Monday, July 1, 2013

Insider Comments on/from Detroit Rock City

This is the t-shirt. Why not?
Detroit Rock City is out and there are stories in there that my pal and fellow traveler Tim Caldwell has picked up on and carried away. He writes stories fed by experience and knowledge – which only occasionally are mutually exclusive – in a stream-of-brain feed fashion. All readable and filled with insight. Try this:

did jack/joker bob 'the knob/blob' madigan 
de-throne the king of shock rock alice cooper 
when he approached the rock star with a vial containing 
an aborted human fetus and asked him to autograph it?
{to his credit (!?) i believe ac did sign the dead baby jar}.
  would this mean the man known for inventing shock rock theatrics 
held onto the title or thereby passed it onto 
a hard core gg allin fan
 
mainly known for hooking up folks to a hand crank generator
 
& giving the chain of hand holding fools 
in audience a collective jolt,
his human ostrich side show talent of swallowing and regurgitating items,
and fronting bands (slaughterhouse/cum dumpster)
that made flipper sound like speed freaks
in comparison?
best,
t

   when one of madigan's hooligan 
band members let it be known
they were going to gift me 
with a fetus/embryo
 
i responded while one one level 
i could appreciate
the inverse logic / symbolic gesture 
of an unborn
 
gifted as a birthday present
i graciously had to decline the offer
as in good conscience 
could not accept the gift
unless the proud folks who conceived it 
were the givers...

In the book, the great band Slaughterhouse gets a mention – vocalist Bob Madigan’s love of pig porn, specifically – so that is the Bob that Tim refers to. The band was always surrounded by fringe players who should have all become famous in one way or another. More from Tim:


was thinking about madigan's band c.d. (appropriate acronym if i ever heard one) after re-reading drc. their second best show* i saw was at the red door after hours (former club house space). the band and a good portion of the audience were tripping. rachel nagy and cara lundgren (daughter of grande ballroom artist carl) were still like 17-19 yr old strippers (at silver cricket on mich by telegraph among other venues**). 
they both roomed at the monroe manor next to bronx bar.
the gals were 1/2 to nearly naked while the band cum dumpster 
played their heavy dirges (to my mind sounding like a slower version 
of that groaning/droning vanilla fudge beatles cover) .
they were psychedelic style body painting each other.
there was dim lighting, maybe a strobe and gelled can or two,
as one could thereby create moody atmosphere on the cheap.
the ladies also cavorted in the shower with a large glass door 
situated in the middle of the room.
that figured in their dance/grope fest perf ,too.
steve shaw and joe s. took photos.
 
Then he refers to chatter in the book from a couple of players.

nawara and livingstone were right in their assessments 
of the excruciating power of the band to instill fear n loathing.
their credo seemed to have been borrowed from flipper-
  we suffered for our art/
now it's your turn.
{max bummer stoner rock- the cheech & chong routine shtick
about playing black sabbath at 16 rpm.s on 'cid & seeing god
or satan in their case}
  rachel used to be a butcher so her mentioning the stiletto 
in a dudes crotch would've been a serious threat.
dress em out like a thanksgiving turkey
and stuff their giblets in maw.
have you ever witnessed up close that mischievous/
maniacal glint in her eyes?

  the cobras second performance was at the old miami
after a dally in the alley.
i showed a sound 16mm film clip of bessie smith 
before the band went on.
that would set the bar pretty high intimidating many people 
but not rachel & co.
when i complimented her on her performance she said
'yeah tim, you see i'm not just a whhhooooorrreee'
cracking me up.
she's a great performer,
a classic beauty,
sweetheart who'd as soon kiss ya
 
as spit on ya
 
&/or stick ya.***
   the timmy v. mention of her having mooned the audience and writing on cheeks
made me recall the post wedding reception (kev monroe) party 
of  at the euclid tavern in spudville,oh.
the cobras performed and she grabbed zoot's mgr. aaron anderson 
and jammed his face in her ass (with clothes on) whilst on all 4's onstage.
at the end of the night it was the detroiters dressed in wedding formal finery vs
the local yokels territorial stand off.

And finally, Tim refers to a point in the book in which John Brannon talks about living near Michael Davis from the MC5 in Ann Arbor.
 
that chick that lived with hyenas on platt road 
that went out with mike davis was real odd.
weird passive aggressive dead pan vibe.
she had blunt cut bangs a long ass dark mane 
and wore a bullet belt like her dishonorably discharged
 
guitar army/ trans love beau.
 
pretty sure she was in a band called dog soldier.
larissa and john were annoyed that she kept a dead pet parrot 
or parakeet in the freezer.
through winter ,spring and summer
refusing to plant it.


The best thing about getting anything from Tim is that it’s true, no need for embellishment. He’s part of Detroit Rock City with an eye for reality, and likely has more stories than anyone.

2 comments:

  1. Country Bob and the BloodFarmers played the Red Door in I think 1991. the place opened at 2:30 am and we played from 3:30 to 4:30. They had giant nitrous tanks, rows of beer kegs, sectioned off areas for the money changers for the beer tickets, and a band area. the place was packed. It seemed as though more people came out to play late during that period, and everybody wanted to play the Red Door...
    Tex

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  2. Hung out with all the guys from slaughterhouse back in 1987-1988. When the Butthole Surfers played the Graystone opened by Die Kreuzen, Killdozer, and Angry Red Planet, i was on the run from home. My brother kenneth slotkowski who started video show "basement television" through public access studios in Wayne County after lamding himself a brief stint doing editing for the older more established show "back porch television" had all these guys on as hosts for the show. And, naturally was how i got to meet all of these wonderfully creative guys at the tender age of thirteen - primarily, Bob Madigan, Roi, Rocco, and Dave of Slaugherhouse. Then i heard Butthole Surfers were scheduled to play the Graystone, so i ran away from home to see them. This was how all my adventures all started. Got to party and drop acid at Roi's who had drummer Dave, and a friend, co-host, organizer, and The Chumps member Greg Hardcore as roomates at the time. Best punk parties i've ever been to, since. Cary "Scary" Safarian who ran the Graystone at the time - and who lived in the upstairs apt. above the venue after Touch&Go's Corey and Lisa Rusk left for Chicago - later that year invited me to crash at his new place. All this time i was told Cary went to prison for embezzlement or some shit like that. Well, after i just now did a google search on the slaughterhouse legacy; i learned that Cary, as it turns out, got arrested for attempted robbery of a pharmacy. Here's the kicker! This would be closer to the truth since while crashing there at Cary's not long before his arrest, i gad been asked by Cary if i'd like break in for him - since i had a small enough body size to sneak in through the sun roof or vent or whatever it was. Luckily, i turned him down on the premise that it was too risky. And, luckily, as I had also learned today but, didn't know at the time; since Cary was spiralling in to a pattern of drug use, he was kind and conscienable enough to not resist me and my rejection. As "scary" as Cary was to many who dared get on his wrong side, he was a kind gentleman to the youth of the day. Since, i oughta know and have only recently confirmed by just a little google research on his background. True story! I sincerely hope he gets time served after so so so many frickin' years!

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