This article discusses the Music of Detroit, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

. World renowned for its Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Detroit Symphony Orchestra

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its main performance center is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood...

 and music celebrities, the area has a long and rich heritage, including several Platinum

Music recording sales certification

Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...

 artists in different genres whose recordings had surpassed forty million copies by the year 2000.

Historical background

The Detroit area's diverse population includes French

French American

French Americans or Franco-Americans are Americans of French or French Canadian descent. About 11.8 million U.S. residents are of this descent, and about 1.6 million speak French at home.An additional 450,000 U.S...

, Belgian, German

German American

German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...

, Hispanic

Hispanic and Latino Americans

Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...

, Polish

Polish American

A Polish American , is a citizen of the United States of Polish descent. There are an estimated 10 million Polish Americans, representing about 3.2% of the population of the United States...

, Greek

Greek American

Greek Americans are Americans of Greek descent also described as Hellenic descent. According to the 2007 U.S. Census Bureau estimation, there were 1,380,088 people of Greek ancestry in the United States, while the State Department mentions that around 3,000,000 Americans claim to be of Greek descent...

, Italian, Middle Eastern, and Black

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 populations, with each adding its rich cultural traditions. Following the Roaring Twenties

Roaring Twenties

The Roaring Twenties is a phrase used to describe the 1920s, principally in North America, but also in London, Berlin and Paris for a period of sustained economic prosperity. The phrase was meant to emphasize the period's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism...

, the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 impacted the nation. Detroit's former "Black Bottom

Black Bottom, Detroit

Black Bottom was a predominantly black neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan, that was demolished for redevelopment in the early 1960s. It was replaced with Lafayette Park. It was located on Detroit's near East side bounded by Gratiot Avenue, Brush Street, Vernor Highway, and the Grand Trunk railroad...

" area, a district on the city's east side, became nationally famous for its music; major blues singers, big bands, and jazz artists—such as Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

, Billy Eckstine

Billy Eckstine

William Clarence Eckstine was an American singer of ballads and a bandleader of the swing era. Eckstine's smooth baritone and distinctive vibrato broke down barriers throughout the 1940s, first as leader of the original bop big-band, then as the first romantic black male in popular...

, Pearl Bailey

Pearl Bailey

Pearl Mae Bailey was an American actress and singer. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman in 1946. She won a Tony Award for the title role in the all-black production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968...

, Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...

, and Count Basie

Count Basie

William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...

—regularly performed in the night clubs of Paradise Valley entertainment district. In the 1960s, "Black Bottom" was demolished and replaced with the upscale Lafayette Park.

The east necklace of downtown links Grand Circus and the stadium area to Greektown along Broadway. The east necklace contains a sub-district sometimes called the Harmonie Park District in the Broadway Avenue Historic District

Broadway Avenue Historic District (Detroit, Michigan)

The Broadway Avenue Historic District is a historic district located on a single city block along Broadway Avenue between Gratiot and East Grand River in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004...

 which has preserved part of the renowned legacy of Detroit's music from the 1930s through the 1950s and into the present. The historic Harmonie Club

Harmonie Club (Detroit, Michigan)

The Harmonie Club is a club located at 267 East Grand River Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1975 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.- History :...

 and Harmonie Centre are located along Broadway. The Harmonie Park area ends near Gratiot and Randolph. The Detroit Opera House

Detroit Opera House

The Detroit Opera House is an opera house located in Detroit, Michigan. It is the venue for all Michigan Opera Theatre productions and it hosts a variety of other events. It opened on January 22, 1922....

 is located at Broadway and Grand Circus. Near the Opera House

Detroit Opera House

The Detroit Opera House is an opera house located in Detroit, Michigan. It is the venue for all Michigan Opera Theatre productions and it hosts a variety of other events. It opened on January 22, 1922....

, and emanating from Grand Circus along the east necklace, are other venues including the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts

Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts

The Music Hall Center for Performing Arts is a 1,700-seat theatre located in the city's theatre district at 350 Madison Avenue in Detroit, Michigan...

 and the Gem Theatre and Century Club.

Blues

The Detroit blues

Detroit blues

Detroit blues is blues music played by musicians resident in Detroit, Michigan, particularly that played in the 1940s and 1950s. Detroit blues originated when Delta blues performers migrated north from the Mississippi Delta and Memphis, Tennessee to work in Detroit's industrial plants in the 1920s...

 scene in the 1940s and 1950s was centred on clubs and bars along Hastings Street and featured artists on the local JVB and Sensation labels such as Eddie "Guitar" Burns

Eddie "Guitar" Burns

Eddie "Guitar" Burns is an American Detroit blues guitarist, harmonica player, singer and songwriter...

, John Lee Hooker

John Lee Hooker

John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...

, Bobo Jenkins

Bobo Jenkins

Bobo Jenkins was an American Detroit blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He also built and set up his own recording studio and record label in Detroit...

, Boogie Woogie Red

Boogie Woogie Red

Boogie Woogie Red was an American Detroit blues, boogie-woogie and jazz pianist, singer and songwriter. He variously worked with Sonny Boy Williamson, Washboard Willie, Baby Boy Warren, Lonnie Johnson, Tampa Red, John Lee Hooker and Memphis Slim.-Biography:He was born Vernon Harrison in Rayville,...

, Doctor Ross

Doctor Ross

Doctor Ross , aka Doctor Ross, the harmonica boss, was an American blues singer, guitarist, harmonica player and drummer — a one-man band— who was born Charles Isaiah Ross, in Tunica, Mississippi....

, Baby Boy Warren

Baby Boy Warren

Baby Boy Warren was an American blues singer and guitarist, who was a leading figure on the Detroit blues scene in the 1950s.-Early life:...

 and Washboard Willie

Washboard Willie

Washboard Willie was an American Detroit blues musician, who specialised in playing the washboard. He recorded tracks including "A Fool On a Mule in the Middle of The Road" plus "Cherry Red Blues", and worked variously with Eddie "Guitar" Burns, Baby Boy Warren, and Boogie Woogie...

.

Gospel

Detroit has produced some of the most famous gospel singers in past decades. In the 1940s, Oliver Green formed The Detroiters, who became one of the most popular Gospel

Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

 groups of the their era. In the 1950s, a young Della Reese

Della Reese

Delloreese Patricia Early, known professionally as Della Reese , is an American actress, singer, game show panelist of the 1970s, one-time talk-show hostess and ordained minister. She started her career in the 1950s as a gospel, pop and jazz singer, scoring a hit with her 1959 single "Don't You...

 began her long and distinguished career, joining the ranks of the gospel elite in Detroit, while Mattie Moss Clark

Mattie Moss Clark

Dr. Mattie Moss-Clark was an American gospel choir director and the mother of The Clark Sisters, a world-renowned gospel vocal group...

 is believed to be the first to introduce three part harmony into gospel choral music.

In the 1960s, the Reverend CL Franklin found success with his recorded sermons on Chess Record's gospel label and with an album of spirituals recorded at his New Bethel Baptist Church included the debut of his young daughter, grammy award winner Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...

.

In the 1980s, the Winans

Winans family

The Winans family is an African-American family of Gospel music artists from Detroit, Michigan.-Family members:* David "Pop" Winans, Sr. * Delores "Mom" Winans * David Winans Jr....

 dynasty produced Grammy winners Cece

CeCe Winans

Priscilla "CeCe" Marie Winans Love is an American Gospel singer, who has won numerous Grammy and Stellar Awards.-Early life:CeCe Winans was born in Detroit, Michigan, to David and Delores Winans, on October 8, 1964...

 and BeBe Winans

BeBe Winans

Benjamin "BeBe" Winans is a gospel and R&B singer. He is a member of the noted Winans family, most members of which are also gospel artists.-The PTL Club:...

. Other notable gospel acts include Bill Moss & The Celestials - The Brother of Mattie Moss Clark, Father of J Moss and Bill Moss, Jr. & Uncle of The Clark Sisters, J Moss

J Moss

J. Moss , Detroit, Michigan is an American singer-songwriter, composer, arranger, and producer.-Early years:...

, Bill Moss, Jr.

Bill Moss, Jr.

Bill Moss,Jr. born in Detroit, Michigan is an American gospel singer-songwriter, composer, arranger, and producer.-Early years:Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan as Bill Moss, Jr., the son of Gospel star Bill Moss, Sr. of the popular group, Bill Moss and the Celestials and his cousin's are The...

, The Clark Sisters

The Clark Sisters

The Clark Sisters are an American gospel vocal group consisting of four sisters:Jacky Clark Chisholm, Elbernita "Twinkie" Clark, Dorinda Clark-Cole, and Karen Clark Sheard. A fifth sister, Denise Clark Bradford, no longer performs with the group. The Clark Sisters are the daughters of legendary...

, Rance Allen Group, Vanessa Bell Armstrong

Vanessa Bell Armstrong

Vanessa Bell Armstrong is a gospel singer who released her debut album Peace Be Still in 1983.-Musical career :...

, Thomas Whitfield

Thomas Whitfield

Thomas Anthony Whitfield was an American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist, choir director and producer best known for helping to shape the fabric of contemporary gospel music with his elaborate choral arrangements and the merging of musical styles ranging from jazz to classical into...

, Byron Cage

Byron Cage

Byron Cage is an American gospel recording artist.-Early years:Inspired by the singing of the late Rev. Donald Vails and Thomas Whitfield, Cage began singing gospel music as a teenager. Cage went on to attend Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, where he was a member of the Morehouse College Glee...

 and Fred Hammond

Fred Hammond

Fred Hammond is a gospel music singer, bass guitar player, and record producer.-Musical career:Hammond has been active both as a member of the gospel performing group Commissioned, and as a solo artist...

.

