curator's Blog

Shouldn't it be Tom Petty opening for Steve Winwood?

Culturally, in terms of importance -- absolutely.

Winwood responded enthusiastically when I asked him in an interview last week about Detroit artists he revered. He immediately mentioned touring with the Funk Brothers a few years back.

"I toured with the Funk Brothers around Europe and England...I just had a wonderful time with them. I used to tell them all the time, you guys can do it without me. They were so nice, and I loved singing those songs. I was singing some Junior Walker songs, a Marvin Gaye song and a Shorty Long -- 'Function at the Junction.' Fantastic stuff. I've always been a big big fan of that sound. I also sang 'Things I Do For You' by Junior Walker..."

He was calling from his home in England. Now that his young children are in school, he and his American-born wife spend more time there than in her home city of Nashville.

Winwood on his new album, "Nine Lives": "We cut it live in the studio and it's the same band I have with me on the road. It's great fun to play this stuff. I love playing live, getting on stage, seeing the reaction. It'll be interesting to see how the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers audience reacts to some of my stuff."

On his recent show with friend and former bandmate Eric Clapton in New York City:

"It was very exciting for me to play with him on the Madison Square Garden shows ...since I left playing with Eric, back in the '60s now he's become a great singer and a great bandleader as well, he didn't want to do either of those things when I played with him back in the '60s. Now he's a great singer/bandleader and of course guitarist."

Although many singers his age -- 60 -- have to adjust the key they sing in downward, Winwood hasn't had to make many such accomodations, that famous soulful wail is pretty much intact.

"I'm 60 years old now and a you can't do what a 25 year old can do, but I try to tailor what I write according to my abilities now and hopefully, it sounds like it might have worked."

I am due a writer flogging today too, for muffing one of Winwood's most important songs, "Dear Mr. Fantasy" in the print edition. One word was off. Let's hope he plays it Saturday night, he is mixing up the "must-play" songs in each town.

Fans will want to watch this ABC Nightline video where he talks about some of his favorite songs.

You can reach Susan Whitall at (313) 222-2156 or swhitall@ http://detnews.com.

London's Daily Mail is posing the possibility that Florence Ballard was murdered in a story published today. The newspaper --which is definitely a gossipy, guilty pleasure read -- quotes Ballard's older sister Maxine Ballard, who claims she confronted the man she feels is responsible for Ballard's death. I saw Maxine and several of Flo's daughters go up and greet Berry Gordy Jr. warmly (and pose for photos) at last October's Motown fundraiser at the Detroit Marriott, so there are no hard feelings there. The article implies that someone who's conveniently dead, might have done the deed. I'm a little leery about all the Flo stories that have popped up recently. The recent book by Peter Benjaminson attempts to revive a lot of tired old gossip about how Gordy and Diana Ross conspired to get Flo out of the group for no good reason. There were some good reasons. Ballard's last days in the Supremes were sad, but she was clearly not the most reliable employee, toward the end, as Mary Wilson has documented in her books. The thesis that launched the Broadway musical "Dreamgirls," that Flo should have been the Supremes' lead singer, makes for great theatrical drama, but that wasn't the real story. Flo had a great, churchy voice, but Diana's more kittenish pipes was perfect for the teenage pop Motown was churning out. Motown had already tried and failed to market Mable John's sultry, bluesy voice, and Berry Gordy knew that wasn't what his teenage market wanted. Once and for all, it'd be nice to see these ghoulish theories about poor Flo's life and death fade away.

You can reach Susan Whitall at (313) 222-2156 or swhitall@ http://detnews.com.

That's how Channel 7 ballyhooed its interview with Drew last night at 11 p.m. While I'm always interested in what Drew has to say, since several of us had him on speed-dial a few weeks ago when news of his departure from 'RIF broke, he's hardly been "silent" about what went on. He talked and talked...then talked some more. The situation evolved from soap opera circus, with angry accusations from Drew, to thankfully, more measured comments from him once he started talking again to his former morning show partner Mike Clark. Drew told Bill Spencer on 7 last night that he and Clark are talking more now than ever, and that he wouldn't rule out working with Clark and the gang again. He described the show with "Mr. Skin" that he hopes to have on Detroit radio by winter 2009, and said he was going to build a studio addition onto his house. Broadcasting from home -- that's a new factoid. But he reiterated (because it's all been in print before) that he wanted to take the whole Drew & Mike crew with him, to be on afternoons on 'RIF. There were some cool photos of Drew playing baseball as a college star...

