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Splatt Gallery's History of Michigan Concert Posters
Volume Six - 1970 - Page Seventeen
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A pair of ads for Homecoming Week activities at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, October 22-24, 1970, featuring the Steve Miller Band with Bread, and Ten Wheel Drive with Sha-Na-Na.
A very nice poster, frequently bootlegged, by an unknown artist for a headlining appearance by Grand Funk Railroad at the Quaker City Rock Festival in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 23, 1970.
An ad for the UK release of the debut album by Funkadelic in the October 23, 1970 issue of the British music magazine Blues & Soul.
A two-page Tamla Motown Records ad in the October 23, 1970 issue of the British music magazine Blues & Soul.
Poster of Freda Payne on the back cover of the October 23, 1970 issue of the British music magazine Blues & Soul.
Ads by Doug Huston (left) and Robert Daniel (right) for Judy Collins at the Jenison Field House in East Lansing, Michigan, October 24, 1970.
Two more ads for Judy Collins at the Jenison Field House in East Lansing, Michigan, October 24, 1970.
Poster for Grand Funk Railroad in Rochester, New York on October 24, 1970.
Full-page Motown Records ad in the October 24, 1970 issue of Billboard magazine for another hit song written by Motown staff songwriter Ron Miller, who also wrote the song “For Once in My Life”.
Stevie Wonder – Heaven Help Us All (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZoV3GhCaak
Back out to Richmond, Virginia, this time with SRC, October 25, 1970. Just as when Alice Cooper played in the city the month before, the light show is provided by Squeezo Light Brigade but this time with Bruce Springsteen on stage in his band Steel Mill.
Ole Zim’s Wagon Shed is a dance hall near Sandusky, Ohio that opened in 1964 and still has square dances (and Sunday chicken dinners) to this day. For a few months, at least, at the end of 1970, Yost Unlimited presented a parade of Michigan bands for rock concerts, starting with the Up on September 25, 1970, Brownsville Station on November 1st, SRC on November 8th, and the Stooges on November 15th, with promised up-coming shows by Amboy Dukes, Bob Seger, and Frost.
Partial front page of Issue #3 of Motor City Rock-Roll-News, October 26, 1970, featuring Gary Grimshaw lettering.
Two versions of a poster/handbill by Carol Ann, for the Palladium in Birmingham, Michigan, October 27, 1970. It really was the year for area appearances by Rod Stewart & the Faces, this was their twelfth Michigan show for the year, with yet one more to come when they will open for Three Dog Night at Olympia Stadium on November 7th.
A second rally with Tom Hayden in a matter of months, joined by Dave Sinclair and the Up, at Finch Fieldhouse in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, October 28, 1970.
The MC5, booked at Ungano’s in NYC, October 28-31, 1970, although on the 31st, Halloween night, they would appear across down at the Ritz Theater with the Stooges instead. But notice the name of the band coming in after the Five, the US debut of “Black Sabbagh”.
The MC5 played a couple of dates at Ungano’s in NYC, October 28-30, 1970, then joined the Stooges across town at the Ritz Theater on Halloween night, October 31, 1970.
Halloween, season of the witch, cover of the October 29, 1970 issue of The Ann Arbor Argus by artist Richard Morris, with an over-laid ad from inside, announcing an all-women’s party on the hallowed eve.
An ad in The Daily Egyptian, the campus newspaper of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois for the opening of the new Zodiac Club with the inaugural act, Funkadelic on October 29, 1970. A great live shot of the band in action with George Clinton doing a stage crawl.
An ad for the Odyssey in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with an appearance by the band Floating Opera on October 29, 1970. The ad mentions that the band had just returned from a recording session in New York, their debut, and only, album, produced by Herbie Mann, will be released in 1971, which is where we will link to it, however we found that the band also released a single on the Fontana label in 1969, and this is how it sounds:
Floating Opera - Gotta Find A New Baby (1969)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiIN1TiqEh0
Floating Opera - It's A Great Day (1969)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzcciqnU58g
Equally nice Gary Grimshaw poster and ad for the Zenta New Year’s Eve in Ann Arbor, Michigan, October 30, 1970, featuring Detroit with Mitch Ryder, UP, Brat and Mobius.
