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Splatt Gallery's History of Michigan Music Posters
Volume Ten - 1974 - Page Nineteen
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A full-page Capricorn Records ad with tour dates for The Marshall Tucker Band, including a show in Detroit, Michigan on December 8, 1974. The ad says that the show would be at the Michigan Palace, but for some reason it was moved to the only-slightly larger Masonic Auditorium, and it was moved from December 7th to the 8th.
The band had made their first Michigan appearance back in March 1974, opening for Joe Walsh & Barnstorm in Flint. This was their first time as a headliner, and they would return close to 45 times in the upcoming years.
December 8, 1974 was the air date for the J. Geils Band on the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio show, recorded at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan in early November.
A full-page Apple Records ad for the release of George Harrison’s fifth studio album, “Dark Horse”, released on December 9, 1974, just five days after Harrison’s concert at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit, Michigan. The title track single had been released a few weeks earlier and was performed at his Detroit concert.
One thing about the Beatles is that any one of them could be your “favorite Beatle” and each one of them was, at one time or another. In late 1974 our favorite was George so we were delighted that he would be the first ex-Beatle to come through town on a major tour.
John Lennon, of course, was the first ex-Beatle to perform in Michigan, but only for a few songs at the end of the Free John Sinclair Rally two years earlier in Ann Arbor in December 1972. That would be Lennon’s only Michigan appearance, as would the Olympia show would be Harrison’s only Michigan appearance.
The video linked below has career-spanning images of “the quiet one”, see if it doesn’t bring something back.
George Harrison – Dark Horse (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPnLXjx5qOg
A full-page Capitol Records ad for the Grand Funk single “Some Kind of Wonderful”, released on December 9, 1974.
A newspaper ad for Brataxis, in possibly their first gig, at The Brewery in East Lansing, Michigan, December 10-15, 1974. The new band was the band Uprising, but with original guitarist Bob Rasmussen replaced by Sam Warren.
They got into a recording studio, Eastern Sound Studios in Toronto, Ontario, Canada pretty quickly and released a single on Banner Records. Here is the A-side, we’ll keeping searching for the flip-side due to the title “Queen Floozie”.
The impressive guitar work on the track is likely by newest member Sam Warren. Warren will later join The Look, famously the first Detroit band to appear on MTV.
Brataxis – Long Hard Road (1975)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR17PjusGXE
Newspaper ad for Funkadelic Parliament at The Tomorrow Club in Youngstown, Ohio on December 12, 1974.
Poster by Crow Quill for the Doobie Brothers at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan on December 14, 1974.
Poster/ad by an unknown artist for Radio King & his Court of Rhythm, with the Mojo Boogie Band, at the Michigan Union Ballroom in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in a benefit show for the Ann Arbor SUN newspaper on December 14, 1974.
Having played close to 150 shows in the area since their formation in July 1972, Radio King had packed up and moved to Boston, Massachusetts in search of better performance venues and to be closer to the East Coast record industry. This return to Ann Arbor was their Michigan appearance since early April.
A post-show review mentioned that the Mojo Boogie Band, including drummer JC Crawford and saxophonist Steven Mackay, had self-released a 45 single which must have been the single “Get Away” that we posted earlier, so here is the B-side.
Mojo Boogie Band – Go Home With You (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTrCSjp2rqU
Poster/flyer by Rainbow Productions for Jr. Walker & the All Stars at Chances Are in Ann Arbor on December 16, 1974.
Schedule for the Savoy in the Shelby Hotel in Detroit, Michigan, leading off with the Lyman Woodard Organization on December 17, 1974.
Bob Seger and Ted Nugent crossing paths again as each crisscrossed the country. Richards in Atlanta, Georgia hosted Seger December 19-21, 1974, with Nugent & the Amboy Dukes a week later, December 26-28.
A great Cactus poster by an unknown artist from Strawberry Music, for a show at Cass Tech High School in Detroit, Michigan on December 20, 1974, with Salem Witchcraft.
