It only took one song, the organ-driven number one smash "96 Tears," to make ? & the Mysterians into garage rock legends. Eccentric frontman Question Mark (actually spelled "?," once he had his name legally changed) cultivated an aura of mystery by never appearing in public without a pair of wraparound sunglasses; he frequently claimed he had... [+] Read More

It only took one song, the organ-driven number one smash "96 Tears," to make ? & the Mysterians into garage rock legends. Eccentric frontman Question Mark (actually spelled "?," once he had his name legally changed) cultivated an aura of mystery by never appearing in public without a pair of wraparound sunglasses; he frequently claimed he had been born on Mars and lived among the dinosaurs in a past life, and that voices from the future had revealed he would be performing "96 Tears" in the year 10,000. On a more earthly level, the Mysterians' sound helped lay down an important part of the garage rock blueprint, namely the low-budget sci-fi feel of the Farfisa and Vox organs (most assumed that "96 Tears" had featured the former, but ? later remembered using the latter). What was more, they were one of the first Latino rock groups to have a major hit, and ?'s sneering attitude made him one of the prime suspects in the evolution of garage rock into early punk.

The Mysterians were formed in 1962 by bassist Larry Borjas, his cousin, guitarist Bobby Balderrama, and drummer Robert Martinez; they soon added vocalist ? (the general consensus is that he was actually Rudy Martinez, Robert's brother, though a few sources identified him as Reeto Rodriguez) and organist Frank Rodriguez. By most accounts, all the musicians were born in Texas, of Mexican descent, and grew up in Michigan in the Saginaw/Bay City area. Taking their name from a Japanese science fiction film, the band played its first gigs in the small Michigan town of Adrian in 1964, and soon moved its home base from Saginaw to Flint. Larry Borjas and Robert Martinez were both forced to leave the band for military duty, and were replaced by bassist Frank Lugo and the Martinez brothers' brother-in-law, drummer Eddie Serrato. Shortly afterward, ? wrote the lyrics a song he called "Too Many Teardrops" and showed them to the rest of the band; the title was changed first to "69 Tears," and then the less suggestive "96 Tears." The song became a hit at the Mt. Holly ski lodge/dancehall, where the band played regularly, and in early 1966 they recorded it for the small local label Pa-Go-Go, owned by the band's manager. It became a regional hit in Flint and Detroit, attracting interest from several major record companies; ? decided to sign with the Philadelphia-based Cameo-Parkway, chiefly because their label was his favorite color, orange.

Now blessed with national distribution, "96 Tears" raced up the pop charts and went all the way to number one in the fall of 1966, becoming one of garage rock's all-time classics. The band's first album, naturally also titled 96 Tears, was released by the end of the year, as was its follow-up single, "I Need Somebody," which just missed the Top 20. Released in early 1967, "Can't Get Enough of You Baby" was a minor hit, but the group's second album, Action, sold disappointingly; moreover, Cameo-Parkway was experiencing financial difficulties, and was later taken over by ABKCO chief Allen Klein. The Mysterians departed, recording singles for Capitol in 1968 and Tangerine and Super K in 1969, to no commercial avail (during this period, bassist Mel Schacher served a short stint in the group prior to joining Grand Funk Railroad). They also cut an album for Ray Charles' TRC label that went unreleased.

? regrouped the band in the early '70s and tried again, recording singles for Chicory in 1972 and Luv in 1973 to no response. Bobby Balderrama formed a short-lived band called Inflight during the '70s, and ? left music to become a dog breeder. ? & the Mysterians reconvened in 1978 to cut some demos with producer Kim Fowley, and played a reunion concert in Dallas in 1984, the tapes of which were later released by ROIR; that year they also opened some gigs for Tex-Mex rocker Joe "King" Carrasco. In 1997, ? was directed by the voices he heard from the future to reunite the group again, with a lineup of Balderrama, Rodriguez, Lugo, and brother Robert. Since Allen Klein refused to reissue any of the group's original recordings (or even license "96 Tears" for compilations -- hence its absence from Rhino's mostly comprehensive garage rock box set Nuggets), they re-recorded their debut album for Collectables and released it as Question Mark & the Mysterians. In 1998, they issued a live album on Norton Records, Do You Feel It Baby?, that was recorded at Coney Island High and received warmly by their cult fan base of garage rock aficionados. 1999 brought the release of another, somewhat better-produced two-disc set of re-recordings, More Action, this time released on Cavestomp (it was later condensed into the 2001 single-disc release Feel It!: The Very Best of Question Mark & the Mysterians). Meanwhile, Balderrama formed the Robert Lee Band, a blues outfit that played around Michigan and recorded an eponymous album for the local Bullfrog label. Unfortunately, there remains no official CD release of the Mysterians' original recordings. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Along with the Stooges, MC5, and the Amboy Dukes, SRC was a group of local heroes of the Michigan rock scene in the late '60s and early '70s, although in terms of national success, they were relegated to the second division populated by such bands as the Frost and the Rationals. Led by the Quackenbush brothers, Gary and Glenn, the Ann Arbor... [+] Read More