Jazz

As the Jazz Age

Jazz Age

The Jazz Age was a movement that took place during the 1920s or the Roaring Twenties from which jazz music and dance emerged. The movement came about with the introduction of mainstream radio and the end of the war. This era ended in the 1930s with the beginning of The Great Depression but has...

 began, Detroit quickly emerged as an important musical center, standing alongside New Orleans

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

, Chicago, and St. Louis

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

. Among the musicians who relocated to Detroit were drummer William McKinney

William McKinney

William McKinney was an American jazz drummer who led a series of musical groups, most notably McKinney's Cotton Pickers.William "Bill" McKinney was born in Cynthiana, Kentucky...

, who formed the seminal big band McKinney's Cotton Pickers

McKinney's Cotton Pickers

McKinney's Cotton Pickers were an African American jazz band founded in Detroit in 1926 by William McKinney, who expanded his Synco Septet to ten pieces. Cuba Austin took over for McKinney early on drums....

, with jazz great Don Redman

Don Redman

Donald Matthew Redman was an American jazz musician, arranger, bandleader and composer.Redman was announced as a member of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame on May 6, 2009....

.

Through the 1950s Detroit was one of America's most important jazz centers. Musicians from Detroit who achieved international recognition include Sippie Wallace

Sippie Wallace

Sippie Wallace was an American singer-songwriter. Her early career in local tent shows gained her the billing "The Texas Nightingale". Between 1923 and 1927, she recorded over 40 songs for Okeh Records, many written by herself or her brothers, George and Hersal Thomas...

, Elvin Jones

Elvin Jones

Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....

, Hank Jones

Hank Jones

Henry "Hank" Jones was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with the NEA Jazz Masters Award...

, Thad Jones

Thad Jones

Thaddeus Joseph Jones was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader.-Biography:Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan to a musical family of ten . Thad Jones was a self taught musician, performing professionally by the age of sixteen...

, Tommy Flanagan

Tommy Flanagan

Thomas Lee Flanagan was an American jazz pianist born in Detroit, Michigan, particularly remembered for his work with Ella Fitzgerald...

, Lucky Thompson

Lucky Thompson

Eli "Lucky" Thompson was a United States jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist...

, Louis Hayes

Louis Hayes

Louis Hayes is an American jazz drummer.-Biography:His father played drums and piano and his mother the piano and he refers to the early influence of hearing jazz, especially that of big bands, on the radio...

, Barry Harris

Barry Harris

Barry Doyle Harris is an American bebop jazz pianist and educator.-Biography:Harris left Detroit for New York City in 1960...

, Paul Chambers

Paul Chambers

Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers, Jr. was a jazz bassist. A fixture of rhythm sections during the 1950s and 1960s, his importance in the development of jazz bass can be measured not only by the length and breadth of his work in this short period but also his impeccable time, intonation, and virtuosic...

, Yusef Lateef

Yusef Lateef

Dr. Yusef Lateef is an American Grammy Award-winning jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator and a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community after his conversion to the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam in 1950.Although Lateef's main instruments are the tenor saxophone and flute, he is known for...

, Marcus Belgrave

Marcus Belgrave

Marcus Belgrave is a jazz trumpet player from Detroit, born in Chester, Pennsylvania. He has recorded with a variety of famous musicians, bandleaders, and record labels since the 1950s. Notable among them are: Ray Charles, Charles Mingus, Gunther Schuller, Motown Records, Tribe Records, Blue Note...

, Milt Jackson

Milt Jackson

Milton "Bags" Jackson was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms...

, Kenny Burrell

Kenny Burrell

Kenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians.-Biography:...

, Ron Carter

Ron Carter

Ron Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...

 and Pepper Adams

Pepper Adams

Park Frederick "Pepper" Adams III was a jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 43 pieces, was the leader on twenty albums, and participated in 600 sessions as a sideman.-Biography:...

.

Pop

Detroit has been the home to several pop icons including Margaret Whiting

Margaret Whiting

Margaret Whiting was a singer of American popular music and country music who first made her reputation during the 1940s and 1950s.-Youth:...

, Sonny Bono

Sonny Bono

Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono was an American recording artist, record producer, actor, and politician whose career spanned over three decades.-Early life:...

 and Suzi Quatro

Suzi Quatro

Susan Kay "Suzi" Quatro is an American singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor.She scored a string of hit singles in the 1970s that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, and had a recurring role on the popular American sitcom Happy Days.-Music:Quatro began her...

, who is most famous for her role as Leather Tuscadero on the hit 1970s TV show Happy Days

Happy Days

Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....

.

In the 1980s one of the most famous pop icons of all time emerged onto the scene: Madonna

Madonna (entertainer)

Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

. Madonna was born and raised outside of Detroit, in Rochester (about 25 miles from Detroit itself) and went to the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 on a dance scholarship. Several of Madonna's early hits were written by ex-boyfriend and fellow Detroit Native Stephen Bray

Stephen Bray

Stephen Bray is an American songwriter, drummer, and record producer from Detroit. Bray is best known for his collaboration with Madonna.Bray began studying music through private instruction in Detroit, and continued his education at Berklee College of Music in Boston.Bray owns and operates Saturn...

.

Also during the 1980s, Detroit pop rockers Was (Not Was)

Was (Not Was)

-Studio albums:-Compilation albums:-Singles:-Contributions:* A Christmas Record - "Christmas Time In The Motor City"* That's The Way I Feel Now: A Tribute to Thelonious Monk - "Ba-Lue-Bolivar-Ba-Lues-Are"...

 breakthrough album What Up, Dog? spawned two Top 20 hits with the songs "Spy in the House of Love" and "Walk the Dinosaur."

During the 1990s, pop star Aaliyah

Aaliyah

Aaliyah Dana Haughton , who performed under the mononym Aaliyah , was an American R&B recording artist, actress and model. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of 10, she appeared on the television show Star Search and performed in concert alongside...

 was raised in Detroit and graduated from the Detroit School of Arts

Detroit School of Arts

The Detroit School of Arts, originally known as the Detroit School for the Fine and Performing Arts, is a blue ribbon high school located in Detroit, Michigan....

. Aaliyah was also the niece of former Detroit politician Barry Hankerson

Barry Hankerson

Barry Hankerson is an American record producer and manager who founded and runs Blackground Records. He was once a television producer and a politician in Detroit, Michigan. He managed and produced The Winans and produced Ron Milner's play Don't Get God Started in 1988.At one time Hankerson was...

 and his Motown legendary wife Gladys Knight

Gladys Knight

Gladys Maria Knight , known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian, and author...

. Though Aaliyah's career was tragically cut short by a plane crash in the Bahamas, she had several hit songs including the No. 1 hit "Try Again

Try Again

"Try Again" is a Grammy nominated single by American recording artist Aaliyah. The song was written by Static Major and Timothy Mosley, and produced by Timbaland, for the soundtrack of the film Romeo Must Die . It was released on May 22, 2000 as the lead single of the soundtrack. The dance-pop and...

" in 2000.

Aaliyah was not the only Detroit School of Arts graduate to go on to musical success; since her graduation Teairra Marí

Teairra Marí

Teairra Maria Thomas , better known by her stage name Teairra Marí, is an American singer-songwriter, actress, model, and dancer. At the age of 16, she was signed to Def Jam and released her first album, Teairra Marí. After disappointing sales, she was let go from her recording contract in the...

 has built an impressive career including her hit single "Make Her Feel Good

Make Her Feel Good

"Make Her Feel Good" is the first single from Teairra Mari's debut album Teairra Marí. "Make Her Feel Good" made its way to the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at #35. The video got very little play on MTV, but strong play on BET. The single did not debut on TRL after its premiere, but it...

" in 2005.

R&B/Soul (Fortune & Motown Records)

One of the highlights of Detroit's musical history was the success of Motown Records

Motown Records

Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...

 during the 1960s and early 1970s. In the late 1950s the label originally known as Tamla Records was founded by auto plant worker Berry Gordy

Berry Gordy

Berry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.-Early years:...

 and became home to some of the most popular recording acts in the world. These included Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles

The Miracles

The Miracles are an American rhythm and blues group from Detroit, Michigan, notable as the first successful group act for Berry Gordy's Motown Record Corporation . Their single "Shop Around" was Motown's first million-selling hit record, and the group went on to become one of Motown's signature...

, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves

Martha Reeves

Martha Rose Reeves is an American R&B and Pop singer and former politician, and was the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. During her tenure with The Vandellas, they scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Jimmy Mack", "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run"...

 & the Vandellas, Edwin Starr

Edwin Starr

Edwin Starr was an American soul music singer. Starr is most famous for his Norman Whitfield produced singles of the 1970s, most notably the number one hit "War".-Biography:...

, Little Willie John

Little Willie John

William Edward John was better known by his stage name Little Willie John. Many sources erroneously give his second name as Edgar...

, The Contours

The Contours

The Contours were one of the early African-American soul singing groups signed to Motown Records.The group is best known for its Billboard Top 10 hit, "Do You Love Me," a million-selling song that peaked twice in the Top 20....

 and The Spinners

The Spinners (U.S. band)

The Spinners is a soul music vocal group, active for over 50 years, and with a long run of pop and R&B hits especially during the 1970s. The group, originating from Detroit, still tours regularly ....

.

However, before Motown became a major force, Detroit was already well on its way to being a R&B and soul hotbed. In 1955, the influential soul singer Little Willie John

Little Willie John

William Edward John was better known by his stage name Little Willie John. Many sources erroneously give his second name as Edgar...

 made his debut; while in 1956, the Detroit based R&B label Fortune Records

Fortune Records

Fortune Records was a family operated, independent record label located in Detroit, Michigan from 1946 to 1995. The label owners were Jack and Devora Brown, their son Sheldon Brown recorded for the label...

 enjoyed success with Nolan Strong & The Diablos

Nolan Strong & The Diablos

Nolan Strong & The Diablos were a Detroit-based R&B and doo-wop vocal group best known for its hit songs "The Wind" and "Mind Over Matter." The group was one of the most popular, pre-Motown, R&B acts in Detroit during the mid 1950s, through the early 1960s....

