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Splatt Gallery's History of Michigan Concert Posters
Volume Ten - 1974 - Page Two
A record company ad from January 1974, with the New York Dolls taking pride that CREEM magazine readers voted them as both the “best new group” AND the “worst new group” of 1973.
Lou Reed’s “Rock n Roll Animal” was released in February 1974. We already posted a link to the album in our story about the concert when it was recorded on December 21, 1973, but you can never get too much of a good thing:
Lou Reed – Rock n Roll Animal (album) (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJYu9Rl_23Y
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Ever since the July 1973 special issue of 16 Magazine devoted to “Freak Rock”, Alice Cooper became a fixture on the covers of nearly every subsequent issue, where all the stars were on a first-name basis and every (teenage female) reader had a shot at a date (or more!) with all of them. This is the cover of the February 1974 issue with the tag line “Alice At Home!”
Martin Mull was the first “CREEM Mate of the Month”, in the February 1974 issue of CREEM magazine. A sporadic feature, but it set the stage for other regular features, coming up soon.
A great photo of a smiling Iggy Pop in an ad in the February 1, 1974 issue of the LA Free Press in Los Angeles, California for the paper’s upcoming five-part series on “The Rise, Heat And Passionate Orgasm of Cock Rock: from Presley to Bowie”.
An ad by an unknown artist for Ted Lucas at Abstention Coffee House in Rochester, Michigan on February 1, 1974.
Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids from Boulder, Colorado, made their first Michigan appearance at The Brewery in East Lansing, February 1, 1974. The show was promoted with a series of very tiny messages scattered throughout the local newspapers that told a tale of Elaine’s adoration for Flash, despite the warnings from her friend Mary that Elaine’s boyfriend Moose would not take too kindly to having a rival. There was plenty of time for this melodrama to play out as the band returned to The Brewery for a second show on February 4th. The band was also riding a wave of popularity from having appeared in the movie “American Graffiti” as the fictional band, Herbie & the Heartbeats.
Poster by Ken Featherston for Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas, February 1-2, 1974.
Tour poster for Bob Dylan’s 1974 tour, he came to the Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan on February 2, 1974. It was Dylan’s first shows in seven years and his first time back to Ann Arbor since 1964.
A second tour poster for Bob Dylan’s 1974 tour, also used for the cover of the tour booklet.
A third tour poster for Bob Dylan’s 1974 tour, this one for the charter jet provider, Toby Roberts Tours.
A pair of ads for Blue Oyster Cult with Iggy & the Stooges at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York, February 2, 1974, the Stooge’s last show outside of Michigan.
An ad for Rare Earth with S.O.U.L. in Akron, Ohio on February 3, 1974.
Poster by Barbara Weinberg for Iggy & the Stooges at the Rock & Roll Farm in Wayne, Michigan, February 4, 1974. This was the infamous show where Iggy got punched out by a biker when he finally took his audience-baiting a step too far and with the wrong crowd. Boom! Show over. Or not. Benny Speer of Benny & the Jets was watching the show that night at his father’s club. He remembers going outside with Iggy, giving him a towel for his bloody nose, and says that Iggy returned to the stage to finish the show. Nonetheless, the Stooges had five more days and one more show left in their existence.
On Alice Cooper’s birthday, February 4, 1974, his girlfriend Cindy Lang gave him a 1964 Andy Warhol print called the “Little Electric Chair” as a present, she paid $2,500 which she got from Cooper’s manager Shep Gordon. The print ended up going into storage with touring equipment and was forgotten.
Many years later, around 2013, Gordon was having dinner with a Los Angeles art dealer, Ruth Bloom, and the story of the Warhol print came up, Bloom advised Gordon that Alice should try to find it, a green version of the print sold a couple of years later for $11.6 million. Alice’s mother remembered it and found it rolled up in a tube.
A full-page MCA Records ad for the single “Bennie and the Jets” by Elton John, released on February 4, 1974. John was set against releasing it as a single, but Windsor, Ontario, Canada’s CKLW-AM radio music director Rosalie Trombley, whose instincts had broken Alice Cooper’s “Eighteen”, the Guess Who’s “These Eyes”, and an early champion of Bob Seger, who immortalized her with the song “Rosalie”, liked the track and began giving it airplay.