Along with the Stooges, MC5, and the Amboy Dukes, SRC was a group of local heroes of the Michigan rock scene in the late '60s and early '70s, although in terms of national success, they were relegated to the second division populated by such bands as the Frost and the Rationals. Led by the Quackenbush brothers, Gary and Glenn, the Ann Arbor group evolved out of the Fugitives, adding lead singer Scott Richardson from fellow garage band the Chosen Few. SRC recorded three erratic albums for Capitol that blended Motor City crunch with sustain-laden psychedelic guitar, pompous bursts of organ, spacey lyrics, and unexpectedly wispy, vulnerable vocals, throwing in some pretty ballads and harmonies to temper the hard rock excess. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Throughout his lengthy career, guitar wildman Ted Nugent has reveled in the controversy and criticism that always seems to follow in his path. While there's no denying his exceptional talent on the six-string, his knack for penning arena rock anthems, or his standing as one of rock's top live acts, it's his nonmusical endeavors that have caused... [+] Read More

Throughout his lengthy career, guitar wildman Ted Nugent has reveled in the controversy and criticism that always seems to follow in his path. While there's no denying his exceptional talent on the six-string, his knack for penning arena rock anthems, or his standing as one of rock's top live acts, it's his nonmusical endeavors that have caused the most condemnation from his detractors (his pro-right wing beliefs, pro-gun advocacy, appreciation of hunting animals, etc.). But by the same token, Nugent is a family man and one of the few hard rockers who has admirably stuck by his lifelong anti-drugs and -drink stance throughout his career.

Born on December 13, 1948, in Detroit, MI, Nugent became interested in rock & roll early in the game, picking up the guitar as a youngster, while his disciplinarian father passed his beliefs down to Nugent. In the '60s, Nugent formed his first bands (including Royal High Boys and Lourdes), drawing inspiration from such British blues-rockers as the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds. But it wasn't until the formation of the Amboy Dukes that the Nuge got his first taste of stardom (it was also around this time that Nugent began playing a Gibson Byrdland guitar, a model which would be instantly associated with him throughout his career). The other members of the group didn't exactly share Nugent's clean-living lifestyle, as proven by their psychedelic hit single "Journey to the Center of the Mind," which Nugent claimed he didn't know at the time was about being "under the influence." The band managed to issue several albums throughout the late '60s -- 1967's self-titled debut, 1968's Journey to the Center of the Mind, and 1969's Migration -- as the group fit in well with such other high-energy rock bands to emerge from the Motor City: MC5 and the Stooges in particular.

With bandmembers coming and going at an alarming rate, Nugent remained the only constant member -- eventually officially changing the band's name to Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes by the '70s, and issuing 1971's Survival of the Fittest, 1973's Call of the Wild, and 1974's Tooth, Fang & Claw. While none of these releases exactly stormed the charts, Nugent and his cohorts remained an in-demand concert draw, as he also set up "guitar duels" on-stage around this time (battling with MC5's Wayne Kramer and Mahogany Rush's Frank Marino, among others).

