HISTORY OF MICHIGAN ROCK vol.1

The first volume in a killer series of (presumably radio?) programs chronicling the history of Michigan rock music (in case you didn't read the title). Three more volumes to follow, but not until you dig into this juicy cut of late '60 burners taken from the first real wave of rock 'n roll from the Wolverine State. Not sure who Mike Johnston is (though I did accidentally stumble across this gem while I was trying to find out), but he absolutely crushes this first installment with Drew Abbott (SILVER BULLET BAND, THIRD POWER) and Scott Morgan (THE RATIONALS) breaking up an hour of under the radar jams from FROST, S.R.C., and THE RATIONALS, as well as essentials from BOB SEGER SYSTEM, AMBOY DUKES, MYTCH RYDER & THE DETROIT WHEELS...and no Michigan retrospective would be complete without a coupla funky acid freakouts from ? & THE MYSTERIANS.  It's a well curated collection, and Johnston's nerdy affinity for the sound and the place is apparent throughout. Take a trip...and listen to "I Need You" at full volume.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN ROCK vol.1

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN ROCK vol.2

I suggest starting this series with Volume 1 here, and then sink into this hour of sounds that you know and a story that is ultimately fascinating for fans of this, or any, era of rock 'n roll. Host Mike Johnston focuses on STOOGES and MC5 in Volume 2, so you've likely heard most of the featured tracks, but this isn't (just) about the tracks. Between Johnston's clear reverence for the sound and time, and interviews with Ron Asheton (STOOGES) and Dennis Thompson (MC5) and some context from Scott Morgan (THE RATIONALS), this hour is a wholly compelling listen. These are the innovators - breaking the rules before most people knew there were rules, harnessing the politics and turning it all into one energy. So even if you've heard the free jazz meets high energy rock 'n roll freak out "Train Music" from the last MC5 studio session, I recommend listening to it again with Thompson's introduction.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN ROCK vol.2

"What that band tried to do was just open up the limits, because music is constrictive and formulaic and equative - it's the same equation played over and over again, and there's not much there for people to grab onto as a contemporary art form. Not much there that you can take away with you, not much content that you can dream on and base you life around. A lot of it's negative, and a lot of it's just pop and fluff. And the one thing I can say about The 5 is they stood for a lot of quality things: They stood for brotherhood and they stood for experimentation.

And they stood for the art form."

- Dennis Thompson, MC5

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN ROCK vol.4

The final installation in this series, diving into the relationship between the Michigan rock scene and Australian proto-punk. HOODOO GURUS, NEW RACE (goddamn I had never heard this project), RADIO BIRDMAN,  NEW CHRISTS...interviews with Deniz Tek and Dennis Thompson, hearing the roots of bands like CELIBATE RIFLES in the sounds of THE HITMEN, and some killer background on past relationships and schemes and plans and a time that is disappearing in the mirror as sound moves into the distance. If you haven't heard the first three hours, I highly recommend the entire series - it's a deep nerd dive, but your host is a deep nerd and he takes good care of you.

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN ROCK vol.4

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN ROCK vol.3

The third volume in Mike Johnston's series on Michigan based rock 'n roll, this one uncovering the bands, projects and music that rose from the ashes of THE STOOGES. Pleasantly, the focus is not on Iggy (who is featured to be sure, but not until later the hour), but on the lesser known recordings rose up after THE STOOGES split. Ron Asheton's NEW ORDER (the opening track "Victim Of Circumstance" is worth the price of admission alone) and DESTROY ALL MONSTERS open up, with cutes from SONICS RENDEZVOUS BAND, IGGY POP (I mean, you're not going to leave the dude out of the equation, obviously) and closing out with some FRED SMITH + PATTI SMITH (though STOOGES adjacent, of course) live recordings that are killer, even if the quality is a little rough. Interviews with Asheton and Morgan provide context throughout, and once again Johnston's encyclopedic knowledge and fierce fandom make for a great listen as he dissects the cuts and the artists' lineage. You'd think that as he moved chronologically away from the architects that things would get a little more diluted and less interesting, but I think it just gets more interesting as the web gets wider....

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN ROCK vol.3

ASSORTED OZ

Someone slapped a few slammers onto the ass end of a mixtape that featured CHELSEA Peel Sessions and BBC recordings from 1979, the DRONES '77 Peel Session, BUZZCOCKS Razor Cuts outtakes from '79, ADVERTS surprisingly smoking Raw Energy recording (which is a ripping mess, by the way), some cuts that will especially appeal to the folks who dug the (highly recommended) History Of Michigan Rock series and the connection between Motor City and the world's greatest Nation Continent. A handful of live recordings and outtakes from HITMEN ("Pop's All (Gone)" is the absolute star of this little mini-mix), NEW CHRISTS, NEW RACE and RADIO BIRDMEN, the latter dropping a hyped up bare knuckle cranked up bar fight version of "Search & Destroy" to close out the collection. For purists and the curious perhaps, but would you be here otherwise? I reach out to the people who curated and traded these recordings...I reach out to them in their boring offices or their sweaty garage practice spaces or their suburban homes or their graves, and I thank them. 

ASSORTED OZ