Monthly Archive

by Max Conroy:

The Go’s latest album Howl On the Haunted Beat You Ride is a fantastic record that doesn’t seem to get much credit, and I live in the land where it was made.  Shamefully, until I moved to back to Michigan this past August I’d never heard of them and the way that I heard of them was from a magazine published in the UK, Mojo.  Mojo gave the record a four star review and the write up was good; garage, overlooked band, Detroit, etc.  There was also a picture of the record’s cover accompanying the review that pretty much guaranteed that I’d look for it.  It’s perfectly psychedelic: two huge hipster faces with lifeless hipster expressions, flanking the jacket; the entire band arranged vertically in the center of it, all wearing black or stripes; their far out logo in the upper left; a brown and orange, early mid 60s to early 70s, color motif; all of this on a hazy blanket of stars.  I know being interested in a record because of its packaging might be a bit careless, but this record is so cool looking and feeling that I’d be happy to own it even if the music sucked, which it most certainly doesn’t.  It’s on Cass records (Cass is a street/area in Detroit for all you non-local readers), which I’ve never heard of, but they totally knocked the ball out of the park on this one.  It’s a gatefold with super heavy boards, it feels like it’s a record made in the 50s, and has great graphics pasted inside along with the lyrics. 

The Go formed in Detroit in 1998.  Jack White was an early member of the band and is featured on their debut Whatcha Doin’, playing lead guitar and singing back up.  I had read somewhere that they kicked Jack White out of the band, which would be one to tell the grandchildren: Yeah, I was in a band back in the day…and we kicked Jack White out of the group…We could have been rich!  I’m pretty sure that he just left the band because he didn’t want to be a sideman.  I have no idea if there is any bad blood as a result of the split, but the Go wasn’t on the White compiled fantastic comp. Sympathetic Sounds of Detroit.  There is footage the Go out there playing live during the JW era on an obscure movie called the Detroit Rock Movie, which also has footage of JW jamming Stop Breakin’ Down in his tiny Detroit apartment.  If any of you out there have a copy of this movie, I’d be happy to receive one; please respond to this post.  Anyway, Whatcha Doin’ was released on Sub Pop and is a great debut record on the noisy side of the garage.  They made a follow up for Sub Pop called Free Electricity that was never released because it was allegedly too heavy, which has to be bull shit…too heavy for Sub Pop?  I found a copy of it on Soulseek and it’s definitely worth finding.  I think there were other reasons Sub Pop shelved it though; one song starts with the lyric, “Big cock angel”.  They were ultimately dropped from Sub Pop and put out a more focused rehashing of 60s garage and 70s glam on Lizard King, called The Go.  The group then waited four years to put out another record, the brilliant Howl on the Haunted On the Haunted Beat You Ride, which AMG has listed as coming out in April of 2007, but I’m pretty sure it was more like late summer and they still haven’t reviewed it.

Howl On the Haunted Beat You Ride represents the Go fully coming into their own.  The music is derivative of 60s psych and 70s glam to be sure, but they certainly make it theirs.  The production on this record is simply amazing and it was produced by Bobby Harlow, their front man, in Detroit.  The album utilizes clean tones, trippy imagery, and classic CSN-like harmonies with great effect (and I really dislike CSN).  The bizarro-poetic title comes from the song Yer Stoned Italian Cowboy, a romp about an irresitible character that “shoots directly from the Id”.  Fucking brilliant!  In my opinion, there’s only one bum track on this record and that’s the lead off song called You Go Bangin’ On, which was released as a single, so I might be missing something.  But don’t listen to the first thirty seconds of this record and file it away.  I bought this record seven months ago and the Go haven’t played around here since to my knowledge, until this past Saturday where they played at Gold: a fund raiser for the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.

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by Cousin Geoff: 

FINALLY! Monday is Opening Day for the Tigers.  How sweet are we going to be this year?  Will this be the most potent offense ever assembled?  Here are some Tigers songs from their championship years to fire you up even more!

