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Splatt Gallery's History of Michigan Music Posters
Volume Twelve - 1976 - Page Ten
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Illustration by G. Greenshields as the logo of the Detroit band Gandalf, whose earliest known shows in the concert database were at Leone's Lounge & Arcade in Lincoln Park, Michigan, September 7-11, 1976. The band would also perform at the Second Chance in Ann Arbor and the Silver Bird Saloon in Detroit.
Newspaper ad for Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band opening for KISS in Louisville, Kentucky on September 8, 1976.
Following his appearance at the Reading Festival, Ted Nugent performed in Scotland, Sweden, then back to Germany for three shows, culminating with the German TV show Rockpalast on September 8, 1976. The full show in the link below is pretty kick-ass.
Ted Nugent - Live Rockpalast German TV (9/8/76)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXq73BP5uv4
A two-page spread for the sixth album by the Electric Light Orchestra, with artwork by Shusei Nagaoka, published near the time that ELO performed at the Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan on September 8-9, 1976, with a third show added for September 13th.
A minimalist full-page United Artists Records ad for ELO with tour dates including two Michigan shows (last stop on the list), although the dates were slightly off and a third show was added.
A show review written by Peggy Taube in the SUN newspaper for an appearance by Sippie Wallace at the Compared To What? Coffeehouse in Highland Park, Michigan on September 10, 1976. Taube called her show, along with the Mr. Bo Blues Trio, a “wonderful lesson in our living musical heritage”.
Born in Arkansas and raised in Houston, Texas, Wallace and her brothers established themselves in the Chicago blues and jazz scenes, making her first recordings in 1923. She moved to Detroit in 1929 and for the next nearly 40 years she served as the organist at the Leland Baptist Church in Detroit, otherwise virtually out of the public view.
In 1966, her friend Victoria Spivey coaxed her out of retirement to tour on the folk and blues festival circuit which was seeing a renewed interest by a younger generation. She recorded her first album “Sings The Blues” on October 31, 1966, in Copenhagen, Denmark, with Roosevelt Sykes and Little Brother Montgomery playing the piano. The lead track “Women Be Wise “ became the album title on subsequent re-issues.
She was a huge influence on musician Bonnie Raitt, who included a cover of "Women Be Wise" on Raitt’s self-titled debut album in 1971. Raitt continued to promote Wallace, touring and recording together throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
The first video linked below is a live performance from an unknown date. The second video is of Raitt and Wallace performing the song on “Late Night with David Letterman” on April 27, 1982, with Dr. John accompanying on piano, in support of her album "Sippie".
Sippie Wallace - Women Be Wise (1967)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf9gvuVXt0U
Sippie Wallace, Bonnie Raitt & Dr. John - Women Be Wise (David Letterman TV Show) (1982)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvLIoLxDlj0
Gary Grimshaw made a mistake on this poster for Blue Oyster Cult with Rush in Saginaw, Michigan that has led to many sources believing this was in 1977, although the activities of the two bands conflict with that date. The smoking gun evidence is found in the September 10, 1976 issue of the SUN newspaper which has this listing on that date, but it was a Friday, not a Saturday.
Poster by J.W. Kelly for Blue Oyster Cult with Spirit and Angel at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan on September 11, 1976. A live recording of the entire show can be found here:
Blue Oyster Cult – Live in Detroit, Michigan (9/11/76)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n30r_hm_zBU
A full-page Warner Bros. Records ad in the September 11, 1976 issue of Billboard magazine for Bootsy Collin’s debut album and first single.
A full-page Motown Records ad in the September 11, 1976 issue of Billboard magazine for a greatest hits album by Diana Ross. The video below, a disco remix of “Love Hangover” has some pretty high-stepping in a Soul Train TV show dance-off.
Diana Ross – Love Hangover (Disco remix) (1976)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94p6a2rLCOc
An ad with three shows on Ted Nugent’s UK tour, September 12-15, 1976.
The final show of Ted Nugent’s first overseas tour, at the Paradiso in Amsterdam on September 13, 1976. The date on the poster would be incorrect, and there may have been one additional show in Birmingham, England on the 14th.