Halloween Night, October 31, 1970 concert at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti with poster/flyer by unknown artist.
Alice Cooper (who may or may not have made the show) are described as “(Incredible) – Currently in Two Movies”. The band did have a cameo role in the 1970 film “Diary of a Mad Housewife”, the second movie was probably the film of the Cincinnati Pop Festival.
Brownsville Station are described as “(1950 Rock at its Best)”.
SRC (listed with periods between the letters) are described as “Three albums out – Best Musical Group of 1970”.
Jam Band (Mike Quatro’s group) is described as “Received a standing ovation at Strawberry Fields”.
Mutzie are described as “Hottest Blues Act Ever”.
And Insanity’s Horse are described as “New Detroit Act”.
Newspaper ad for the Halloween 1970 show at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. Good place for the only known recording by Insanity’s Horse. The band’s name comes from a Jim Morrison lyric on The Doors’ second album.
Insanity’s Horse – To the Editor (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHWH0rLGNbI
Halloween Night, October 31, 1970 concert with the Amboy Dukes, Everlon Nevermore, and John Drake Shakedown at the Palladium in Birmingham, Michigan with poster by the unknown artist that used appropriated comic book images in the posters for Wampler’s Lake Pavilion all summer.
Halloween 1970 daytime activity, a march and rally at Burk Burnett Park in Fort Worth, Texas with the main speaker, Genie Plamondon who had recently returned from a trip to North Vietnam and had the new title of the White Panther’s Minister of International Affairs.
Poster by an unknown artist from the Sun/Dance newspaper that accompanied a story on Genie Plamondon’s visit to North Vietnam.
And rounding out the Halloween night festivities was this show at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit, October 31, 1970. We can assume that describing Detroit with Mitch Ryder as “First appearance with his new group”, might mean that the classic recording line-up had finally come together.
Musicians had come into and out of the band at a pace that was hard to keep track, ever since Barry Kramer had helped Ryder get it back together when Ryder had returned to Detroit (the city). The only member from the original Detroit Wheels was drummer Johnny “Bee” Badanjek, who had signed on at the beginning. Legend has it that Detroit (the band) was more like a motorcycle gang than a band, roving around the country, picking up and dropping members as the road took its toll. But along the way, they picked up two excellent guitarists, Brett Tuggle from Colorado and a virtuoso kid from Decatur, Illinois, Steve Hunter.
A fantastic poster by “a sunbum production” for Grand Funk Railroad in Honolulu, Hawaii on Halloween night, October 31, 1970. Apparently, Sunbum was the second-largest concert promoter in Hawaii. A hilarious cartoon of the band, riding a train into Honolulu with sold-out cities in their wake, including Houston, Fort Worth, Washington DC, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, and Jonesboro, Georgia. An artist signature that looks like “Omadoon”(?) appears under the first trestle. The choice of orange and purple with the stark white cartoon and the optical illusion lettering add up to an amazing piece.
An ad for “Houston’s first appearance of Detroit’s MC5” at the club Of Our Own in Houston, Texas, October 31, 1970 and November 1st, however the shows were rescheduled for November 28-29, and the MC5 appeared with the Stooges at the Ritz Theater in NYC on Halloween night 1970.
A Stanley Mouse illustration on the cover of the second edition of the “Hip Pocket Directory”, a seventy page guide to “hip” products and services in the Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Windsor, Canada areas, published by the October Company in Highland Park, Michigan in November 1970.
Inside cover and table of contents in the Hip Pocket Directory with WABX-FM “Radio is Dead” ad.
Ads in the Hip Pocket Directory for the Fifth Estate newspaper, the Odyssey Lounge in Ann Arbor and Mr. Flood’s Party also in A2. Also of note is the listing for Boof Design, a visual arts outlet for Third Power’s Jem Targal.