Within a couple of days, she got a call from Elton John himself, wanting to know why she thought it should be a single and she told him, “I think the song's a hit; our listeners think the song's a hit; here's what happened at urban radio in Detroit; it's happening for us now; if you want to reach a black audience, you really should consider making this your next single”.
It became one of his biggest hits, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the Cash Box Top 100, and the Canadian RPM Top Singles. Also proving Trombley’s prediction to reach a black audience, the single reached #15 on the Hot R&B chart, which the ad makes an appreciative note of as well.
Elton John – Bennie and the Jets (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzpDr3xlyic
A second illustration by an artist signed “W Roble”, this one for Dion at The Stables in February 4-9, 1974.
Flyer and ad for David Bromberg at the Mariah Coffeehouse, relocated to the Erickson Kiva on the MSU campus in East Lansing, Michigan, February 7, 1974, signed by an unknown artist TD (…flyer?).
Two new artists, Art Sims and Jive Comix, were having their work show up in the pages of the State News newspaper in East Lansing Michigan. More to come, watch this space.
A full-page Columbia Records ad for Dave Mason’s fourth solo album, with tour dates including his first Michigan appearance as a solo artist, at the Masonic Temple in Detroit on February 7, 1974. The itinerary also lists his show at the MSU Auditorium in East Lansing on February 11th, and again at the Masonic Temple in Detroit on February 24th. What it does not list is another show in Mount Pleasant, Michigan on February 10th, and a quickie appearance at the Alle-Ey in East Lansing for a late night jam following his show at the MSU Auditorium on February 11th, and another follow-up show again at the Alle-Ey the next night as well.
Gary Kell’s second cover for the Ann Arbor Sun newspaper, the February 8, 1974 issue. The back cover takes Gary Kell’s front cover illustration of Ronald McDonald for a petition to prevent the construction of a McDonald’s restaurant in the middle of Ann Arbor, wiping out an historic structure. As we know, the petition failed, despite getting over 6,500 signatures, “the Republican-controlled City Council gave the burger barons a construction go-head”, and the restaurant opened the following year, in July 1975.
The earliest dates we’ve found, February 8-9, 1974, for the band Kramer’s Kreamers, fronted by ex-MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer, at the Primo Showbar in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Intriguing ad by an unknown artist for Sid Blair with Visions electric jazz concert at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, February 9, 1974.
From the May 16, 1974 issue of The Detroit Free Press: “Detroit has always been known as a city of musicians without peer. Many a singer, musician, and band leader has told me “The Detroit musicians can sight-read any chart known to man. It’s amazing how talented they are.” When famed jazz trumpeter, Don Ellis heard the music of Sid Blair’s Visions, he became a believer in Detroit musicians too. Ellis’ charts are complex in their use of electronics and unusual time signatures. After hearing Visions, he said, “They can play my bag”.
Newspaper ad for the final Iggy & the Stooges show, at the Michigan Palace in Detroit, February 9, 1974.
Iggy wasn’t going to let it go after being knocked out by a biker at the Rock & Roll Farm, he went on Detroit radio and challenged the bikers to show up at the Stooges next show, at the Michigan Palace, February 9, 1974. The bikers did not show up in force, but the crowd was especially hostile. The band closed the set with a rendition of “Louie, Louie” and left the stage under a hail of bottles, coins, eggs, and other projectiles. The next day Iggy called the other band members and told them he was calling it quits.
As we described in our post about the October 6, 1973 show, the album “Metallic K.O.”, released in 1976, was sold as the Stooge’s last ever show, but a decade later it was determined that Side One of the album was actually the first half of the October show, and Side Two was the last half only of the Stooge’s final show on February 9, 1974. This was remedied by releasing “Metallic 2X K.O.” that was a two-record set with the full recordings of both shows.
Here is the full February 9, 1974 show, the last-ever (until the 2003 reunion) Iggy & the Stooges performance.