. The Diablos, in the mid-to-late '50s were the hottest vocal group in Detroit, thanks to the group's hit songs "The Wind," "Mind Over Matter" and "The Way You Dog Me Around." Smokey Robinson noted in his biography that Strong's high tenor was his biggest vocal influence. Strong is remembered on the 2010 album Daddy Rockin Strong: A Tribute to Nolan Strong & The Diablos

Daddy Rockin Strong: A Tribute to Nolan Strong & The Diablos

Daddy Rockin Strong: A Tribute to Nolan Strong & The Diablos is a vinyl-only tribute album released by The Wind Records and distributed by Norton Records....

 - a tribute compilation that features current rock and roll bands covering Diablos songs. The album was compiled and released by The Wind Records and Norton Records

Norton Records

For the Canadian independent record label of the same name, see Matt Minglewood.Norton Records, a New York City based independent record label founded by musicians Miriam Linna and Billy Miller, maintains a focus on primitive, retro rock'n'roll, rockabilly, garage punk, garage rock, lounge music...

.

Also In 1956, notable blues and R&B singer Zeffrey "Andre" Williams

Andre Williams

Andre Williams is an American R&B and punk blues musician who started his career in the 1950s at Fortune Records in Detroit.-Biography:...

 recorded a string of singles for Fortune, including the song "Bacon Fat." Knowing that he couldn't compete with the voice of labelmate Nolan Strong, Andre chose to talk-sing the song.
In 1961, Nathaniel Mayer

Nathaniel Mayer

Nathaniel Mayer was a rhythm & blues singer who started his career in the early 1960s at Fortune Records in Detroit...

 & Fabulous Twilights hit the charts with "Village of Love," which became one of Fortune's top selling singles. Mayer recorded a string of popular 45s for Fortune, even once performing on Dick Clark's American Bandstand.

In 1959, The Falcons, (featuring Wilson Pickett

Wilson Pickett

Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...

 and Eddie Floyd

Eddie Floyd

Eddie Lee Floyd is an American soul/R&B singer and songwriter, best known for his work on the Stax record label in the 1960s and 1970s and the song "Knock on Wood".-Biography:...

), released "You're So Fine", considered the first true Soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 record. Also that year, Jackie Wilson

Jackie Wilson

Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr. was an American singer and performer. Known as "Mr. Excitement", Wilson was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was known as a master showman, and as one of the most dynamic singers and performers in R&B and rock history...

 had his first hit with "Reet Petite", which was co-written by a young Berry Gordy Jr.. The Volumes

The Volumes

The Volumes were an American R&B vocal group formed in 1960 in Detroit, Michigan. The group's 1962 single for Chex Records, "I Love You", was a hit in the U.S., peaking at #22 that year on the Billboard Hot 100. The tune was an amalgam of doo wop and Latin beats, and was co-written by bass Ernest...

 had hit single in 1962 for Chex Records with the single "I Love You". That Same year singer/songwriter Barbara Lewis

Barbara Lewis

Barbara Lewis , is an American singer and songwriter whose smooth style influenced rhythm and blues.-Career:Lewis was born in Salem, near Ann Arbor, Michigan...

 had a hit with the single "Hello Stranger.", while Gino Washington

Gino Washington

George "Gino" Washington is an African American R&B and rock singer from Detroit, Michigan who had cross-racial appeal. While he was attending Pershing High School, he achieved local hits in 1963 and 1964 with "Out of This World" and "Gino Is a Coward". In 1964 he was drafted into the U.S. Army...

 had cross-racial appeal and achieved Midwest hits in 1963 and 1964 with "Out of This World" and "Gino Is a Coward".

Several other Detroit artists became nationally known without the help of Motown. One such artists was Aretha Franklin. Other non-Motown acts included The Capitols

The Capitols

The Capitols were a Detroit, Michigan-based soul trio widely known in the late 1960s for their Billboard hit single "Cool Jerk".-Formation and Disbandment:...

 with their 1966 hit "Cool Jerk" and Darrel Banks with "Baby Walk Right in." The following year, J.J Barnes had his biggest hit with "Baby Please Come Back Home."

In 1967, longtime back room barbershop doo wop group The Parliaments

The Parliaments

The Parliaments were a doo-wop quintet from Plainfield, New Jersey, formed in the back room of a barbershop in the late 1950s and named after the cigarette brand. After some early personnel changes their lineup solidified with George Clinton, Ray Davis, Fuzzy Haskins, Calvin Simon, and Grady Thomas...

, featuring George Clinton

George Clinton (funk musician)

George Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...

, scored a hit with "I Wanna Testify" for Revilot Records, and marked the beginning of funk in mainstream R&B. Due to legal issues with Revilot Records, Clinton changed the name of The Parliaments in 1968 to Funkadelic

Funkadelic

Funkadelic was an American band most prominent during the 1970s. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, began the funk music culture of that decade.-History:...

 and scored a hit with the song ""A New Day Begins." Then in 1970; after Clinton reclaimed the rights to their original name, he change the groups name once again to simply Parliament

Parliament (band)

Parliament was a funk band most prominent during the 1970s. It and its sister act Funkadelic, both led by George Clinton, began the funk music culture of that decade.-History:...

 and had a minor hit with "The Breakdown.". However, with the constant name and lineup changes the group became known as simply P-Funk

P-Funk

P-Funk is a shorthand term for the repertoire and performers associated with George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic collective and the distinctive style of funk music they performed...

 which is short for Parliament-Funkadelic

Parliament-Funkadelic

Parliament-Funkadelic is a funk, soul and rock music collective headed by George Clinton. Their style has been dubbed P-Funk. Collectively the group has existed under various names since the 1960s and has been known for top-notch musicianship, politically charged lyrics, outlandish concept albums...

.
In 1967, Berry Gordy purchased what is now known as Motown Mansion in Detroit's Boston-Edison Historic District

Boston-Edison Historic District

The Boston-Edison Historic District is a historic neighborhood located in the geographic center of Detroit, Michigan. It consists of over 900 homes built on four east/west streets: West Boston Boulevard, Chicago Boulevard, Longfellow Avenue, and Edison Avenue, stretching from Woodward Avenue on...

. Motown Records located on the West coast 1972, yet Detroit remained an R&B epicenter with several acts hat had hit songs such as Freda Payne

Freda Payne

Freda Charcilia Payne Some sources give a birth year of 1945, but this appears to be an error as all sources agree that she is older than her sister Scherrie, born 1944. is an American singer and actress best known for her million selling, 1970 hit single, "Band of Gold". She was also an actress in...

, The Floaters

The Floaters

The Floaters were an African American, R&B vocal group, from the Sojourner Truth housing projects in Detroit, Michigan, that formed in 1976.-Career:...

, Enchantment

Enchantment (band)

Enchantment is a 1970s R&B band formed in Detroit, Michigan by Emanuel "EJ" Johnson, Bobby Green, Mickey Clanton, Joe Thomas and Dave Banks. Best known for the hits Gloria and It's You That I Need.- Beginnings :...

, Ray Parker Jr.; both solo and with his group Raydio

Raydio

Raydio was an American funk and R&B vocal group formed in 1977, by Ray Parker Jr., with Vincent Bohnam, Jerry Knight, and Arnell Carmichael.-Career:...

, One Way

One Way (American band)

One Way was an American R&B/funk band that was popular in the late 1970s, and throughout most of the 1980s.-Al Hudson and the Partners:One Way was formed in 1979 in Detroit, Michigan as the newer incarnation of a band originally known as Soul Partners...

, Oliver Cheatham

Oliver Cheatham

Oliver Cheatham is an American singer. He now resides in Surrey in England.Cheatham had a few hits in the 1980s, and he returned to the charts in 2003, when he was featured in Room 5's UK #1 single, "Make Luv", which sampled his 1983 song "Get Down Saturday Night"...

, Cherrelle

Cherrelle

Cheryl Anne Norton, better known by her stage name, Cherrelle , is an American R&B singer who gained fame in the 1980s...

, The Jones Girls

The Jones Girls

The Jones Girls were an R&B trio of sisters from Detroit, Michigan. They first recorded for GM Records in 1968, then recorded for Philadelphia International Records with Gamble & Huff.-History:...

, Anita Baker, BeBe & CeCe Winans

BeBe & CeCe Winans

BeBe & CeCe Winans are an American Gospel music brother and sister duo. BeBe and CeCe Winans are the seventh and eighth of "Mom" and "Pop" Winans' ten children, most of whom have had successful Gospel music careers.-Musical career:...

 and a band noted for launching the Minneapolis sound

Minneapolis sound

The Minneapolis sound is a hybrid mixture of funk, rock, pop, R&B and New Wave that was pioneered by Prince in the late 1970s. Its popularity was given a boost throughout the 1980s, thanks to his musical adherents, including The Time, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Morris Day, Vanity 6, Apollonia 6, Ta...

 made popular by Prince

Prince (musician)

Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

, Ready For The World

Ready for the World

Ready for the World is an American R&B band from Flint, Michigan who scored several moderate pop, soul, and dance hits in the mid to late 1980s...

. It should be noted that Ready For The World was from neighboring auto city Flint, Michigan

Flint, Michigan

Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the...

.

In 1969 The Flaming Ember

The Flaming Ember

The Flaming Ember was an American white soul band from Detroit, Michigan, who found commercial success starting in the late 1960's.The group originally formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1964. At that time, they were known as The Flaming Embers...

 had several hits for Hot Wax Records

Hot Wax Records

Hot Wax Records was a Detroit, Michigan-based record label, created by producers/songwriters Holland–Dozier–Holland in 1968 when they left Motown...

, a Detroit-based record label created by the Holland/Dozier/Holland song writing team in 1968 after they left Motown Records. The following year Chairmen of the Board had the first hit for Hot Wax with "Give Me Just a Little More Time

Give Me Just a Little More Time

"Give Me Just a Little More Time" is the debut single for Chairmen of the Board, released in 1970 through Capitol Records on Holland–Dozier–Holland's Invictus Records label....

."

During the disco

Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

 craze of the late 1970s, Detroit artists had their fair share of dance hits. In 1975, Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder

Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...

