1.14.2014

CUB KODA INTERVIEW WITH PHIL KLINK PART 1

Michael "Cub" Koda (1948-2000)

On rockin', writin', and the sad state of Country music part 1

One of the most interesting stops on the rock n roll timeline would have to have been Detroit circa the late 60's to early 70's when rock music entered it's unruly adolescence. I jumped at the chance to interview ex-Brownsville Station frontman Cub Koda for the Glass Eye.

During our 2 1/2 hour talk at his home/office/studio/rock n roll hideaway outside of Ann Arbor, Mich, we touched on all facets of his 37 year career, from his garage band days with the Del Tinos, to the current reunion with his 80's outfit The Points. We also made stops in between to visit his eclectic solo career and his stint as Hound Dog Taylor's replacement in the Houserockers.

Despite his high energy stage presence, Coda is a very private person, so I was happy to find him open and willing to discuss his place in the Detroit music scene and the part he played in keeping guitar based Rock front and center for so many years-all served up with a dash of the Cubmaster's own unflinching views on life, fame, and Shania Twain! (Phil Klink)


You've been doing this a long time now..do you still get a charge out of going out onstage? Cub; 

 Yeah..you know i really do! Rock n Roll really means something to me, and getting on stage in front of an audience is still exciting.

Even after 37 years?

Cub: Oh yeah! I always said there are 2 ways i'll know when it's time to hang it up-when it's no fun any more or when someone walks away from a Cub Koda show and hasn't been entertained. You know, "He was ok..but you should have seen him 25 years ago!" I don't try and present myself as a 25 year old, unlike some guys who are still squeezing their 50 year old bodies into Spandex!

If REAL rock n roll means something to you, then Cub Koda music has a place in your collection. As many diverse areas as I delve into musically, be it jazz..blues..country..or doo-wop, I'll always play honest rock n roll. I still love it!

Why after 25 years did it seem like the right time to get the Points back together? 

We just realized how much we really missed each other..missed playing together. It definitely wasn't for the money!

 
Ever been talk of a Brownsville reunion? 

Look, the other guys in Brownsville see the band as a "cash cow". you know, make a few bucks, and I'm not interested. One of the reasons we broke up to begin with was that we all wanted something different out of the band. I tried to introduce Rockabilly and Blues into the band many times, but pressure was kept on the band to be hip and produce more hits. The other guys wanted to be Led Zeppelin or Rod Stewart. I just wanted to do good music.

Do you ever get tired of fans requesting 'Smokin' in the Boys Room"? You have to be sick of playing it. 

Cub: Hey, let's get the 'Smokin' thing out of the way right now. I'm very proud of that song. If you could write a song that's made so many people happy for 25 years, wouldn't you? And hey, the Points do a pretty damn good job on it too!


 You guys recorded the new cd 'Noise Monkeys" in one day? 

Yeah! We knew that if we cut another studio disc, it would have to mirror our live show-spontaneous and just rockin' away! It was originally gonna be a live album culled from the reunion show in Fremont Ohio, but the rehearsals sounded so good we used 'em! We just turned on the tape and went at it live in the studio. See, this band, unlike Brownsville, has a unified spirit. We play instinctively. We are all on the same page, so to speak. We like the same kinds of music.

The band was always kickin' live. You and Joey Gaydos always complemented each other musically'
Cub: Hey, I think Joe is one of the most underrated guitarists around, and you can really hear him wail on this record. Yeah, complement each other is exactly right. It never turns into a pissing match, just two guys who dig each others style of playing. As you can tell, I'm very proud of this record for a number of reasons.


First because we got all the original members back together..Fred Schmidt..Pete Bankert..and Joey, and second, because this reunion and record almost didn't happen. The week of the reunion show, i ended up in the hospital with congestive heart failure, and it was almost a year later we finally got together.

When you are laid up in the hospital with tubes coming out of you, you have a lot of time to think, and I came to the conclusion that everything I did from here on in..I wanted to really mean something, you know?

To do something that would last..not jump the latest trend to sell records. God knows the last thing we need is another fucking trend! There will always be a market for cute teenagers singing innocuous pop songs, but if you wait long enough, the real thing always comes back around. Stay tuned for more from Phil Klink's interview with Cub Koda..

1.12.2014

JIMMY MCCARTY RECEIVES AWARD!

 

On January 11, 2014 at the Cooley Lake Inn in Commerce Township Jim McCarty was honored with the Detroit Blues Society Lifetime Achievement Award presented to him by Mike Boulan and Mike Rembor from the Detroit Blues Society.

 
The awards show was hosted by the Tosha Owens Band featuring guest blues musicians Bobby Murray, Ray Goodman, Big Al, 13 year old guitar virtuoso Brandon Lee, Little Arthur and Jimmy's son Dylan on drums. Congratulations Jimmy.

