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Splatt Gallery's History of Michigan Music Posters
Volume Ten - 1974 - Page Fifteen
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An ad for Chuck Berry at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Michigan on September 21, 1974, aided and abetted by his long-time friends and collaborators, The Woolies.
Somewhat surprising, this is Chuck Berry’s last Michigan show for the next six years. Berry’s peak period of Michigan appearances was from 1966 through 1971. He performed at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit at least five times, the Eastown Theater four times, and other storied venues such as the Walled Lake Casino, the Birmingham Palladium, the Sherwood Forest in Davison, and Grandmother’s in Lansing.
Berry typically toured on his own, bringing along only his Gibson guitar, knowing that he could find a local pick-up band that would know his music. This often resulted in erratic performances, but he really clicked with the Lansing (by way of Dearborn) band The Woolies when they were first “assigned” to back him at The Dells in Haslett, Michigan in August 1968. Berry would call on The Woolies whenever he was anywhere near Michigan, and there are likely many un-counted shows both in the state and surrounding states.
His Michigan appearances also ticked up in 1971, when he recorded his 15th studio album “San Francisco Dues” at The Woolies’ Lansing Sound Studio. Again, we expect there were more undocumented shows, as Berry’s haphazard record keeping, and his typical demand to be paid up-front, in cash, ended up getting him in hot water with the IRS.
Interestingly, after 1975, and throughout the rest of the 1970’s, Berry performed more often outside the United States than within the US. We will see him return to Michigan in 1980.
An ad for Alex Cooley’s Electric Ballroom in Atlanta, Georgia with Mike Quatro appearing for three nights, September 23-25, 1974, about a week and a half after his sister Suzi appeared at the same venue.
Steppenwolf decided to re-form after having broken up on Valentine’s Day 1972. This reunion tour, “Reborn To Be Wilder”, started with a series of Canadian shows, coming the closest to Detroit with a September 24, 1974 show in Windsor, Ontario, across the river, although the band will make an up-coming show in Detroit before the end of the year.
During the two-and-a-half year hiatus, lead singer John Kay recorded two solo albums and toured, both as the John Kay Band and as Steppenwolf. None of those shows came to Michigan, but of interest, drummer Whitey (Pentti) Glan, previously of the Canadian bands The Rouges, Mandala and Bush, performed on both of Kay’s solo albums and was in the touring band until Dick Wagner recruited him for Lou Reed’s band for the “Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal” tour.
When the great East Lansing newspaper Joint Issue folded in May 1974, its successor, the Lansing Star picked right up without missing a beat, with its first issue published in June. The original masthead logo, shown at the top, was quite crude, but it evolved with every successive issue.
The full cover of the September 24, 1974 issue, in the middle, shows what it had become by the fourth issue, which also has a cover illustration by staff artist Moustache Dave. Shown on the bottom is what it had become by the end of October’s Issue 6, which was unfortunately the final issue in its brief initial run. But we can tell you that the paper will come back with a roar in April 1975 and for the coming eight years it will have some of the best artwork, concert ads and music news in the state.
The Discount Records store in East Lansing, Michigan was one of the advertisers in the new Lansing Star newspaper, and although the ads were smaller than the ones that they were placing in the State News newspaper, they still gave artist Jive Comix, aka Ted Echterling, a format for his always interesting artwork.
A collection of ads and a flyer showing activity by Marshall Crenshaw’s band Astigafa in East Lansing, Michigan during the Fall of 1974, with a party at the Mason-Abbot Hall on September 24, 1974, followed by gigs at Dooley’s and The Alle-Ey in November. Also shown is a bumper sticker, produced by the Paul Stanley Talent agency to promote the single “Wing Nuts” on the band’s label Great Ape Records, which we have previously posted.
Back-to-back Motown cover stars on the British music magazine Blues & Soul, with Stevie Wonder on the cover of the September 10 issue and Marvin Gaye on the cover of the September 24, 1974 issue.
