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Splatt Gallery's History of Michigan Concert Posters
Volume Thirteen - 1977 - Page Five
Newspaper ad for Leon Redbone at the State Theatre in East Lansing, Michigan on April 11, 1977. Redbone had also appeared the night before at the Royal Oak Music Theatre in Royal Oak, Michigan.
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A real nice poster for Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band in Tulsa, Oklahoma on April 12, 1977.
Newspaper ad for the first Michigan appearance by the British band The Babys, at the Royal Oak Theatre in Royal Oak on April 13, 1977.
The 27th show of the twenty-nine show “Idiot” tour by Iggy Pop was in Berkeley, California on April 13, 1977.
Poster by photographer Michael Smith from the night that Stevie Wonder joined Ella Fitzgerald on-stage at the New Orleans Jazz Festival on April 15, 1977. Wonder was in Louisiana, working on his next recordings when he took a break to catch Fitzgerald’s performance at the festival. He ended up onstage where he joined her in a rendition of "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life”, and fortunately, it was recorded.
Stevie Wonder & Ella Fitzgerald – You Are the Sunshine of My Life (live 4/15/77)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THy13jLwR64
Poster/ad by an unknown artist for The Shotgun Band with a free show at Oakland University on April 15, 1977. The group was formed by members of the band 24-Carat Black, whose one album was the 1973 classic “Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth”, which became the source of innumerable sampling.
Shotgun released their debut self-titled album in 1977, five more albums would follow over the next five years. Here is a favorite track from the first album:
Shotgun – Mutha Funk (1977)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcRvRNiazpc
An ad for Tom Waits at the Midnight Concert Series at the Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor, Michigan on April 15, 1977.
On April 15, 1977, before his show that night in Santa Monica, California, Iggy Pop made his day-time television debut when he and David Bowie appeared on Dinah Shore’s TV show. The following link has the interview and two song performances:
Iggy Pop and David Bowie on Dinah Shore’s TV Show (4/15/1977
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tKIhc8pr-M
An ad for Abigail’s Dirty Shame Saloon in Ypsilanti, Michigan, originally known as Bimbo’s, then the Sure Thing, with the band Jett Black appearing April 15-16, 1977 and with Mugsy the following week.
A sweet full-page Capitol Records ad in the April 16, 1977 issue of Billboard magazine for the second single from Bob Seger’s “Night Moves” album.
Bob Seger – Mainstreet (1977)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYn41PerLok
A full-page Motown Records ad in the April 16, 1977 issue of Billboard magazine for the debut album by Mandre, who was represented as the "mystery man from outer space", his face always hidden behind a futuristic mask, which made him look like a robot. Mandré was promoted by Motown as being "funkier than Parliament".
In reality, Mandré was the alter ego of keyboardist Andre Lewis, who replaced George Duke in Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, which is probably why a cover version of Zappa’s “Dirty Love” was included on the album. The track “Solar Flight (Opus I)” is more representative of the spacey synthesizer instrumental sound of the album. He was also the band leader for Johnny Guitar Watson, who contributed two tracks, including “Masked Marauder”.
Mandre – Dirty Love (1977)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15FsbVpkhoI
Mandre - Solar Flight (Opus I) (1977)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG-Fn0gqLpk
Mandre – Masked Marauder (1977)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6SPg-HG8H8
The final show of the tour, in San Diego, California on April 16, 1977 and one more full-show bootleg recording.
Iggy Pop – Live in San Diego (4/16/77)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqQkNuGrPR4
Iggy Pop’s 1977 “The Idiot” tour spawned multiple bootleg and “semi-official” recordings. Iggy would later use four tracks, culled from this reservoir, for his 1978 live album “TV Eye”.
A full-page Warner Bros. Records ad for Jesse Colin Young with tour dates that include a show at the Royal Oak Music Theatre in Royal Oak, Michigan on April 16, 1977.
Poster by Dennis Loren for “The First Incredible Roeper Folk Festival” featuring Josh White Jr., Ron Coden, Dean Rutledge, Phillip Marcus Esser, Mike & Barb Smith, Ted Lucas and Jonathan Round on April 17, 1977.
An ad for Johnny Cash at the Lansing Civic Center in Lansing, Michigan on April 17, 1977. He had performed at the Rose Arena in Mount Pleasant the night before, and would do a show at the IMA Auditorium in Flint the night after this.
His very first Michigan show had been at the Lansing Civic Center in February 1960. This was his ninth time at this venue and his 36th Michigan show to date.