More ads from the Hip Pocket Directory with two of particular interest.
An ad by an unknown artist for Artie Fields Productions from November 1970, just after The MC5 finished recording their upcoming “High Time” album at the studio.
An ad by an unknown artist for Fiddlers Music in Detroit, Michigan from November 1970. It was founded by ex-members of the band, the Lazy Eggs, Tom Carson, Sam Moceri, and Clem Riccobono. A fourth ex-member of the band, Gary Prague founded the nearby Cloudborn Recording Studio.
Fiddlers, as shown in the ad, started out as a musical instruments store on the first floor of the building, with an art studio, 1st Art Place East, on the second floor. Eventually, Fiddlers expanded into all three floors of the building, the first floor was the equipment store, the second floor handled sound and lighting, had a luthier studio for stringed instrument building and repair, and lesson rooms that facilitated 150 students per week. The third floor became a recording studio, which, as we will see, became a significant location in the late 1970’s.
John Sinclair on the cover of the November 1970 issue of CREEM magazine, photo by Leni Sinclair. The issue carried a five-page story by John Sinclair, titled “Liberation Music”.
The issue also featured Part One of Lester Bang’s epic two-issue review of the Stooges’ “Fun House” album. After four text-heavy pages, the editors note at the end read: “NEXT ISSUE: Lester actually begins to review the album…”
The Stooges' "Funhouse" LP is still the subscription premium for the second month.
A sweet full-page ad in the November 1970 issue of CREEM magazine for the “Detroit Tubeworks” TV shows coming up in December. We can only find this cover for the inserted section.
An ad from the Motown Records’ Soul label with new singles by Gladys Knight & the Pips, and the Originals. The song "If I Were Your Woman", released in November 1970, became the Pip’s third #1 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart, and broke into the Top Ten, at #9, on the Hot 100.
Here is a clip of the group’s performance of the song on the Ed Sullivan TV Show, broadcast on February 7, 1971.
Gladys Knight & The Pips - If I Were Your Woman (Ed Sullivan Show 2/7/71)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jCmu9AxyMU
Two “one night only” shows by Wayne Cochran at the Driftwood Lounge in Redford, Michigan, on November 1, 1970 and again, nine days later.
Iron Butterfly at the Town & Gown party at the University of Detroit, November 1, 1970. It had the poorest attendance in the history of the T&G series, less than 1,000 people and the university lost $7,000 on the event.
The MC5 at the Loretto-Hilton Center near St. Louis, Missouri, November 1, 1970. With band signatures (four of the five) for the show’s promoter Todd Kromer, but it’s strange that drummer Dennis Thompson would misspell his own name.
More evidence of the MC5 at the Loretto-Hilton Center near St. Louis, Missouri, November 1, 1970, with ticket and photo from the gig that would be used in the gatefold of the “High Time” album cover.
Artwork by Stanley Mouse & Alton Kelley for “American Beauty”, the fifth studio album by the Grateful Dead, released on November 1, 1970.
A promotional poster by Stanley Mouse & Alton Kelley, with photograph by Herbie Greene for the Grateful Dead album “American Beauty” which was released on November 1, 1970. Here is an amusing story about the poster from the Expressobeans website:
“This poster was hastily produced by anxious Warner Brother’s executives for use as a promotional piece to promote for their newly signed recording artists, The Grateful Dead. The WB people knew that they had a sure winner on their hands with many potential radio play list hits that would generate sales and royalties for years, so in their rush to bring the American Beauty album to market not one of them ever bothered to actually check out the poster that they had commissioned.
“As was the custom in the era, once the posters were produced the printer usually removed five or six original untrimmed finished pieces as proof copies for the artist and the record company to review and either approve or disapprove. Once the artwork was approved the printer would then cut and trim all remaining posters, stacking them into either tube rolling or folding machines- whatever was requested by the client. So all but a few of these posters (Kelley’s half dozen or so evaluation copies) went through the printer’s folding machine and were then delivered to WB’s warehouse for immediate distribution to their national record store clients- hopefully for some Main Street USA record store front window exposure!
