Michigan Artist Eligibility
The definition of a “Michigan artist” is somewhat loose inasmuch as Rock and Roll is not in any way restricted by state borders. Every attempt has been made to include all the artists that fit the following criteria for eligibility but some may have inadvertently been left off the ballot. If you know of a Michigan artist who is eligible and was not listed, please contact Dr. J at michrrleg@charter.net.
To be eligible for induction into Michigan Rock and Roll Legends, all artists must meet at least one of the following requirements.
a.) Born in Michigan
b.) Raised in Michigan
c.) Started their career in Michigan
d.) Lived in Michigan for a number of years while they were recording and performing.
In addition, all eligible artists must have released a vinyl recording that was played on Michigan AM or FM radio prior to 1989.
A Brief History of Michigan Rock and MRRL
The automotive industry and the other manufacturing companies in Michigan played an important role in the rise of Rock and Roll in the state. Plants like Dodge Main in Hamtramck, which employed 40,000 people in World War II, brought people of different nationalities and races from all over the world to Michigan. The most important migration in terms of music came from the agricultural South in the United States, a region where people representing a wide range of ethnic groups were looking for good wages and an opportunity to provide a higher standard of living for their families.
Because of the auto plants and the industries that grew around them, Metropolitan Detroit and the large cities to the north and west became melting pots of cultural diversity. The people who came to live and work in these municipalities brought a variety of musical styles including Blues, Country, Gospel, Folk, and Latin. These were blended with R&B, Jazz, and Pop into a kind of cross-cultural musical stew that evolved into the very distinct style of Rock and Roll found in Michigan.
The higher standard of living now possible for Michigan families also saw the rise of a postwar teenage culture with more disposable income and leisure time than any previous generation. These teens of all races would begin to look for a new type of music that would better reflect their lives.
Even the big, powerful, chrome-trimmed cars coming out of Detroit became somewhat symbolic of the new sound. The automobiles produced in the Motor City were, in turn, the subject of many songs during Rock and Roll’s first decade.
Other technological advances would be vital to the rise of this powerful new music genre. One important one was the change in radio broadcasting from predominantly live music in the 40’s to playing recordings by an announcer who would become known as the disc jockey in the 50’s. These deejays, broadcasting from AM stations all around the state, would play crucial roles in exposing the new artists and sounds of Michigan Rock and Roll, especially during its first two decades.
Another would be the development of amplified instruments. The electric guitar, invented by the late Les Paul, would become a symbol of Rock and Roll and an important ingredient of the Michigan sound. This can clearly be heard in the early R&B recordings of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters, the Rockabilly sides of Jack Scott, the three-guitar approach of the Funk Brothers on countless Motown hits, and in the heavy sounds of bands like the MC5 and Grand Funk Railroad.
Televisions became common in American households in the 50’s, and even though there were only two or three channels, teen programs such as American Bandstand as well as prime time variety fare such as the Ed Sullivan Show became important showcases for the new breed Rock and Roll artists. These, in turn, inspired Michigan stations to start producing their own televised dance programs such as Teen Town and Swingin' Time in Detroit.
Teen nightclubs grew across the state, starting with the rise of Rock and Roll in the 50’s and continuing through the decade of the 60’s. The ‘battle of the bands’ and weekly dances held at the clubs would prove to be invaluable training grounds for new young bands to play the hits of the day and to develop original material.
Michigan was also blessed with a number of small independent record labels that provided opportunities for Michigan artists. Fortune, Lucky Eleven, A-Square, Lu Pine, Fenton, Golden World, Carla, Impact, and most importantly Tamla-Motown, were just a few of the labels that opened the doors to a vast array of Michigan recordings that today provide us with an aural history of the Rock and Roll movement in our state.
Michigan Rock and Roll Legends is a web site dedicated to the artists and music that are part of Michigan’s rich and diverse Rock and Roll legacy. MRRL was created to help promote and preserve this vital aspect of the cultural history of our state. It is hoped that the site will not only give recognition to artists and songs that were important contributors to the Rock and Roll movement, but will also help keep the spirit of Michigan music burning bright.
The voting for inclusion in MRRL was originally done in the spring by a large group of Rock and Roll lovers who participated in The World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Trivia Show held twice yearly in Bay City. In 2007, the vote was expanded to include ballots sent via email by Michigan music fans who did not attend the trivia shows.