You can reach Susan Whitall at (313) 222-2156 or swhitall@ http://detnews.com.

The Funk Brothers, the studio band that played on so many Motown classics, will be honored Sept. 28 at the 19th Annual HAL (Heroes and Legends) Legacy Award, in a ceremony in Los Angeles. The HAL Awards were launched by Janie Bradford, former Motown secretary and songwriter (she co-wrote "Money")to help at-risk youth, and recognize leaders in entertainment and business. The HALs are being presented to what organizers term "the only active Funk Brothers," Uriel Jones, Eddie Willis and Bob Babbitt. Yeah, but ...Guitarist Joe Messina no longer tours with the Funk Brothers, but he is by no means inactive. I was lucky enough to sit in at a jam session at his house last year, and those are ongoing. Joe is as sharp as when he was playing jazz at night and Motown pop during the day at Studio A. If his friends manage to coax Joe to play in public, Funks fans are in for a treat.

You can reach Susan Whitall at (313) 222-2156 or swhitall@ http://detnews.com.

Intriguing that Capitol's new owners are reaching back to one of the label's most iconic artists,signing Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys to a contract. Capitol will release a new Brian Wilson album, "That Lucky Old Sun," on Sept. 2. Wilson first recorded with brothers Carl and Dennis and the Beach Boys at Capitol Records in 1962.


You can reach Susan Whitall at (313) 222-2156 or swhitall@ http://detnews.com.

Legendary WKNR DJ Scott Regen had a particular knack for connecting with listeners. So much so that, even with Keener's deficient nighttime signal, The Head Burger owned one in four radio listeners during his timeslot.

Johnny Randall has created this website, highlighting some of the greatest Scott Regen moments during his Keener career.

http://tinyurl.com/57vzrw

By Susan Whitall

In 1979, fusing disaffected suburban smart-aleck attitude onto a hot funk beat was about as fresh a musical genre as there was. Don and David Was, "brothers" of different mothers (and fathers) out of Oak Park, formed Was (Not Was) to make snarky, rhythmically compelling music that hit fans in a sweet spot they didn't know existed.

Like something scary yet cool spawning in a nuclear waste pond, the band rocked the '80s with such MTV-friendly hits as "Wheel Me Out," "Out Come the Freaks," "Walk the Dinosaur" and "Spy in the House of Love."

A teasing, Detroit noir sensibility evinced itself in lyrics like: "Tara Venus, a rent-a-stripper, you could feast your eyes but you couldn't grip her" (from "Out Come the Freaks.")

And then came a 16-year break between CDs. Blame Bonnie Raitt and her 1989 Don Was-produced smash, "Nick of Time," which launched a slew of other producing projects for both men. This month, Rykodisc released a new Was (Not Was) album, "Boo!," and the group has reunited for a world tour that stops in at the Majestic Theater tonight.

"The ethos of Was (Not Was) and any music of its ilk, was that anything over a persuasive beat works -- anything," says David Was (nee Weiss) by phone from his California home. "The rules were broken as long as you hewed to this rhythmic imperative. Whenever it gets too perfect or polite, then I think your focus is gone."

He means it. Was (Not Was)'s first official gig was at the long-defunct club Nitro on Detroit's west side one day in the late '70s, and featured Don Was (nee Fagenson) on bass, Weiss on flute, soul singers Sir Harry Bowens and Sweet Pea Atkinson on vocals, plus an array of musicians, including keyboard player Louis Resto, saxophonist David McMurray, guitarist Wayne Kramer, jazz trumpet player Marcus Belgrave and members of Funkadelic.

But whatever strange lyrics or jazz changes are thrown into this Detroit soul stew, it all goes back to what David Was feels is music's primal function: Moving human flesh to a beat.
Kindred spirits

Was (Not Was) began to coalesce at a Count Basie gig Don and David attended at age 15.

The two had met at Oak Park's Clinton Junior High School, sitting outside the assistant principal's office waiting for detention. They started hanging out.