An ad in the September 17, 1976 issue of the SUN newspaper in Detroit, Michigan for the debut solo album “Solid” by Michael Henderson. At age nineteen, Henderson was the bass player in Stevie Wonder’s band when Wonder performed fourteen nights at the Copacabana in New York City in March 1970. Miles Davis was in attandance and he purportedly told Stevie, "I’m taking your fucking bassist."
Henderson had no idea who Miles Davis was, so he asked his friend, “What do you know about this Miles guy?” The friend said, “If Miles Davis is calling you, you better get your bass guitar and run.”
His first album with Miles was 1971’s “A Tribute to Jack Johnson”, which is one of the most bass-centric album in his catalog. Henderson stayed with Davis for six years and eight albums, and he’s said that Davis was like a father to him. Davis also bestowed onto Henderson his sense of style for sunglasses.
“Miles turned me onto those glasses. Back in Italy, we went through a mall and there were some ski glasses there for skiing and we just ripped the plastic from around them and wore them like that. The next thing we knew, people were making glasses like that.” Indeed, a pair of Oakley’s will cost you $200 today.
Henderson also wrote and played on drummer Norman Connor’s classic “You Are My Starship” album which was released around the same time as Henderson’s debut.
Michael Henderson – Valentine Love (1976)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_eA7ioeixU
Norman Connor - You Are My Starship (1976)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S2HNjfeaj4
Illustrations by an unknown artist for Roy Brooks and Eddie Jefferson at Dummy George in Detroit, Michigan, September 17-26, 1976.
Poster/flyer for Ron Asheton’s New Order in Long Beach, California on September 18, 1976.
Sidelined from touring by a bout of anemia, Alice Cooper made a “television tour”, a virtual tour of sorts, starting with Don Kirshner’s Rock Music Awards Show on September 18, 1976, followed by appearances on The Tony Orlando and Dawn Rainbow Hour and The Sonny & Cher Show.
A full-page ad for Alice Cooper’s “Television Tour”, starting with Don Kirshner’s Rock Music Awards Show on September 18, 1976.
Poster by Freddie Brooks with photo by Jo Ann Uhelszki for Sonic’s Rendezvous Band at Second Chance in Ann Arbor, Michigan, September 20-21, 1976. Also on the bill, we find The Punks from Waterford, Michigan, whom we’ve previously documented in 1973 and 1974 with a handful of tracks recorded in their basement. We’ve since found a nine-song LP, linked below:
The Punks – LP 1973-1977
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuT8fpkkFQo
A collection of ads for Sonic’s Rendezvous Band at Second Chance in Ann Arbor, Michigan, September 20-21, 1976.
Funkadelic had decided to leave Westbound Records, signing with Warner Bros. Records, however they still owed Westbound one more album. George Clinton gave them eight tracks that were considered outtakes from the sessions for “Hardcore Jollies”, which would become their first Warner Bros. release.
Westbound assembled the tracks into the album “Tales of Kidd Funkadelic” which was released on September 21, 1976 with cover and inner sleeve featuring the art of Pedro Bell.
Funkadelic - Take Your Dead Ass Home! (Say Som'n Nasty) (1976)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwyXlXT22oY
An ad for the second stop on Alice Cooper’s “Television Tour”, appearing on the Tony Orlando and Dawn Rainbow Hour on September 21, 1976.
An attractive ad by an unknown artist for Baker’s Keyboard Lounge in Detroit, Michigan, presenting Rahsaan Roland Kirk, September 21-26, 1976.
In 1967, two brothers, Mike and Ted Trikilis, dropped out of Kent State University in Ohio to open a gallery and art-supply store called the Green Gas House. A visit by a poster vendor changed everything when the brothers bought 300 anti-war posters. The posters flew off the shelf and sensing an opportunity they moved to Medina, Ohio, changed the name of the company to Pro Arts Inc and became Ohio's number one and only Distributor of Youth-Oriented Posters.
The brothers would either buy posters outright, or pay a royalty, or they would contact the agents of famous stars with a guarantee of $6,000 for permission to use their likeness. That was a pretty high gamble, but when a poster of the Fonz from the TV show “Happy Days” sold more than a quarter-million copies, Pro Arts was on a roll.