By the mid-'70s, Nugent decided to finally ditch the Amboy Dukes name and set out on his own, assembling a first-rate backing band that included second guitarist/vocalist Derek St. Holmes, bassist Rob Grange, and drummer Cliff Davies. By 1975, the new band was signed to Aerosmith's management company (Leber & Krebs), as well as the same record company, Columbia, resulting in the release of Nugent's self-titled debut in November of the same year. The band immediately struck a chord with the heavy metal/hard rock crowd from coast to coast, due to the band's over-the-top stage show. But the bandmembers' relationship with Nugent was rocky at best -- Nugent wanted complete control of the band, while the others wanted it to be more of a democracy. The end result was St. Holmes leaving the band prior to the sessions of their sophomore effort, 1976's Free-for-All (which saw a then-unknown singer by the name of Meat Loaf filling in for the departed singer).

St. Holmes returned, however, in time for the album's ensuing tour, and by the release of 1977's Cat Scratch Fever (which spawned the hit single title track), Nugent and his band was one of the top rock bands in the U.S. -- storming the charts and selling out arenas coast to coast. By now, Nugent had assumed the stage persona of a caveman -- hitting the stage dressed in nothing but a skimpy loincloth and knee-high boots, and would often begin his show by swinging out on a rope à la Tarzan (!). Like other rock acts of the '70s (Kiss, Cheap Trick, Peter Frampton, etc.), Nugent used a live album to catapult his career to the next level of stardom -- 1978's classic Double Live Gonzo! But despite all the success, the members of his band began deserting him one by one over the course of such albums as 1978's Weekend Warriors, 1979's State of Shock, and 1980's Scream Dream. To add insult to injury, Nugent found himself bankrupt around this time, due to several failed business ventures and poor management.

Nugent continued to tour and crank out albums throughout the '80s (including such forgettable releases as Intensities in 10 Cities, Nugent, Penetrator, Little Miss Dangerous, and If You Can't Lick 'Em...Lick 'Em), but it appeared as through the Nuge was trying to keep pace with the burgeoning pop-metal crowd instead of sticking to the raw and raging rock that brought him success in the first place. Nugent also tried his hand at acting around this time, appearing as a drug dealer in an episode of the hit TV series Miami Vice in 1986. By the end of the decade, Nugent joined the rock supergroup Damn Yankees (joining former Night Ranger bassist/singer Jack Blades, former Styx guitarist/singer Tommy Shaw, and drummer Michael Cartellone) -- resulting in the quartet's self-titled debut in 1990, which became a surprise hit due to their Top Ten power ballad, "High Enough." But ultimately, the union proved to be short-lived; after only one more album (1992's lackluster Don't Tread), the band called it quits.

Nugent returned to his solo career, issuing his best album in over a decade, 1995's back-to-basics Spirit of the Wild, while several archival releases turned up throughout the '90s: 1993's three-disc box set Out of Control, 1997's Live at Hammersmith '79, as well as his first three albums reissued with added tracks and newly remastered sound in 1999 by the Epic/Legacy label (also issued at the same time was the first truly comprehensive compilation of the Amboy Dukes, the 18-track Loaded for Bear). The Nuge was also the subject of an interesting VH1 Behind the Music episode. He continued to tour well into the 21st century (landing the opening slot on Kiss' Farewell U.S. Tour in 2000), and issued the third live collection of his career, Full Bluntal Nugity, in 2001.

In addition to music, Nugent has gotten involved in politics, hosting a number one morning radio show in Detroit, has issued his own hunting camp and issues instructional videotapes (as well as the Ted Nugent Spirit of the Wild PBS video series), owns his own hunting supply store, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association, writes columns regularly for a number of different magazines, and even sells his very own beef jerky (called Gonzo Meat Biltong)! In 2001, the Nuge penned his own autobiography, the perfectly titled God, Guns, & Rock n' Roll. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide [-] Hide

There's a reason why many consider Iggy Pop the godfather of punk -- every single punk band of the past and present has either knowingly or unknowingly borrowed a thing or two from Pop and his late-'60s/early-'70s the Stooges. Born on April 21, 1947, in Muskegon, MI, James Newell Osterberg was raised by his parents (his father was an English... [+] Read More

There's a reason why many consider Iggy Pop the godfather of punk -- every single punk band of the past and present has either knowingly or unknowingly borrowed a thing or two from Pop and his late-'60s/early-'70s the Stooges. Born on April 21, 1947, in Muskegon, MI, James Newell Osterberg was raised by his parents (his father was an English teacher) in a trailer park close to Ann Arbor, in nearby Ypsilanti. Intrigued by rock & roll (as well as such non-musical, monotonous, and mechanical sounds as his father's electric razor and the local automobile assembly plants in Detroit), Osterberg began playing drums and formed his first band, the Iguanas, in the early '60s. Via the Rolling Stones, Osterberg discovered the blues, forming a similarly styled outfit, called the Prime Movers, upon graduating from high school in 1965. When a brief stint at the University of Michigan didn't work out, Osterberg moved to Chicago, playing drums alongside bluesmen.