I just found this one.  It’s from ‘84, set to the tune of Thriller, by Tom Paul.

listen to Tiger Thriller:

Another from ‘84, it’s Gino Danelli with the song Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now/Tigers.  Stay tuned for another great track by Gino coming up soon about Thomas Hearns.

listen to Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now/Tigers:

Here’s another one I just found, from ‘84, The Sun Messengers - Tiger Dynasty:

Also from ‘84 is the song Bless You Boys, I don’t have it but you can listen here.

Now we go back to ‘68 and the song Go Get ‘em Tigers by Artie Fields, off the Year of The Tiger album.

listen to Go Get ‘em Tigers:

From the Detroit sound label comes the York Mills Trio’s Sockit To ‘Em Tigers

And just for fun, check out 31 game winner and jazz organ hipster Denny McLain, doing the song For Me off his Denny McLain at the Organ LP.  Not bad - what can you play Verlander?

How excited am I?  Let me say that if the Tigers win the World Series this year, I’ll bring back my Todd Jones stache that I had last summer for an hour after I shaved my beard.  I’ll rock it for a week. 

by Cousin Geoff, featuring guest writer Ameritape John:

508 Maus Street in Ypsilanti, former home of Pathway label

I got an email the other day from a guy named John who said that he had read one of my previous posts about the Ypsilanti gospelgrass label Pathway.  I’ve written about The Smith Family Sings Your Gospel Favorites LP, and Carl and Evert’s I Have Found The Way 45.  John may be one of a handful of Pathway followers out there, excited as I was when I stumbled onto one of their records and became strangely obsessed with the 1960s lo-fi off-tune religious music from Ypsilanti, Michigan.  John may be one of the few people in the world who is actually more into Pathway than I am.  He gave me permission to publish this piece he wrote for a UK record collecting mag, where he attempts to explain the sacred/weird localistic significance and also provides additional info on other Pathway LPs. 

Another concept to consider here is the idea of collecting and searching for “deep” gospelgrass, as opposed to the much more popular digging for rare funk, soul, garage, hip-hop, ect.  This “Xian” genre that John refers to is something I’ve also taken an interest in, like my post on The Pathway Quartet out of Sandusky, Ohio.  There’s something about this primitive religious music that takes on some sort of an intriguing local, cultural, and almost psychedelic aspect.  The thing is, I’m not sure if I even want to publish this.  I like being able to find an seemingly endless supply of these records at garage sales and local salvation armys, passed over and passed over, as few people are actually into it like me and John.  Like he says, most people don’t even want to talk about it, much less search for it (although I can see some UK folks, some of our best customers and really the heavyweights of record collecting, start getting into it).  Nevertheless, it’s a great concept to explore.  As Max pointed out in a conversation today and John alludes to, Pathway seems to be very much the essence of what punk rock is, but instead of drugs or booze or fuck the man it’s about Jesus and getting into heaven.  And all this coming from the homemade basement recording studio of 508 Maus Street in Ypsilanti. 

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 by Max Conroy:

Until very recently I’ve not really paid much attention to jazz.  As a matter of fact, jazz has almost bothered me for about the past decade.  I used to listen to it back in the day, from about sixteen to nineteen.  Man, reading the Beats and playing the Bird and Diz, that was it.  Also, throwing on 102.1 FM to hear Bob Parlocha, after dropping off my last friend that needed a ride home, for the hazy drive back to the nest was also pretty great.  But I got into rock and roll heavy.  And my girl can’t stand jazz and I am ashamed to say that I kind of didn’t want to hear it if I were to get into it.  NPR also ruined jazz for me for a little while there too.  I know every NPR station is different and some have very well rounded programming, but not the ones that I’ve listened to in the past, 90.5 FM WKAR in East Lansing and 91.5 WBEZ in Chicago.  Both of these stations when not playing classical or the typical syndicated shows like Car Talk, Fresh Air, and All Things Considered, play jazz exclusively.  WBEZ would play like six hours of jazz on a Sunday afternoon, starting at 11 AM, right when I’d want to hear some talk radio or a comedy show.  And they wouldn’t play any of the shit that I’ve been getting into lately at all.