The schedule for the Rainbow Room in the Shelby Hotel in Detroit, Michigan, with the Rockets, September 25-26, 1974, followed by Dallas Hodge’s Deluxe, Martha Reeves, and Ellen McIlwane, with Eddie Nuccilli Plural Circle every Sunday, the Friends Road Show every Tuesday, and as always, hosted by Righteous Bob Rudnick with The Records.
An ad for W4 106FM radio station in Detroit, Michigan, with the line-up circa September 26, 1974.
An ad for Marvin Gaye at Radio City Music Hall in New York City for eight shows starting on September 26, 1974, through October 2nd.
An ad for Stevie Wonder with the Commodores at Olympia Stadium in Detroit, Michigan on September 27, 1974. A show review in the Ann Arbor SUN newspaper noted that “the arena was only about half full due to the fact that the advance publicity was scant because the date wasn’t confirmed until only a week ahead of time.”
An ad for Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes, with Uranus, at the Rolling Stone club in Fort Myers, Florida on September 27, 1974. The ad reads, “For those of you who dare attend Ted Nugent’s live show, just keep repeating to yourself: ‘He’s only human – he’s only human’.
“See Ted disintegrate glass with a single note from his guitar! The late Bruce Lee referred to Ted Nugent’s fingers as “The Original Ten Digits of Doom’.”
We cannot find much information on this venue, but it must have been an exciting place, coming up after the Nugent show was “Hue & Cry” – “A show not to be missed. Come see and hear Rock Magic performed with their deadly 10-ft. boa constrictor.”
A full-page record company ad for the second album and first American tour by the British band Wizzard, with tour dates including their only-ever Michigan appearance, at the Michigan Palace in Detroit on September 28, 1974, opening for KISS, in their 8th Michigan show of the year.
The September 28, 1974 issue of Billboard magazine carried a special tribute section congratulating Don Cornelius on his four years of the TV show “Soul Train”, with full-page tributes coming from throughout the recording and entertainment industry, including these, from Stevie Wonder, Motown Records and Armen Boladian’s Westbound and Eastbound Records.
A close-up of Armen Boladian’s Westbound and Eastbound Records’ full-page tribute to Don Cornelius’ Soul Train four-year anniversary in the September 28, 1974 issue of Billboard magazine, with a good look at the labels’ artists roster at the time.
An even closer close-up of Armen Boladian’s Westbound and Eastbound Records’ full-page tribute to Don Cornelius’ Soul Train four-year anniversary in the September 28, 1974 issue of Billboard magazine, which shows the sweet designs, and similarities of the two logos.
Poster/ad for actor/comedian Jimmie Walker in an appearance at Warriner Auditorium in Mount Pleasant, Michigan on September 28, 1974. The TV show “Good Times” had just finished airing its six-episode first-season.
Ads for “the Fabulous Funkadelics” at the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio on September 28, 1974, and “the Marvin Gaye Show Starring Marvin Gaye” at the Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio on October 4th.
Elvis Presley performed twice in Detroit in 1974, with these closely spaced shows at the Olympia Stadium, on September 29, 1974, and again five days later. Here is a recording of the first show:
Elvis Presley – Live in Detroit (9/29/74)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DClGNmI0wdY
An ad for Alex Cooley’s Electric Ballroom in Atlanta, Georgia with four shows by the Rockets, first, opening for Roy Wood’s Wizzard on September 30, 1974, then headlining their own show the next night, and then opening for Nektar and then for Caravan for the next two nights after that.
A couple of small ads from the back pages of the October 1974 issue of CREEM magazine. There’s a San Francisco based Hardcore Iggy Pop Fan Club, with a nice quote by Andy Warhol, and “Iggy is it!” stands out in the collection of Rock ‘N Roll bumper stickers, some other real gems in there too.
The date on most monthly magazines is usually a pull-date, like a “fresh until” date, so unsold copies of this issue were being pulled off the shelves, right around the time that Iggy was getting pulled off the streets, for a while.
An ad for Stanley Mouse’s Monster T-shirts in the October 1974 issue of CREEM magazine.
Poster by an unknown artist for a free concert by Jonathon Round at the Grand Valley Student Coffee House in Allendale, Michigan, near Grand Rapids, on October 1, 1974.