"Somehow, we got ourselves down to the Detroit Light Guard Armory for a Count Basie show," Was relates.

"It was one of those shows where you could buy mixers for the liquor you brought, and boxed chicken dinners. There was no seating, because people were either going to stand up by the band, or they were going to dance. Well, a black woman of about 34 took me by the arm and wheeled me onto the floor. I followed her as best I could, grateful for this beneficence, that she had turned me from Oak Park white boy into soft-stepping dude about town."

Was came to realize that watching music while silently sitting in a concert hall was an aberration that had come relatively late in the history of mankind.

David and Don had also been culturally stimulated by the integration of their school when kids from Royal Oak Township were brought in. "It was like having the curtain lifted on your suburban, shielded view of life," Was says. "It wasn't long thereafter that I began to fantasize about being in a blaxploitation movie, pimped out in pimp clothes and leading a parade of women down Woodward Avenue."

If you hadn't guessed, he is responsible for the more startling imagery in Was (Not Was) lyrics.

David Was moved to Los Angeles in the '70s, while Don stayed behind in Detroit to live the bohemian musician life, launching a punk band, the Traitors. The friends collaborated long-distance, riffing over the phone and leaving music on each other's phone message machines.
Primitive vs. realist

That working style has persisted over the years, even after Don moved to L.A. as well. (Both Don and David are married, with grown children.)

"Don is this super-realist who tries to get the heart pumping again in a Stax-Volt or Atlantic or Motown genre," David explains, "whereas I am studiously unstudious. I'm the primitive, the Grandma Moses of Was (Not Was). When I'm cutting stuff, I'm trying to make something I've never heard before."

The song with the most dance floor promise on "Boo!" -- "Your Luck Won't Last" -- started out as something David rapped into Don's voice-mail last year.

"When I put it on Don's voice-mail, he said, 'Oh man, we've got to cut that.' I transferred my computer file over, we added a few more parts, and right now we've got it out for 10 remixes, hoping to get back on the dance charts."

Over the years, both David and Don have pursued producing careers, Don helming projects for Brian Wilson, Bob Seger, B.B. King, the Black Crowes, George Clinton, Carly Simon and the B-52s, among others. David's credits include Roy Orbison, k.d. lang, Rickie Lee Jones and Wayne Kramer (of the MC5).

Both Was "brothers" worked together producing Bob Dylan, and wrote a song with him, "Mr. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore." It appears on "Boo!"

Dylan's sensibility jibed very comfortably with the jazzy, boho zaniness of the two native Detroiters.

Or, as David puts it: "I think I endeared myself to Dylan by being such a goof."

The breakthrough happened when Dylan was in the studio cutting a vocal. "It was all right -- not bad." Weiss says. "Don says, 'Great vocal, Bob.' Bob says, 'Great? You thought that was great?' And Don hedges. 'Well, you could do it again...but yeah, some good stuff on there.'

"A silence descended," David says, "and what seemed like 100 years passed. I said these words: 'Yeah Bob, there was something special in the air here tonight. I got the feeling, while you were singing, that had Al Martino walked in here, the two of you could have created a very special magic together.'

" 'Al Martino?' Dylan said. 'Al Martino?' Then: 'Al Martino wouldn't walk into a room unless it had a ceiling fan in it.' "

It took a few years for David to appreciate the humor in the line. "Now I realize, yeah, Al Martino would be working the toilets in Miami Beach, with palm fronds and ceiling fans."
Paula Abdul connection

As for the song they wrote together, that came about when Dylan overheard Don say that writing a song for then-hot Paula Abdul was "like signing our names to a check for a quarter-million dollars each."

Dylan barked: "A quarter-million dollars? David -- get a pen. You and me are going to write a song for Paula Abdul."

They batted out a series of stream-of-consciousness lyrics, but sadly, she rejected the opus. But it pops up on "Boo!" "It's like any of our songs, so absurd, but sung with such conviction by Sweet Pea that it seems like it must mean something."

So we leave art-funk pioneers Was (Not Was) playing catch-up after 16 years away.

David thinks "Boo!" is a start.

"This album is spiritual Drano, it unclogs the pipes of the years of inactivity and retrieves the stuff that we were working on, setting the stage to make new stuff," he says. "And hopefully, reclaiming the dance mandate that motivated the band to begin with."

