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Splatt Gallery's History of Michigan Music Posters
Volume Twelve - 1976 - Page Thirteen
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A full-page Motown Records ad in the November 20, 1976 issue of Billboard magazine, with records by the Originals and Jermaine Jackson.
An interesting, simple graphic design by an unknown artist for a radio special on Steve Miller, broadcast in East Lansing, Michigan on November 21, 1976.
A great poster for Bob Seger with Blue Oyster Cult in Seattle, Washington on November 25, 1976.
The front cover of the tour program for Black Sabbath’s World Tour ’76-77, with a nice 3D effect. It may have been used when Black Sabbath made their 11th Michigan appearance, on November 26, 1976 at Cobo Arena in Detroit. They made their 12th Michigan appearance four nights later at the Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo.
An ad for Black Sabbath and Black Oak Arkansas at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan on November 26, 1976. Ruby Starr was touring with Black Oak Arkansas.
Poster/flyer with the Dogs at a Thanksgiving Rock and Roll Spectacular at the LA County Fairgrounds in Pomona, California on November 26, 1976.
An ad for Zooster, “Detroit’s Deadly Rock and Roll Band”, at the Odyssey Lounge in Akron, Ohio, November 26-27, 1976.
A full-page Capitol Records ad in the November 27, 1976 issue of Billboard magazine for the “Night Moves” single by Bob Seger.
A full-page Sire Records ad for the ninth album by the Climax Blues Band with tour dates that include a show at Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan (right at the flash at the bottom of the first column) on November 30, 1976, where they opened for Black Sabbath.
A full-page Motown records ad for the single “I Wish” by Stevie Wonder, released in November 1976 as the lead single from his eighteenth album, Songs in the Key of Life. The one on the right has the superimposed picture sleeve for the single.
Front cover for Issue #1 of Power Comics, published in December 1976. The comic was created in Lansing, Michigan where writer T. Casey Brennan brought together a group of writers and artists in the hopes of creating and publishing their own comic series. One of those writers was Jerry Younkins. The issue is also notable for having the first aardvark story drawn by David Sim at least a year before Sim started his celebrated “Cerebus” series. The story in Power Comics #1, “A Boy and His Aardvark” was written by T. Casey Brennan.
Brennan had established an esteemed reputation in the comics and science fiction fantasy worlds through his work with Warren Publishing's anthologies “Creepy”, “Eerie”, and “Vampirella”. Since moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan in the early 1970’s, he has lived a bizarrely eventful, often homeless, life.
In the 1980s, Brennan campaigned to have depictions of smoking in comics banned, which led then- Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas to issue a proclamation designating January 1990 as "T. Casey Brennan Month." You can read about the real back-story to that accomplishment here:
https://archive.ph/kjWhd
In 2006, he devised a work entitled "Conjurella,", a "slightly fictionalized" story that alleges that he was programmed for ten years by the U.S. government as part of MK-ULTRA and then kidnapped in 1963 and forced by David Ferrie to initiate the JFK assassination in Dallas. Those fascinating accounts can be further investigated here:
http://al-azrad.blogspot.com/2020/07/conjurella-necronomicon-monks-at.html
and here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20100817204111/http://karws.gso.uri.edu/JFK/Conspiracy_theories/Brennan--Conjurella/Brennan.html
A finally, T. Casey Brennan remains quite active, with a Facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/tcasey.brennan
A fake comic book cover illustration for T. Casey Brennan’s “Conjurella”, the story again found here:
http://al-azrad.blogspot.com/2020/07/conjurella-necronomicon-monks-at.html
The first page splash-page for the story “A Boy and His Aardvark” by T, Casey Brennan and Dave Sim in Issue #1 of Power Comics, published in December 1976.
A full-page Mercury Records ad for the album “Heat Treatment” by Graham Parker with tour dates that include a show in Detroit, Michigan on December 1, 1976, opening for Thin Lizzy. Unless the show was cancelled (it does not appear in the concert database), this would be Parker’s first Michigan show.
A full-page Harvest Records ad for a US tour by Be Bop Deluxe that includes a show in Detroit, Michigan (third from the end) on December 1, 1976. Unless the show was cancelled (it does not appear in the concert database), this would be the band’s third Michigan show, having opened two shows for Patti Smith in March 1976.
Poster/ad for Aerosmith with REO Speedwagon at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan on December 1, 1976, and for a second show added for December 2nd. The band performed only three Michigan shows in 1976, and five shows in 1975, both a far cry from 1974, the year when they performed the incredible amount of sixteen Michigan shows.