The band Spirit made a special appearance at the Anchor Inn in Pinckney, Michigan on April 17, 1977. A band called Scotch opened the show, extending their previous three night stand. Flying Fortress and Once Upon A Time followed, just prior to the “Rock and Roll Rumble Contest” featuring Stonebridge and Nite Crawler.
A full-page MCA Records ad for the Steve Gibbons Band with tour dates that include a show at Masonic Auditorium in Detroit, Michigan on April 18, 1977, the British musician’s fourth, and final, Michigan appearance.
A newspaper ad for Nils Lofgren, Starcastle and the Steve Gibbons Band at Masonic Auditorium in Detroit, Michigan on April 18, 1977, that butchers two of the names.
Volume 1, Issue 1 of a pamphlet dated April 19, 1977 showcasing the “Radio Free Hollywood” group of bands, including the Dogs, the Motels, the Pop!, Street Rockers and the Brats. Written along the top, “This was passed out at the Troubadour when we went to see Eulogy played there 4-3-77”.
Poster for REO Speedwagon with the Babys at Grand Valley State Colleges in Allendale, Michigan on April 19, 1977.
An ad for the Doobie Brothers with Commander Cody at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan on April 20, 1977, (in a presentation of our own devices).
An ad for the Doobie Brothers at the Dan Rose Arena in Mount Pleasant, Michigan on April 21, 1977.
Another tale of Sixties’ pop stars reduced to playing the hotel dining rooms circuit, as The Association perform at Alex’s Restaurant in Lansing Michigan on April 21, 1977, the Holiday Inn in Howell on April 24th, and looking ahead, the Hotel Pontchartrain in Detroit on June 20th.
Even in their prime, these guys were always squares, as you can see in the five-song video below, taken from appearances on the Smothers Brothers TV show, but the songs are undeniably cranial worm holes. The antidote us provided following.
The Association – Five Songs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq5bUnvKq94
The Fall – Free Range (live 2002)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7dsnFpsn2s
Following the conclusion of their North American tour in April 1977, David Bowie and Iggy Pop travelled to Japan for a short promotional tour for their albums “Low” and “The Idiot” respectively. While in Tokyo, the pair sat for a photo session with Japanese photographer Masayoshi Sukita. The photo above was shot on Iggy’s 30th birthday, April 21, 1977. Also shown are promo posters for the two albums, which were the first shots used from the Sukita session, and a photo of the two musicians with the photographer.
Other shots from the session were used for the cover of Bowie’s next album “Heroes” and for Iggy’s 1981 album “Party”.
Here is a link to the story and a further link to more photos from the sessions:
https://www.davidbowie.com/blog/2017/9/14/bowie-and-iggy-1977-by-sukita-at-snap
https://www.snapgalleries.com/portfolio-items/david-bowie-1977-iggy-pop-photographs-by-masayoshi-sukita/?_url=%2FDBnIggy77Snap
An RCA Records poster for the Japanese release of Iggy Pop’s album “The Idiot”.
A full-page ad in the British music magazine Melody Maker for a UK tour by the Spinners, kicking off in Birmingham, England on April 22, 1977. The group was referred to as the Detroit Spinners in the UK because of another group called the Spinners in the UK.
A poster for a “Radio Free Hollywood Dance & Concert” featuring the Dogs, Shock and Max Lazer at Baces Hall in Hollywood, California on April 22, 1977.
An ad for the Doobie Brothers with Foreigner at Michigan State University in East Lansing on April 22, 1977.
Elvis Presley performed in Michigan an unprecedented five times in 1977, the most in any one year by far. The first show was in Detroit at the Olympia Stadium on April 22, 1977. It was the sixth time that he performed at the Olympia, the venue for all of his Detroit shows except the very first, when he made his Michigan debut in 1956 at the Fox Theatre.
His second Michigan show of 1977 was at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor on April 24th. The next day, April 25th, found him at the Wendler Arena in Saginaw, and the day after that, April 26th, he was in Kalamazoo at the Wings Event Center. He returned back to the Wendler Arena in Saginaw once again on May 3rd. Fifteen weeks later, on August 16, 1977, Elvis Presley died of a heart attack at the age of 42.
In his lifetime, he performed 13 shows in Michigan. In addition to the 1977 shows and the Detroit shows, he also performed at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1975, only the second concert at the Dome in the year that it opened (the Who performed the first concert at the Dome, twenty-five days before Presley).
With his seven shows in Detroit, the Motor City saw Elvis Presley perform more often than any than other city in the world, with the exceptions of Las Vegas and his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.
