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Splatt Gallery's History of Michigan Music Posters
Volume Two - 1964-1966 - Page Nineteen
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Volume Two - 1964-1966 - continues - HERE
A Cameo-Parkway Records ad for the follow-up single by Question Mark & the Mysterians, in the November 19, 1966 issue of Billboard magazine, it actually reached #22 on the Hot 100 Chart, which would remain their second highest rating single.
Hoping to capitalize on the success of “96 Tears”, which hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart on October 29, 1966, only the third Michigan artist (outside of Motown) to reach the top spot, Neil Bogart’s Cameo-Parkway Records quickly released the band’s second single, which peaked at a respectful #22 in December 1966. Check out this wild video, and when someone asks who invented cool in Saginaw, Michigan?, you’ll know the answer.
? & the Mysterians – I Need Somebody (1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od9o1FqaLS8
Poster for the Amboy Dukes at the Ricky-Tick in the Thames Hotel in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, November 19, 1966.
The first couple of weeks at the Fifth Dimension in Ann Arbor had gone pretty well but it was becoming clear to the owners that they needed to cut some expenses. The first thing to go were the waitresses that were serving soft drinks to non-tipping teens and the next thing was paying Kramer Designs for the (misspelled) show posters.
The task for the posters was given to manager Mickey Kress, who prior to signing on to the 5-D, ran a small club in Ypsilanti called The Stump, where he had demonstrated some artistic skill designing the posters there. Kress had a lot of trouble trying to draw the distinctive 5-D logo, even going to architect Richard Ahern to understand the geometry of the image before it dawned on him that he could just cut the logo off of club stationary.
Terry Knight had been one of the Detroit radio DJ’s to succeed Ed McKenzie’s “Jack the Bell Boy” when Knight joined WJBK in 1963. He moved over to CKLW, where at the height of Beatlemania he threw his full-fledged support behind the Rolling Stones, championing them to point of being called “the sixth Stone”. At the end of 1964, he left Detroit to move to London and pal around with the Stones, returning a year later to Flint, Michigan near his hometown of Lapeer, where he formed the band, Terry Knight & the Pack, which included guitarist, Mark Farner and drummer, Don Brewer.
Terry Knight & the Pack – You’re a Better Man than I (1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUBQ7Hhxeo0
A full-page Atlantic Records ad in the November 19, 1966 issue of Billboard magazine for the single “Mustang Sally” by Wilson Pickett. Previously we recounted the original version written and recorded by Pickett’s band mate in the Falcons, Mack Rice. Rice’s version reached #15 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1965, Pickett’s version made it to #6 on the R&B charts and #23 on the Pop charts.
Wilson Pickett – Mustang Sally (1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1FRrZD2y9Y
For the sixth weekend at the Grande Ballroom, November 11-12, 1966, the poster looks hastily assembled, re-using Gary Grimshaw’s image from the week before with lettering attributed to Rob Tyner (counted as Tyner’s third poster). On Friday night, the bands were the Hitch Hikers soon to become Thyme) and Southbound Freeway and on Saturday it was a “surprise band” with the MC5.
The text states “Still Detroit’s Only Mind-Manifesting Dance Concert”, with “The power of OM surrounds you” and “Tyner Power” sideways after “MC-5”.
The Hitch-Hikers were a band from Kalamazoo, Michigan, who soon after this show, enlisted bass player Al Wilmot from the Kalamazoo band, The Monuments, moved to Ann Arbor, signed on with Jeep Holland’s A-Square Records, and changed their name to The Thyme.
The Hitch-Hikers – You’re the One (1964)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afs1FJaH7GM
A full-page Motown Records ad in the November 12, 1966 issue of Billboard magazine for the single “Money (That’s What I Want) Part 2” by Jr. Walker & the All Stars.
Free Freak-Out Dance in East Lansing, Michigan, November 13, 1966.
“Song in the Round” at the Erickson Kiva in East Lansing, Michigan, November 18, 1966.
An appearance by The MC5 that does not appear in the database, at Monroe Catholic Central High School, opening for Freddie Cannon along with the Dingos on November 18, 1966.
The poster for the seventh weekend at the Grande Ballroom, November 18-19, 1966, was Gary Grimshaw’s fifth poster, a drawing of a gender-nebulous face. The bands that weekend, for the first night were Walking Wounded, Poor Souls, and The Wha?. On the second night, it was the MC5 and a “mystery” band. Like the “surprise band” the week before, the mystery band remains unknown.
