK10heB0qEAfT3oThe Michigan Music History Podcast Special Edition 2024 Hell's Half Mile Music Line-up and Film Rundown:
Hell's Half Mile music organizer Don Hessell returns for the third-annual MMHP HHM Special, along with his new assistant Spencer Biery. Also this year, past music organizer and HHM alum Jay Glysz, offers past stories and details from the origins of the 18 year Fest. (Festival ALL-STAR person Brendon Baranek (Deon) was unable to attend the taping for this event and still holds a strong hand in much of the set-up for HHM. Mr. Mike was also unable to join the MMHP crew for video archiving.)
JW Francis from New York will kick of Thursday night at Old City Hall. Bluhm from Detroit will be Friday's entertainment at MI Table. The Saturday showcase at Jefferson Building will be Sungaze from Cincinnati, Waltzer from Chicago, and Liquid Mike from Marquette.
Films such as Tallywacker and Marqueetown ring true for music fans. Also of interest is podcast film Sydney.
Here is your backstage pass and details from the past, present and future of the HHM, one of Michigan's biggest Independent Music and Film fests. Tune in now and see you this weekend!
PS: Also of note--come support the Bay County Historical Museum/Michigan Rock Legends Hall of Fame with a fundraiser Wednesday-Saturday at Drydock in Bay City, walking or riding between HHM events! The perfect paring of history and current events. Music all four nights including Bobby Balderrama (from ? & The Mysterians) on Wednesday, MMHP's own Scott Baker Thursday and Friday, and DJ David Asher on Saturday.
On Episode 1 of this season, we headed over to the Juke Joint and got Robert Barclay's back story on the past 39 years of the show. Robert gave his background, college history, photography interest, and ultimately the keys to the club as we got to go backstage with the Duke of Juke. For Episode 2, Robert goes into his passion for Tom Waits, venues like The Ark, Slim Harpo, Johnny Bassett, Hasting Street and Gatemouth Brown--and then some!
Tune in Thursday morning for the wrap up with the legendary Blues DJ--and don't forget to join Robert at the Juke Joint on 89.5 FM WCMU every Sunday night at 8pm for his three hour show. Thank you all for listening and Robert for the hospitality.
WOW! Five seasons into the MMHP in the 989 and we couldn't be more thankful for our listeners! As our show grows, the grass roots word of mouth continues to ramp and bring us better numbers and more guests. We couldn't get there without you!
On Episode 1 of this season, we head over to the Juke Joint and get Robert Barclay's back story on the past 39 years of the show. Robert gives his background, college history, photography interest, and ultimately the keys to the club as we get to go backstage with the Duke of Juke. Inside stories, accidental happenings, and handshake deals go down with the Duke in episode 1!
Tune in Thursday morning for our show--and don't forget to join Robert at the Juke Joint on 89.5 FM WCMU every Sunday night at 8pm for his three hour show. Part 1 is NOW...
Michiganders Keith Hlavacs and Marlin Wilson belong in their own music collection time zone. Hlavacs not only collects artifacts of early music from 78s/cylinders/diamond discs and phonographs, but he touches upon some of the most sought after music from the earliest days of recordings--with some rare Michigan Music thrown in for good measure. Wilson was the first-call for Dr. J to help assemble some pieces in the Michigan Rock Legends Hall Of Fame and has one of the most extensive deep collections of Michigan Rock, primarily from the earliest heyday of Mid-Michigan.
One of the biggest feedback joys we get is the depth of our podcasts, the spoken word documentation. We decided to wrap Season 4 with a round table on ultimate music collecting, with a focus on Michigan pieces. Yet there is SO much more than Michigan in this episode. Sir Fred tosses in the dirty earliest printed music, Mr. Mike talks of his massive archives, and Dr. J waxes ecstatic on his collection and why he is into specifics. All of the collectors share the love of music and the desire to find the next rare, cool, unknown thing. It's not just a Michigan thing, but our state has a slew of collectibles as we will find out along the way.
Thank you for listening to Season 4--Season 5 is two weeks out and this episode is a tribute to you music lovers. Dig in!
Mad Dog--a 1970's independent touring machine, known for crossing the state and region, fuzzed out and throttling headliners like Bob Seger, has gone on to have their much-sought-after debut album '617' amongst the finest crate dig finds in many vinyl collectors realms. Straight out of Bay City, Mad Dog's '617' continues to be a highlight in the murky power/stoner rock realm through 2024.
Brother's Bob (guitar/vocals) and Joe (drums/vocals) Charlebois along with driving force and Bassist Don Langenburg, were a power trio that still gets word-of-mouth, and even had bootleggers re-releasing their album around 2005. For the first time in decades, the MMHP has pulled together the original line-up for a Q&A session that delivers a brotherhood, moment in time, and with the brilliant sonic thumbprint that got them inducted into the Michigan Rock Legends Hall of Fame in 2019.
Part 2 of 2 takes us from the NYC promo run, to the second (unreleased) album, to where the power trio is at now with Blues Mobile, The Burdons, and tribute bands with Bob Seger/Kenny Rogers backing Saginaw Sheriff Bill Federspiel.
Special thanks to Outrageous Cherry/The Volbeats guitarist/vocalist, songwriter extraordinaire Matthew Smith for spearheading this idea to reunite and get the legacy behind the trio.
For a deep dive, click here:
https://michiganrockandrolllegends.com/index.php/mrrl-hall-of-fame/349-mad-dog
Mad Dog--a 1970's independent touring machine, known for crossing the state and region, fuzzed out and throttling headliners like Bob Seger, has gone on to have their much-sought-after debut album '617' amongst the finest in vinyl collectors realms. Straight out of Bay City, Mad Dog's '617' continues to be a highlight in the murky power-rock/stoner rock realm through 2024.