A full-page Warner Bros. Records ad for the Alice Cooper single “You and Me” in the April 23, 1977 issue of Billboard magazine. Cooper had discovered that the way to a hit single was a soft rock ballad co-written with Dick Wagner, as his two prior hits “Only Women Bleed” and “I Never Cry” had proven. “You and Me” actually performed the best of the three, cracking the Top Ten to land at #9, while the other two fell just short of the Top Ten, both peaking at #12.
Alice Cooper – You and Me (1977)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0J6PWG0hok
A pair of full-page Motown Records ads in the April 23, 1977 issue of Billboard magazine.
After teasing about “a big name concert” with “all this secrecy at request of the performer’s management”, the “Flash” column in the Michigan Daily newspaper in Ann Arbor, finally revealed “…it’s Elvis Presley” coming to Crisler Arena on April 24, 1977.
An ad for Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with Elvis Presley appearing on April 24, 1977, followed by Bonnie Rait with Sippie Wallace in May 7th, and by the Average White Band on May 8th.
Poster for Bootsy’s Rubber Band, as the headliners for a show in Montgomery, Alabama on April 24, 1977, with Trammps (mis-spelled) and the Horny Horns.
Trammps – Disco Inferno (1976)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7EfnYwpmOE
A fold-out ad in Billboard magazine, difficult to re-assemble, compounded by a fourth page with corrections, all for a tour by Return To Forever. Three Michigan shows were included in the itinerary, at the Masonic Auditorium in Detroit on April 24, 1977, in Kalamazoo on April 25th, and in East Lansing on May 5th.
Over the course of their original five-year existence, RTF performed a total of 14 shows in Michigan. Thirty-one years later, a reunion tour in 2008 would bring them back to the state one final time.
A cool poster/ad by an unknown artist for Return To Forever at the Masonic Auditorium in Detroit on April 24, 1977.
An ad for Elvis Presley at Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan on April 26, 1977, the fourth of five Michigan shows in the final months of his life.
By proclamation of Mayor Coleman Young, April 28, 1977 was declared WABX-Radio Day in the city of Detroit. The festivities were capped off that night with a concert at Cobo Arena featuring Heart, the Kinks and Nite City.
In celebration of the tenth anniversary of WABX radio in Detroit, Michigan, the station hosted a show at Cobo Arena on April 28, 1977, featuring Heart, the Kinks and Nite City, a homecoming of sorts for Nite City’s Paul Warren and Jimmy Hunter, the only known Michigan appearance by the band, whose set that night was partially captured and is linked below:
Nite City - Live in Detroit – (4/28/77)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqqMDyC-GRE
A pair of ads for Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band in the shape of a bullet (right?), in San Diego, California on April 29, 1977, and in Los Angeles, California on April 30th.
Poster/flyer for the Dogs, with Headwinds and Max Lazer at Swiss Park in Duarte, California on April 29, 1977.
A poster by an unknown artist for The End, formerly the Punks, soon to become Matt Gimmick, in Pontiac, Michigan on April 29, 1977.
A full-page Warner Bros. Records ad for the third solo studio album by Alice Cooper, “Lace and Whiskey”, released on April 29, 1977.
A nice, clean simple illustration that was typical of Showcasejazz Presentations in East Lansing, Michigan, this one for two shows by McCoy Tyner on April 29-30, 1977. Also, unfortunately all too typical of these college bookings, the show was cancelled. And finally, typical of our McCoy Tyner posts, we always have to mention that he was the namesake of MC5 lead singer Rob Tyner.
A full-page Polydor Records ad in the April 30, 1977 issue of Billboard magazine for the release of the album “Battle Ax” by the band Billion Dollar Babies. To their credit, and possibly to their detriment, the ad does not name-drop Alice Cooper.
The story of the band is well told here:
https://www.sickthingsuk.co.uk/01-discography/battle-axe.php
As described in the article, the band had few performances, but their first one, in Flint, Michigan was recorded and we will link to the recording when we get to July 6, 1977.
A beautiful full-page Asylum Records ad in the April 30, 1977 issue of Billboard magazine making some sort of point about the RIAA certifications of record sales. Maybe they liked the larger multiplier for Gold (500,000 units) than came with Platinum (1million units), so for example, the Eagles’ “Greatest Hits” album would be only 6X Platinum instead of 12X Gold, as stated in the ad. Ironically, it was “Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)” album by the Eagles that was the first album to receive the Platinum certification, which was first introduced in 1976.