A pair of posters for Suzi Quatro in concert, in Essen, Germany on October 1, 1974, and in Frankfurt, Germany the following day.
A full-page RAK Records ad for the release of Suzi Quatro’s second album in October 1974. Most, but not all, of the initial pressings included the song “Devil Gate Drive” which had been released as a single back in February and had become her third #1 hit in Australia and her second #1 hit in the UK.
Suzi Quatro – Devil Gate Drive (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vFTksaposs
An October 2, 1974 Stroh Brewery Company poster/ad that caught our eye. Here is a link to 13 classic Stroh’s beer commercials:
https://wrkr.com/classic-strohs-commercials/
Poster/handbill and newspaper ad by the Rainbow Press for the Rainbow Room in the Shelby Hotel in Detroit, Michigan, with the schedule of events starting with Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, October 2-5, 1974, followed by Martha Reeves, October 9-12, Lightnin’, October 16-17, and Ellen McIlwaine, October 18-19.
Wayne Kramer’s Kramer’s Kreamers band began a residency at The Scene in Ann Arbor, Michigan, performing every Thursday, Friday and Saturday in October, which would put the first show on October 3, 1974. The ads kept flipping back and forth between 314 S. Main and 341 S. Main, we believe that 341 was correct.
Newspaper ad for Taj Mahal at Michigan State University in East Lansing, with two shows on October 3, 1974. The following night he performed in Detroit at the Michigan Palace, opening for Little Feat and Weather Report.
The front cover of the October 4, 1974 issue of the Ann Arbor SUN newspaper with photo of Stevie Wonder by David Fenton. The feature story had a review of Wonder’s September 27 show at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit and reported that Wonder donated his earnings from the concert to the city of Detroit to be used to help ghetto children.
Gary Grimshaw has been conspicuously absent in 1974, the last concert poster that we have seen from him was at the beginning of March. This gorgeous poster for the 1974-75 Opera Season for the Michigan Opera Theatre, beginning with the staging of “La Traviata” on October 4, 1974, is a fantastic return to form for Grimshaw, but only makes us wonder where he has been and what has he been doing over the past eight months?
The answer is provided to us by Rich Dorris:
“This was Motor City Graphics days. Grimshaw had departed Ann Arbor/Rainbow Graphics and struck out on his own. We Set up in The Music Hall building, that lasted for some months until we moved to the Shelby Hotel.”
An ad for The McCrarys, a group of siblings from Youngstown, Ohio, performing at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan on October 4, 1974. The group had a hit in 1978 with the song “You” featuring Stevie Wonder on harmonica. Individually, each of members have worked with a wide range of artists, including Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Andrae Crouch, Maria Muldaur, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Chaka Khan, the California Raisins and many more.
The McCrarys – You (1978)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBQ1x6bcfTs&list=PLLwhRr5tm1lcVBTb3HkP5TTsyBAJezLJQ&index=72&t=0s
A Warner Bros. Records promo poster for A Warner Bros. Records promo poster for “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now”, the fourth studio album by Little Feat, released in August 1974, a couple of months before the band’s two shows at the Michigan Palace in Detroit, October 4-5, 1974. They also appeared at the Brewery in Lansing, Michigan on October 7th to complete a three-night swing through the state.“Feats Don’t Fail Me Now”, the fourth studio album by Little Feat, released in August 1974, a couple of months before the band’s two shows at the Michigan Palace in Detroit, October 4-5, 1974. They also appeared at the Brewery in Lansing, Michigan on October 7th to complete a three-night swing through the state.
A full-page Warner Bros. Records ad and poster for the second album by the Graham Central Station with the supporting tour dates including a show at the Michigan Palace in Detroit on October 5, 1974. Opening for Little Feat, it was the Graham Central Station’s third Detroit show and their second at the Michigan Palace.
The album “Release Yourself” included their funkified version of the Detroit Emeralds’ classic “Feel The Need”. So once again, here is the Graham Central Station performing “Feel The Need” on the Soul Train TV show:
Graham Central Station – Feel The Need (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B10-z3dXDCg
Alice Cooper’s movie “Good To See You Again” had been initially released in May but was pulled for re-editing. It was re-released, with Alice himself attending the Detroit premier at the Kingswood Theater in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan on October 5, 1974.