Voting for the 2011 Michigan Rock and Roll Legends and Legendary Michigan Songs will be done completely online. The email vote is open to anyone who is interested in Michigan Rock and Roll music. Inductions for artists who are named on at least 33% of the ballots cast will take place on the MRRL web site. If no artists achieve 33% on the ballots, the top vote-getters each year will gain induction. Voting results will be posted on Dr. J's Page on June 1, 2011.
Honorary inductions to MRRL were started in 2008. The purpose of this type of induction was to give credit to the people behind-the-scenes who were important in the history of Michigan Rock and Roll. These would include artists, photographers, label owners, session musicians, songwriters, and record producers who would generally not be household names to most Michigan music fans. One individual or group from the above categories will be selected each year. Please email any suggestions to Dr. J at michrrleg@charter.net
About The Name
The idea to create a hall of fame for Michigan artists came about in the mid-90’s while I was writing a textbook for a Rock and Roll history course I was developing at Cramer Junior High School in Essexville. While researching material for what became the first version of Good Rockin' Tonight, I was surprised to discover that there was not already something in place for Michigan artists.
One of the main themes for my class was the very important role that Michigan artists played in the history of Rock and Roll, and it seemed to me that the establishment of an organization that celebrated that aspect of our state’s cultural history was long overdue.
An opportunity was presented when Bay City hired a firm to explore ideas for developing the land that was formerly an industrial site along the riverfront on the city’s Eastside. To encourage community involvement in the area now called Uptown at River’s Edge, citizens were invited to submit ideas that would be considered for possible investment and implementation.
I wrote a proposal for a Michigan Rock and Roll Hall of Fame/Museum to be established along the riverfront in Bay City. My proposal outlined the importance of Michigan in the overall history of Rock and Roll as well as Bay City’s part in that history (i.e. the birthplace of Madonna and the site for the recording of “96 Tears”). I thought that the best selling point of the proposal was that a hall of fame museum that housed memorabilia from Michigan artists would attract tourist dollars from all around the world.
The idea for a Hall of Fame was rejected, and instead there was a lot of big talk regarding a proposed maritime center, a new shopping and restaurant area, a minor league baseball stadium, a gambling casino, and the construction of more expensive condos along the river. None of these porposals have even come close to getting off the ground, however, and the entire area still remains undeveloped.
Despite having my proposal turned down, I still believed it was an idea worth pursuing. I thought it might be fun to try to do something with it on-line in the form of a web site. Having very little computer savvy, I recruited some high school computer students from the Bay Arenac Skill Center and hired them to help me set up the first version of the web site.
The voters for the first group of Michigan inductees in the spring of 2005 were the 100 or so knowledgeable people who regularly attended the “World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Trivia Show” that I had been hosting with a friend of mine in Bay City since 1992. Seventeen well-known Michigan artists were inducted as a result of that first vote. At this point the web site was going to be called the Michigan Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
My wife, Lynn-J, and I had first met Terry Stewart, the President and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, at an event called A Night Of Rock And Roll Dancing on February 14, 2004 in Cleveland. Writer and deejay Norm N. Nite hosted the dance at the Hall of Fame, and Terry ran a brief trivia show which I managed to win. Speaking with him afterwards, I tried to recruit him to come to my multi-media Rock and Roll trivia show in Bay City in the spring. I wrote to invite him again in the fall of 2004, as well as the spring of 2005, but had no luck in getting him to attend.
When I wrote Stewart once again to invite him to the fall trivia show to be held in November of 2005, I mentioned in the letter that I was in the process of setting up a Michigan Rock and Roll Hall of Fame web site, and that we had held our first vote the previous spring.
Terry Stewart had always sent me a postcard informing me of his regrets, but this time he called me on the phone. His purpose was to let me know that if I used the name Michigan Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for my site, he would be forced to sue me. He went on to explain that the hall in Cleveland had exclusive rights to the title “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”. Stewart said that he was currently in the process of suing a web site called the Jewish Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for $150,000 because they had refused to change their name.
Stewart then advised me that I should modify the name of my site "to something like Michigan Rock and Roll Legends” in order to avoid being the target of a lawsuit. Discretion being the better part of valor, I thanked him for the advanced warning and adopted his suggested name change for the web site that very day.
I never was successful in luring Terry to Bay City for one of my Rock and Roll trivia presentations, however, despite mailing written invitations to him right up until the end of the run of the shows. I guess that dealing with those important legal matters must have kept him pretty busy.