A Motown Records ad in a November 16, 1966 issue of a British music magazine, featuring albums by Jimmy Ruffin, the Supremes, Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston, and Stevie Wonder.
Ad ad for the Surfaris from Glendora, California, best known for their 1963 single "Surfer Joe/Wipe Out", at the Joe Bathey Club in Detroit on November 14, 1966, along with the resident band, the Flaming Embers.
The photo of this poster for a Family Dog show at the University of California at Irvine on November 12, 1966 appeared on the front page of the campus newspaper with the accompanying story about the upcoming concert, but it’s the caption under the photo that grabbed our attention. It reads:
“Family Dog posters are rising in popularity almost as much as Family Dog shows. In San Francisco a back issue poster sells for as much as $3.00. One poster was so much in demand that it was “counterfeited” by an unauthorized printer. The Oakland museum has ordered a whole set of Family Dog posters for display.”
Newspaper ad for The Four Tops’ first UK concert, at the Saville Theatre in London on November 13, 1966. Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ manager, took a special interest in the group, he had visited the Motown studio in Detroit exactly three months earlier, on August 13, 1966, and he booked the group for his newly acquired Saville Theatre, with a stage back-drop designed by Paul McCartney. The two shows were so successful, in front of a star-studded audience that included Beatles, Rolling Stones, actors and actresses, that Epstein booked the group for their first UK tour in early 1967.
Program cover for The Four Tops’ first UK concert, at the Saville Theatre in London on November 13, 1966, presented by Brian Epstein.
The three consecutive issues of Billboard magazine with the Reprise Records ads promoting the Spike Drivers, running from October 29 through November 12, 1966. Reprise released two singles by the band, which was their total recorded output until compilation albums in 2001 and 2002 called “Folkrocking Psychedelic Innovation From The Motor City In The Mid 60s” gathered together fifteen Spike Drivers’ tracks.
These Billboard magazine pages also had the Top Selling R&B Singles chart, which shows the rise of the Tamla Motown single “Heaven Must Have Sent You” by the Elgins, which ultimately peaked at #9. Here is clip of the group “performing” the song on Robin Seymour’s “Swingin’ Time” TV show, broadcast on September 6, 1966.
The Elgins – Heaven Must Have Sent You (1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-On4us9c3k
Reprise Records did give the first single by the Spike Drivers a world-wide release in 1966, these picture sleeves are from Japan, Spain, Germany and France.
Here is the complete 2002 fifteen-track compilation album, released in Switzerland:
The Spike Drivers - Folkrocking Psychedelic Innovation From The Motor City In The Mid 60s (album) (2002)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHytFSeAuIw
One final Reprise Records ad for the Spike Drivers from the three-week blitz in Billboard magazine that ran from October 29 through November 12, 1966.
The path of a just-missed “national breakout”, with the Rationals’ only charting single, “Respect”. The local successes of three singles on Jeep Holland’s A-Squared record label brought the group to the attention of Cameo-Parkway for national distribution. It got the “Regional Breakout” notice in Billboard magazine along with their “Spotlight Singles”. Cameo advertised the single as “the 2nd fastest breaking record in the country!” (second to Question Mark & the Mysterians’ “96 Tears”, also on Cameo) and the band was the subject of a spotlight in the October 29, 1966 issue of Cash Box magazine.
“Respect” entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart at #95 on November 12, 1966, but only gained enough momentum to peak at #92 in its third week, falling off the chart the following week.
A Cameo-Parkway ad for the single “Respect” by the Rationals (produced by Hugh “Jeeper” Holland), calling it “the 2nd fastest breaking record in the country”, and noting that the fastest breaking record was “96 Tears” by Question Mark & the Mysterians, released in August 1966, also on Cameo-Parkway.
A promo poster/flyer for the Rationals on Jeep Holland’s A-Squared Productions.
An ad for Odetta at the Living End, November 11, 1966, just six months since her last appearance at the club. Illustration by Detroit Free Press Artist-Writer Charles Thurston which accompanied his show review.
A fantastic poster for the John Coltrane Quintet, which included his wife Alice from Detroit, at Mitten Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 11, 1966.
Poster/flyer for the Jagged Edge at a Club BMF Teen Dance at the K of C Hall in Dearborn, Michigan on November 11, 1966.
An ad for the third engagement by the Blues Magoos at the Chess Mate in Detroit. This one was for twelve shows, November 8-20, 1966, giving the group a total of 36 Michigan shows in this first year.
