Category: Flashbacks

FLASHBACK MOTOR CITY HAPPENINGS ’67. . . JULY 8, 1967

From the MCRFB news archive: 1967

Music Happenings In and Around Detroit Town, 1967

 

 

 

 

Detroit — Columbia Records, Tom and Jerry Schoenith’s Upper Deck of the Roostertail and CKLW combined Monday, July 3 in an all-out promotion for Columbia’s Moby Grape. Columbia Records promotion man Russ Yerge brought the Grape into town that day and arranged with the Schoenith’s to have a special Moby Grape night at their club, which is normally closed Mondays. The public was admitted free. Paul Drew, program director of CKLW, co-operated in promoting the evening with a barrage of spot announcements about the free show. Drew also put the group’s single “Omaha” on his CKLW Big 30 playlist. All of the CKLW deejays, including Tom Shannon and CKLW-TV personality Robin Seymour, were on hand at the Upper Deck to introduce the Haight-Ashbury San Francisco band. The new group earlier in the day appeared on Seymour’s TV show. . . . Terry Knight is booked into the Chess Mate for two weeks beginning Monday, July 10. . . . The Bee Gees are coming into Detroit on a promotion trip Thursday, July 13. . . . Gordon Lightfoot is playing at the Living End the week of July 17. . . . Nanett (Fabray) was in Detroit Tuesday, July 4 to promote her Canusa record, “The Look Of Love.” END

The Grape in 1966.
San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury band Moby Grape in 1967. (Michael Ochs Archives).

(Information and news source: Billboard; July 8, 1967).

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FLASHBACK MOTOR CITY HAPPENINGS ’67 . . . AUGUST 19, 1967

From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1967

Music Happenings In and Around Detroit Town, 1967

 

 

 

The Monkees’ Concert was canceled at Detroit’s Olympia Stadium, Saturday, July 29, 1967.

DETROIT — The Monkees concert originally scheduled for July 29 at Olympia Stadium which was canceled due to the riots, was rescheduled for August 13. WKNR, alongwith its promotion and production department, heavily advertised and was sponsor to the Detroit sold-out event, in conjunction with Dick Clark Productions. . . .  The Pleasure-Seekers, an all-girl group from Grosse Pointe, are booked into Trude-Heller’s in Manhattan and have signed with Associated Bookings in New York. . . . The Grateful Dead played at the Grande Ballroom, a psychedelic ballroom-venue here owned by Russ Gibb, on Friday and Saturday, August11 – 12. . . . . CKLW-TV personality Robin Seymour is hosting a series of ‘Celebrity Nights’ at the Upper Deck at the Roostertail on Mondays. He opened on Monday, August 7 with the Rationals, Deon Jackson and Chris Peterson. . . . MGM promotion manager here, Larry Benjamin, is hosting a party for the Paupers to meet disk jockeys and the press at the Pontchartrain Hotel Wednesday, August 16. . . . The Kingsmen are booked to perform at the University of Detroit, Saturday, August 26. . . . “Bearskin Rug Sounds,” an album of readings by CKLW disk jockey Tom Shannon, did so well locally that it will be distributed nationally on the Sound label. . . . Walsh Allen has joined WJLB as operations manager. He spent three years as program director at Cleveland’s R&B WABQ. . . . The Jimi Hendrix Experience makes its first Michigan appearance at the Fifth Dimension in Ann Arbor on Tuesday, August 15. . . . The Spencer Davis Group is in concert at the Ford Auditorium here, slated for Thursday August 24. . . . The Motown Records sales convention takes place here August 25 – 28. END

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(Information and news source: Billboard; August 19, 1967)

A MCRFB Note: For more on the WKNR 1967 “Monkees In Detroit” concert, see our previous MCRFB March 3, 2012 feature, here.

For more on Tommy Shannon’s “Bear Skin Rug” Music LP, see our previous MCRFB May 4, 2012 feature here.

The Monkees in 1967. WKNR and Dick Clark sponsored the (re-scheduled) Monkees’ Concert at the Olympia on August 13, 1967.
Legendary CKLW great Tom Shannon was host to “Bearskin Rug” in 1966. (Photo courtesy Tom Shannon)

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“MOTOWN MONDAYS” GOING ‘LIVE’ FOR WKNR . . . SEPTEMBER 17, 1966

A MCRFB NEWS brief: 1966

Scott Regen Host Motown At Detroit’s Roostertail Club For WKNR

 

 

. . .The Upper Deck of The Roostertail, is proud to present . . . .

 

— From the MCRFB Aircheck Library featuring WKNR-AM

Motown Monday LIVE at The Roostertail (w/Scott Regen) 1966

 

DETROIT — The “Motown Mondays” at Detroit’s Roostertail Supper Club are now being broadcast on WKNR, Detroit, each Saturday at 11 P.M. Scott Regen is host. Artists of Motown Records appearing on the show include the Four Tops, Junior Walker & The All-Stars, Marvin Gaye, Martha & The Vandellas, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Marvelettes, The Supremes and The Temptations. This marks the first time in memory that “live” entertainment and music will have been broadcast on WKNR exclusively from the location for the nightly popular Scott Regen Show. END

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Addendum: In 1967, Scott Regen, heard nightly 7 to 10 p.m. on WKNR at the time, wrote the liner notes for “The Supremes Sings Holland – Dozier – Holland” Motown LP. Scott also wrote the liner notes for “The Four Tops Live At The Roostertail” and can be heard singing along side with the Four Tops on “Reach Out.” Scott Regen also introduced the Temptations on their 1967 album “The Temptations Live At The Roostertail” as well. On ‘Keener 13,’ Scott Regen became the highest-rated night-time deejay in Detroit – No. 1 — in 1965, 1966 and 1967. Truly, Scott Regen was “Detroit Radio King Of The ’60s!“

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(Information and news source: Billboard; September 17, 1966)

The Roostertail, 100 Marquette Drive, Detroit, MI. 48214
Inside the spectacular Roostertail Supper Club as it looked in the 1960s. Besides showcasing Detroit Motown artists during that era, many, many other great acts performed here since its opening in 1958.
The Roostertail Upper Deck bar and lounge area circa 1967.

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MCKENZIE TOURS ENGLAND ON “SAN FRAN” HIT… OCTOBER 14, 1967

From the MCRFB news archives:

McKenzie Tours Overseas With Mamas & The Papas

 

 

 

 

 

Scott McKenzie. (Click on image for larger size).

New York — Scott McKenzie is solidifying the European success of his single, “San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair),” on Ode Records, with a promotion tour of England and the Continent this month. Accompanied by Lou Adler, head of Ode, McKenzie will be introducing his new single, “Like An Old Time Movie.”

A highlight of McKenzie’s trip will be an October 30 appearance at London’s Royal Albert Hall, where he will be the guest star at a Mamas and the Papas concert there. CBS International affiliates are moving quickly to release the new single in their markets to coincide with McKenzie’s tour while abroad.

In conjunction with his new Ode release, CBS Records is giving McKenzie a hefty promotional push stressing the theme, “The Voice Of Scott McKenzie.”

The “San Francisco” U.S. hit has taken off in England, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Australia. It’s now beginning to move out in France, Italy, Japan, Latin America and Spain. END.

 

(Information and news source: Billboard; October 14, 1967).

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