Then… only days before American Beauty was to be released to the public did someone at Warner Brother’s happen to take a glance at the image within the poster. I can only imagine what some stunned record executive must have sounded like as he called this little tidbit of news into his boss at WB headquarters, “Oh my God- That is correct sir… Jerry Garcia is sitting right there in front- and he’s smoking a joint!”
“Outraged and embarrassed Warner Brother’s managers ordered the immediate destruction of the entire (folded) American Beauty production run, but one or more of the employees must have liked the art and managed to sneak a few out of the building prior to shredding.
This is why when you do happen to find one it will usually have the machine fold marks heavily creased into it, and also why the unfolded are among the very best in the world of top tier Grateful Dead posters.”
Stanley Mouse artwork on the cover of the sheet music for the song “Truckin’”, a signature song by the Grateful Dead. The single, released on November 1, 1970, was their fifth, peaking at #64 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart where it remained their highest charting single until the late-career surprise hit "Touch of Grey" in 1987.
Grateful Dead - Truckin' (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVTiZQeby5E
Poster by an artist signed "Mozip” for Jethro Tull and the Bob Seger System at the Comerford Theatre in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on November 3, 1970. The main image is taken from the cover art of Tull’s 1969 album “Stand Up” by artist James Grashow.
Four days after this show, Tull will be performing in Lansing, Michigan, while Seger will be headed to shows at Ungano’s in New York City.
From 1970 through 1972, Tom Schlesinger was Motown Records’ Director of Advertising and Creative Concepts, during which time he was responsible for Motown’s image in the media, designing ads and album covers, and taking it big with billboards in and around Detroit, including this one for the release of Diana Ross’ second solo album on November 3, 1970.
Rush-released to capitalize on the success of her first solo album which had yielded two hit singles, “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, the second effort, titled “Everything is Everything” was not as successful, but it did contain one song that had to win the prize for the song with the strangest name. "Doobedood'ndoobe, Doobedood'ndoobe, Doobedood'ndoo".
Diana Ross - Doobedood'ndoobe, Doobedood'ndoobe, Doobedood'ndoo (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYVzNTNZAMo
The front cover of the November 3, 1970 issue of the Second Coming newspaper in Ypsilanti, Michigan by Zeke Mallory, later of Crow Quill.
Poster by an unknown artist for The Temptations in Tulsa, Oklahoma, November 5, 1970.
Opening for Procol Harum at the Eastown Theater, November 6, 1970, and for Traffic the next night, again at the Eastown, was the local band Power of Zeus. Formerly known as Gangrene, they served as the house band in at the Wooden Nickel club in Grosse Point, Michigan, which led to a signing to Motown and the change of name.
Their only album was released on the Rare Earth label, where it floundered, and the band broke up.
The Power of Zeus – The Gospel According to Zeus (album) (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roRLlcB7Gq0
Poster by Dennis Preston for the band Otis at Phillips Hall in East Lansing, Michigan, November 6, 1970.
Newspaper ad for Little Richard at the Detroit Music Hall, November 6-8, 1970. The Four Tops followed, November 12-15, and then the Impressions for nine shows, November 20-22.
Volume Six - 1970 - continues - HERE
An ad for Grand Funk Railroad in Anaheim, California on November 1, 1970.
For some reason, we have always, subliminally, associated this image of a rhino being zapped in the tail by a lightning bolt with the band Traffic, and now we know why, as this ad for Schlitz Malt Liquor was printed on the same page as the ad for the Traffic concert in the November 6, 1970 edition of the Michigan Daily newspaper in Ann Arbor. Also of interest, the Truckstop presenting UP at Stockwell’s Coffee Shoppe for a mere seventy-five cents.