An ad with Ted Nugent at the Forum in Inglewood, California on December 1, 1976, also noting his appearance the night before, in San Diego.
Poster/ad with Kim Fowley presents Van Halen at the Whisky in Hollywood, California, December 3-5, 1976, with the Radio Free Hollywood groups Dogs, Motels and Pop coming soon.
Poster for Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band opening for Blue Oyster Cult in Dallas, Texas on December 5, 1976.
Poster for Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band opening for Blue Oyster Cult in Springfield, Illinois on December 11, 1976.
A full-page Motown Records ad continuing the "New Ctop" theme, in the December 11, 1976 issue of Billboard magazine for the single “Don’t Leave Me This Way” by Thelma Houston. She is not related to Whitney Houston.
Houston’s version of “Don’t Leave Me This Way”, originally recorded by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the Billboard Hot Soul Singles, and the Billboard Hot Disco Singles charts.
Thelma Houston - Don’t Leave Me This Way (1976)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svcbu-fv-GA
Newspaper ad for Patti Smith’s fifth Michigan show, at the Masonic Auditorium in Detroit on December 12, 1976, and here is a recording of her complete set:
Patti Smith – Live in Detroit, Michigan (12/12/76)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnRqwBynNq8
An ad with Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band opening for Foghat in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on December 17, 1976.
A pair of ads for Ted Nugent and the J. Geils Band at the Coliseum near Cleveland, Ohio on December 17, 1976, each one was printed next to a very cool ad for Blue Oyster Cult and Uriah Heep appearing at the Coliseum on New Year’s Eve.
A Recordland store ad for Nugent's appearance.
A photo of the Dogs in Los Angeles, California with a poster for their appearance at the Whisky a Go Go with the Motels, December 18-19, 1976.
Ads for the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band opening for KISS on December 21, 1976, followed by Parliament Funkadelic with Bootsy’s Rubber Band and Mother’s Finest on December 27th.
A “Merry Kissmas!” poster in the January 1977 issue of CREEM magazine, for Christmas 1976.
A full-page Casablanca Records ad in the December 25, 1976 issue of Billboard magazine featuring their three biggest acts, KISS, Donna Summer and Parliament.
A full-page Casablanca Records ad listing the year-end awards from Cash Box and Record World magazines for Parliament in 1976.
Holiday greetings from Motown Records in this two-page spread from the December 25, 1976 issue of Billboard magazine.
This is the earliest ad, by an unknown artist, we’ve found for Sirius Trixon & the Motor City Bad Boys, Christmas night, December 25, 1976, with Ruby Jones at the Ramona Theatre in Detroit, Michigan. The concert database, which is the source of this image, also has a newspaper article that puts the band’s debut performance at the Latin Quarter in Detroit on May 21, 1975.
Ruby Jones was a band formed in Toledo by Constance Henrietta Mierzwiak aka Ruby Jones aka Ruby Starr in 1969, they released one, self-titled album in 1971 on Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom label. Stories vary, but either the band was opening for Black Oak Arkansas, or Jim Dandy of BOA caught one of the band’s sets in a bar, but either way, she started working with BOA and changed her name to Ruby Starr. She toured intermittently with the band and appeared on a couple of BOA albums, circa 1973-1974, until she formed the band Grey Ghost, and then onto a solo career as Ruby Starr.
Meanwhile, the band Ruby Jones continued on without her, being booked out of Detroit through Dave Leone’s DMA agency and contributing two tracks to a 1976 DMA compilation album.
Cover illustration by Jim Williams for the DMA compilation album “DMA Fantastic 5”, released in 1976, a nine-track album that includes two tracks each by Ruby Jones, Holy Smoke, Badge, and Kurbstone Beauteaze, and one track by Sweet Crystal. The first link below is the audio of the complete album, the second link has a review of the album and bio’s with pictures of each group.
Various Artists- DMA Fantastic 5 (album) (1976)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXBq7lkBADY
Album review and band bio’s:
https://www.rockliquias.com/2019/07/various-artists-fantastic-5-1976-dma.html
The back cover of the 1976 album “DMA Fantastic 5” with photos and short bios on the five groups, also noting that all but one of the tracks were recorded and mastered at Fiddler’s Music with a lot of involvement by Tommy Court and Tom Carson. Co-produced by DMA’s Dave Leone.