A poster/flyer for Joni Mitchell at the Riverboat in Toronto, November 8-13, 1966.
Poster/flyer for Dave Leone’s Hideout Club #1 in Harper Woods, Michigan, with the Kingsmen for a Sunday afternoon four-hour dance on November 6, 1966.
An ad for Nina Simone, Herbie Mann, and the Benton Harbor, Michigan trio The Three Sounds at Masonic Auditorium in Detroit on November 5, 1966.
A Brunswick Records ad in the November 5, 1966 issue of Billboard magazine for what turned out to be a comeback record of sorts for Jackie Wilson.
Long-time readers will recall how Wilson’s chart-topping singles in the late Fifties, which were mostly written by Berry Gordy, helped Gordy start Motown with the royalties. Wilson continued a streak of hits, culminating in his biggest hit “Baby Work Out” in 1963. After a two to three year lag, at least in charting singles, Wilson came back with this track, and with alleged instrumentation by The Funk Brothers and backing vocals by The Andantes, he had another Top Ten record.
"Whispers (Gettin' Louder)" was the first of two big comeback singles with the established Chicago soul producer Carl Davis along with 1967’s "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher". A key to Wilson's musical rebirth was Davis insisting that he no longer record with Brunswick's musicians in New York; instead, he recorded with Detroit musicians normally employed by Motown Records and also Davis' own Chicago-based session players. The Detroit musicians, known as the Funk Brothers, participated on Wilson's recordings due to their respect for Davis and Wilson.
Jackie Wilson – Whispers (Getting’ Louder) (1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtgzhA7Add8
Full-page Motown Records ad for Chris Clark in the November 5, 1966 issue of Billboard magazine.
That same weekend, November 5, 1966, out in Ann Arbor, Bob Seger was the headliner at The Fifth Dimension. The poster was again produced by Kramer Designs, re-using the standardized graphics they had created for the club, but misspelling both Seger’s name and the name of his band.
Bob Seger & the Last Heard – Persecution Smith (1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVG7hWLj-cg
The full page from the newspaper.
Party at the department store, at the Montgomery Ward in Saginaw, Michigan, November 5, 1966, featuring a live appearance by the Bossmen. When was the last time you saw something like that? The night before, the Bossmen had performed at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit.
The Bossmen had also released their fifth single of the Lucky Eleven label in Flint, Michigan, with both sides original songs written by Dick Wagner.
The Bossmen – Wait and See (1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZM8BLADU6s
The Bossmen – You’re the Girl for Me (1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ5DQkgoAPY
The fifth weekend at the Grande Ballroom, November 4-5, 1966, was promoted with Gary Grimshaw’s fourth poster and featured a band from Saginaw, Michigan called The Bossmen, featuring guitarist and singer, Dick Wagner.
The Bossmen opened for Southbound Freeway on the first night and Southbound Freeway opened for the MC5 on the second night.
The Bossmen – Baby Boy (1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwr4fn5X0wg
The extremely rare black-and-white handbill by Gary Grimshaw for the fifth weekend at the Grande Ballroom, November 4-5, 1966.
Ad for the Fifth Dimension in Ann Arbor, November 4-6, 1966.
You should recall from our post on the opening night at the Grande Ballroom that The Chosen Few were listed on the Seagull poster but nearly everyone (especially the guys in the replacement band, The Wha?) claims that The Chosen Few had already broken up by then and did not appear. But Ron Asheton has famously claimed that he struck the very first note at the Grande and he is specific enough to identify it as the opening bass riff in the Rolling Stones song, "Everybody Needs Somebody".
Also, for a band that supposedly broke up before the first night at The Grande, we've seen their name continued to be listed on posters for two more following shows at the Grande and, as we see below, The Chosen Few still played shows later in the year. The guys in The Wha? admit they may have actually played the second night on the opening weekend, and we do like the sound (literally) of Asheton’s tale.
So then, there is this poster for The Chosen Few at Mothers on November 4, 1966. This is probably the show that Gary Quackenbush from The Fugitives recalls when he and Jeep Holland checked out Scott Richardson with The Chosen Few "at the armory in Ann Arbor" (that would be Mothers). And it was not long after this show that Jeep put Scott together with The Fugitives to form The Scot Richard Case (he claimed three-word band names were all the rage), shortened later to SRC.