An article in the December 20, 1974 edition of the Ann Arbor SUN newspaper in Ann Arbor Michigan announced that the sweepstakes drawing to win a pound of Colombian marijuana was being extended from the original date of January 3, 1975 to January 24th. The reason given was that with 2,500 entries so far, they were still coming in at a clip of about 60 day.
In addition, the date choice of January 24th was “a significant date in Michigan marijuana history”, it would be the eighth anniversary of the original 1967 Detroit police raid that ensnared John Sinclair on the charges for which he would later be sentenced. Also, January 24, 1970 had been the “International Free John Sinclair Day”, with benefit shows at the Grande Ballroom and the Eastown Theater in Detroit, and at other locations all around the country.
The real reason, however, was probably that State Representative Perry Bullard, who had agreed to officiate the drawing, got cold feet after only narrowly winning re-election and told the SUN, “The time of confrontational politics is over”. The SUN was left to try and find “another responsible public official” to certify the winner.
For SUN readers, it also meant being treated to more color variations of Chris Frayne’s (Ozone) artwork.
KISS wrapped up their year of Michigan appearances with two shows at the Michigan Palace in Detroit, December 20-21, 1974, giving them a total of fifteen Michigan shows in 1974, and coming full circle with the Michigan Palace which had been the venue of their first Michigan appearance back in April.
The cool Michigan Palace commemorative sticker shown here has some damage which partially obscures the date.
The concert database has one additional show, in Grand Rapids on December 26th, but the KISS concert history site shows it as being cancelled. The KISS concert history site also has this comment regarding the December 20th show:
“The promoter held a reception in the Palace's Mezzanine Lobby following the show to celebrate Peter's birthday (KISS drummer Peter Criss). Steve Glantz was a young and hungry promoter who had teamed with the Michigan Concert Palace's owner, Dr. Leo Speer, to bring rock concerts to what was described as a "majestic but deteriorating theater" (Detroit Free Press, 3/23/75). His first year was marred with fines for fire code violations and accusations of overcrowding.”
A full-page Motown Records ad in the December 21, 1974 issue of Billboard magazine, wherein Stevie Wonder thanks a long, long, long list of people in Germany and mentions that he may have missed some.
A full-page CKLW Radio ad with the nation’s first female helicopter traffic reporter, Jo Jo Shutty that was published around the time that the Detroit Free Press newspaper ran a feature story about her in their December 22, 1974 edition.
An ad for Figaro hair salon in the December 26, 1974 edition of the Fifth Estate newspaper in Detroit, Michigan. The unidentifiable artist looks like he/she modeled Stooges guitarist James Williamson.
A full-page ad from the management agency for REO Speedwagon, touting the gross receipts from recent concerts, including two Michigan shows, in Grand Rapids on December 26, 1974 where they pulled in $34,560 and in Kalamazoo on December 30th, with a gross of $34,812.
A full-page Bearsville Records ad for the fourth album by Foghat, published at the same time that the band performed their seventh Michigan show, at the Masonic Auditorium in Detroit on December 16, 1974.
An ad for the Savoy, in the Shelby Hotel in Detroit, Michigan, for a rare appearance by the one and only, Martin Mull, December 26-29, 1974 and on New Year’s Eve.
The dates on the Chances Are ad are wrong, December 30, 1974 is a Monday, as is January 13, 1975. Later ads corrected the Luther Allison gig as being Sunday, January 12, 1975. A show preview and a post-show review confirm that Bob Seger and Ted Nugent performed on Monday, December 30, 1974 at the McMorran Arena in Port Huron, Michigan.
That only leaves the question, did Seger appear at Chances Are in Ann Arbor on Sunday, December 29th? The events calendar of the Ann Arbor SUN has the Space Coast Kids at Chances Are on that night, and it has Seger there on Monday, December 30th, which we know could not have happened.