You can reach Susan Whitall at (313) 222-2156 or swhitall@ http://detnews.com.

Who was your favorite? Dick Purtan? Bob Green? Scott Regen? J. Michael Wilson? Ted Clark? Gary Stephens? Michael Stephens? Pat St. John? Dan Henderson?

They are all right here in the Keener13.com aircheck archives.

Were you a Contact News junkie? We've got the entire news team right here.

By Susan Whitall

Not sure why, but it's painful to watch Marvin Gaye in his later years, as in the "Marvin Gaye Live in Montreux 1980" special Detroit Public Television/Channel 56 is airing right now, after the Marvin Gaye "American Masters" documentary.

He appears to be forcing himself to be the dazzling sex symbol onstage, when in fact he'd rather be in the studio.

He looked so much more at ease in the "American Masters" film wearing a knitted, ethnic cap and parka, playing around on the piano at the time he was collaborating in Detroit with the Funk Brothers on "What's Going On."

If you go to the Hard Rock Cafe in Detroit, you can see Marvin Gaye's address book, opened up to the "J"s, I believe, in a

By Susan Whitall

On Wednesday night (9 p.m. on Detroit Public Television/Channel 56) PBS is premiering a documentary on Marvin Gaye's life that will evoke memories for many Detroiters, Motown colleagues and music fans - some great, some melancholy.

It's hard when you have to always insert a clause, "shot and killed by his father" in every mention of Gaye's life and times.

Maybe that's why I love to watch, and rewatch, a YouTube clip of Gaye's "Save the Children" performance outside in Chicago, featuring Funk Brothers such as James Jamerson on bass (see link below). You forget everything but Marvin's almost Zen-like immersion in his music when you watch.

Here's my Marvin Gaye story: When I was editor of Creem Magazine, I asked for an interview with him via Motown PR guy Bob Jones. Good news: The interview was on. Bad news: Bob told me under no circumstance should I do the interview. Why? Bob said Marvin tended to relate to female journalists as, well, females. He said it happened with photographers, writers ... "You won't get a story," he warned.

"He'll just treat you like a girl."

Apparently there was a female photographer assigned to shoot photos of Marvin. Instead they disappeared for a lost weekend. No photos taken.

In retrospect, I can't believe I let Bob talk me out of it, but I did. I assigned the story to another Creem writer, the very estimable (and male) Ed Ward. Ed was flown to Los Angeles from wherever he was at the time to talk to Marvin. The next day an irate Ed called me to say he only got an hour with Marvin, and that there was no way he could write up that into a feature.

An hour with Marvin Gaye! Right now, to think of an hour talking to him ... I can't remember if Ed only got monosyllables out of him or what, but I know I didn't agree that an hour wasn't worth writing up. Disappointing to fly across the country for that, but, hey, write it up! I couldn't talk Ed into it. Any irritation I felt was long ago replaced by envy and now, humor. What I wouldn't give to have an unsatisfactory interview with Marvin Gaye!

Alas, I made the wrong call.

By Susan Whitall

London's Daily Mail reports Nicole Kidman will play '60s singer Dusty Springfield in a biopic of the late British songbird's life.

It's as if the only actress working in Hollywood today is Nicole Kidman; otherwise, how could a perfectly average actress (IMO) keep getting so many prime roles?

Didn't the producers see "Bewitched"? Or, more importantly, didn't they see "Bewitched"'s box office receipts?

Don't even tell me she's going to try to sing like Dusty. I didn't even like it when Shelby Lynne did that.

By Susan Whitall

Detroit City Council president Ken Cockrel Jr. is used to meeting the press, although on Wednesday he confessed he was happier to be talking about jazz at the Detroit International Jazz Festival presser than about text messages.

Cockrel is now on the board of the Jazzfest, which runs from Aug. 29 to Sept. 2 this year, and for him the gig makes sense.

Growing up, the council president was immersed in jazz, thanks to his father, political activist and Councilman Ken Cockrel Sr., who played his favorite records by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly, and other jazz greats constantly.

"And every year it was a ritual, my father would take me down to the jazz festival, which was still called Montreux back then," Cockrel said.