In the spring of 1976, a college student suggested to Ted that they should make a poster of Farah Fawcett, an aspiring actress only known at the time for shampoo commercials. The student told him that guys in the dorms were buying women’s magazines just to clip the ads with Fawcett in them. When Ted took the idea back to his brother, Mike’s response was. “Farrah who?", but when Ted asked his wife if she'd heard of Farrah Fawcett, she certainly had, flipping through one of her magazines to show him one of Farrah's ads. Ted liked what he saw, and later, "Farrah who?" became a punch line at Pro Arts.
The brothers contacted Fawcett’s agent, who asked, "What type of product is Farrah to be selling on the poster?", they told him, "We want to sell Farrah on the Farrah poster," she would just be selling herself. The agent took the idea to Fawcett, who thought the idea was "cute".
Photo sessions were arranged and Fawcett picked her favorite shot, in a one-piece swimsuit instead of a bikini to hide a stomach scar, a Mexican blanket from the photographer’s car as the backdrop, gleaming teeth, windblown hair, and scandalously, her right nipple protruding visibly through the swimsuit material.
The poster hit the streets at the same time that the TV show “Charlie’s Angels”, featuring Fawcett, debuted on September 22, 1976. Sales increased exponentially. Seven thousand in September, fifteen thousand in October, thirty thousand in November. In December, the poster started receiving national attention and sold half a million copies.
Pro Arts did $2 million in business that year, the next year, 1977, the company turned over its inventory 24 times, selling 3 million copies of the Farrah poster in February and March alone. The sales blitz netted $6 million in revenue, of which $1 million was pure profit.
It would later be dubbed "the Farrah Phenomenon." For her one-season run on Charlie's Angels, she was paid $5,000 an episode, compared to the $400,000 she earned in royalties from the poster.
The poster sold over 12 million copies, making it the top selling poster of all time.
The urban legend that Farrah Fawcett’s hair contained the secret message “sex”.
A set of 36 copies of the Farrah Fawcett poster, personally owned by Farrah Fawcett herself, sold for $1,625 in a March 2017 auction.
Illustration by an unknown artist for the Spinners at the Lansing Civic Center in Lansing, Michigan on September 23, 1976.
Here is a cringe-worthy totally Seventies video of the Spinners’ August 1976 hit:
The Spinners – Rubberband Man (1976)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfA6wW75gEg
The video that we posted for the Spinners’ “Rubberband Man” reminded us of this poster of Suzi Quatro, in an atrociously Seventies fashion trend.
A poster/ad with Suzi Quatro endorsing Yamaha Electric Bass published in Japan in 1976, in her more accustomed attire.
A two-page spread in Billboard magazine with reference to the performance by Starz at a Columbia Records Promotion show at Ford Auditorium in Detroit, Michigan on September 24, 1976.
Here is a track by Starz called “Detroit Girls”:
Starz – Detroit Girls (1976)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE9m2_KxuBQ
A nice full-page record company ad for Albert King, published at the time of his engagement at Ethel’s Cocktail Lounge in Detroit, Michigan, September 24-25, 1976.
An ad for Sam Sanders & Visions at the Midtown Theatre in Detroit, Michigan, September 24-25, 1976. Sanders’ album “Mirror Mirror” came from the Strata vault of unreleased master tapes that New York-based DJ and producer Amir Abdullah reissued on his 180 Proof Records label.
Sam Sanders - Funk'ed Up (2013)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGLcm4w0WKM
An ad for Peabo Bryson at Jazz West in Detroit, Michigan, September 24-26, 1976, and for Ronnie Dyson at Watts Club Mozambique, September 24th through October 3rd.
A very nice poster by an unknown artist for Chick Corea and Gary Burton at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan on September 25, 1976.
Anticipation for the new Stevie Wonder album was at a peak after a two-year wait since his last LP. When Wonder decided, at the last minute, that the album needed further remixing, Motown Records issued promotional t-shirts that read “We’re Almost Finished!”. The above full-page ad in the September 25, 1976 issue of Billboard magazine has the t-shirt modified to read “We’re Finished!”, and the two-LP set called “Songs in the Key of Life” was officially released three days later.