A poster/handbill for the second-to-last show of the year for KISS, in Springfield, Illinois on December 30, 1974, with the Mike Quatro Jam Band. Their final show of the year, the next day, New Year’s Eve, in Evansville, Indiana capped off an incredible year which had seen the release of their first two albums, and national tours of well over 100 shows, including as we have noted before, at least 15 Michigan appearances.
An ad for REO Speedwagon with Eric Burdon in Kalamazoo, Michigan on December 30, 1974.
Poster by an unknown artist for the final appearance by the Sunday Funnies, on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1974 at Bimbo’s in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The band debuted in 1969, performed close to 100 known shows and released two albums. We’ll pay tribute to the band in the best way we know how – with a collection of their posters, coming right up.
We’ve taken the occasion of the final appearance by the Sunday Funnies, on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1974 at Bimbo’s in Ypsilanti, Michigan, to compile a collection of our favorite Sunday Funnies concert posters.
As we gathered these together, we found that we have covered the story of the Sunday Funnies fairly completely in the Master Document, but the best history of the band is found at the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends website, linked below. It also has some unreleased recordings that were made during the final stage of their career, when guitarist Gary Quackenbush, formerly of SRC, joined the band.
https://michiganrockandrolllegends.com/index.php/mrrl-hall-of-fame/380-sunday-funnies
Poster by Terry O’Connor for New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1974, at The Brewery in East Lansing, Michigan. Hardly “Michigan’s Most Popular Band”, the Columbus, Ohio band Strongbow are generally described as “a forgotten American progressive rock band”.
The Brewery had its greatest year in 1974, transitioning from mostly local Lansing-area acts to becoming the prime venue for touring groups and the top Michigan acts. Bob Seger performed at least five times, Iggy & the Stooges made their only-ever Lansing appearance, Aerosmith appeared three times, and KISS did a two-nighter.
They presented Alex Chilton’s Big Star’s only-ever Michigan appearance, for six nights, the first Michigan appearances of the Alex Harvey Band, Status Quo, Heartsfield (six times), Flash Cadillac, and possibly, the Ann Arbor band Brataxis. The acts that came to The Brewery for their only time to perform in the Lansing area, included Iggy & the Stooges, Badfinger, Soft Machine (their final Michigan show), Freddie King, Captain Beefheart, Fanny, Argent, Robin Trower, The Flock, Strawbs, Stonebridge, T. Rex, Johnny Otis, and Cactus.
An ad with Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, Canada, December 18-20, 1974. The engagement may have been for six nights, December 16-21.
A fullpage Warner Bros. Records ad for the Doobie Brothers with their complete 1974 show dates, including two Detroit shows in July (at Pine Knob in Clarkston), Ann Arbor on December 14, and Kalamazoo on December 19, 1974.
Ads for New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1974, with Radio King and Mixed Bag at the Golfside Clubhouse in Ypsilanti and Friends Roadshow at the Dearborn Country Club in Livonia.
As you know, we strive for accuracy and not everything on Wikipedia, or the web at large, is correct. Even memories can be faulty, and errors self-replicate into becoming “sources”. Which is all a long-winded way for us to stake the claim that the infamous first public performance by Destroy All Monsters happened on New Year’s Eve of 1974, December 31, 1974, and not on New Year’s Eve of 1973 as stated on Wikipedia and other sources.
(Likewise, Wikipedia has their only other known show as being on Halloween 1976, but it should be 1975, that one is easier to discern since the poster has “Saturday” tied to November 1 which is a match to the 1975 calendar, and these same sources have Jim Shaw and Mike Kelley moving California in the summer of 1976.)
Another common mis-statement is that the New Year’s Eve performance happened at “a comic book convention”, in reality it was at a privately-owned comic book distribution warehouse, but we’ll get to that later.