Iggy & the Stooges – Live at the Michigan Palace, Detroit (2/9/74)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmZawkNxT0c
With the final end of the Stooges, we take a look back at some of our favorite Stooges Michigan posters:
April 11, 1968 – Union Ballroom, Ann Arbor, Michigan – unknown artist – the Stooges had performed five times at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, this might be their first professional gig in their hometown.
October 8, 1968 – Fifth Dimension, Ann Arbor, Michigan – artist Robim Sommers – this show was a celebration show for the Stooges and The MC5 both signing to Elektra Records. The unbridled festivities ending up trashing the club, making it the last show ever at the Fifth Dimension.
April 27, 1969 – Grande Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan – artist Leni Sinclair, using one of her most famous photos.
July 18, 1969 – Fifth Forum Theatre, Ann Arbor, Michigan – unknown artist – one of their strangest gigs, performing at a small movie theater along with a giant cartoon festival, the “elbow silhouette” photo that would be re-used on other posters was first found here.
December 2, 1969 – Canterbury House, Ann Arbor, Michigan – artist Al Shamie (Bad Dog)
June 6, 1970 – Wampler’s Lake Pavilion, Onsted, Michigan – unknown artist who made a series of comic book posters, all of which packed a punch.
July 24, 1970 – Palladium, Birmingham, Michigan – artist Carol Ann – there were two versions, blue on white and white on blue.
December 5, 1970 – Farmington High School, Farmington, Michigan – artist S.L. Donahue – a nice band photo, but out-of-date at the time.
December 18, 1970 – Grand Valley Armory, Grand Rapids, Michigan – unknow artist.
October 5-6, 1973 – Michigan Palace, Detroit, Michigan – unknown artist.
A full-page ad in the February 9, 1974 issue of the British music magazine Melody Maker for the single “Smokin’ in the Boy’s Room” by Brownsville Station.
A full-page Westbound Records ad for Byron MacGregor’s single “Americans” which peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week of February 9, 1974, becoming one of the fastest-selling records at the time with over two million sales in the first month of its release.
Written as an essay and originally broadcast by commentator Gordon Sinclair on CFRB radio in Toronto, Canada on June 5, 1973, it became a phenomenon in the US when MacGregor, the news director at CKLW radio in Windsor, released a recording of the speech, backed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra performing “America the Beautiful”.
MacGregor, by the way, married Jo-Jo Shutty, who, also with CKLW, was the first female helicopter news and traffic reporter in North America.
Byron MacGregor – Americans (1973)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw2ysu1RWLA
A nearly word-less full-page ad in the February 9, 1974 issue of the British music newspaper New Musical Express for the single "Devil Gate Drive" by Suzi Quatro (tattoo on one of the band member's arm). It became her third #1 hit in Australia, and her second #1 record in the UK.
Newspaper ad for an appearance by Miles Davis at the Masonic Temple in Detroit, Michigan on February 10, 1974.
Poster by Micael Priest for "A Tribute to the Cosmic Cowboys", a benefit show featuring Willie Nelson, Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen, John Prine, Kinky Friedman, Asleep at the Wheel and MC's Huey Meaux, poster artist Jim Franklin and Don Sanders, held at Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston, TX on February 10, 1974.
A pair of ads for Dave Mason at the Rose Arena in Mount Pleasant, Michigan on February 10, 1974.
Ad for Dave Mason, plus Bachman-Turner Overdrive at the MSU Auditorium in East Lansing, Michigan, February 11, 1974. Mason surprised the local fans by showing up at the Alle-Ey bar after the show for a late-night jam session, that went so well that Mason revisited the bar again the next night.
An ad using the great Ralph Steadman illustration from the cover of the “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” paperback book, for an appearance by Hunter S. Thompson at the Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, February 12, 1974. Local legend Shakin' Jake Woods warmed up the crowd.
Newspaper ad for P.D.Q. Bach at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, February 12, 1974. P.D.Q. (Pretty Damn Quick) Bach is a fictional composer created by Peter Schickele, while a student at Julliard in NYC, releasing his first album in 1965. By the time of this performance, he had released five albums. The piece we have here, “The Art of the Ground Round” comes from the composer’s “Soused Period” and appeared on the 1974 live album “The Intimate P.D.Q. Bach”.