To date, the Eagles’ “Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)” album remains the best-selling album of all time in the United States with total sales of 38 million, which is 38X Platinum, or would also be 76X Gold.
Even the most casual observers of Michigan rock and roll history probably know about the legendary show by Led Zeppelin at the Pontiac Silverdome on April 30, 1977, the show that set the record for the largest crowd for a single act in an indoor setting (over 77,000) and the corresponding largest box office gross receipt ($790, 555 or $3.4 million in today’s dollars).
We would venture to say that almost every poster for Led Zeppelin’s 1977 US tour that you are likely to find is a fake, especially the cooler or more beautiful they are (such as the one shown the comments below). The easiest way to tell if a Led Zeppelin 1977 tour poster is a fake is by its price, if it is $25 or less, it’s a fake.
This rather plain red, approximately 12 x 18 inch, poster is authentic. The picture in the comments below shows the sticker strip on the back that was used to mount the poster.
A Harmony House record store poster/ad following the Led Zeppelin show at the Pontiac Silverdome on April 30, 1977. Earlier, we had posted a story about the Eagles’ “Greatest Hits” album being the all-time best selling album in the US with over 38 million sold. Led Zeppelin’s “Led Zeppelin IV” is fifth on the list, with over 23 million sold. (The three records in between those two are, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” at 33 million, the Eagles’ “Hotel California” at 26 million, and AC/DC’s “Back In Black” at 25 million.)
From braving a snowstorm and the pandemonium in the Pontiac Silverdome parking lot the day that tickets went on sale, to the parties in the aftermath of the concert, many who saw the Led Zeppelin show on April 30, 1977 still say that it was the best concert of their lifetimes. Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page described the scene as “surreal”, saying, “We played to massive crowds on the outside, but that (the largest crowd for an indoor event at the time) reminded us of 'A Clockwork Orange' or '2001.' ... and it was vast, vast. "
It would be the last time that Led Zeppelin performed in Michigan, their 12th show in the state, a history that went back to the Grande Ballroom in January 1969, when the new, unknown band was sometimes referred to as “Jimmy Page’s new group”, or “the new Yardbirds”, and posters and ads would butcher the name, “Led Zeptlin”, “Lead Zeppelin”, and our favorite, “Len Zefflin”.
Grande Ballroom MC Dave Miller stumbled through when he made the announcement of their first, upcoming show, “Next week we have Led, Lud, Led Zeet? Well, I’m not really sure, but it is the new band for Jimmy Page”. Only about 40 people showed up for their first of three nights.
But word spread fast and the next two nights packed the Grande Ballroom, the third show, on Sunday night, had a large contingency of the Detroit music scene in the audience, the MC5, Amboy Dukes, SRC and radio station DJ’s, most likely knowing that they were witnessing something special.
They returned four months later, on May 16, 1969, originally booked for the Olympia Stadium, as documented by Carl Lundgren’s poster, but ending up instead back at the Grande Ballroom one more time. Two shows were arranged, an early and a late show, with Sun Ra as an unlikely opening act.
Led Zeppelin returned to Detroit for their third visit of the year, and their 6th Michigan show, on October 18, 1969. This time at the Olympia Stadium, with a bill that included Lee Michaels, the MC5 and Grand Funk Railroad, for a sold-out show. Led Zeppelin’s second album was released four days later.
When they returned to Detroit in August 1970 for their 7th Detroit show, their third album was the most anticipated release of the year, it was delayed because of the intricate album cover, which was based on a “volvelle”, a paper construction with rotating parts, the inner cover could spin to reveal different images through holes in the outer cover. They performed for their second time at the Olympia Stadium.
Their North American tours in 1972 and 1973 brought them to Cobo Arena in Detroit both years. The 1973 tour saw them breaking attendance records around the country, they broke the record set by the Beatles’ 1965 Shea Stadium show with a show in Tampa, Florida that drew an audience of almost 57,000. They played two nights in a row at Cobo on that tour.
For their 11th Detroit show, on January 31, 1975, they sold out Olympia Stadium within just a few hours after announcing the show, hence there wasn’t much need for posters or ads.
By 1977, Led Zeppelin was probably the biggest band in the world and their new record-breaking attendance mark at the Silverdome was a testament, the crowd was almost 2,300 times larger than the 40 people who came to their first Michigan show at the Grande Ballroom eight years earlier. And with a ticket price of just $3.50 for that first show, they raked in over 5,600 times that amount at the Silverdome. An epic finish.
Volume Thirteen - 1977 - continues - HERE