Justin turned me onto Waxpoetics around Christmas time and I’ve devoured the last few issues.  I’ve, as a result, come to the realization that there is more jazz out there than bebop and free jazz.  Soul-jazz and funk-jazz are legitimate categories that I’ve been blind to as a result of my prejudice.  That’s where all the badass samples came from in the heyday of hip-hop.  I had no idea what Blue Note turned into in the late 60s: a jazz label that put out soul and funk records.  I also had no idea that there were people like Eddie Harris out there: check out the article about him in the latest Waxpoetics and also check out Swiss Movement and Silver Cycles, two of his albums.  I read about Blue Note’s Droppin’ Science record somewhere in Waxpoetics, a double record best of Blue Note’s records sampled by hip-hop artists, and ordered a copy.  I’m obsessive when it comes to learning about music, so I’ve been taking some stabs in the dark based on the list of guys on Droppin’ Science in the time that it’s taken to get here.  I found Grant Green’s Alive! at Encore and got a reissue of Lou Donaldson’s Alligator Boogaloo, which the Sugarman Three’s Sugar’s Boogaloo (one of the records that launched Daptone, the first one featuring Gabriel Roth) pays homage to.  Both kick ass to be sure. 

I’m not sure if any of you have seen the Anchorman with Will Farrell, but it illustrates what my thoughts are regarding the flute perfectly.  I tense up whenever I hear a flute on a jazz, soul or funk record no matter how appropriate to the song it seems.  One of the guys on Droppin’ Science that I looked for around town in the past week was Jeremy Steig.  I found a couple of his records at Encore, pulled one up out of the bin and quickly dropped it and piled the records on it hoping no one had seen me even looking at it.  First off, he’s a flautist (I feel strange typing that word); second he looks like a weasely, mustachioed, Yoga instructor.  I’d have to wait to get the comp in the mail to hear this guy.  When I got the record today, I was shocked to hear the hook from the Beastie Boys’ Get It Together and how raw and primal the actual song was, how rock and roll.  Based on the intensity of his playing, he sounds like he could go ten rounds with Hemmingway.

Jeremy Steig’s Howling for Judy from Droppin’ Science, originally off of Wayfaring Stranger/Legwork

Eddie Harris’ I’m Gonna Leave You By Yourself off of Silver Cycle

by Max Conroy: 

The other day I woke up with Major Lance’s Hey Little Girl in my head.  It was the best morning I’d had in a while as a result.  The comforting, safe yet punchy rhythm of the song is perfect for laying there without your wits, looking for motivation to get up.  It’s almost as good as a cup of coffee or at the very least an excellent background for the coffee.

I picked up Um, Um, Um, Um, Um (that’s right five Um’s) the Best of Major Lance in a great record shop in Long Beach, California called Bagatelle Records recently.  I’d heard the name Major Lance before but had no idea what he sounded like.  The cover looked cool, heavy boards and wax, and it was on Okeh records, which I found to be odd.  Okeh always seemed like a label synonymous with the 40s and 50s to me, so a mid 60s soul guy on Okeh was worth a shot.  The back of the record also proclaims under the title ‘The Great Songs of Curtis Mayfield’, and I’m on a huge Curtis kick right now.  This kind of made me suspicious because I didn’t want some hack covering a bunch of Impressions songs and it was $12.  I went to the listening station, which had a Grado cartridge, and threw it on.  It was one of those records where you just had to hear about a second to know that it was worth the money.