But his true love was still rock & roll and shortly after returning to Ann Arbor, Osterberg decided to form a rock band, but this time, he would leave the drums behind and be the frontman (inspired by the Velvet Underground's Lou Reed and the Doors' Jim Morrison). He tried to find the right musicians who shared his same musical vision: to create a band whose music would be primordial, sexually charged, aggressive, and repetitive (using his early electric razor/car plant memories for reference). In 1967, he hooked up with an old acquaintance from his high school days, guitarist Ron Asheton, who also brought along his drummer brother Scott, and bassist Dave Alexander, forming the Psychedelic Stooges. Although it would take a while for their sound to gel -- they experimented with such non-traditional instruments as empty oil drums, vacuums, and other objects before retuning to their respective instruments -- the group fit in perfectly with such other high-energy Detroit bands as the MC5, becoming a local attraction.

It was around this time that the group shortened their name to the Stooges, and Osterberg changed his stage name to Iggy Pop. With the name change, Pop became a man possessed on-stage -- going into the crowd nightly to confront members of the audience and working himself into such a frenzy that he would be bleeding by the end of the night from various nicks and scratches. Elektra Records signed the quartet in 1968, issuing their self-titled debut a year later, and a follow-up in 1970, Funhouse. Although both records sold poorly upon release, both have become rock classics and can be pointed to as the official beginning of what would become known as punk rock. The group was dropped from their record company in 1971 due to the public's disinterest and the group's growing addictions to hard drugs (and additionally in Pop's case, continuous death-defying acts), leading to the group's breakup the same year. But Stooges fan David Bowie tracked down Pop and convinced the newly clean and sober singer to restart his career. Pop enlisted guitarist James Williamson (who was briefly a second guitarist for the Stooges before their breakup), and after the pair signed to Bowie's Mainman management company and relocated to England, eventually reunited with the Asheton brothers (with Ron moving from the six-string to the bass).

Signed by Columbia Records and hoping to follow in Bowie's footsteps toward a major commercial breakthrough, the Stooges penned another punk classic -- the brutally explosive Raw Power. Pop's plan for the Stooges' third release overall would be to create a record that would be so over the top sonically that it would actually hurt you when it poured out of the speakers. Although it may not have been that extreme, it came pretty close (with Bowie signed on as the producer), but yet again, the album sank without a trace. By 1974, Pop and most of the Stooges were strung out again on drugs, and with their star fading, the band called it quits for a second (and final) time. After spending a brief spell homeless on the streets of Hollywood (during which time there was an unsuccessful attempt to form a band with Pop and former Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek), Pop checked himself into the Neuropsychiatric Institute in Los Angeles. During his stay at the hospital, Pop made an attempt at writing and recording some new tunes with Williamson, but when no labels expressed interest, Pop and Williamson went their separate ways as well. (Completed demos of the sessions would surface on the Kill City release in 1977; they would also appear on the 2005 compilation Penetration, which also featured a number of widely circulated demos, outtakes and alternate mixes from the Raw Power sessions.).

During his hospital stay, another old friend came to visit him: David Bowie. Bowie (whose career was still in high gear) offered to take Pop on the road with him during his tour in support of Station to Station. The pair got along so well that they both moved to Berlin in late 1976, during which time Bowie helped Pop secure a solo record deal with RCA. Bowie was interested in European electronic rock (Kraftwerk, Can, etc.) and admitted later that he used Pop as a musical guinea pig on such releases as The Idiot and Lust for Life (both issued in 1977 and produced/co-written by Bowie). Both albums sold better than his previous efforts with the Stooges (especially in the U.K. where Pop was looked upon as an icon by the burgeoning punk rock movement) as Bowie joined Pop on his world tour as a keyboardist. Shortly thereafter, a surprisingly muddy sounding live album was culled from Pop's most recent tour, titled T.V. Eye Live. It was also around this time that Pop severed his ties with Bowie, striking out on his own.

