Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
He has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University
Wild At Heart
Just wanted to start off the blog with a belated congratulations to a friend of mine who won a prestigious Detroit Music Award and I just found out despite the fact that I actually was one of the voters for the awards this year. The Detroit Music Awards were held earlier this year and my friend Emily Rose won for Outstanding Acoustic/Folk Songwriter this year which is huge and I am ashamed that I didn’t realize it until now as I was doing some research for this week’s blog. Emily has appeared on my show a number of times and always try to do something different at her shows, up to and including magic tricks and bringing random people on stage with her. You go girl!
I hope everyone had a safe 4th of July. I didn’t see any fireworks this year, but I had a great time at this year’s Cityfest as well as going to a wonderful No Doubt show and spending a day in Frankenmuth. While not as high-powered of a line-up as previous years, their were still numerous good performances from the Avett Brothers and Paula Valstein on the national stage to energetic sets by local artists such as Lightning Love, Electric Lions and the power set of “Girls! Girls! Girls!” that featured Carolyn Striho, Rachel May and Vivian George. On the jazz & blues stage, I was very impressed by the set by the Dennis Coffey Quintet, the Party Stompers wsg Gino Washington (a 1960’s Detroit R&B singer whose career stalled after he was drafted in 1964) and urban blues legend Johnnie Bassett playing with the Brothers Groove and the Motor City Horns. I also got to ride a 1921 Model T to the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant. This plant was open from
1904-1910 and is where the first 12,000 Model T’s were assembled. If you want to visit the plant which is the first building built by Ford Motor Company, it is open the 1st and 3rd Saturdays between May and October. I hope to be doing a story of the plant pretty soon so still vigilant.
I spent Sunday afternoon in Frankenmuth which is probably my favorite nearby road trip after Ann Arbor. I hadn’t been up there in awhile and my parents sent me a dinner certificate for Zehnder’s and while none of my friends could commit to coming with me, I did mange to eat $30 worth of food while there. Along with the Bavarian Inn which is across the street, these restaurants have wonderful all-you-can-eat chicken dinners with all the trimmings as I brought a doggy bag of various left over breads and the like which is almost a second meal. For the month of July, Zehnder’s has a special deal for only $2 more which includes all-you-can-eat ribs and they were also very good. I also recommend going to the bakery on the first floor and picking up some pizza bread which is very tasty and it is hard not to eat in one sitting. While walking around the city, I did notice some of my favorite places as the Frankenmuth Art Gallery, the old time arcade
and the wild game restaurant are out of business, however most of the restaurants and gift shops are still open and the River Place mall still has some nice stores including the Pewter Kingdom, Here Comes Treble (a fun music themed store) and Our Mother Earth (where you can buy crickets in Salt & Vinegar, Bacon & Cheese or Sour Cream & Onion flavors or Larvets in BBQ, Cheddar Cheese or Mexican Spice). Tempting as it was, I didn’t eat any of the insects but I did get some nice homemade Bavarian sausage from Kern’s and some chocolate cheese from the Frankenmuth Cheese Haus. I noticed the Wilderness Trails Zoo has a baby zebra on view and this is a nice locally owned zoo just south of the city which has over 200 animals including a butterfly house. It is a nice place for the kids. For history buffs, I do recommend the Military & Space Museum which features uniforms of Michigan veterans from 7 wars and the space program, the Chippewa Indian
Memorial at Memorial Park (has some nice gardens and hosts concerts in the park – this 7/12 will have a tribute to the Bee Gees though the big show will be the Vogues on 8/23), the Silent Night Chapel and The Historical Museum which currently has a Lincoln display. Remember, it is only about a hour trip from Detroit and is a nice place to chill out, do some fun shopping and have a good meal.
Speaking of history, the Detroit Historical Museum, thanks to a contribution from PVS Chemicals will be having free admission for the month of July. Current exhibits include “Detroit’s Classic TV Personalities” (a look at seven TV hosts that Detroiters have come to love such as Bill Kennedy and Soupy Sales), “Hero or Villain?” (looks at controversial Detroit figures such as Ty Cobb, Jimmy Hoffa, Chief Pontiac and Coleman Young and examines the good and bad they did for the city), “From Haven To Home: Jewish Life In America” and a look at Detroit’s Chinatown among other popular exhibits such as the Streets of Old Detroit. The museum does get overlooked in the shadow of the DIA but it does put on some nice exhibits that really showcase the wonders of Detroit’s past. If you have never gotten down to the museum, now is your chance with this free admission.