's drummer Hamilton Bohannon

Hamilton Bohannon

Hamilton Bohannon is an American percussionist, band leader and record producer, who was one of the leading figures in 1970s disco music...

 had a hit with Foot Stompin' Music, while Donald Byrd & The Blackbyrds infused jazz with dance friendly elements that produced the song "Change (Makes You Wanna Hustle)". In 1977 Brainstorm & C. J. & Company

C. J. & Company

C.J. & Company was a disco group from Detroit, Michigan. They were the partnership of producers, funk-brother, Dennis Coffey & Mike Theodore. Their highest charting single in the US was "Devil's Gun", which reached #36 on the Billboard pop chart and #2 on the R&B chart in 1977. It also peaked at...

 each had soul driven dance hits.

In 1978, George Clinton

George Clinton (funk musician)

George Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...

's bass player Bootsy Collins

Bootsy Collins

William Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American funk bassist, singer, and songwriter.Rising to prominence with James Brown in the late 1960s, and with Parliament-Funkadelic in the '70s, Collins's driving bass guitar and humorous vocals established him as one of the leading names in funk...

 had a top charting hit with Bootzilla

Bootzilla

"Bootzilla" is a song recorded by Bootsy's Rubber Band, released on January 13, 1978. As the lead single from the album Bootsy? Player of the Year it held the #1 spot on the R&B chart for one week in 1978...

. George Clinton and his band Parliament-Funkadelic is often cited as being a direct influence on the future Detroit Techno

Detroit techno

Detroit techno is an early style of electronic music beginning in the 1980s. Detroit, Michigan has been cited as the birthplace of techno music. Prominent Detroit Techno artists include Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson...

 scene that emerged in the early 1980s

1950s

Detroit has a long and rich history associated with rock and roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

. In 1954 Hank Ballard & the Midnighters crossed over from the R&B charts to the pop charts with "Work With Me, Annie

Work with Me, Annie

"Work With Me, Annie" is a 12-bar blues with words and music by Hank Ballard. It was recorded by Hank Ballard & the Midnighters in Cincinnati on the Federal Records label on January 14, 1954, and released the following month...

." The song nearly broke into the elite top 20 despite being barred from airplay on many stations due to its suggestive lyrics. In 1955, Detroit-native Bill Haley

Bill Haley

Bill Haley was one of the first American rock and roll musicians. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and their hit song "Rock Around the Clock".-Early life and career:...

 ushered in the rock and roll era with the release of "Rock Around The Clock

Rock Around the Clock

"Rock Around the Clock" is a 12-bar-blues-based song written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley and His Comets in 1954...

."

In the late 1950s rockabilly

Rockabilly

Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...

 guitarist Jack Scott had a string of top 40 hits. First, in 1957 with "Leroy", then in 1958 with the hits "My True Love" and "With Your Love" and then twice again in 1959 with the hits "Goodbye Baby" and "The Way I Walk." Scott was one of the first musicians to marry country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

's melodic song craft to the dangerous, raw power of rock and roll.

1960s

In 1959 Hank Ballard & the Midnighters had a minor hit with their b-side song "The Twist

The Twist (song)

"The Twist" is a twelve bar blues song that gave birth to the Twistdance craze. The song was written and originally released in 1959 by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as a B-side but his version was only a moderate 1960 hit, peaking at 28 on the Billboard Hot 100...

". A cover

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 by Philadelphia native Chubby Checker

Chubby Checker

Chubby Checker is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist"...

 followed in 1960. His single became a smash hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 and started a national dance craze. Also in 1960, Jack Scott had his final top 10 hit with the song "What In The World's Come Over You."

The following year, legendary Michigan rocker Del Shannon

Del Shannon

Del Shannon was an American rock and roll singer-songwriter who had a No. 1 hit, "Runaway", in 1961.- Biography :...

 had his own No. 1 hit in March 1961 with the song "Runaway

Runaway (Del Shannon song)

"Runaway" was a number-one Billboard Hot 100 song made famous by Del Shannon in 1961. It was written by Shannon and keyboardist Max Crook, and became a major international hit...

". This was followed by the top 10 hits "Hats Off to Larry" in June 1961 and "Little Town Flirt" in 1962. In 1964, Detroit's one-hit wonder

One-hit wonder

A one-hit wonder is a person or act known mainly for only a single success. The term is most often used to describe music performers with only one hit single.-Characteristics:...

s The Reflections

The Reflections

The Reflections was the name of a number of musical groups.Perhaps the best known were a blue-eyed soul/doo-wop group from Detroit, Michigan. They had one hit single in 1964 called " Romeo and Juliet", written by Bob Hamilton and Freddie Gorman. The song was produced by Rob Reeco on Golden World...

 had their own Top 10 hit single with "(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet".

By 1964, teen clubs around Metro Detroit such as the Fifth Dimension in Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...

 and the Hideout off of 8 Mile Road and Harper Road, were a hotbed for young and promising garage rock

Garage rock

Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...

 bands such as The Underdogs

The Underdogs (duo)

The Underdogs is an R&B/pop production duo composed of Harvey Mason, Jr. and Damon Thomas.-Biography:Harvey Mason, Jr. is the son of Harvey Mason, Sr., a noted session drummer...

, The Fugitives, Unrelated Segments

Unrelated Segments

The Unrelated Segments were a Taylor, Michigan-based teen rocker group formed in late 1966 around the nucleus of singer Ron Stults and lead guitarist Rory Mack, who together previously teamed in the short-lived Village Beaus...

, Terry Knight and the Pack

Terry Knight and the Pack

Terry Knight and the Pack was, between 1965 and 1967, an American rock band from Flint, Michigan. The band was signed to the Lucky Eleven label throughout its short recording career.-Career:...

 (which featured Don Brewer

Don Brewer

Don Brewer is the drummer and co-lead singer for American rock band Grand Funk Railroad.- Early life :Brewer was born in Flint, Michigan on September 3, 1948 and is a graduate of Swartz Creek High School....

), ASTIGAFA (which featured a young Marshall Crenshaw

Marshall Crenshaw

Marshall Crenshaw is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist best known for his song "Someday, Someway".-Biography:...

), The Lords (featuring a young Ted Nugent), The Pleasure Seekers (which featured a young Suzi Quatro

Suzi Quatro

Susan Kay "Suzi" Quatro is an American singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor.She scored a string of hit singles in the 1970s that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, and had a recurring role on the popular American sitcom Happy Days.-Music:Quatro began her...

), Four of Us and the Mushrooms (which both featured Glenn Frey

Glenn Frey

Glenn Lewis Frey is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Frey formed the Eagles after he met drummer Don Henley in 1970 and the two eventually joined Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her summer tour. The Eagles formed in 1971 and...

), Sky

Sky (US band)

Sky was an American rock power trio active in the early 1970s, based out of Detroit, Michigan. It released two albums with RCA before breaking up in 1973. It's mostly known today as an early point in musician Doug Fieger's career, later the frontman of The Knack.-History:The group started out as...

 (which featured a young Doug Fieger), and blue eyed soul rockers the Rationals.

During the heyday of the Hideout in 1965, Doug Brown and the Omens, financed by Del Shannon, cut Bob Seger's first known official recording "TGIF"/"First Girl." Bob Seger would later form his band known as The Last Heard while Brown produced Seger's regional blockbuster albums "East Side Story

East Side Story (Bob Seger song)

"East Side Story" is an early Bob Seger single. It was Seger's first single with his group The Last Heard, marking his departure from Doug Brown and the Omens and the beginning of his own career. The song reached #3 on the Detroit charts.-History:...

," and "Heavy Music

Heavy Music

"Heavy Music" is a song first released as a single by Bob Seger & The Last Heard. Two versions of the song with slight differences were released together on either side of the single, with the names "Heavy Music Part 1" and "Heavy Music Part 2." Both versions were later edited together and...

."

1965 also Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels had a national top 10 hit with "Jenny Take A Ride!" and then again the following year in 1966 with "Devil With A Blue Dress On"/"Good Golly, Miss Molly." Also in 1966, Flint's Question Mark & the Mysterians (which featured Mel Schacher

Mel Schacher

Mel Schacher is best known as the bassist for rock band Grand Funk Railroad.- Early career :Schacher was born in Flint, Michigan. He became interested in music at the age of seven playing with his father's banjo. By age twelve he had moved to playing guitar and then bass...

) had a No. 1 hit with "96 Tears

96 Tears

"96 Tears" is a popular song recorded by ? in 1966. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and on the RPM 100 in Canada and is ranked #210 on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.-History:...

." Finally, in 1967, Detroit blues-rock outfit the Woolies had a regional smash hit with the Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley

Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...

 song "Who Do You Love".

In the late 1960s, Metro Detroit was the epicenter for high-energy rock music with the MC5

MC5

The MC5 is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan and originally active from 1964 to 1972. The original band line-up consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson...

 and Iggy and the Stooges. Then in 1968, the Metro Detroit rock scene witnessed an extraordinary transformation into something that was purely raw, rough, and messy. This sound was rock & roll but was also equal parts anger, determination and attitude spawning a unique high-energy rock scene in antithesis to Motown and the more mellow bands popular on the east and west coasts.
This new found high-energy rock was no truer than with the MC5 (Motor City Five) and the protopunk

Protopunk

Protopunk is a term used retrospectively to describe a number of musicians who were important precursors of punk rock in the late 1960s to mid-1970s, or who have been cited by early punk musicians as influential...

 Iggy & the Stooges. These two bands laid the groundwork for the future punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 and hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 movements in the late 1970s. Other notable bands from this time frame included Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...

, The Amboy Dukes

The Amboy Dukes

The Amboy Dukes were an American rock music band of the late 1960s and early 1970s from Detroit, Michigan, best remembered for their hit single "Journey to the Center of the Mind", and for launching the career of Ted Nugent...

 (featuring Ted Nugent), The Bob Seger System, Frijid Pink

Frijid Pink

Frijid Pink is a Detroit area blues rock band formed in 1967, best known for their version of "House of the Rising Sun," released in 1969.The initial line-up of the band included drummer Richard Stevers, guitarist Gary Ray Thompson, bassist Tom Harris, lead singer Tom Beaudry , and later added...