P.D.Q. Bach – The Art of the Ground Round (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkjR3cdXSS8
Ad for Bob Seger (still being mis-spelled) at the Rock ‘N’ Roll Farm in Wayne, Michigan, February 12, 1974.
Poster for the Michael Quatro Jam Band, opening for Bachman-Turner Overdrive at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, February 13, 1974.
Newspaper ad for Jackson Browne with Linda Ronstadt, at the Michigan Palace in Detroit, February 13, 1974. This appears to be Ronstadt’s first Michigan show, so this is a good place to talk about her Michigan connection. And it’s a story about two boys.
John David (J.D.) Souther was born in Detroit, grew up in Amarillo, Texas, and moved to Los Angeles, California, where he met and married Alex Sliwin, a singer in a group called Honey Ltd., a band that included Silwin’s sister Joan and had started out as the Mama Cats back in Michigan. The Mama Cats were among the groups that got their start at Dave Leone’s Hideout club and had a single released on Leone’s Hideout Records label that was written and produced by Bob Seger. For their live gigs, the girls were backed a group called The Mushrooms that featured guitarist/singer Glenn Frey.
The Mama Cats decided to move to Los Angeles where they met producer Lee Hazelwood who changed their name to Honey Ltd., and produced their only album in 1968. Frey, who also dated Joan Silwin, followed her out to California, where he met Alex’s husband, J.D. Souther. Souther and Frey hit it off and formed a duo called Longbranch/Pennywhistle, who released a self-titled album in 1970.
Souther and Sliwin got a divorce and Souther began dating Linda Ronstadt. They began looking for a back-up band to tour with Ronstadt and found drummer Don Henley. To fill a guitar slot, Ronstadt suggested to Souther, “let’s get Glenn”. Ronstadt also had guitarist Bernie Leadon and bassist Randy Meisner in her revolving stable of backing musicians. The four of them actually only performed together once, backing Ronstadt at a show at Disneyland in the summer of 1971, but she encouraged them to form their own group, which they did, called “Eagles”.
Here is an audience recording of one song from Ronstadt’s February 13, 1974 show at the Michigan Palace, the four Eagles by this time having flown to new heights.
Incidentally, a show review revealed that the drummer in Jackson Browne’s band was Larry Zack from Hamtramck and “the now-defunct Savage Grace”
Linda Ronstadt – Silver Threads and Golden Needles (live in Detroit, Michigan) (2/13/74)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=murOaznHOG4
Ad for Dooley’s in East Lansing that is notable in that it seems to be the last known appearances, February 14-17, 1974 of the Detroit band Virgin Dawn, who have been with us since 1969. At least two former members, guitarist Ray Gunn and keyboardist Robyn Robins (who had already left the band in 1971 to join the Assemblage) will continue to come up in our story.
A collection of posters featuring the band Virgin Dawn, 1969 – 1974. If you know of any more, send them to us!
Nice poster for Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes with Cactus, in Decatur, Illinois, February 15, 1974.
An unknown artist began doing work for Lizard’s Bar in East Lansing, Michigan, creating band name themed illustrations starting with this one for the Brooklyn Blues Busters, February 15-16, 1974.
An ad for Freddie Hubbard at Pease Auditorium in Ypsilanti, Michigan, February 16, 1974.
Volume Ten - 1974 - continues - HERE
A full-page RCA Records ad for Lou Reed’s “Rock n Roll Animal” album in the February 16, 1974 issue of Billboard Magazine.
Poster/flyer by Gary Grimshaw for the Azmolee Jam Band and Okra at the Primo Showbar in Ann Arbor on February 12, 1974, followed by the Brooklyn Blues Busters, Walrus, and the Soulful Soulmates.
Lou Reed on the cover of the February 7, 1974 issue of the Northeastern Ohio Scene magazine. The issue carried a glowing review of Reed’s November show in Akron and of his new album “Rock n Roll Animal”. The main basis of the praise was “Reed’s new band”.
“For the first time in his career he’s got himself a real-live, cooking rock and roll band. They’re good, real good. Especially guitarist Steve Hunter. In Akron they put on the best rock show I’ve seen in three years.”