Our first clue comes from the first page of the Introduction by Nicole Rudick in the book “Return of the Repressed”, where she writes:
“In a diary entry from December 30, 1974, the eighteen-year-old Niagara reports that ‘an apocalyptic thing happened…They want to start a band, just like us.’ ‘They’ refers to Mike Kelley and Jim Shaw, whom Niagara had met at the University of Michigan in 1972, before dropping out and leaving Ann Arbor. She returned in 1974 with her boyfriend, Cary Loren, an aspiring filmmaker.”
Quite a few sources agree that Niagara returned to Ann Arbor in 1974, Loren puts a finer point on their arrival in the oral history “Detroit Rock City”:
“I started going out with Niagara when I was a senior in high school; she was a year older than me. We left Detroit to live in a commune that her sister and her sister’s husband ran in Washington DC. I was a bike messenger going around Washington, delivering all kinds of shit to people like Kissinger. I got hit by a bus, and my bicycle kind of crumbled up, and my glasses were broke. It was during a rainstorm, and the bus driver just picked me up and threw me on the sidewalk. At that point I just said, ‘I gotta get outta this place.’ It was a good excuse to leave, and the commune really hated us. I think they were getting sick of Niagara and I. So right after the bus hit me, we got these Alice Cooper tickets and we moved back to Michigan, to Ann Arbor, where we decided to kind of stay.”
Alice Cooper performed at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor on December 12, 1973, so this does put the two of them in Ann Arbor for New Year’s Eve 1973, but it’s unlikely that they were performing with Kelley and Shaw in less than three weeks.
The following account by Loren, which involves Lincoln Yako, whom Loren describes as “a player in the Ann Arbor comix scene”, had the sort of details and naming of names that strike close to mundane reality:
“On a mid-summer after noon in 1974, Mike Kelley and Jim Shaw came to visit the Hill Street apartment where Niagara and I lived. The house sat across the street from the infamous former White Panther Party headquarters. Our front living room was modified into an apocalyptic theater with murals and props, a set where we made films and held midnight theater performances.
“During that first meeting we argued about the merits of Salvador Dalis painting versus his sell-out personality. We also decided to meet up again and work on creating music together. After a filming session at Hill Street, Mike, Jim, Niagara and I rejoined around the corner at a small party held at Ingrid Goods Forest Court commune. Just as we were leaving, Lincoln Yako spoke about looking for a band to play a New Year’s Eve event at a comic book distribution center. decided this would be an auspicious first gig. We then needed to come up with a name and Jim Shaw said, Destroy All Monsters and we all agreed.
From a letter by Lincoln Yako (ne Dr. Zero):
“I remember, with surprising detail, the first DAM gig. It was New Year’s Eve 74, at a comic book warehouse run by my pals, the Donahoe brothers. It was comprised of Cary, Niags, Shaw, Kelley and Roger Miller on drums. Tim Donahoe asked that you announce the name of your group before you began performance, so there was a hurried conference between Cary, Shaw and Kelley, then Cary announced, thru the mic, Um, we are Destroy All Monsters. The warehouse was on North Main St., Cary played guitar, Niags on broken violin, and Shaw or Kelley had a vacuum cleaner Naigs sang, and am pretty sure you all performed You cant kill kill (cuz it doesnt happen twice) which I thot was very funny. I remember it sounded great, altho the audience gave it a mixed reception, which was pretty good, all things considered.”
Loren continues, “I remember somewhat differently that we played a noise version of Iron Man at the comic book party for about 10 minutes and then were unceremoniously unplugged and thrown out. I think this kind of reaction was common whenever we performed and confirmed we were on the right track.”
Now, with all this emphasis on accuracy, and in full disclosure, we readily admit that the poster shown above is a fake. We reconstructed two Gary Grimshaw posters and added the photographs taken by Cary Loren, just for fun.
A full-page Atco Records ad on behalf of the band Black Oak Arkansas, thanking their fans and touting some pretty impressive statistics for the year of 1974. Their two Michigan shows for the year, in January and July, both shows at the Masonic Auditorium in Detroit, are highlighted in the sea of the fine print of their year-long itinerary.
