The Grande Ballroom Story - Louder Than Love

LOUDER THAN LOVE—
The Grande Ballroom Story (Trailer)

LOUDER THAN LOVE is the story of the Grande Ballroom—birthplace of the Detroit rock music scene. Bands like MC5, Iggy & the Stooges, Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes, Alice Cooper and many more got their start here. The Grande not only influenced Michigan musicians but inspired bands from all over the U.S. and Europe. Legendary acts like Led Zeppelin, Cream, BB King, Janis Joplin, Pink Floyd and the Who graced the stage at the Grande on a regular basis.

(The last we heard, the producer is still seeking distribution funding for this film.)

Of Two Johns: Lennon & Sinclair

Last weekend we watched The U.S. vs. John Lennon. After the show, I told Joanna another Forrest Gumpian story from my past. No, I didn't teach Elvis his moves, but it's another of those Six Degrees of Separation things that amuse me to no end, especially since the degree of separation—for me, anyway—is usually two or three (four at most).

Walking past the smaller of the two school gynasiums one afternoon in 1968, I heard the coolest music playing from within. I stepped inside and, inquiring of my English teacher, Dave Lundin, learned that I was hearing Upper & Lower Egypt from Pharoah Sanders' Tauhid LP.

More important, Dave told me he was setting up the gym for a be-in, to occur that Saturday night and would I like to participate? Sensing that this was something not to be missed, between the two of us we agreed I'd stage a shadow show during the goings on.

6/21/09—This just in from John Sinclair, London, England:

Thanks for the warm memories and the
nice post. Dave Lundin, what a great guy

Love, John

(Only 40 years later did I learn that Dave had been a regular at Wayne State University's infamous Cass Corridor, where he was picking up counterculture influences and importing them to the NW Detroit suburbs for those emulating the Cleaver family in the post-Eisenhower era. About the same time I discovered that Yoko Ono had been an early participant in both Manhattan, then London, be-ins, such as The 14 Hour Technicolour Dream held at the Alexandra Palace to the music of Pink Floyd and Soft Machine. But more on the Yoko connection later.)

At home I dug up all sorts of small treasures for the shadow show which, as it turned out, I performed onstage adjacent to the 10,000 megawatt, 150 decibel, full-on assault of the legendary MC5, followed thereafter by the jazz grooves laid down by the Charles Moore Ensemble. For a good portion of the evening, band manager, poet, musician, Fifth Estate music columnist and White Panther co-founder John Sinclair—attired in vertically striped green and white pants—was prancing around like a leprechaun on an elevated walkway, handing out cinnamon sticks to all those in attendance.

Facing a ten-year sentence, Sinclair was shortly sent to the Michigan State Penitentiary for possession of three joints. After first talking to Lundin about the idea, I wrote to Sinclair and received a very nice reply shortly thereafter. He was obviously very happy to hear from anybody on the outside. Too bad I didn't save his letter!

"The people at Woodstock really were a bunch of hypocrites
claiming a cosmic revolution... while John Sinclair
rotted in jail after a trumped-up drug bust."

Pete Townshend, from The Road to Woodstock by Michael
Lang with Holly George-Warren, Ecco/HarperCollins, © 2009

Two years later "the stars aligned" for the John Sinclair Freedom Rally at Ann Arbor's Crisler Arena. Having been involved on the fringe of radical politics in the U.S. for some time, organizers were able to enlist the aide of none other than that other John—late of Beatles fame—along with his ever-present other half, Yoko Ono. Also about this time Lennon had recorded the song, John Sinclair, released on his Some Time in New York City album. Sinclair was freed and the city of Ann Arbor soon reduced the fine for smoking marajuana to a paltry five dollars.

Detroit Rock: Dick Wagner, Alice Cooper & Friends

Here Comes the Mystery Man

Several weeks ago I was listening to Radio Paradise when the station proprietor and chief musicologist, Bill Goldsmith, mentioned guitarist/singer/composer Dick Wagner in connection with Lou Reed. "That's interesting," I thought, thinking I might drop Bill a quick note about my Dick Wagner connection. One gets busy, though, and...

Fast-forward a week or so. Radio being what it isn't these days (no thanks to Clear Channel), I usually listen to NPR in the car and happened upon an immediately-identifiable voice—that of one Alice Cooper, progenitor of Kiss, Marilyn Manson, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Later, I remembered that Dick Wagner was Alice's guitarist and co-conspirator for many years.

(Not being an Alice fan back then, the interview was both fascinating and enlightening...did you know Alice personally knew the likes of Groucho Marx, who was a fan? I didn't either. Click the [Listen] button to hear the interview.)

My first personal encounter with Wagner was at a concert at the Birmingham (MI) Palladium, where a group of us were chatting him and his band up during a break. We had also seen his group, The Frost, in addition to ("Terrible" Ted Nugent's) Amboy Dukes, the Psychedelic Stooges (read: Iggy Pop), Bob Seger, et al., appear as warm-up acts all over SE Michigan. (Seger even performed at our surprise high school assembly one afternoon, debuting his Beautiful Loser LP).

From Dick we quickly learned The Frost would soon be recording their second LP, Rock 'N' Roll Music, live at the Grande Ballroom, Detroit's Fillmore-equivalent run by Russ "Paul Is Dead" Gibb. In fact, most of the aforementioned bands, including the MC5 and an earlier group that featured the Eagles' Glenn Frey, were in semi-rotation as opening acts at the Grande.

Shortly thereafter, I well remember pushing my way forward through the Grande's SRO crowd, then proceeding to scream my fool head off at the end of each song. It was a live recording, after all, and they had asked us to make it sound that way. Coming across these recordings not long ago, I swear I can still hear my distinctive "w-h-o-o-p"!

With minimal guidance from Grande artist Carl Lundgren (Gary Grimshaw was the other regular artist), it happens I also designed a postcard (now a collector's item going for $250 a copy), promoting an upcoming B.B. King appearance at the Grande, on which both Wagner's Frost and Iggy's Psychedelic Stooges are billed as opening acts. Imagine this handbill appearing as a part of a regular B.B. King exhibit at the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame & Museum (true story)!

In visting Wagner's well-done website, one learns he moved to Phoenix a couple of years ago and once again is teamed up with Alice Cooper preparing some new material. Hoping to see the "Mystery Man" again soon!