For other tales of musical adventure, please visit Soccer Mom in Denial.
I spent some time this weekend putting together a long overdue Michigan mix CD. I'd had a friend, a former Michigander ask me - "What music would be from Michigan?"
Whoa.
To start with, and maybe to end with, Motown. Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross and both the original and latter members of the Supremes, The Four Tops, The Temptations and the inimitable Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, to name just few.
Okay, and then there's a great punk rock history - The Stooges, arguably the first punk band, formed in my adopted home town. That legacy carries up to The White Stripes today.
Want some harder rock? Try Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, Mitch Ryder and Bob Seger.
Folkies? Michael Cooney and Catie Curtis both got their starts here, and the Ark, in Ann Arbor, is one of the most venerable folk venues in the country.
When I was in college, blues bars ruled the roost, and given our proximity to Chicago, we had big name blues acts almost every weekend.
Yup, we've done okay.
So, for my ode to Michigan on this Monday, I chose "Stop! In the Name of Love." It's not my favorite. My favorite Motown pick would have been "Respect" or "My Girl." But it brings back fond memories. It resurrects pre-karaoke days when I would play Diana to my bf and his best friend, and we had an "act" that we might pull off in a bar after one too many beers. And from what I've heard, we were funny.
For those who see me as staid and oh-so-nice, another piece of the puzzle...
And darn it, youtube is being a pain again, so if the video doesn't appear (or appears three days late like last week), here's a link to enjoy Miss Ross and her wonderful Supremes.