An ad for “Jazz Odyssey ‘76” at Masonic Auditorium in Detroit, Michigan on September 26, 1976, featuring Grover Washington Jr., Roy Ayers & Ubiquity, Marlena Shaw and Peabo Bryson.
Check out the linked video with Roy Ayers on the Soul train TV show for the ultimate slow jam:
Roy Ayers & Ubiquity - Everybody Loves the Sunshine (1976)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck_jz6m-8_M
Poster by Dennis Loren, with Rockets logo by Gary Grimshaw, for a killer show at the Showcase Theatre in Detroit, Michigan on September 26, 1976, featuring the newly reformed, five-piece, Rockets, Ted Lucas & the Atomic Spike-Drivers, Sonic’s Rendezvous Band and The Punks from Waterford, Michigan.
Newspaper ad for the Detroit Rock Show at the Showcase Theatre in Detroit, Michigan on September 26, 1976, featuring the newly reformed, five-piece, Rockets, Ted Lucas & the Atomic Spike-Drivers, Sonic’s Rendezvous Band and The Punks from Waterford, Michigan.
Gary Grimshaw illustration of the up-coming Gil Scott-Heron show.
A strange ad with a date stamp for Sonic’s Rendezvous Band with the Rockets, Ted Lucas & the Spike Drivers, and the Punks at the Showcase Theatre (formerly the Eastown) in Detroit, Michigan on September 26, 1976.
At some time between 1974 and 1977, the only solo album by Ted Lucas was released on his own OM label. (A review of the album did appear in the August 12, 1976 issue of the SUN newspaper.) The front cover art was by Stanley Mouse and the back cover design was by Dennis Loren.
Ted Lucas – Ted Lucas (album)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYkRrv3SVl8&list=PLlwnxuqNc46n_bj5QgpSOEYsThZFkFP_i
A beautifully colored full-page RCA Records ad/poster from the September 1976 issue of CREEM magazine, for the “Spitfire” album by the Jefferson Starship, by illustrator Shusei Nagaoka, with the ad for their appearance at the Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan on September 26, 1976, which was a rescheduled date.
1975 was the first year since 1965 that Stevie Wonder did not release an album (or two or three). In his acceptance speech for winning the 1975 Album of the Year Grammy with “Still Crazy After All These Years”, Paul Simon thanked Wonder for not releasing an album that year, Wonder had won the award back-to-back in 1973 and 1974.
The above full-page Motown Records ad had run in the July 4, 1976 issue of Billboard magazine, the album was ultimately released on September 28, 1976, a two-LP set plus a four-song, seven-inch bonus EP. The album yielded two #1 hit singles, and another Album of the Year Grammy Award.
Considered to be Wonder’s magnum opus, then and still, where to start, except for the opening track, and with all twenty songs that follow:
Stevie Wonder – Songs in the Key of Life (album) (1976)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZditPOzJnM&list=OLAK5uy_mcG_CMFTptcsuZrsFVztPqlrZaLuaGnSQ
This beautiful color painting was a full-page ad from Crystal Sounds in Hollywood, where Stevie Wonder had recorded the bulk of the “Songs in the Key of Life” album.
A real nice Motown Records poster, with artist credits just too small to read, for the release of the “Songs in the Key of Life” album by Stevie Wonder on September 28, 1976.
Poster by Danny Garrett for John Lee Hooker at Antone’s in Austin, Texas, September 28, 1976 through October 2nd.
Newspaper ad for the self-titled debut album by Boston and their first Michigan appearance, at the Royal Oak Theatre in Royal Oak on September 30, 1976. The album cover artwork was created by Roger Huyssen, who also created the cover for Sky King’s “Secret Sauce” album.
Boston – More Than a Feeling (1976)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4QK8RxCAwo
An ad for Ethel’s Cocktail Lounge in Detroit, Michigan with Joe Tex appearing September 30, 1976 – October 3rd.
CREEM Magazine published a trade paperback book called “Rock Revolution”, advertised in the October 1976 issue.
Full page ad by an unknown artist in the October 1976 issue of CREEM magazine for “The Scene” a music and dance show on WGPR-TV in Detroit, Michigan which became the first wholly African American-owned television station in the United States when it first signed on the air on September 29, 1975.
Volume Twelve - 1976 - continues - HERE