, SRC

SRC (band)

The SRC was a Detroit-based rock band from the late 1960s. From 1966 to 1972, they were a staple at many Detroit rock venues, such as the Grande Ballroom.-The early years:...

, The Up

The Up

The Up was an American rock band formed in Detroit, Michigan in early 1967. Along with fellow proto-punk bands the MC5 and The Stooges, The Up served as a "house band" for the Grande Ballroom in Detroit....

, The Frost

The Frost

The Frost were an American rock band from Alpena, Michigan in the late 1960s, led by singer-guitarist Dick Wagner, who went on to play with Ursa Major, Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Dan Page and Kevin Ulgenalp in the 1970s....

 (featuring Dick Wagner

Dick Wagner

Dick Wagner Dick Wagner Dick Wagner (born December 14, 1943, in Oelwein, Iowa is an American rock music guitarist and songwriter best known for his work with Alice Cooper, Lou Reed and KISS.-Performing career:...

), Popcorn Blizzard (featuring Meat Loaf

Meat Loaf

Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...

), Cactus

Cactus (band)

Cactus is an American hard rock supergroup, formed in 1970.-Biography:Cactus was initially conceived as early as late 1969 by the Vanilla Fudge rhythm section of bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice with guitarist Jeff Beck and Xylophone player Adele Smitchell acted as the counterpart and...

 and the soulful sounds of Rare Earth

Rare Earth (band)

Rare Earth is an American rock band affiliated with Motown's Rare Earth record label , who prospered in 1970-1972. Although not the first white band signed to Motown, Rare Earth was the first big hit-making act signed by Motown that consisted only of white members...

 and The Flaming Ember

The Flaming Ember

The Flaming Ember was an American white soul band from Detroit, Michigan, who found commercial success starting in the late 1960's.The group originally formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1964. At that time, they were known as The Flaming Embers...

. Much of the music scene during this time was centered around the legendary Grande Ballroom

Grande Ballroom

The Grande Ballroom is a historic live music venue located at 8952 Grand River Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. The building was designed by Detroit engineer and architect Charles N. Agree in 1928 and originally served as a multi-purpose building, hosting retail business on the first floor and a large...

 and its owner Russ Gibb

Russ Gibb

"Uncle" Russ Gibb is a former concert promoter, and media personality from Dearborn, Michigan, probably most famous for his role in the Paul is Dead phenomenon, a story he broke as a DJ on WKNR-FM....

.

As the pure sonic force of the Detroit rock scene drove on into the close of the decade, in 1969 a magazine based in and around Detroit known as CREEM

Creem

Creem , "America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine," was a monthly rock 'n' roll publication first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. It suspended production in 1989 but received a short-lived renaissance in the early 1990s as a glossy tabloid...

: "America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine," was started by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. CREEM is known as the first publication to coin the words "punk rock" and "heavy metal" and featured such famous editors such as Rob Tyner, Patti Smith

Patti Smith

Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....

, Cameron Crowe

Cameron Crowe

Cameron Bruce Crowe is an American screenwriter and film director. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine, for which he still frequently writes....

 and Lester Bangs

Lester Bangs

Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs was an American music journalist, author and musician. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines, and was known for his leading influence in rock 'n' roll criticism....

, who is often cited as "America's Greatest Rock Critic,".

1970s

During the 1970s, many of the Metro Detroit

Metro Detroit

The Detroit metropolitan area, often referred to as Metro Detroit, is the metropolitan area located in Southeast Michigan centered on the city of Detroit which shares an international border with Windsor, Ontario. The Detroit metropolitan area is the second largest U.S. metropolitan area...

 acts grew into international rock icons such as Bob Seger

Bob Seger

Robert Clark "Bob" Seger is an American rock and roll singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist.As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s...

, Ted Nugent

Ted Nugent

Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent is an American guitarist, musician, singer, author, reserve police officer, and activist. From Detroit, Michigan, he originally gained fame as the lead guitarist of The Amboy Dukes, before embarking on a lengthy solo career...

, Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...

, Grand Funk Railroad

Grand Funk Railroad

Grand Funk Railroad is an American rock band that was highly popular during the 1970s. Grand Funk Railroad toured constantly to packed arenas worldwide. A popular take on the band during its heyday was that, although the critics hated them, audiences loved them...

, Glenn Frey

Glenn Frey

Glenn Lewis Frey is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Frey formed the Eagles after he met drummer Don Henley in 1970 and the two eventually joined Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her summer tour. The Eagles formed in 1971 and...

 of The Eagles. Along with one hit wonders Brownsville Station

Brownsville Station (band)

Brownsville Station was a rock band from Michigan that was popular in the 1970s. Original members included Cub Koda , Mike Lutz , T.J. Cronley , and Tony Driggins...

 and Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen

Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen

Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen is an American country rock band founded in 1967. Core members included founder George Frayne, John Tichy, Billy C. Farlow, Bill Kirchen, Andy Stein, Paul "Buffalo" Bruce Barlow, Lance Dickerson, and Bobby Black....

, Detroit became well known for its rock & roll prowess. The city was also immortalized during this time by such songs as Detroit Rock City

Detroit Rock City (song)

"Detroit Rock City" is a song by the American hard rock group Kiss featured on their 1976 album, Destroyer. The song was written by Paul Stanley and Bob Ezrin and is about a real Kiss fan who was killed in a car accident on his way to a Kiss concert...

 by Kiss

KISS (band)

Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...

, Detroit Breakdown by The J. Geils Band and Panic in Detroit

Panic in Detroit

"Panic in Detroit" is a song written by David Bowie for the album Aladdin Sane in 1973. Bowie based it on friend Iggy Pop's descriptions of revolutionaries he had known as a youth in Michigan. It is also interpreted as being written about the 1967 Detroit riots...

 by David Bowie

David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

.

After the breakup of the MC5 and The Stooges in the early 1970s, the Detroit area's musical braintrust transformed into several acts that created much notoriety. These acts included rock acts such as Sonic's Rendezvous Band

Sonic's Rendezvous Band

Sonic's Rendezvous Band was a rock and roll band from Ann Arbor, Michigan in the 1970s, featuring veterans of the 1960s Detroit rock scene.- Background :Sonic's Rendezvous Band came from the ashes of four Michigan rock bands:...

 (featuring Fred "Sonic" Smith of the MC5, Scott Morgan

Scott Morgan

Scott Morgan is an American rock & roll and soul musician, most known for his work with the Sonic's Rendezvous Band, the Rationals, The Solution as well as his solowork.-The Rationals:Morgan's first band was The Rationals...

 of The Rationals, Scott Ashton of The Stooges), the band simply called Detroit

Detroit (band)

Detroit was a rock group formed by Mitch Ryder as a successor to his Detroit Wheels in 1970. The only original Wheel in the group was drummer John Badanjek; other members were guitarists Steve Hunter and Brett Tuggle, organist Harry Phillips, and bassist W.R. Cooke. A single album was released by...

, which featured Mitch Ryder

Mitch Ryder

William S. Levise, Jr , better known by his stage name Mitch Ryder, is an American musician who has recorded over two dozen albums in more than four decades.-Career:...

 on vocals and Johnny "Bee" Badanjek on drums. Later, Mitch Ryder bowed out of the band Detroit and was replaced by Rusty Day

Rusty Day

Russell "Rusty Day" Edward Davidson was a rock vocalist and frontman, best known for his work with the bands Amboy Dukes and Cactus. He was known for his powerful vocals and out-of-control lifestyle.-Career with The Amboy Dukes:...

, the Rockets Jim McCarty

Jim McCarty

Jim McCarty is an English musician, best known as the drummer for The Yardbirds and Renaissance.-Early life:...

 on guitar and Johnny "Bee" Badanjek on drums, and punk bands Coldcock, The Ramrods (punk band)

The Ramrods (punk band)

The Ramrods were punk band from Detroit, USA which debuted in 1977. The last official Ramrods show was January 28, 1978, at the Red Carpet.The quartet, composed of Mark Norton on vocals, Peter James on guitar, Dave Hanna on bass, and Bob Malrooney on drums, was short-lived—the group disbanded...

, The Sillies

The Sillies

The Sillies were a Detroit punk rock band formed early 1977 by auto assembly line worker Ben Waugh. The Sillies played their first show second-billed to The MC5. Later, they played with bands such as The Dead Boys, The Damned, The Cramps, and toured the United States and Canada...

, The Seatbelts

The Seatbelts

was a Japanese blues/jazz band led by composer and instrumentalist Yoko Kanno.-Band history:The name of the band, according to the fictional description given in the anime series Cowboy Bebop, derives from how the performers wear seatbelts to be safe while they play hardcore jam sessions.The band...

 (featuring Greg Upshur) and Destroy All Monsters

Destroy All Monsters (band)

Destroy All Monsters were an influential Detroit band existing from 1973 to 1985, with sporadic performances since. Their music touched on elements of punk rock, psychedelic, heavy metal music and noise rock with a heavy dose of performance art. Their name likely came from the Godzilla film Destroy...

 (featuring artists Niagara

Niagara (artist)

Niagara is a musician and a painter. She was the lead vocalist of the punk rock bands Destroy All Monsters and Dark Carnival.-Biography:...

 and Stooges guitarists Ron Asheton

Ron Asheton

Ronald Frank Asheton was an American guitarist and co-songwriter with Iggy Pop for the rock band The Stooges.Asheton is ranked as number 29 on Rolling Stones list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time....

).

Of the late 1960s, Detroit rock bands that went on to break new ground in the emerging punk scene with their songs Slash Your Face and Fed Up

Fed Up

"Fed Up" is the first single from DJ Khaled’s fourth studio album Victory, which was released on March 2, 2010. The track features artists Usher, Young Jeezy, Rick Ross and Drake. It was leaked on October 28, 2009...