Two posters for the re-release of the Alice Cooper movie “Good To See You Again” in October 1974.
This poster may have been for the re-release of the Alice Cooper movie “Good To See You Again” in October 1974, or it may be from the initial release in May 1974. Either way, we have not posted it before.
Poster/flyer by Gary Grimshaw for Little Feat at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan on October 6, 1974, following the group’s two nights at the Michigan Palace on the 4th and 5th, and preceding one more Michigan show, at the Brewery in Lansing on the 7th.
An ad for the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia with Bob Seger opening for Bachman Turner Overdrive and the Charlie Daniels Band on October 8, 1974.
A full-page Grunt Records ad for the release of the debut album by the Jefferson Starship, with tour dates including a show at the Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan on October 9, 1974 (fifth on the list).
A very nice poster/handbill by an unknown artist for Martha Reeves at the Rainbow Room in the Shelby Hotel in Detroit, Michigan, October 9-12, 1974, “signed” by Rainbow Agency.
An MCA Records ad promoting the debut solo album by Martha Reeves, tied to her shows at the Rainbow Room in the Shelby Hotel in Detroit, Michigan, October 9-12, 1974. Primarily composed of cover versions, it was reportedly the most expensive album to make up to then.
The lead-off track, a cover of Van Morrison’s “Wild Night” was used in the soundtrack to the 1991 movie “Thelma & Louise”.
Martha Reeves – Wild Night (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukOq2jUGfGE
Poster/ad for the Rainbow Room in the Shelby Hotel in Detroit, Michigan with the schedule for October 1974, with Martha Reeves, Lightnin’, Ellen McIlwaine, Willie Dixon, the Rockets, and the regularly scheduled Eddie Nucilli, Friends Road Show, Lyman Woodard, Righteous Rudnick and The Records.
A nice little ad in the October 10, 1974 edition of the Fifth Estate newspaper in Detroit, Michigan for music by Native Son at the Delta Lady Saloon.
One of the earlier variations of the stylish ads for WABX-FM radio in Detroit, Michigan by Kevin Tolman, the full-page version appeared in the October 10, 1974 issue of the Fifth Estate newspaper. Also shown is the ad size version.
Lily Tomlin, born in Detroit, became the sixth Michigan-related artist to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, on the October 10, 1974 issue, pictured with fellow comedian Richard Pryor.
Volume Ten - 1974 - continues - HERE
Newspaper ad for Jefferson Starship at Cobo Arena on October 9, 1974 and an ad for an upcoming show By Bachman-Turner Overdrive with Bob Seger in Ypsilanti on October 13th. It was the Starship’s second Michigan appearance, having premiered in March at the Masonic Temple in Detroit.
An ad for Alex Cooley’s Electric Ballroom in Atlanta, Georgia with the Rockets opening for Caravan for three nights, October 3-5, 1974, with upcoming shows by Fanny and Parliament Funkadelics.
Another outstanding Globe Poster for the Driftwood Lounge at the 20 Grand in Detroit, Michigan with the Dells plus Hamilton Bohannon appearing for seven nights, September 20-29, 1974.
A striking full-page ad for Brownsville Station in the September 21, 1974 issue of Billboard magazine, promoting the band’s fourth album “School Punks”. Here is a clip of the band on the Midnight Special TV show performing the album’s lead-off track.
Brownsville Station – King of the Party (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94E1KN8RdSA
Band logo by Gary Grimshaw for the Rockets, who were performing at the Rainbow Room in the Shelby Hotel in Detroit, Michigan on September 20, 1974.
“Late Flash”, from the Ann Arbor SUN newspaper, “Bob Bageris, the Detroit promoter, was arrested Friday for intent to deliver cocaine and released on $25,000 bond.”
Cover art by Gary Kell on the September 20, 1974 edition of the Ann Arbor SUN newspaper in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Oh no, not the ozone!