I particularly like this year's theme "A Love Supreme: The Detroit/Philly Summit," as a Philly native forcibly relocated here as a kid when my dad took a job with an auto supplier. Who knew the music would be as good?

Fans will have a great array of Detroit and Philly jazz and soul acts to catch; Detroit bebop legends like Kenny Burrell and Hank Jones, Philly jazzers Pat Martino and Kenny Heath, and much more.

This year there are a few changes to Jazz Fest physically; the Here and Now stage, which features up and coming talent like Hot Club of Detroit, will be moved further away from the din of the People Mover, over to Congress & Woodward. "Hopefully that will take care of the noise," festival director Terri Pontremoli said. "Who knew the People Mover ran so often?"

And this year the Jazz Festival's official hotel will be the Renaissance Center Marriott, it's bigger than the Pontchartrain, and that's a must. There will be jam sessions every night at the Marriott after jazzfest's outdoor concerts wind down.

The tribute to Marvin Gaye on Friday Aug. 29, opening night of Jazzfest should be fantastic. Gaye's "What's Going On" still haunts Detroit musicians and fans, and there will be not only musical tributes to him that day, but also extensive talk about Gaye and his music in the Jazz Talk Tent, with I hear, Gaye biographer David Ritz coming in to take part.

I wasn't surprised to hear that Ken Cockrel Jr. was such a jazz fan -- it was startling to hear that he was a Creem Magazine subscriber growing up, and remembered my byline there. So he was a rock kid too.

By Susan Whitall

Paul Trynka, a former editor of Britain's Mojo Magazine, authored a recent biography -- "Iggy Pop: Open Up and Bleed" (Broadway Books) -- surprisingly, the first on Ann Arbor's own Ig, after all these years

Trynka will make two appearances in southeast Michigan to discuss Iggy and his book, first from 7-8:30 p.m. on Monday April 28 at Iggy's hometown Ann Arbor District Library's downtown branch, 343 South Fifth Avenue, Ann Arbor, then at 6 p.m. Wednesday April 30 at the Detroit Public Library's Edison Branch, 18400 Joy Rd., Detroit.

Trynka is doing the appearances as part of the Michigan Notable Books tour; 20 books are chosen each year to receive the "notable" designation.

By Susan Whitall

When I can remember to tune in, Bob Dylan's weekly radio show on XM Satellite Radio is always a treat. And as Duff McDonald writes in Vanity Fair, the shows are a great insight into Dylan's passions and foibles.

To wit: He's played George Jones nine times; Tom Waits and Dinah Washington eight times, and Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys, Louis Armstrong and Van Morrison have gotten seven plays each on his shows to date.

Easily half of the music he plays was recorded before 1960.

He can tell you how to hang drywall, walk like a runway model, give yourself dreadlocks or pack a suitcase. He shares recipes for mint juleps, rum and coke, figgy pudding and "the perfect meatball."

The Vanity Fair article also collects many of the witticisms and asides Dylan has tossed off. Like "John Lee....one of those guys that always sounds better without a band. Thirteen bars here, eleven bars there, nine there. Doesn't matter to him. Nobody can do more with less than John Lee Hooker."

Or: About Sinatra singing Summer Wind: "West Coast weather is the weather of catastrophe. The Santa Ana winds are like the winds of the apocalypse. But the summer wind that Frank's singing about may be a little lighter. Come on in, Frank."

By Susan Whitall

It's all over news sources on the Internet today, that Mariah Carey has surpassed Elvis Presley's record of No. 1 hits, now that she's had her 18th ("Touch My Body").

She still lags behind the Beatles, who earned 20 No. 1 hits.

But there's someone they're forgetting.

By our count, Mariah hasn't outstripped Motown's supreme diva, Diana Ross. As lead singer of the Supremes, Ross was on 12 No. 1 hits (they had something like six in an incredible 18 month period), and as Diana Ross, she racked up 6 (one was a duet with Lionel Richie, "Endless Love.")

That makes 18...

By Susan Whitall

Finally listened to Shelby Lynne's "Just a Little Lovin'" (Lost Highway) -- her album of Dusty Springfield covers ...oh well.