Here is one more track that the band Holy Smoke released on the Fiddlers Music label in 1976. The B-side “Champagne Dreams” was included on the DMA compilation album posted earlier.
Holy Smoke – Rock And Roll (1976)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICz9QilGBJQ
An awesome poster by an unknown artist for James Brown at the Showcase Theatre in Detroit, Michigan, December 25-30, 1976. “Future Shock” was television variety show produced and hosted by James Brown from 1976 to 1979. We’re not sure if these shows at the Showcase were used for the broadcasts.
The show’s theme song "Future Shock (Dance Your Pants Off)" was recorded by Maceo Parker and the J.B.’s. We also have a highlights clip from the TV show, full episodes can also be found online.
Maceo Parker & the J.B.’s - Future Shock (Dance Your Pants Off) (1976)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsZm8SJt7Zw
James Brown's Future Shock Rare Clips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64COclmdj-I
Poster/ad for the James Brown shows at the Showcase Theatre in Detroit, Michigan, December 25-30, 1976, which includes the other acts, Al Hudson, the Fantastic Four and Brick.
Al Hudson is a singer from Detroit who formed the groups Al Hudson & the Soul Partners and One Way. The Fantastic Four are a Motown group who are well known to those following this story. Brick are a group from Atlanta, Georgia whose single “Dazz”, (a combination of Disco and Jazz), from their 1976 debut album spent four weeks at the top of the R&B singles chart and reached as high as number three on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Brick – Dazz (1976)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpr9qvuodVA
Poster/ad for Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band with Rush, the Atlanta Rhythm Section and Santa Claus in Indianapolis, Indiana on December 27, 1976.
A fold-out page in Billboard magazine with tour dates for Foghat including two shows at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan, December 27-28, 1976. The following video is called “live in late 1976 in Detroit”, so it must be from one of these shows.
Foghat - Slow Ride (Live in Detroit 1976)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As5_xq78VRA
Newspaper ad for Foghat at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan, December 27-28, 1976.
A full-page Bearsville Records ad for Foghat touring in support of their sixth studio album “Night Shift” with two Michigan shows, at Cobo Arena in Detroit, December 27-28, 1976.
A poster by Serigraphics for Ted Nugent at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana on December 29, 1976. Probably, the most uncharacteristic Nugent poster that we’ve seen, it’s very jolly.
New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1976, with Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band at Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan to cap off the end of a great year for the band.
Believe it or not, this is a reasonably accurate tracing of the travels of Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band from 1974 through 1976, three years of shows in the US and Canada, at least 160 dates.
We traced the path in a single take, no way to double-check, but we stand by it.
Brownsville Station guitarist and front man Cub Koda on an ad for Ibenez guitars, circa 1976.
Brownsville Station bassist and Michael Lutz on an ad for Hayman guitars, circa 1976.
The 1976 batch of CREEM magazine. It was the first year since the new format in 1971 that a Michigan artist was not featured on any of the covers, in fact, it was the first year since then that did not feature Alice Cooper on at least one of the covers.
The twelve Cars Stars of 1976, the second year of the CREEM magazine feature:
#12 - C.F. Turner of BTO – Austin Mini Cooper
#13 - Sparks – Model T Ford
#14 – All five members of Aerosmith with unidentified cars
#15 – David Bowie – Mercedes sedan
#16 – Ted Nugent – 1975 Ford Bronco
#17 – Buddy Miles – Studebaker Excalibur
#18 – Rick Derringer – Checker Cab
#19 – Steve Miller – Ferrari
#20 – Bob Seger – Triumph TR7
#21 – David Byron of Uriah Heep – Rolls Royce
#22 – Bay City Rollers – chauffeured limousine
#23 – the band Starz – Datsun 280-Z
A pair of subscription ads in CREEM magazine featuring Detroit’s own Gilda Radner from two 1976 issues.
The second book on rock and roll posters to be published, following 1968’s “The Great Poster Trip/Eureka”, was “Get On Down – A Decade of Rock and Roll Posters”, published in the UK in 1976, followed by a US edition in 1977.
It was edited by Wayne Kramer’s friend Mick Farren, which explains why 8 of the 75 posters were for Detroit’s Grande Ballroom, and/or the MC5.
Detroit poster artists represented were Gary Grimshaw, Carl Lundgren, and Matthew Radofsky.
A 1976 blacklight poster by Monarch Publications, it’s got Alice.
Volume Twelve - 1976 - continues - HERE