Signing on with another new label (Arista), Pop reunited once more with James Williamson for 1979's New Values, an album that touched off a string of releases that were for the most part inconsistent and musically confused (it appeared as though Pop was trying to re-invent himself as a new waver): 1980's Soldier, 1981's Party, and 1982's Zombie Birdhouse. Also in 1982, Pop penned his autobiography, I Need More, a fascinating book of rock & roll excess that chronicled his early years straight up to the then-present day. But around this time, Pop began succumbing to his vices once again and he soon stepped out of the spotlight for a long stretch to sort his life out, during which time Bowie scored a massive hit with a remake of the Pop/Bowie nugget "China Girl" (recorded earlier on Pop's The Idiot). It wouldn't be until 1986 that Pop would resurface again, signing with A&M and issuing the Bowie-produced Blah Blah Blah, which featured his first U.S. hit single (albeit a moderate one) -- a cover of "Real Wild Child." 1988's Instinct saw Pop try his hand at hard rock/heavy metal, joined by ex-Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, but it wasn't until 1990's Brick By Brick (his first album for Virgin), that Pop fully regained his musical strength and focus, resulting in his first U.S. gold-certified album and Top 20 hit single, "Candy," a surprisingly tuneful duet with the B-52's Kate Pierson.

Just as in the mid-'70s when Pop was looked up to by a slew of up-and-coming punk bands, history repeated itself in the early '90s with the emergence of such Stooges-disciples from Seattle (Nirvana, Mudhoney, Soundgarden, etc.). Around the same time, a wide variety of bands covered Pop and/or Stooges tracks -- Slayer, Duran Duran, Guns N' Roses, R.E.M., and Tom Jones, while Pop issued another fine solo set, 1993's American Caesar. Although Pop attempted to re-create the Stooges' sound and approach on his 1996 solo album Naughty Little Doggie, it wasn't as critically or commercially successful as his previous couple of releases. But the same year, Pop enjoyed another hit when the nearly 20-year-old title-track from Lust for Life was used prominently on the hit movie soundtrack Trainspotting. Throughout the decade, Pop also tried his hand at acting in movies, scoring bit parts in such flicks as Cry-Baby, Dead Man, and The Crow II: City of Angels, plus a recurring role on the TV show The Adventures of Pete & Pete. Although he wasn't involved in it, the 1998 movie Velvet Goldmine was allegedly based on Bowie and Pop's relationship in the early '70s (Ewan McGregor's character Curt Wild was obviously patterned after Stooges-era Pop). With just about every new rock band listing the Stooges as a major influence by the late '90s, Iggy began tentatively looking back to the band's legacy. He personally remixed a newly remastered version of Raw Power in 1997, after the long-lost original master tapes were rediscovered and Pop moved the album closer to his original vision of a total sonic onslaught. Also released around this time was another Pop/Stooges-related book, the must-read Please Kill Me: The Oral History of Punk, which recounted the Stooges' career in great detail (featuring interviews with all the band's surviving members). 1999 was a busy year for Pop as he was the subject of a VH1 Behind the Music episode, and a new solo album was issued -- the laid-back Avenue B. But his more "refined" musical approach was strictly a detour, as proven by his next release, 2001's in-your-face rockfest, Beat Em Up. And after abandoning a promised Stooges reunion in the late 1990's, Iggy finally made good on his pledge in 2003, bringing Ron Asheton and Scott Asheton aboard to write and record four songs with him for his album Skull Ring and taking the reconstituted Stooges on the road for a short but riotously received tour (with Mike Watt standing in for the late Dave Alexander on bass, with the set dominated by tunes from The Stooges and Fun House). In 2004 Iggy appeared in Jim Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes. In addition to the January 2005 Penetration set, that July saw the issue of Million in Prizes: The Iggy Pop Anthology. It spanned his entire career and included a 37-track CD, a previously-unreleased live DVD, and a round of essays from notables like Bowie and Lou Reed discussing Iggy's legacy. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide [-] Hide