It turns out that Major Lance grew up with Mayfield and Jerry Butler; and Mayfield got him a shot with Okeh in 1962.  Pretty much all of his hits were written by Curtis and feature him on guitar and the Impressions on backing vocals.  Lance’s songs seem to typify the Chicago soul sound of the early to mid 60s: smooth Latin flavor, horns and great harmonies.  The Monkey Time and Um, Um, Um, Um, Um were his biggest hits.  His popularity waned towards the end of the decade and he signed with Curtom in 1969, leaving in ‘71 to cash in on the Northern Soul craze in England.  He moved back to the states in the mid 70s, was convicted of selling cocaine, and did four years.  He died at 55 of heart failure in 1994. 

One of my girlfriend’s friends and her four year-old daughter came to visit us the other weekend.  I pulled a record out of its jacket in front of the four year-old and she asked me, What’s that?  A record.  See it’s got these grooves on it that play music…don’t touch it!  I put on Major Lance and she was getting down, I tell you what.  I even danced.  Every morning I hope to wake up with any Major Lance song in my head, but he hasn’t been back.  I’m glad I bought that record.

Hey Little Girl

Um Um

by Cousin Geoff: 

Justin and I usually acquire our records that we sell by buying large, complete collections from people.  Often times someone will bring in a box or boxes of records without having looked at them or played them in 20-30 years.

We’ve found all sorts of things tucked inside the sleeves, long forgotten about from the previous owners.  There’s been receipts of various sorts, including bond and stock statements.  We’ve also found on a few occasions an adult magazine or two hidden inside a thick jacket (I’m guessing it was a record that the wife would never play).  There’s been old photos of people that we have stuck up on the wall of the shipping room.  There was once a map to a secret “freak” party, with intricate details drawn out about the illegal activities that would be there. 

We’ve also found poems, letters, postcards, and other writings scrawled on scrap paper, and stuffed hastily inside or in between records, some of which I’ve been tempted to send in to Found magazine.  (The founder of found, Davy Rothbart, is a fellow Ann Arbor native, and played on my Ultimate frisbee team a few years ago).  There was once an African-American arts/theatre magazine from 1935 with a Langston Hughes piece inside, and also the 10th anniversary program of C.L Franklin (Aretha’s dad) as the minister of his church.

What else?  A signed Elvis impersonator photo still hangs on the wall, as does the photo of a hippie high school sweetheart couple circa 1973.  And yes, twice we have found pot, squished up in an old baggie inside a jacket, the distinct smell long since evaporated, aged completely beyond possible use.

I have no idea who these guys are, what label this might have been on, or where in Michigan they were from.  I just found this on a boot Michigan garage comp I have kicking around. 

The only info I could find is that they won a Battle of the Bands competition at Birmingham Seaholm high school, beating fellow garagers The Fallen Angels.  Anyone know anything else?  All I know is that it’s sweet.

Listen to their song As Long As I’m Around:

by Cousin Justin: 

While I was on my recent trip to Saint Maarten I stumbled across a great radio station.  With everyone streaming online I figured it would be a great start to create a list of free online streams of great radio stations.  Comment with your favorite and I will add it to this original post.

Island 92 FM Saint Maarten- Their tag line is-Rock, Blues & Good Time radio, can’t say that I disagree.  Best listened to with beer in hand while on the beach.

WEMU 89.1 Ypsilanti, MI-Eastern Michigan University’s local/NPR Station: great American Routes show Sat 4-6, plus top notch daily jazz.

by Cousin Geoff: 

Sirius will be allowed to buy out rival XM for $5 billion, after the US Justice Department approved today.

From freep.com:

The Justice Department, in a lengthy news release explaining its decision, said the two companies compete not just with each other but also with other forms of radio and entertainment.
“The likely evolution of technology in the future, including the expected introduction in the next several years of mobile broadband Internet devices, made it even more unlikely that the transaction would harm consumers in the longer term,” the Justice Department said. “Accordingly, the division has closed its investigation of the proposed merger.”
XM Satellite shares rose $1.97, or 16.5 percent, to $13.90 in afternoon trading after the government’s announcement while Sirius shares rose 28 cents, or almost 10 percent, to $3.18.