A full-page Atlantic Records ad for the fourth studio album by the J. Geils Band, coinciding with their two shows at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan, February 8-9, 1974.
Newspaper ads for two shows by the J. Geils Band at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan, February 8-9, 1974, the second show added “by popular demand”.
Poster/flyer by Gary Grimshaw for a benefit for the People’s Food Co-Op at the Primo Showbar in Ann Arbor on February 3, 1974, with Rabbits and Sojourner Wolf’s Cat House Band.
A full-page Capitol Records ad for the album “Moondog Matinee” by The Band in the February 1974 issue of CREEM magazine, coinciding with the group’s fourth Michigan appearance, opening for Bob Dylan at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor on February 2, 1974.
A Columbia Records ad proclaiming the “Year of Dylan” as Bob Dylan went on tour with his first live shows in seven years.
The Ann Arbor Sun newspaper published a four-page supplement in anticipation of Bob Dylan’s concert at the Crisler Arena, February 2, 1974. It was a big deal because it was Dylan’s first shows in seven years and his first time back to Ann Arbor since 1964. And it turned out to be a great show, we were there.
Nice use of black-and-white on this ad by an unknown artist for the Bryan Lee Blues Band at Lizard’s Bar in East Lansing, Michigan, January 25-28, and February 1-4, 1974.
The show contract, signed by Dr. Leo Speer and Jim Osterberg. The Stooges recieved $5,000 plus 60% over a figure to be advised.
You should recall, a few posts back, that we dispelled the belief that Aerosmith kicked off their “Get Your Wings” tour in Detroit, on the erroneous date of January 7, 1974. But it turns out that Aerosmith did perform a pre-tour show in Michigan, still over a month before the start of the tour, but the memory of this show may have fed the tour kick-off myth.
The managers of The Brewery in East Lansing were early fans of the Boston band and they had been trying to book them, they finally succeeded with a show on January 30, 1974, the poster is by Terry O’Connor.
Aerosmith had performed at least twice before in Michigan, when they toured with the Mahavishnu Orchestra in February 1973, and with Mott The Hoople in October 1973 (both times, billed as “Arrowsmith”). They did NOT, however, appear with the New York Dolls at the Michigan Palace in September 1973, despite Dennis Loren’s very nice poster.
At the end of a glowing review of The Brewery show, written by Dave DiMartino in Lansing’s State News newspaper, he writes, “Heading for Detroit, the group will share the bill with guitarist Roy Buchanan this weekend, and then continue their trek of the Midwest”.
The January 19, 1974 issue of The Fifth Estate newspaper in Detroit, had a listing in its events calendar for Linda Ronstadt with Roy Buchanan at the Michigan Palace, February 1. Our guess is that Ronstadt cancelled (she would return to the Palace on the 13th with Jackson Browne), and that Aerosmith was slotted in. An eyewitness account claimed, “Aerosmith…played Detroit with Roy Buchanan…the show was excellent and my fellow guitarist buddy and me both thought Joe Perry blew the “Telecaster guitar god” and his lame band off the stage”.
A newspaper ad for Iggy & the Stooges at My Father’s Place in Roslyn, New York, with two shows nightly for three nights, January 30-31, 1974 through February 1st.
The blaxploitation martial-arts film “Black Belt Jones” was released on January 28, 1974. Funk Brother guitarist Dennis Coffey, along with music director Luci De Jesus, composed and performed the film’s soundtrack.
Dennis Coffey – Theme from Black Belt Jones (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WdlesQM7_s
Dennis Coffey – Love Theme from Black Belt Jones (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncAEurpw4W4
The Alibi Rock Theaters, also known as Alibi East, opened in Mount Pleasant, Michigan in late 1973 and was booking popular acts, REO Speedwagon, Spirit, and Detroit had already performed there before this January 29, 1974 show by Bob Seger (a blast from the past in billing the “System”).
Gary Grimshaw poster for Duke Ellington at the Power Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, January 30, 1974.
Newsprint version of the Gary Grimshaw poster for Duke Ellington at the Power Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, January 30, 1974.