In theory this should have my name all over it, although Lynne has never really captured me, with her recorded music. I can't help but think, after this many albums, that she's coasting on her live performances and charisma.

It might not be entirely her fault. Most of the songs here have been arranged in a tempo so funereal that all the energy has been tapped out.

"You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" is particularly weak. Lynne's voice is already much smaller and less potent than Springfield's, so to deconstruct the British singer's rendition by taking out all the passion and tension makes no sense at all. Pass.

(Curator's note: Mike Austerman is still writing an on-line version.. Find it here)

When Mike Austerman and I began writing this column in September of 2001, our country had just suffered the worst catastrophe in our lifetime and more than 75 percent of the nation's population heard about it first on radio. It was a sad way to start this run which has lasted over six and a half years

Unfortunately we're going to end in much the same way.

The biggest news of this past week was probably the worst-kept secret in Detroit radio. It was the hardly unexpected departure of Drew Lane from the top-rated Drew & Mike morning show on rock WRIFFM (101.1). It has been extensively covered in both newspapers and TV, but the saddest news came from behind the scenes at The Riff.

It was the most untimely death of Bob Kozaitis who was the director of Sales and Events and Online Marketing for WRIF. General Sales Manager John Long said "it was a very difficult week for everyone in the building and it truly puts the Drew Lane story in proper perspective."

Kozaitis was on calls for the radio station and reports say he had pulled off the M-59 freeway near Squirrel Road to check on his vehicle and stepped too close to the highway when a truck struck him. He was reportedly killed instantly. It's a tragedy and the fact that he was only 36 years old made it even worse. Bob had been with WRIF for the past 10 years, in charge of many station events including Harley Fest, and the Stars and Stripes Festival in Mount Clemens. He will surely be missed.

On a related note, I want to commend Mike Clark, Trudi Daniels, Mark Fellhauer and Mike Wolters for a masterful job of "facing the music" and presenting a most difficult program to broadcast last Wednesday while dealing with the loss of a close friend and colleague and the front page story of a longtime team member seemingly leaving the family.

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Ten days ago I attended the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Convention in Las Vegas and was proud to watch local radio icon Ed Christian given the Ward L. Quaal Pioneer Award. Quaal, a Michigan native from Ishpeming, attended the University of Michigan and the event was a proud moment for Christian, who is the president and CEO of Saga Communications, which owns stations throughout the country, but none locally. Quaal is the genius who built WGN in Chicago into one of America's most legendary radio stations.

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The "Reel" Tom Ryan, who worked at CKLW-AM (800) in the days when it was The Big 8 a Top 40 dynasty, recently demonstrated to me an Internet Wi-Fi Radio made by Sangean. It is an amazing piece of equipment and allows the user to listen to any radio station in the country that streams its programming on the Internet.

My favorite overnight radio program is the unique Joey Reynolds Show on New York's WOR. Since the nighttime skywave signal is at best unreliable, it's crystal clear at http://www.wor710.com each evening at midnight with no fading and no static. The same goes for my other favorite, The Bob & Tom Show on http://www.bobandtom.com. When this becomes available in cars via the wireless Internet, it will radically change how we listen to the radio. Stay tuned.

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Hear the big band music of crooners like Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby with Tom Wilson on WMUZ-FM (103.5) at 6 p.m. Did you hear Tom Kent's exciting new Friday night show on WOMC-FM (104.3)? Truly incredible. And Don Philips wants all his fans to know how much he misses playing the oldies overnight at that station. He also said it was difficult for PD Scott Walker to carry out the wishes of corporate CBS beancounters.

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From Mike Austerman: "On a personal note, last week (online only) was my final radio column for The Oakland Press. I want to express my gratitude to every one of you who have read this column since September 2001 -- and especially to those who were also loyal readers of our predecessors. It's been a pleasure covering radio for you each week along with Art."

The radio industry has known me by the moniker "Radio's Best Friend" for the past three decades and I've tried to be that to both the members of the local radio fraternity and you the loyal readers of this column. We will continue to cover this marvelous medium via http://michiguide.com and mine http://www.vuolovideo.com. Keep the radio on ... it's the last bastion of free entertainment.

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Art Vuolo has published the Radio Guide for more than 30 years and runs http://Vuolovideo.com. Contact him at artvuolo@aol.com.