Cousin Justin has Sirius, and I have XM, and we’ve both been curious as to what would happen if this actually went through.  My biggest concerns are that I would not longer get my favorite channels or programs like Tom Petty’s Buried Treasure or Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour.  I am also worried about my portable Inno radio not being compatible.  On the plus side, it is possible that there will be more channels, maybe taking the best from both services.  Now that Sirius will have the monopoly on Satellite radio, I’m hoping they still pay attention to XM customers.  I am assuming that they will want to keep us, because of the competing market now with portable internet radio.  I also wonder how soon this will actually happen.  The next step is getting approval from the FCC.

I’m just now hearing about this, so I’m sure more info will come soon.

*here’s another good article with more details, also answered some of my questions:

Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus said the FCC could impose conditions, such as requiring the companies to adhere to promises Karmazin made to Congress last year.

Karmazin promised lawmakers that a combined company would offer packages of channels that customers could pick on an “a la carte” basis, and that customers would be able to block adult channels and get a refund for those channels.

In addition, Stifel Nicolaus said, the FCC also may require Sirius and XM to promise that all existing satellite radios will continue to work after the companies are combined.

If that is true, about being able to pick selected channels, that would be awesome.  There’s some channels I can’t live without, and others that I never listen to.  And at the same time, I know there’s some channels on Sirius, like NBA basketball and the underground garage one, that I would love to be able to add.  It’s also reassuring to hear that the FCC will make the two companies make all existing radios compatible.  After reading about this, I’m actually starting to get a little excited. 

Country Roads, Happy Easter, and Sally Lives On

by Cousin Geoff:

I hope you all had a nice holiday weekend.  I spent mine in northern Michigan, all day out in the woods on snowshoes, shot some guns, found the best walking stick ever off a downed oak branch, and spent time with family.  I also gave away one of my dogs.  Sally the hound, gone, too much for me and my wife now with baby Ella.  Despite her bad behavior (constant nervous energy, getting up on the couch, in the garbage, that old coon-hound howl at all the wrong times) I was sad to see ol’ Sally go.  We’ve had a lot of good times in the past four years, but she’s just an up north dog, and not an Ypsilanti dog, and that’s just the truth.  My other dog Zoe we’re keeping, but she’s feeling down and out because Sally was her constant companion.  A sad story, but they are afterall, just dogs. 

Driving home today, I heard Toots and The Maytals sing Country Road on XM, and I realized that a good song is a good song, and a good friend is a good friend, even if it ain’t nothing but a hound dog.  Ann Arbor’s The RFD Boys (been meaning to write about these guys for a long time, and I will eventually) do a great version of this, more true to John Denver’s original, and very different than Toots and The Maytals, but still the same song. 

The RFD Boys version:

Toots version:

It’s Easter and I missed church today but I haven’t been in forever anyway.  So I’ll make up for it by including a few Jesus songs in this sermon.  More proof that a good song is a good song - Jesus is a Soul Man.  One of the Cousins’ favorites is the version by the Pathway Quartet - I compared it to the Otis Williams version in a previous post. 

As for Sally, I think she’ll be happy up north.  For some reason the Harry McClintock, Hallelujah I’m a Bum song pops in my head.   Hallelujah, I’m a bum.  Hallelujah, bum again.  HalleluJAH, give us a handout, to revive us again.  Well, as Bunny Wailer says, Time Will Tell.  Good luck Sally, may Jesus and St. Patrick lead you down a good Country Road to help you be Reborn.  Maybe there’s hope for you afterall.  Then again, maybe Elvis was right. 