The unsung heart and soul of the Motor City rock & roll scene, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels' blue-eyed R&B attack boasted a gritty passion and incendiary energy matched by few artists on either side of the color line. Born William Levise, Jr. in Hamtramck, MI on February 26, 1945, as a teen Ryder sang with a local black quartet dubbed the... [+] Read More

The unsung heart and soul of the Motor City rock & roll scene, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels' blue-eyed R&B attack boasted a gritty passion and incendiary energy matched by few artists on either side of the color line. Born William Levise, Jr. in Hamtramck, MI on February 26, 1945, as a teen Ryder sang with a local black quartet dubbed the Peps but suffered so much racial harassment that he soon left the group to form his own combo, Billy Lee and the Rivieras. While opening for the Dave Clark Five during a 1965 date, the Rivieras came to the notice of producer Bob Crewe, who immediately signed the group and, according to legend, rechristened the singer Mitch Ryder after randomly selecting the name from a phone book. Backed by the peerless Detroit Wheels -- originally guitarists James McCarty and Joseph Cubert, bassist Earl Elliot, and drummer Johnny "Bee" Badanjek -- Ryder reached the Top Ten in early '66 with "Jenny Take a Ride"; the single, a frenzied combination of Little Richard's "Jenny Jenny" and Chuck Willis' "C.C. Rider," remains one of the quintessential moments in blue-eyed soul, its breathless intensity setting the tone for the remainder of the band's output.

Ryder and the Detroit Wheels returned to the charts weeks later with their reading of "Little Latin Lupe Lu," scoring their biggest hit that autumn with the Top Five smash "Devil with a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly." "Sock It to Me Baby!" followed in early 1967, but at Crewe's insistence Ryder soon split from the rest of the band to mount a solo career; the move proved disastrous -- outside of the Top 30 entry "What Now My Love," the hits quickly and permanently dried up. In 1969 Ryder teamed with Booker T. and the MG's for an LP titled The Detroit/Memphis Experiment before returning home and reuniting with Badanjek in a new seven-piece lineup known simply as Detroit. The group's lone LP, a self-titled effort issued in 1971, remains a minor classic, yielding a major FM radio hit with its cover of Lou Reed's "Rock and Roll"; however, the years of performing were taking their toll, and as Ryder began suffering more and more from severe throat problems, he retired from music, relocating to the Denver area in 1973. In time he began writing songs with wife Kimberley, also taking up painting and working on a novel.

Ryder resurfaced in 1978 on his own Seeds and Stems label with How I Spent My Vacation, his first new LP in seven years; Naked but not Dead appeared a year later, and he continued his prolific output in 1981 with two new efforts, Live Talkies and Got Change for a Million?. In 1983 ardent fan John Cougar Mellencamp agreed to produce Ryder's major label comeback, Never Kick a Sleeping Dog, which generated a minor hit with its cover of the Prince classic "When You Were Mine" but otherwise failed to return the singer to mainstream success, at least at home -- in Europe, and particularly in Germany, he retained a large fan following, releasing In the China Shop on the German label Line in 1986. After satirizing the Iran-Contra debacle with the 1987 single "Good Golly, Ask Ollie," Ryder issued the full-length Red Blood, White Mink the following year; subsequent efforts include 1990's The Beautiful Toulang Sunset, 1992's La Gash and 1994's Rite of Passage. He continued touring steadily in the years to follow and also worked on an autobiography. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Since the rights to the original 96 Tears album and singles are held in limbo, fans have to be content with records like ? & the Mysterians Featuring 96 Tears, a collection of re-recordings by the original lineup that was recorded in 1997, 31 years after their one hit topped the charts. Surprisingly, the group sounds tough, dynamic and exciting... [+] Read More

Since the rights to the original 96 Tears album and singles are held in limbo, fans have to be content with records like ? & the Mysterians Featuring 96 Tears, a collection of re-recordings by the original lineup that was recorded in 1997, 31 years after their one hit topped the charts. Surprisingly, the group sounds tough, dynamic and exciting -- it's easy to tell that this is not the same group of young garage punks from the mid-'60s, but these guys can still kick hard, which is what makes the record worthwhile for diehard garage freaks. In addition to "96 Tears," the album also features Mysterians classics like "I Need Somebody," "'8' Teen," "Smokes, '" Up Side," "Stormy Monday," "Make You Mine," "Got To," "Don't Tease Me" and "You're Telling Me Lies." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Grand Funk Railroad was, at best, a singles band, capable of turning a couple of crunching rockers and hooky singles out with each album. Though it may be missing a fan favorite or two -- and that could mean something concise and catchy or meandering jams like "T.N.U.C." -- this does have the overwhelming majority of their best songs, including... [+] Read More

