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.