Justin is back from the Caribbean and is sorting through a few new collections.  He set aside a couple 45s that I’ll post about soon here - one is a song about Thomas “The Hit Man” Hearns by Gino Danelli, the same guy who sang Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now/Tigers.  I love songs about Detroit sports, like the Go Get ‘em Tigers song, the Lions Bite The Dust song, and even the tracks off The Pistons’ house band’s first LP.

The Hitman still lives in the Detroit area, and is always at the Pistons games these days flashing around. I shook his hand there once.  I said, “Howya doin’ champ!”, as he walked by and he stopped and shook my hand and smiled.  What a great boxer - even though he lost, who could forget his classic fight against Marvelous Marvin Hagler, the most electrifying fight in history?  Known for his tall, lanky build and his aggresive flicker jab, Hearns won world championships in three different weight classes, and is one of the greatest Detroit boxers ever. Stay tuned to hear what Gino came up with in his song.

by Max Conroy:

Today’s generation probably has a rough time of it when it comes to collecting some older rock records. I’m 28 and most of the people my age whose parents didn’t listen to oldies stations in the car don’t have the same reference point that I do with some classic and oft overlooked oldies and classic rock.  Groups like the Lovin’ Spoonful, the Dave Clark Five, Manford Mann, the Turtles, Tokens, all that shit’s drifting further into obscurity.  They’re part of the mortar-pocked no man’s land of 60’s pop acts that were popular then that haven’t been fortunate enough to have a significant cult following, like the Nuggets garage bands or a constant following like the Stones or the Dead.  Some of these bands are truly great and don’t deserve the dustbin quite yet.

I was watching the Dead Boys Live at CBGBs DVD’s extras and Stiv Bators was asked what bands were his influences:  uuuh, Iggy Pop, all of his bands, the early Stooges, ya know, the New York Dolls, I really like the New York Dolls, and Paul Revere & the Raiders, yeah Paul Revere & the Raiders, they’re for me.  What?  I can definitely see Iggy and the Dolls, but Paul Revere & the Raiders.  I remembered that there was a bar where I went to college called Paul Revere’s and naturally they had a Paul Revere & the Raiders CD on the jukebox; their version of Stepping Stone was one that I’d play every time I went there.  Stepping Stone rocked, but I assumed it was a fluke or something.  I watched this interview a few years back and have had it in the back of my mind ever since to pick up one of their records and finally got around to it a month or so ago.  I picked up their first album on Colombia Here They Come! from 1965 for $2.  Frankly the record store didn’t have much else to offer, I was hung over and didn’t have attention span for proper digging and this record was in their new arrivals bin. 

Half of the record is live and half is studio.  It apparently took Colombia two years after signing them to release a full-length record; they released numerous singles that were regional hits in the Northwest.  The Northwest was a shockingly good area for R & B influenced garage acts.  It was home to the Wailers, the Sonics and the Kingsmen to name a few, and these bands were fiercely competitive, constantly playing against each other in battle of the bands competitions.  So by the time this album was released, the band had been together for the better part of eight years, breaking up briefly after Revere was drafted, and had developed a powerful live act as the first side of this record testifies.  Paul Revere was the keyboardist’s real name, he was usurped as the lead singer after Mark Lindsay joined the band, and was at the age where rock stars die, 27, when this record was released. 

It’s about a three star album, certainly worth the $2.  The live side swings with reckless abandon and the studio side has a protopunk/pop jangle to it, so it’s no wonder the latter-day Flamin’ Groovies chose to cover the track Sometimes.  The Raiders’ version has a lot more character though.

Sometimes

You Can’t Sit Down

————————————————

*Cousin Geoff adds:

We get their records in quite a bit, but at the same time they sell fast too.  We have the greatests hits album in the store, you can buy it here.

March 17th is the day to celebrate St. Patrick by drinking green beer and singing good ol’ Irish songs.  St. Patrick was actually born in England to a wealthy family at the end of the 4th century.  He was kidnapped and taken as a prisoner by a group of Irish raiders to Ireland and worked as a shepard in captivity for six years.  Inspired by visions and messages from God, he escaped back to England, but then returned and converted the Irish to Christianity.  It was also said that he rid all the snakes out of Ireland.  He must have been a pretty sweet dude, and right up there with my favorite, the dragon slaying St. George. 