, were The Dogs, (who also penned the song John Rock and Roll Sinclair in 1970 as a protest to free former MC5 manager John Sinclair from Jackson prison

Michigan State Prison

Michigan State Prison or Jackson State Prison, which opened in 1839, was the first prison in Michigan. The first permanent structure was constructed there in 1842. In 1926, the prison was relocated to new building, and soon became the largest walled prison in the world with nearly 6,000 inmates....

), and featuring Loren Molinare on guitar, Mary Kay

Mary Kay

Mary Kay, Inc. is a privately held company that sells skin care and cosmetics products. Mary Kay World Headquarters is located in Addison, Texas, United States, a Dallas suburb. Mary Kay Ash founded Mary Kay Inc. on Friday, September 13, 1963...

 one of the earliest female rock bassists, noting Suzi Quatro

Suzi Quatro

Susan Kay "Suzi" Quatro is an American singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor.She scored a string of hit singles in the 1970s that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, and had a recurring role on the popular American sitcom Happy Days.-Music:Quatro began her...

 as another, and Ron Wood on drums. Also during this time, Detroit area native Deniz Tek

Deniz Tek

Deniz Tek is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter and a founding member of Australian group Radio Birdman who broke up, for the last time, after their last European tour in 2007...

 was creating the punk band Radio Birdman

Radio Birdman

Radio Birdman was one of the first punk bands in Australia along with The Saints. Deniz Tek and Rob Younger formed the group in Sydney, Australia in 1974...

 in Australia in the mold of classic Detroit rock bands of the MC5 and The Stooges.

1990s

During the 1990s, metro Detroit rock bands that had minor to major attention and/or critical acclaim include The White Stripes

The White Stripes

The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...

, The Dirtbombs

The Dirtbombs

The Dirtbombs are an American garage rock band based in Detroit, Michigan, notable for blending diverse influences such as punk rock and soul while featuring a dual bass guitar, dual drum and guitar lineup...

, The Von Bondies

The Von Bondies

The Von Bondies were an American alternative rock band. The group disbanded in July 2011. Its most recent members were Jason Stollsteimer on vocals and lead guitar, Christy Hunt on rhythm guitar and Leann Banks on bass guitar...

, The Paybacks, Sponge

Sponge (band)

Sponge is a post-grunge band from Detroit, Michigan formed in 1991 by Vinnie Dombroski, Mike Cross, Tim Cross and Joey Mazzola. Sponge was signed to Sony Records in 1994 but have since switched to other labels....

, Charm Farm, Speedball, Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise

Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise

Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise is an American band. It formed in 1994 when former members of the band Second Self met a blind street performer by the name of Robert Bradley. Robert Bradley was born in Alabama, but gained musical experience and spirit by singing as a child at The Alabama...

, bent lucy, Howling Diablos, His Name Is Alive

His Name Is Alive

His Name Is Alive is an experimental rock band/project from Livonia, Michigan. After several self-released cassettes, they debuted on 4AD Records in 1990, starting a long run at the label...

, Brendan Benson

Brendan Benson

Brendan Benson is an American musician and songwriter. He sings and plays guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, and drums. He has released four solo albums and is a member of the band The Raconteurs....

, The Upholsterers

The Upholsterers

The Upholsterers were an American garage punk band in 2000, from Detroit, Michigan. The two-piece band was composed of Jack White, of The White Stripes, and Brian Muldoon of The Muldoons. White provided vocals, guitar, and piano, while Muldoon played on drums and created sounds with a worm gear saw...

, The Holes, Kid Rock

Kid Rock

Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...

, Rocket 455, and ska-punk band The Suicide Machines

The Suicide Machines

The Suicide Machines were an American punk rock band formed in March 1991 in Detroit, Michigan and disbanded in May 2006. During the course of their career the band released six full-length albums on the labels Hollywood Records and Side One Dummy Records...

 and throughout the 2000s like Huck Johns on Capitol and Ty Stone on Atlantic.

Hardcore

The Detroit suburbs were the location of one of the first important hardcore punk

Hardcore punk

Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...

 scenes that swept underground America in the early 1980s. By the end of 1981 the new style sometimes known as "Midwest Hardcore" had exploded across North America and Detroit was one of several important regional centers fostering its spread.

Hardcore punk was a perfect fit in Metro Detroit. Rock music there had always been louder, harder and more aggressive than in the rest of the country. In the 1960s while other rock music scenes were consumed by countless acts riding the "flower children" zeitgeist, Detroit musicians such as the MC5 and the Stooges were playing to huge crowds at the Grande Ballroom

Grande Ballroom

The Grande Ballroom is a historic live music venue located at 8952 Grand River Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. The building was designed by Detroit engineer and architect Charles N. Agree in 1928 and originally served as a multi-purpose building, hosting retail business on the first floor and a large...

 and inventing punk rock in the process. While once epitomizing the prosperity of the working class "American dream," Detroit had seen its massive base of high paid manufacturing jobs decimated. Thousands of applicants would line up for a dozen job openings. By the time the 1980s rolled around there wasn't a kid in Southeastern Michigan who didn't know quite well that the days affording a comfortable life through a factory job were long gone. The rage and anger which permeated the hardcore punk of the era was something the Detroit area had in seemingly unlimited supplies.

One key event in the birth of the Detroit scene was the screening of the documentary film The Decline of Western Civilization

The Decline of Western Civilization

The soundtrack was released in December 1980 by Slash Records on LP. In the late 1990s it was released on CD as well. It is currently out of print. Germs singer Darby Crash appears on the soundtrack album cover. He died shortly before the film was released, though the promotional images for the...

at the Punch & Judy theater in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan

Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan

Grosse Pointe Farms is a suburban city bordering Detroit located in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It ranks as the 76th highest-income city in America. The population was 9,479 at the 2010 census. It is bordered by Grosse Pointe on the west, Detroit on the north, Grosse Pointe Woods...

. Hundreds of Detroit kids saw in its portrayal of the west coast punk scene something that suited their own situation perfectly and quickly dedicated themselves to bringing this new subculture to bloom in Detroit. Two of the earliest Suburban Detroit hardcore punk bands were the Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan band The Holes and Grosse Pointe Park

Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan

Grosse Pointe Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 11,555 at the 2010 census. Bordering on Detroit with frontage on southern Lake Saint Clair, it is the westernmost of the noted Grosse Pointe suburbs, with the oldest overall housing stock of the five cities...

 band Degenerates

Degenerates

Degenerates originated in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan in 1979, during the formative years of the Detroit hardcore scene. The group predated the Process of Elimination EP, which some reviewers view as the beginning of the Midwest hardcore scene. Members branched out to other bands, including...

.

The Detroit scene was not an isolated phenomenon but also the focus for a number of sister scenes throughout Michigan and northern Ohio. The major hardcore bands of this early regional scene included Lansing, Michigan

Lansing, Michigan

Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...

's The Meatmen

The Meatmen

The Meatmen are an American punk band headed by Tesco Vee originally from 1980 to 1997, and reformed in 2008. They are currently still touring and recording.The Meatmen made fun of the hardcore punk scene of the time...

, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Kalamazoo, Michigan

The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...

's Violent Apathy

Violent Apathy

Violent Apathy is a U.S. hardcore band that formed in March 1981 at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan and sparked the Kalamazoo hardcore scene. The original band was three high school friends from Jackson, Michigan along with Eliot Rachman, another WMU student who hailed from East...

, Spite

Spite (punk band)

The Hardcore punk rock band, Spite, was an essential musical hub in the Michigan hardcore scene. It was made up of members from other notable bands, who branched out to play an essential role in the musical community, both inside and outside the region...

, and The Crucifucks, Toledo, Ohio

Toledo, Ohio

Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...

's Necros

Necros

Necros were an early American hardcore punk band from Maumee, Ohio, although they are usually identified with the Detroit music scene. They are the first band to record for Touch and Go Records.-History:...

, and Detroit's Negative Approach

Negative Approach

Negative Approach is an American hardcore punk band, formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1981. The band is considered among of the pioneers of hardcore punk, particularly in the Midwest region. Like most hardcore bands, Negative Approach was little known in its day outside of its hometown...

.

1980s - 1990s

During this period, the Detroit hardcore scene become most important over the years for Touch and Go Records

Touch and Go Records

Touch and Go Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, USA.After its genesis as a hand-made fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s alternative and underground rock scenes, Touch & Go carved out a reputation for releasing adventurous...

, which was started in Lansing, Michigan

Lansing, Michigan

Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...

 by Tesco Vee and Dave Stinson as a popular local fanzine

Fanzine

A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...

 also started this small hardcore label then moved to Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 and finally on to Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

.

Many small clubs popped up hosting hardcore bands. The Golden Gate, The Falcon Lounge, the Freezer Theater, Kurt Kohls' Asylum, and The Hungry Brain (named after the club in the movie the "The Nutty Professor

The Nutty Professor

The Nutty Professor is a 1963 Paramount Pictures science fiction comedy feature film produced, directed, co-written and starring Jerry Lewis...

"). A crucial venue for hardcore fans in Detroit was known as Clutch Cargo's, named after a limited-animation TV series. It featured such bands as Black Flag

Black Flag (band)

Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band...

, Fear

Fear (band)

Fear is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1977. The band is credited for helping to shape the sound and style of American hardcore punk, the group started out as part of the early California punk rock scene, and gained national prominence after an infamous 1981...

, X, and the Dead Kennedys

Dead Kennedys

Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk music scene....

, who played the venue while on tour, while the Necros

Necros

Necros were an early American hardcore punk band from Maumee, Ohio, although they are usually identified with the Detroit music scene. They are the first band to record for Touch and Go Records.-History:...

, Negative Approach

Negative Approach

Negative Approach is an American hardcore punk band, formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1981. The band is considered among of the pioneers of hardcore punk, particularly in the Midwest region. Like most hardcore bands, Negative Approach was little known in its day outside of its hometown...

, L-Seven

L-Seven

L-Seven was a post-punk band from Detroit, Michigan, United States. The band existed during 1980–1983 and released a 7" titled "L-Seven" by Touch and Go Special Forces in 1982. Touch and Go Special Forces was created to issue records that of a different nature than the hardcore records that Touch...