I have been wondering if I would mention the passing death of Michael Jackson which I guess I will. At Cityfest, I did see one person dressed up as Michael and people were trying to sell pictures of him. I really don’t recall much from his Jackson 5 days except what I saw on video clips. Growing up with early MTV, I do remember seeing those early videos and being impressed by the dance choreography of them. “Beat It” always seemed to evoke West Side Story themes as Michael sits in bed wondering about the senseless violence of the gangs and decides to intervene using his dance moves to bring peace among the gangs and getting them to looking at other alternatives to the needless fighting. A lot of people criticize Michael for not addressing real life issues, but this video does in a grand scale and actually stars about 80 real gang members to add authenticity to the 18 professional dancers. “Billie Jean” was the first video by a black
artist to air on MTV and is interesting to me for the sidewalk squares that light up as he dances over them and the fact he is being trailed by a paparazzo that he manages to stay one step ahead of and eventually gets arrested for spying by the cops (must be many a celebrities fantasy). “Thriller” of course was a great video by John Landis (2 years removed from his groundbreaking American Werewolf in London) with make-up by Rick Baker and co-starred Ola Ray (Playboy’s Miss June 1980) and a cameo by horror master Vincent Price. Starting off at a movie theatre, Ola is scarred and Michael follows her stating it was only a movie until they find themselves surrounded by zombies and the dancing ensues. These three videos might be almost forgotten now, but upon rewatching them thanks to youtube; it is amazing how fresh they still seem today and it is not surprising that they catapulted Michael to superstar status. Michael has been inducted twice into
the Rock-N-Roll Hall Of Fame (as a member of the Jackson 5 and as a solo artist, has won 13 Grammy’s and is the 3rd best selling artist of all time behind only the Beatles and Elvis Presley (Bing Crosby is 4th). I know he has diminished over the years due to his eccentricities (such as his chimp, the hyperbaric oxygen chamber and various surgeries), the Pepsi Cola hair on fire incident, his marriage to Presley’s daughter and the allegations of child molestation which have never been proven in a court of law. I always felt that Michael, despite being older than me was mentally younger but whatever happened, you can’t deny the impact he had from his early Jackson 5 era to cowriting “We Are The World” and starting the “Heal The World Foundation” to help underprivileged kids. etc. Did you know that in 1982, Jackson contributed the song "Someone In the Dark" to the storybook for the film “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” which won a Grammy
for Best Album for Children or that his appearance during the Super Bowl XXVII halftime marked the first time where the audience figures increased during the half-time show. The more I reread about Michael, it seems that 1993 was when things started going negative for Michael more than positive when the first accusation came out against him. For better or worse, Michael was extremely talented and deserved better than life gave him at the end. Peace out brother!
I should also put out a brief God Bless to some of the other big names who have recently passed away over the past 2 weeks including our favorite sidekick Ed McMahon, singer Sky Saxon of the Seeds, teen boy fantasy Farrah Fawcett, pitchman Billy Mays, actor Karl Malden, football great Steve McNair, guitarist Drake Levin (Paul Revere and the Raiders), Allen Klein (one time manager for both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones) and Shi Pei Pu (the gender bending spy upon whom M Butterfly was based).
To move on let’s focus on some ways to divert us from all this bad news and find some fun things to do with the local concerts scene. Starting with Wednesday (7/08), you got hard rock gurus Blue Oyster Cult @ Pine Knob. Thursday (7/09) is a good day for rock-n-roll with REO Speedwagon, .38 Special and Styx @ Pine Knob, Brian Vander Ark @ Liberty Plaza in Ann Arbor, Beach Boys @ Caesar’s Windsor (also Friday) or Zappa Plays Zappa @ Motor City Casino. On Friday (7/10), you can get you zydeco on with Grammy winner Terrance Simien & the Zydeco Experience @ the DIA or see Friends of Dennis Wilson @ PJ’s Lager House. Saturday (7/11) will see KISS playing @ Caesar’s Windsor or for a more local flavor you can see the Singles @ the Magic Stick, Giftus @ the Crofoot or some little singer named Aretha Franklin @ the Fox. Sunday (7/12) will have the Guggenheim Grotto @ the Black Crystal cafe in Ann Arbor and the legendary Tom Jones @ Freedom Hill
(What’s New Pussycat?).
That seems to be it for today. Tune in next week for a review of the new Francis Ford Coppola film “Tetro” and whatever else I can get myself involved in.
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