Grand Funk Railroad was, at best, a singles band, capable of turning a couple of crunching rockers and hooky singles out with each album. Though it may be missing a fan favorite or two -- and that could mean something concise and catchy or meandering jams like "T.N.U.C." -- this does have the overwhelming majority of their best songs, including not just hits like "We're an American Band" and "Some Kind of Wonderful," but also album tracks. Some longtime fans, like Homer Simpson, may find favorites missing, but this remains a nearly ideal summary. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

During the late '70s, various members of the MC5, the Stooges, and other influential rock groups from the southeastern Michigan area teamed up to form a number of short-lived but legendary bands. The best known of these would be Sonic's Rendezvous formed by MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith. The group also included singer/guitarist Scott Morgan,... [+] Read More

During the late '70s, various members of the MC5, the Stooges, and other influential rock groups from the southeastern Michigan area teamed up to form a number of short-lived but legendary bands. The best known of these would be Sonic's Rendezvous formed by MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith. The group also included singer/guitarist Scott Morgan, formerly of the Rationals, drummer Scott "Rock Action" Asheton of the Stooges, and former Up bassist Gary Rasmussen. Sadly they only released one single, 1978's "City Slang," before breaking up the following year. Twenty-one years later, Detroit label Mack Aborn Rhythmic Arts released a CD of the same name, containing two mixes of the single as well as a number of songs recorded at shows all over Michigan. Many of these songs have only been previously available on badly recorded bootlegs that don't do the songs the justice that City Slang delivers. Tracks like "Heaven" and "Gone With the Dogs come off as raw and as intense as they originally sounded when they were first delivered with the deafeningly explosive power that Sonic's Rendezvous was known for. Their combined experience and talents were gracefully demonstrated by their ability to write simply and honestly without having to resort to clichés. City Slang is the proof that they had the ability to create some of the most raw and uncompromising rock & roll that the Motor City has ever hosted. ~ John Griffin, All Music Guide [-] Hide

A roaring romp through Brownsville Station's back pages compiled by Cub Koda himself, Smokin' in the Boy's Room: The Best of Brownsville Station makes a convincing case that these Ann Arbor, MI, garage punks were one of the most underrated rock & roll bands of the 1970s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

A roaring romp through Brownsville Station's back pages compiled by Cub Koda himself, Smokin' in the Boy's Room: The Best of Brownsville Station makes a convincing case that these Ann Arbor, MI, garage punks were one of the most underrated rock & roll bands of the 1970s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Iggy & the Stooges must have signed one of the most faulty recording contracts ever known to man during the early ‘70s -- as countless compilations have surfaced over the years of the same several songs the band was working on (as a successor to the 1973 rock ‘em sock ‘em classic, Raw Power). Although no proper studio recordings for the planned... [+] Read More

Iggy & the Stooges must have signed one of the most faulty recording contracts ever known to man during the early ‘70s -- as countless compilations have surfaced over the years of the same several songs the band was working on (as a successor to the 1973 rock ‘em sock ‘em classic, Raw Power). Although no proper studio recordings for the planned album were ever committed to tape (thanks to rampant drug use, Pop's deteriorating mental health, and most importantly, no record label interest), rough demo and live recordings of the tracks had survived, serving as the basis for such collections as Studio Sessions (Pilot) and Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell (both of which almost duplicate the same track listing). Both titles mix in a few pre-Raw Power outtakes as well, and of the two, the latter has two more tracks, "Tight Pants" (an early version of "Shake Appeal") and "Scene of the Crime." The quality of the tracks (both sonically and compositionally) vary, but even in rough form, there's no denying that such tracks as "I Got A Right," "Johanna," and "Open Up and Bleed" were destined to become Stooges classics. While Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell shouldn't be the first Stooges CD to add to your collection (start off with their three officially released studio albums), it's definitely a worthwhile listen for the initiated. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide [-] Hide