March 17th is the anniversary of St. Patrick’s death and falls during Lent, so this was the day where people would go to church in the morning and then play music, dance, drink, and eat bacan and cabbage the rest of the day and night (the meat ban was lifted).  Sounds good, huh?

**Update: My wife, who is part Irish, just informed me that in Ireland, they actually don’t drink green beer.  She also thinks that in Chicago, they dye the river green.  Can anyone in Ireland or Chicago confirm this?

As for music, the Irish Rovers and the Pogues are a few of my favorites.  That Bing Crosby 10″ above is from my collection.  Is Bing really Irish or was this one of those “throw Bing’s name on anything and it’ll sell” type of deals?  It’s kinda cool, but it’s not very Irish sounding.  But I love the cover.

Maybe I’ll post some audio up tonight, cause I actually have to get ready to go to work.  My days of hitting the bar at 9:00 AM on this fine holiday are as long gone as all those snakes in Ireland that St. Patrick chased away.

by Max Conroy: 

It doesn’t sound like it’d be all that great, hanging out at an Elks lodge on a Friday night, but it’s not at all what you’d expect.  This place is sweet, positively the coolest bar, club, venue, night spot I’ve been to since I’ve moved to Ann Arbor.  There may be better places to go in this area, but I can’t imagine it.

My friend rents a huge house from the Elks.  It’s on a hill overlooking the city; it’s large, seemingly affordable, and right next to the lodge.  We ate dinner at her place and had a few beers, we’d already been at the Old Town for a good number of rounds, and she proposed that we should go the Elks for a beer.  I was down.  I mean shooting the shit with a bunch of older dudes in funny hats sounds like a good time to me, but I was not prepared for this place.

It’s an old school black Elks lodge, patronized by a bunch of real nice fun loving, soulful dudes.  The bar is downstairs and the rules for the guests are posted on a huge sign on the ceiling of the stairway as you enter, gents must remove their hats upon entering.  I guess it’s a three dollar cover, but we got by because we know their tenant.  The ambiance of the place is enough to make it a cool spot: salmon colored walls, orange vinyl booths, a dark cavernous feel, a vintage bar, and a cozy dance floor packed with hipsters.  Heinekens are three bucks and the DJ spins old and new soul, funk and hip hop; it was great to hear Sharon Jones’ What Have You Done for Me Lately blaring through the place followed by James Brown’s Sex Machine.  It’s a shame that I don’t dance or if I do I have to be in a state where I can’t possibly remember it.  I held down the booth and sipped my Heineken while my people hit the dance floor, digging the scene, choking on smoke, loving watching the Elks get down, hanging out and serving drinks.  As we left, they were closing the doors presumably because the place was to capacity, so get there before one AM.  I’ll definitely be coming back to this place.

The Elk’s lodge also has live jazz on Mondays and Tuesdays and is open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays to swing from the rafters.  I also believe that they host barbecues, which I’d love to check out.

It’s buying season now for us.  We are looking to buy 45s and LPs.  We buy records from Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, to the Battle Creek, Flint, and Detroit areas.  In fact, if it’s the right record collection, we’ll drive almost anywhere.  We are mostly looking to buy large collections.  We buy soul, jazz, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, funk, dance, DJ, hip hop/rap, bluegrass, gospel, punk, blues, folk, and more.  We are also very interested in buying local music from Michigan from the 50s-80s.  Many of the local recordings we buy are preserved and featured here on this website, particularly small Michigan labels on 45.  We can make an offer on the entire collection, and pay cash.  Please call Justin at 734-578-3479, or Geoff at 734-968-0019, or email geoff AT cousinsvinyl DOT com.