Also on the bill was the group from Kalamazoo called The Hitch Hikers. They would soon move to Ann Arbor and change their name to the Thyme.
One thing that is fairly certain is that The Chosen Few never made a recording. Their manager, Ron Richardson, took them to New York City to record at an MGM studio, but that allegedly fell apart when they got there. We did find this record, though, by a different band named The Chosen Few (from Vermont) and it's actually great.
The Chosen Few – Get In On Life (1967)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JlMt6Kl6x0
An ad for the Driftwood Lounge in the 20 Grand club in Detroit, Michigan with the Temptations and Tammi Terrell opening an engagement on November 4, 1966.
Grand Opening of Dave Leone’s Hideout #3 in Clawson, Michigan, November 4, 1966.
A full-page EMI Records ad in the UK for the Temptations’ single "(I Know) I'm Losing You", released on November 2, 1966. It was their sixth #1 single on Billboard’s Top Selling R&B Singles chart.
The Temptations – (I Know) I’m Losing You (1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8WM90VuOcA
Newspaper ad for Aretha Franklin and Jimmy Ruffin, with the O’Jays and others, at the Kiel Opera House in St. Louis, Missouri on October 30, 1966.
Notebook paper flyer by James Montgomery for The Great Cosmic Expanding, Halloween night “in the cafeteria”, October 31, 1966.
A couple of ads for The Spike Drivers placed in the October 29, 1966 issue of Billboard magazine.
Full-page Motown Records ad in the October 29, 1966 issue of Billboard magazine for Martha & the Vandellas’ single “Ready For Love”, written and produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland.
The following video is from Robin Seymour’s “Swingin’ Time” TV show, broadcast on March 11, 1967.
Martha & the Vandellas – Ready for Love (1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQbCsQFOuzA
Ad for the Fifth Dimension club in Ann Arbor, October 28-30, 1966.
This ad for Weekend #4 at the Grande Ballroom (October 28-29, 1966) that doubles as a coupon (one free admission with one paid) which must be the “bread saving offer in the Collegian” mentioned on Rob Tyner’s poster. The ad artwork, also by MC5 lead singer Rob Tyner, is more artistic than his poster.
Newspaper ad for the "First Annual Mystic Rites of Autumn Freak-Out Masked Ball and Monster Rally" at the Grande Ballroom, October 28-29, 1966.
Poster by MC5 lead singer Rob Tyner for Weekend #4 at the Grande Ballroom, October 28-29, 1966. It was Tyner’s first poster for the Grande, not counting the two ads for Weekend #3, there was no Gary Grimshaw poster for the fourth weekend.
The shows were billed as “The First Annual Mystic Rites of Autumn Freak-Out, Masked Ball and Monster Rally”. Attendees were urged to come in costume, with prizes for the best costumes. There was also a note to “see Thursday’s Collegian for another bread saving offer”.
The original poster/handbill measures approximately 8″ x 11″. No other editions are known.
The bands for the fourth weekend were the MC5 and Southbound Freeway on the first night, with Southbound Freeway and the Chosen Few for the second night.
Poster/flyer by an unknown artist for the Apostles at the Fifth Dimension in Ann Arbor on October 23, 1966, and also on the 28th and 29th.
As ubiquitous as they were, very little information can be found on The Apostles, a band from Ann Arbor that appear to date back to being contemporaries of The Prime Movers, around 1964, but the actual date of formation is unknown.
The Motor City Musical Archives (one of our best sources) lists three band members, Andy Solomon (keyboards/vocals), Sleepy Jackson (bass), and Louis Franklin (drums), but the 1967 promo photo seen in this video shows four members.
The Motor City Musical Archives lists the years of their existence as “?-1967”, but The Concert Database (another one of our best sources) lists Apostles shows into 1968, when we know that Andy Solomon joined The Amboy Dukes (replacing original keyboardist, Rick Lober, who joined Benny & The Jets).
The Apostles played The Grande Ballroom at least 17 times, and were on the bill for festivals at Southfield High School and the Michigan State Fairgrounds, and, as seen here, they headlined the Halloween 1966 weekend at The Fifth Dimension.
But their only known recording, on Jeep Holland’s A-Square Records, is generally discounted for being only a couple of cover songs, “Stranded in the Jungle” and The Kinks’ “Tired of Waiting”, which showcases Andy Solomon’s keyboard playing, but also displays a rather tight rocking combo.
The Apostles – Tired of Waiting (1968) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29k6kT43uBo
