Dr. J's Blog - Michigan Rock and Roll Legends

Return Of ? And The Mysterians

Details: Category: Dr. J's Blog; Published: Friday, 07 October 2011 17:57; Written by Gary Johnson

Wow! I go back a long time with ? & The Mysterians. I was attending Delta College in 1965 when the then-young band played at a college beer party held at a small hall near Auburn, Michigan. One of the Delta frat boys had heard the Mysterians practicing on a Monitor Township farm while driving home from school and hired them on the spot. Fred Herter, one of the organizers of the event, claims that ? & The Mysterians were paid the princely sum of $10 for the gig.

Roll-Air, Band Canyon, and a Not-So-Great Idea

Details: Category: Dr. J's Blog; Published: Friday, 07 October 2011 17:51; Written by Gary Johnson

All the publicity surrounding the latest attempt at opening a new teenage nightclub in Bay City called 'Roosters' got me thinking about "the good old days" of the 1960's when the unifying force of Rock and Roll was enough to draw in the kids to such clubs and thereby enable this type of business venture to be successful. By success, I mean make money. And by the end of the summer of 1964, it was clear that there was a lot of money to be made catering to the musical tastes of area teenagers

Although it technically wasn't a teenage nightclub, the inspiration for the ones that followed came from Roll-Air. Located on State Park Drive, the open-air facility became a magnet for area teenagers when the owners, Bay City educators Octavian and Christine Gavrila and Bob and Ilene Darbee, turned its 70 ft. x 206 ft. cement skating rink into a dance floor and started having Tuesday night "Battles of the Bands" during the summer of 1964.

Madonna Misconstrued In Bay City

Details: Category: Dr. J's Blog; Published: Friday, 07 October 2011 17:27; Written by Gary Johnson

Madonna became the first person from Bay City to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday, March 10, 2008. Inductees were honored with a video montage leading up to their induction, and listed below Madonna's name was Bay City, Michigan. It was certainly no accident that Bay City was placed under Madonna's name. The question is why? The city has never treated Madonna with very much respect.

Charlie Brunner: Rock and Roll Mayor

Details: Category: Dr. J's Blog; Published: Friday, 07 October 2011 17:19; Written by Gary Johnson

So what does a shy teenaged guy who is totally uninspired by schoolwork think about as he watches the minutes slowly tick away during those seemingly endless classes at Bangor Junior High School during the 60’s? The Beatles? Nancy Sinatra in a bikini? Who was going to be on Shindig or Where The Action Is this week? Playing drums? The lyrics to “Get Off My Cloud”? What it would be like to have a car? The tight sweater and budding breasts of the girl one row over and what it might be like to run your hand across them?

Madonna - What Would Make Her Blush?

Details: Category: Dr. J's Blog; Published: Friday, 07 October 2011 17:14; Written by Gary Johnson

What would it take to make Madonna blush? Whew! That’s a tough question to answer. It probably would not involve nudity. Madonna has appeared nude in magazines and in movies. Her coffee table book, Sex, revealed a nude Madonna in every sexual situation you could imagine and then some.

It wouldn’t be her videos and concert performances that have consistently riled the Catholic Church and the self-appointed morality police with her use of religious and sexual imagery. Politics? I haven’t seen any shame for the video on her most recent concert tour that included images of both John McCain and Adolph Hitler. Madonna is outspoken, but she didn’t seem embarrassed even by her profanity-filled appearance on David Letterman several years back.

Norwegian Wood (a fantasy)

Details: Category: Dr. J's Blog; Published: Friday, 07 October 2011 17:07; Written by Gary Johnson

I was peaking on the acid I dropped at the Flamingo by the time we reached the Scotch of St. James. Burdon always had the best L.S.D. I’d been taking it several times each week since George, Pattie, Cynthia, and I had been dosed at a dinner party given by my dentist. Cyn had been scared to death, but I quite enjoyed it.

It’s a good thing Mal drove the Aston-Martin as everything had dissolved into a blur of color and sound. We were laughing hysterically as we stepped off the lift. I had briefly panicked and screamed loudly when I thought it had burst into flame after the doors had closed. It seemed like minutes, but Mal assured me it took only seconds for me to discover that it was a small red light on the lift’s console.

Madonna - "We Have Her Key"

Details: Category: Dr. J's Blog; Published: Friday, 07 October 2011 17:03; Written by Gary Johnson

I love comedian Robin Williams’ famous quote, “If you remember the 60’s, you weren’t there.” Now if I have to explain to you why that’s funny, I guess either you really weren’t there or you don’t understand the drug implications in the quote. I’m also pretty sure that you could apply that saying to any of the subsequent decades as well, but just for the following story, how about if we change William’s quote slightly to “If you remember the 80’s, you weren’t there”?

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Return Of ? And The Mysterians

Roll-Air, Band Canyon, and a Not-So-Great Idea

Madonna Misconstrued In Bay City

Charlie Brunner: Rock and Roll Mayor

Madonna - What Would Make Her Blush?

Norwegian Wood (a fantasy)

Madonna - "We Have Her Key"

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