Brother's Bob (guitar/vocals) and Joe (drums/vocals) Charlebois along with driving force and Bassist Don Langenburg, were a power trio that still gets word-of-mouth, and even had bootleggers re-releasing their album around 2005. For the first time in decades, the MMHP has pulled together the original line-up for a Q&A session that delivers a brotherhood, moment in time, and with the brilliant sonic thumbprint that got them inducted into the Michigan Rock Legends Hall of Fame in 2019.
Special thanks to Outrageous Cherry/The Volbeats guitarist/vocalist, songwriter extraordinaire Matthew Smith for spearheading this idea to reunite and get the legacy behind the trio. Part 1 of 2 is served up HOT....
For a deep dive, click here:
https://michiganrockandrolllegends.com/index.php/mrrl-hall-of-fame/349-mad-dog
Sadly, the Musical Mitten Podcast recently closed its podcast doors. It started up as a radio show at WOCR of the University of Olivet, hosts Maggie Brener of Bay City (now Detroit) and Breanne Wilder of Vicksburg ( now Charlotte) had put together a bevy of Michigan Musical discussion and guests that leveled up the playing field of current artists and musicians, along with classic Michigan music content. They began the show as a podcast in February of 2022 and as they say, From Mackinac To Motown, From Muskegon To Madonna, Maggie and Bree covered it all.
The Musical Mitten first touched base with Dr. J right soon after the MMHP989 began, in April of 2022. Access that here:
https://themusicalmitten.wixsite.com/themusicalmi/podcast/episode/79fd1b9c/the-man-the-museum-the-legends
When the MMHP, minus Dr. J hit the road for a Detroit trip to site see the venues of yesteryear field trip style, as well as tour Third Man Records back in December of 2023, Scott had been in contact about doing an episode on The Musical Mitten for his recent album Purpose. When making contact with Maggie, it was decided to turn it into a show where two of Michigan's deepest music podcasts interview each other; the process, the work, and some stuff on Scott's albums. We decided to meet in Fenton at the Library and record a shared Podcast. The podcast for The Musical Mitten which they released can be found here. Now you can compare edit notes...HA!
https://themusicalmitten.wixsite.com/themusicalmi/podcast/episode/7b1a1952/michigan-music-podcast-squared
The MMHP gives a tip of the cap to Maggie and Bree, as the Musical Mitten shows are still are available AND our time together--even though we were cut short--the listeners will enjoy the work, guest talks, and laughter as we discuss both of our shows, the impetus, and the future visions behind how we put shows together. We hope to cross paths with these wonderful hosts again someday. Dig into The Musical Mitten by way of the MMHP. Thank you Maggie and Bree!
Their perma home is: https://themusicalmitten.wixsite.com/themusicalmi
"In 2016 it was the biggest rock and roll story in some time," noted MMHP and Michigan Rock Legend Hall Of Fame CEO Gary 'Dr. J' Johnson, on the Fake Zombies story ran in Rolling Stone Magazine ripped straight out of M15 in Bay City and the historic chronicles of the late '60s.
Digging for gold, Podcaster/Bartender Daniel Ralston--in Los Angeles--uncovered The True Story Of The Fake Zombies, to be aired on the iHeart network in an eight-part podcast series beginning July 11, 2024, through the Talkhouse Podcast Network. This will run on all your favorite podcast outlets. You will learn of Bill Kehoe at Delta Promotions in Bay City, two fake-Zombie touring bands (one which included members of ZZ Top--drummer Frank Beard and late-bassist Dusty Hill), hear about the fleeting fake-Archies band, the members, the ideas, the major and minor showcases, the tours, the money, and ultimately, how it effected the real Zombies and led them to their induction into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland--as well as subsequent reunion tours and albums. Ralston took over ten years to get the proper interviews, the rights, the footage, photos, chronicles, band members, folk lore and truth to set the record straight and dust the dirt off of one of the most bizarre rock and roll stories to ever happen over the past 60 years. Rolling Stone, Howard Stern Show, YouTube, Michigan Rock Legends Hall of Fame--numerous outlets--all have some backstory since 2016 if you do your own research. Ralston came to meet and interview Dr. J in Bay City, get a tour of the town, and in turn offered his story to the MMHP in the 989 last June, 2023.
We were told to leave this episode in the can....until now.
An episode on Bay City itself airs July 18.
PREVIEW Daniel Ralston's Trailer here:
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/vu5WzQTdG77xvqdV/?mibextid=jpBbYv
Mark Sanders has been there and done that. From the '60 to his current output, Sanders has never given up on songs, creation, and finding the right tones to formulate excellent songs. Some of his first big stage tastes were opening for Ramblin Jack Elliot and The Blues Magoos after winning Battle of the bands at Daniels Den in Saginaw while in The Next Exit Blues Band. That band was coming out of another he was in, The Rogues, where he shared the stage with other luminaries of the time, including The Bossmen, ? and The Mysterians, Shadows Of Night, and ultimately a unique gig with The Animals.
From the clubs and main stages, rock, folk, and country eras, Mark is now retired from live shows, but was last playing with his wife Suzanne on keyboards & vocals in the Mark Sanders Band. Mark has four albums, he's back into blues and getting world-wide play, most recently a feature in Australia. This is a very intriguing ride and features a new song of his, 'On A Night Like That.'
The podcast currently has 106 episodes available.