 (not to be confused with L7

L7 (band)

L7 was an American rock band from Los Angeles, that was active from 1985 to 2000. Due to their sound and image, they are often associated with the grunge movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s.-History:...

) and other local and nearby regional bands also appeared. A present club sharing the same name exists today, but in Pontiac, Michigan

Pontiac, Michigan

Pontiac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac, located within the Detroit metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 59,515. It is the county seat of Oakland County...

 and with a different booking policy. The venue was formerly located in a large, former athletic club in Detroit. As Clutch Cargo's often had shows for 18+ fans, many younger hardcore fans either never attended the site due to age, or even knew of it due to their tardy introduction to the subgenre.

The Hungry Brain, situated in a former second-hand store in Delray, Detroit

Delray, Detroit

Delray is a neighborhood and former incorporated village, located on the south side of Detroit, Michigan. It is isolated from other areas of Detroit by industrial warehouses and Interstate 75...

, had been forced to relocate several times and by 1985 found a permanent home at a run down old hall on Michigan Avenue deep in the city of Detroit called The Graystone. Bands that started at the Hungry Brain, like political hardcore stalwarts Forced Anger, often opened for many West Coast touring punk bands, including 7 Seconds, T.S.O.L and Minor Threat, at the Graystone. The band published the fanzine

Fanzine

A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...

, "Placebo Effect", which produced several compilation tapes featuring upstart punk bands from all over Michigan. For several years the vast majority of all hardcore bands that toured anywhere within a 250 mile radius of Detroit played at least one gig at The Graystone. Many of these gigs were captured by Back Porch Video

Back Porch Video

Back Porch Video was one of the first cable television-based music video programs. It premiered on January 28, 1984 as the brainchild of Russ Gibb, former owner of the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan...

, a video project of Dearborn public schools run by Russ Gibb

Russ Gibb

"Uncle" Russ Gibb is a former concert promoter, and media personality from Dearborn, Michigan, probably most famous for his role in the Paul is Dead phenomenon, a story he broke as a DJ on WKNR-FM....

 (DJ of "Paul is Dead" rumor fame and previously known as the impresario of the Grande Ballroom

Grande Ballroom

The Grande Ballroom is a historic live music venue located at 8952 Grand River Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. The building was designed by Detroit engineer and architect Charles N. Agree in 1928 and originally served as a multi-purpose building, hosting retail business on the first floor and a large...

) and aired on local public-access television

Public-access television

Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...

 cable TV.

Throughout this time Detroit was a mecca for hardcore punk bands. The band Cold As Life

Cold As Life

Cold As Life was a hardcore punk band based out of Detroit, Michigan, existing from 1988 to 2001. Lyrical themes consisted of brutal depictions of the horrors of growing up and living in a city plagued with corruption, murder, drugs, depression and poverty, along with the tragedy of losing friends,...

 developed a loyal following right up to their demise in 2001, even surviving the murder of their frontman Rawn Beauty

Cold As Life

Cold As Life was a hardcore punk band based out of Detroit, Michigan, existing from 1988 to 2001. Lyrical themes consisted of brutal depictions of the horrors of growing up and living in a city plagued with corruption, murder, drugs, depression and poverty, along with the tragedy of losing friends,...

. Other important bands of that time period were the Almighty Lumberjacks of Death (A.L.D.), fronted by the charismatic and deep voiced Jimmy Doom. A.L.D. always filled the house opening up for all the heavy hitting punk stars of the time (Social Distortion, Circle Jerks, etc.)at venues such as St. Andrew's Hall and Blondies.

Other notable acts of that often violent and exciting time were Heresy, VH8, Disgust, SBLC, The Rogues, The Skraps and the influential thrash/death bands Deathcorp and Ugly But Proud. The Skraps were fronted by members of the uber punk gang, The Apple Sids. Known for their uniform of engineer boots, Brook's leather jackets, and evil tattoos—the Sids were a gang in the scene, they were often employed as bouncers at St. Andrew's Hall, the major venue for shows during the late 1980s through today. The Sids called themselves a club, but they were soon known as a gang and they had the SIDs emblem painted on the back of their jackets to prove it. Burly, tough and evil—the SIDs paid homage to the likes of the Misfits with their devil locks and slicked back hair.

At one time, a major feud broke out between the SIDs, and Disgust who formed their own club called the American Beer Allies (ABA). ABA were all about drinking beer, getting high and having a good time. The SIDs did not like the good time antics of ABA members and swore to squash any hardcore kid associated with this group and the band, Disgust. Some say, that during this period, shows in the city became a tense outlet for the SIDs vengeance and some members of ABA felt the fury of the SIDs. This however, wasn't exactly the case. While the SIDs were not fond of Disgust or the members of ABA, there were never any documented "battles" of any kind, other than a couple of random cheap shots at shows from the SIDs on a few lone ABA members. Once the SIDs realized that the ABA wasn't going anywhere the so called feud fizzled out and Disgust went on to actually play a show at the SIDs clubhouse in Pontiac.

By 1991 most of the punk in Detroit centered around hardcore, with the band Pittbull leading the way into the future. Shows became much more intense, and the dancing moved from the traditional circle pit of the past to an all out war "hootenanny".

Throughout the mid 1990s many shows were held at the coffee shop located on the University of Detroit campus. The scene at this time had a much more progressive tone, with a heavy emphasis placed on straight edge

Straight edge

Straight edge is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs. It was a direct reaction to the sexual revolution, hedonism, and excess associated with punk rock. For some, this extends to not engaging in promiscuous sex, following a...

 and veganism

Veganism

Veganism is the practice of eliminating the use of animal products. Ethical vegans reject the commodity status of animals and the use of animal products for any purpose, while dietary vegans or strict vegetarians eliminate them from their diet only...

. The style quickly moved from tight black jeans, Misfits T-shirts and flannels to baggy jeans, BK Ratch Tech shoes, and Fila vests. Fights at these shows were minimal, and the spirit of DIY culture was strong. One could now go to a show and instead of getting a boot in the head they could purchase a fanzine about some kids road trip to the Circle K while engaging in a lively discussion with Ray Cappo about the merits of Krishna

Krishna

Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...

. But the good times and unpredictability of the old scene were now replaced by a new, more politically charged environment.

The 1980s also saw Marshall Crenshaw

Marshall Crenshaw

Marshall Crenshaw is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist best known for his song "Someday, Someway".-Biography:...

, actually from Berkley, about 12 miles from Detroit, attain some fame with his releases on Warner Bros. and an appearance as Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly

Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...

 in the film Peggy Sue Got Married

Peggy Sue Got Married

Peggy Sue Got Married is a 1986 American comedy-drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Kathleen Turner as a woman on the verge of a divorce, who finds herself transported back to the days of her senior year in high school...

. His hit "Someday, Someway" made the Top 40 in both Billboard and Cash Box in 1982, though the song was released in 1981.

Techno

Detroit has been cited as the birthplace of techno

Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...

 music. Prominent Detroit Techno

Detroit techno

Detroit techno is an early style of electronic music beginning in the 1980s. Detroit, Michigan has been cited as the birthplace of techno music. Prominent Detroit Techno artists include Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson...

 artists include Juan Atkins

Juan Atkins

Juan Atkins is an American musician. He is widely credited as the originator of techno music, specifically Detroit techno along with Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson...

, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and Dakim Sadiq. The template for a new style of dance music (that by the mid to late 1980s was being referred to as techno) was primarily developed by four individuals, Juan Atkins

Juan Atkins

Juan Atkins is an American musician. He is widely credited as the originator of techno music, specifically Detroit techno along with Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson...

, Kevin Saunderson

Kevin Saunderson

Kevin Saunderson is an American electronic music producer. At the age of nine he moved to Belleville, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit where he attended Belleville High School and befriended two students, Derrick May and Juan Atkins...

, Derrick May ("The Belleville Three"), and Eddie Fowlkes, all of whom attended high school together at Belleville High School, near Detroit, Michigan. By the close of the 1980s the four had operated under various guises: Atkins as Model 500, Flintstones, and Magic Juan; Fowlkes simply as Eddie "Flashin" Fowlkes; Saunderson as Reese, Keynotes, and Kaos; with May using the aliases Mayday, R-Tyme, and Rhythim Is Rhythim. There were also a number of joint ventures, the most commercially successful of which was the Atkins and Saunderson (with James Pennington

James Pennington

James Pennington, also known as Suburban Knight, is an artist and DJ and Producer with Underground Resistance , an independent record label based in Detroit, USA...

) collaboration on the first Inner City single Big Fun

Paradise (Inner City album)

Paradise is the debut album by Detroit-based house music duo Inner City, released in 1989. The album was a great success in the UK and in US clubs, and was one of the first house-music albums to cross over to the mainstream charts, particularly in Europe...

. Prior to achieving notoriety the budding musicians, mix tape traders, and aspiring DJ's found inspiration in Midnight Funk Association, an eclectic, 5-hour, late-night radio program hosted on various Detroit radio stations including WCHB

WCHB

WCHB is an American AM radio station licensed to Taylor, Michigan, at 1200 kHz, and serving the Detroit market. Owned by Radio One, WCHB identifies as NewsTalk 1200 WCHB and airs a News/Talk format.-AM 1440 WCHB:...

, WGPR

WGPR

WGPR is an FM radio station in Detroit, Michigan brodacasting a Mainstream Urban format. Owned by the International Free and Accepted Modern Masons and operated under local marketing agreement by Radio One, the station operates on 107.5 MHz....

, and WJLB-FM from 1977 through the mid-1980s by DJ Charles "The Electrifying Mojo

The Electrifying Mojo

The Electrifying Mojo is an American radio personality. He was a disc jockey based in Detroit, Michigan whose on-air journey of musical and social development shaped a generation of music-lovers in Detroit and throughout southeastern Michigan and Canada and was of importance to the development of...