Of interest, they headlined both times, with Jo Jo Gunne and Duke Williams opening the January show, and with Bad Company and Mick’s brother Chris Jagger opening in July.
We have previously chronicled the story of how Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley started the Monster Company in 1971 and developed a way to produce the four-color printing process used to make posters on paper, into the more difficult process of producing the same quality on fabric for t-shirts. By 1974, as seen in the above ad, the Monster Company had grown into the Monster Corporation of America, producing what Mouse called “the Mercedes-Benz of t-shirts”.
Front cover of the 1974 Monster T-Shirt Art catalog by Stanley Mouse.
We have assembled most, if not all, of the pages in Stanley Mouse’s 1974 Monster T-Shirt Art catalog.
A sheet of business cards for Stanley Mouse & Alton Kelley’s Monster Corporation of America with the same illustration as on the cover of their 1974 catalog.
Volume Ten - 1974 - continues - HERE
Poster by Dennis Preston, possibly cobbled together from previous Dennis Preston artwork, for Eddie Harris at The Stables in East Lansing, Michigan, December 3-8, 1974.
Newspaper ad for ex-Beatle George Harrison at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit, Michigan on December 4, 1974.
A large ad for Lizard’s in East Lansing, Michigan with a month’s worth of events starting on December 6, 1974. Not to get confused between the entertainment and the dinner specials, Brussel Sprout is a band, as is Rabbits, Beef & Booze and Brook Trout are menu items. New Year’s Eve festivities with the Friends Road Show.
Ads for KDJ Productions with New Birth, an ensemble group formed by Motown songwriters and producers Vernon Bullock and Harvey Fuqua, at the Akron Civic Center in Akron, Ohio on December 6, 1974. The following night, New Birth was joined by Funkadelic Parliament at the Allen Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio, and five nights later, Funkadelic Parliament performed in Youngstown, Ohio.
An ad for Bachman-Turner Overdrive that makes them look like a barbershop quartet, at the Grand Opening of the NFE (New Fillmore East) Theatre in New York City on December 7, 1974. Although not mentioned, Bob Seger was once again with their tour as the opening act.
On an adjacent ad are two bands that were not very much known outside of NYC at the time, the Ramones and a band, briefly known as Angel & the Snake, now with their new name, Blondie. It will be roughly two more years before either of these groups appear in Michigan.
Suzi Quatro on the cover of the December 3, 1974 issue of The Digger magazine, published in Melbourne, Australia.
An ad for the Savoy in the Shelby Hotel in Detroit, Michigan with the schedule for December, leading off with Jimmy Smith on December 3, 1974.
A Discount Records ad by Jive Comix, aka Ted Echterling, with a record sale tie-in to Alex Harvey’s first Michigan appearance, at The Brewery in East Lansing on December 2, 1974.
A production of the musical “Hair” came to Michigan State University in East Lansing on December 2, 1974, for days prior, readers of the State News newspaper were treated to ads designed by M. Casey.
Grand Funk released their ninth studio album “All the Girls in the World Beware!!!” in December 1974. The inside cover gatefold featured this illustration by famed DC comics artist Neal Adams, which was also issued as a poster and used for concert posters on the upcoming tour.
The first single off the album, a cover version of the Soul Brothers Six 1967 song “Some Kind of Wonderful” became Grand Funk’s third Top Ten single. The promotional video for the song followed the general format of the band cavorting on and around Mark Farner’s Michigan farm, interspersed with live concert footage.
Grand Funk – Some Kind of Wonderful (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWrlaEIcswU
A full-page record company ad with tour dates for Wishbone Ash, including two Michigan shows, in Detroit at the Masonic Auditorium on December 1, 1974 (possibly December 2nd) and at the Grand Valley State Colleges in Allendale on December 16th (sorting out the mangled information that is listed, possibly a GVSC poster somewhere to be found).