 Dylan McCarty

 Dylan and Jim

ROBIN SEYMOUR AND SWINGIN TIME DETROIT

Robin Seymour on Swingin Time

Swingin' Time was a music variety show, similar to American Bandstand, hosted by WKNR (Keener 13, Detroit) personality Robin Seymour and also, for a time, CKLW radio's Tom Shannon. This show was broadcast on CKLW-TV Channel 9 (now CBET-DT) out of Windsor, Ontario Canada, from 1965 to 1968, and also seen in a few other markets in syndication.

 Robin with Scott Morgan and the Rationals

The show featured recording acts, both nationally and locally popular, lip-synching to their latest releases while teenagers showcased the latest dances on the show's dance floor. In its brief run, the show featured well-known acts Motown like Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, The Marvelettes, and The Four Tops, and non-Motown acts such as Bob Seger.


Robin Seymour (born March 8, 1928 in Detroit, Michigan) was a former WKMH/CKLW Radio Personality and Television Music Show and Host of "Teen Town (TV series)" and "Swingin' Time" in Detroit.
 

Starting with a career in radio as a child actor on the Lone Ranger show and later as one of the country's top ten disc jockeys for a number of years, Robin's career spanned everything from the big band era to Motown to the British invasion to the psychedelic era. 


Patterned after the nationally successful "American Bandstand," Seymour’s “Swingin Time” dance party was a popular commodity on Windsor's Channel 9 from early 1965 through 1968. The show, which aired six days a week, typically featured 50 to 75 dancing high-schoolers, from which two were chosen to give their “yea” or “boo” opinion on new records. READ MORE HERE

1.11.2014

CATFISH:DETROIT'S CANNED HEAT

From Roscoe Helco

CATFISH – I saw this band play at the Fillmore and later at Keystone Korners, where Janis Joplin got up out of the audience and jammed with them. Clockwise from the left: Jimmy Optner (drums), Bob "Catfish" Hodge (lead vocals), Mark Manko (guitar), Harry Phillips (organ) and R Cooke (bass). They recorded two album for the Epic label. Harry was from my old neighborhood. He and Ron Cooke would eventually join Mitch Ryder in the band Detroit. Bob Hodge had a successful solo career and recorded the hit album, "The Boogieman Is Gonna Get You," for Westbound Records. Catfish could be discribed as Detroit's Canned Heat

1.10.2014

DETROIT BLUES SOCIETY HONORS LIVING LEGEND: JIM MCCARTY


James William McCarty (born June 1, 1945) is an American blues rock guitarist from Detroit, Michigan. He has performed with Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels, the Buddy Miles Express, Cactus, the popular Detroit rock band The Rockets, the Detroit Blues Band, and more recently, Mystery Train.


In an August 2006 interview on VH1 Classic, Ted Nugent remarked "I'm the only guy in rock'n'roll that plays that hollow body jazz guitar and it's because in 1960 I saw Jimmy McCarty creating those big fat full chords like I do on "Stranglehold"; I learned that from Jimmy McCarty. Remember the name Jimmy McCarty. He is as important as Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry and Les Paul...a god on guitar."FULL STORY HERE


ROD STEWART: FRANK PETTIS PHOTOS


Detroit photographer Frank Pettis was always on the scene whenever Rod Stewart and the Faces were in town. Frank said the band was really friendly back then and the fans would often party after the gig.


I wound up singing on stage with Rod Stewart & The Faces on April 18, 1970 at the Birmingham Palladium. Here’s how it happened. The Faces came to perform at the Eastown Theatre on April 3th & 4th, 1970, as I was the official Eastown Staff Photographer I had backstage access.

Upon my first meeting with Rod Stewart and the guys, I really enjoyed their music and we hit it off really good, not to mention that Ronnie Wood & I share the same birthday June 1st, so Rod invited me to a party the 2nd night at the local Holiday Inn where the Faces partied with their fans.


Since I was a photographer I made sure Rod had copies of the photos I took of them. The Faces came back to Detroit two weeks later, so I called up their manager Billy Gaff and he arranged for me to go down to the show at the Pallidium. I welcomed the guys back to town and they invited me to join them on stage. I was really excited and the big moment finally came when I joined the Faces on stage to sing .


Some of the songs covered that night were “Wicked Messenger”, “Flying”, “Three Button Hand Me Down” and my personal favorite when Ronnie Wood plays slide guitar on “Around The Plynth.” The Faces played 7 more times that year including the November 7th concert at Olympia where 3 Dog Night opened the show. By the way because I always gave Rod copies of the Photos I took I was awarded the honor of having the group photo I took of them at the Holiday Inn used on the poster that was included in their 3rd album “A Nod Is A Good Wink…to a Blind Horse…


The Faces were finally inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame in 2012, I was there but unfortunately Rod had the flu and didn’t make it. Thank you Ian McLagan, Ronnie Lane (R.I.P.), Kenny Jones, Ronnie Wood and Happy Birthday to you Rod Stewart. Those fans looking for the ultimate box set I recommend the 4 disk CD set “Five Guys Walk Into A Bar” on WB/Rhino. FP
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