" Johnson. Mojo's show featured heavy doses of electronic sounds from the likes of Giorgio Moroder, Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream alongside the funk of Parliament

Parliament (band)

Parliament was a funk band most prominent during the 1970s. It and its sister act Funkadelic, both led by George Clinton, began the funk music culture of that decade.-History:...

 and the new wave sounds of the B-52s.

Of the four individuals responsible for establishing techno as a genre in its own right, it is Juan Atkins who is recognized as the originator; indeed in 1995 American music technology publication Keyboard Magazine honored Atkins as one of "12 Who Count" in the history of keyboard music (this is remarkable considering Detroit techno was still relatively unknown in the United States at that time despite its notoriety in Europe). In the early 1980s Atkins began recording with musical partner Richard "3070" Davis

Rick Davis

Richard Dean Davis is a retired American soccer midfielder, and former captain of the U.S. National Team for much of the 1980s...

 (and later with a third member Jon-5) as Cybotron. This trio released a number of electro inspired tunes, the best known of which is "Clear". Eventually, Atkins started producing his own music under the pseudonym Model 500, and in 1985 he established the record label Metroplex

Metroplex (record label)

Metroplex is a techno record label in Detroit, founded in 1985 by techno pioneer Juan Atkins. Juan Atkins did most of his work for the label under the pseudonyms Model 500 and Infiniti.-Discography:* M-001 Model 500 - No UFOs/Future...

. In the same year he released a seminal work entitled "No UFO's" which, in terms of its aesthetic values, is credited by many as the first Detroit techno production.

Electro-disco

Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

 tracks share with techno a dependence on machine-generated beats and dancefloor popularity. However, the comparisons remain contentious; as do the efforts to regress further into the past to find antecedents. The logical extension of this rational entails a further regression: to the sequenced electronic music of Raymond Scott

Raymond Scott

Raymond Scott was an American composer, band leader, pianist, engineer, recording studio maverick, and electronic instrument inventor....

 (The Rhythm Modulator, The Bass-Line Generator, and IBM Probe, being remarkable examples of techno-like music). Simply put, all music which is or was electronic is not techno. With the exception of Atkins if you asked these artists what genre of music they were making it would be the style of the day. The word techno was first referenced in Cybotron's 1984 release "Techno City" on Fantasy Records.

Hip hop

According to Insane Clown Posse

Insane Clown Posse

Insane Clown Posse is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan. The group is composed of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, who perform under the respective personas of the "wicked clowns" Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. Insane Clown Posse performs a style of hardcore hip hop known as horrorcore...

 member Violent J

Joseph Bruce

Joseph Frank "Joe" Bruce is an American rapper, record producer, professional wrestler and actor. Bruce is most commonly known as Violent J of the Insane Clown Posse . He is the co-founder of the record label Psychopathic Records, with fellow ICP rapper Joseph Utsler and their former manager,...

, Detroit's hip hop scene is not signified by rap battles and waiting to be discovered by a major label, but by independently building up successful business empires, as local rapper Esham

Esham

Rashaam Attica Smith, better known by his stage name Esham , is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan known for his hallucinogenic style of hip hop which he refers to as "acid rap", which fuses rock-based beats and lyrics involving subjects such as death, drug use, evil, paranoia and...

 did with Reel Life Productions

Reel Life Productions

Reel Life Productions, also known as Gothom Records, is an independent record label based in Detroit, Michigan that specializes in hip hop music. The label was founded in 1988 by James H. Smith and his younger brother, rapper Esham...

, and Insane Clown Posse did with Psychopathic Records

Psychopathic Records

Psychopathic Records, also known as "The Hatchet", is an American independent record label based in Farmington Hills, Michigan that specializes in hip hop music. The label was founded in 1991 by Alex Abbiss and hip hop group Insane Clown Posse....

. Esham, Insane Clown Posse and Kid Rock

Kid Rock

Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...

 were the first Detroit rappers to gain major notice. Eminem

Eminem

Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...

, the hip-hop artist with the highest cumulative sales, was discovered by Dr Dre. Dr Dre also promoted D12

D12

D12, an acronym for The Dirty Dozen, is an American hip hop group from Detroit, Michigan. D12 has had chart-topping albums in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia...

 and Obie Trice

Obie Trice

Obie Trice III is an American rapper and songwriter. He began rapping at the age of 11, and is most known for his time spent signed to Shady Records. Obie Trice has formed his own record label, Black Market Entertainment.-Biography:...

. Most recently rapper Big Sean

Big Sean

Sean Michael Anderson , better known by his stage name Big Sean, is an American rapper. Big Sean signed with Kanye West's G.O.O.D...

 and Bei Maejor

Bei Maejor

Brandon Green, better known by his stage name Bei Maejor, is a Grammy nominated American recording artist, songwriter and record producer.- Life and career :...

.

Venues

The city's theatre district

Theatre in Detroit

Theatre in Detroit discusses performing arts in the city, its history, and its venues. With more than a dozen performing arts venues, the city's theatre district ranks as the second largest in the United States after Manhattan's Broadway, the stages and old time film palaces are generally located...

 is the nation's second largest after New York City, with eighteen professional theaters. The city is home to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Detroit Symphony Orchestra

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its main performance center is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood...

 and the Detroit Opera House

Detroit Opera House

The Detroit Opera House is an opera house located in Detroit, Michigan. It is the venue for all Michigan Opera Theatre productions and it hosts a variety of other events. It opened on January 22, 1922....

. Major theaters include the Fox Theatre

Fox Theatre (Detroit)

The Fox Theatre is an ornate performing arts center located at 2211 Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit, Michigan, near Grand Circus Park. It was originally completed in 1928 as the first movie palace in the world to have sound systems for films. It was listed on the National Register of Historic...

, Masonic Temple Theatre

Detroit Masonic Temple

The Detroit Masonic Temple is the world's largest Masonic Temple. Located in the Cass Corridor of Detroit, Michigan, at 500 Temple Street, the building serves as a home to various masonic organizations including the York Rite Sovereign College of North America. The Masonic Temple Theatre is a venue...

, Fisher Theatre, The Fillmore Detroit

The Fillmore Detroit

The Fillmore Detroit is a mixed-use entertainment venue operated by Live Nation. The Detroit Music Awards are held annually at The Fillmore Detroit in April. Built in 1925, the Fillmore Detroit was known for most of its history as the State Theatre, and prior to that as the Palms Theatre...

, Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts

Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts

The Music Hall Center for Performing Arts is a 1,700-seat theatre located in the city's theatre district at 350 Madison Avenue in Detroit, Michigan...

, St. Andrews Hall

St. Andrews Hall

Saint Andrew's Hall is a Detroit music venue and concert hall. Formerly the meeting place for the Saint Andrew's Society of Detroit and never a church, the building is now a host of live bands and DJs .-History:...

,Club Of Faith detroit underground, Detroit Repertory Theatre

Detroit Repertory Theatre

Detroit Repertory Theatre is a regional theatre located at 13103 Woodrow Wilson in Detroit, Michigan with a seating capacity of 194. The theatre began as a touring company in 1957 and performed throughout Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvnania, before it established itself on Woodrow Wilson...

, Blondie's, Harpo's Concert Theatre and the Detroit Film Theatre at the Detroit Institute of Arts

Detroit Institute of Arts

The Detroit Institute of Arts is a renowned art museum in the city of Detroit. In 2003, the DIA ranked as the second largest municipally owned museum in the United States, with an art collection valued at more than one billion dollars...

. Along with Wayne State University

Wayne State University

Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...

's Hillberry, Bonstelle, and Studio Theatres

The metropolitan Detroit area boasts two of the top live music venues in the U.S. DTE Energy Music Theater (formerly Pine Knob) was the most attended summer venue in the U.S. in 2005 for the fifteenth consecutive year, while The Palace of Auburn Hills

The Palace of Auburn Hills

The Palace of Auburn Hills, often referred to simply as The Palace, is a sports and entertainment venue in Auburn Hills, Michigan, a suburb on the northern outskirts of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Opened in 1988, it is the home of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association...

 ranked twelfth, according to music industry source Pollstar

Pollstar

Pollstar is a concert tour industry's leading trade publication that gets its information primarily from the agents, managers and promoters who are producing concerts. Founded in 1981, it is based in Fresno, California and has an office in London with correspondents in six countries. Pollstar is...

.

Suburban Detroit is also home to a handful of great live music venues, including Clutch Cargo's (Pontiac), The Magic Bag (Ferndale), The Crofoot

The Crofoot

The Crofoot is a mixed-use independent entertainment complex made up of 4 unique buildings . The complex contains 5 rooms for live music, each with a private entrance...

 (Pontiac), The Historic Eagle Theater (Pontiac), The Blind Pig (Ann Arbor) The Ritz (Roseville MI 1980-1995, Warren MI 2006–present).

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

As of 2007, fourteen groups or solo artists, four non performers, and two sidemen who are connected with the Detroit area have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame including Detroit-native Bill Haley, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Jackie Wilson, the Supremes, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Hank Ballard, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight & The Pips, John Lee Hooker, Wilson Pickett, Martha & The Vandellas, Little Willie John, Parliament-Funkadelic, James Jamerson, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Bob Seger, Glenn Frey, Berry Gordy and Patti Smith.

See also

• List of songs about Detroit
• List of films set in Detroit
• List of people from Detroit
• Music of Michigan
  Music of Michigan
  The music of Michigan is composed of many different types. The city of Detroit has been one of the most musically influential and innovative cities for the past 50 years, whether in Michigan or anywhere else in the United States. Impressively, for 48 straight years a greater Michigan area artist...
  
  
• The 20 Grand
  The 20 Grand
  The 20 Grand was one of Detroit, Michigan's most famous night clubs. It was located at the intersection of 14th Street and Warren Avenue. It opened by Bill Kabbus and Marty Eisner in 1953...
  
  

External links

• The 100 greatest Detroit songs ever!
• Detroit music history
• Detroit Music Awards
• Understanding Detroit Rock Music through Oral History
• Detroit Underground Music