Vietnam 1968-1971

Soldiers by a bunker

My Dad's name on the Wall

Maj. Frank Maki served twice in Vietnam 1968-69 and briefly in 1971. Sadly he was killed in action at Firebase Fuller just 3 miles south of the DMZ Here is what happened the day my father was killed.

June 22, 1971 From This Day in History South Vietnamese fight for Fire Base Fuller In a major engagement near the Demilitarized Zone, some 1,500 North Vietnamese attack the 500-man South
Vietnamese garrison at Fire Base Fuller. Despite U.S. B-52 raids dropping 60 tons of bombs on June 21 and a 1,000-man reinforcement on June 24, the South Vietnamese had to abandon the base since a North Vietnamese bombardment had destroyed 80 percent of their bunkers. In an attempt to clear the surrounding area of enemy mortar and rocket sites, South Vietnamese forces
swept the region on June 25. On June 28, a Saigon spokesman announced that 120 South Vietnamese had reoccupied Fire Base Fuller, but would not rebuild the fortifications. Casualty figures were reported at nearly 500 North Vietnamese dead, with 135 wounded.

One American was killed, my Dad Major Frank Maki

My Blogger friend Scott Buel from Scenes From the Past visitedThe Wall recently and he and his girlfriend got a new rubbing of my Dad's name. Thanks so much for making that trip Scott and thank you
Carl for the photo and tribute which means so much!

RETRO: KIMMER'S CKLW TOP 40 FAVORITES!

Before I crossed over to FM radio and album rock we had CKLW from Windsor, Ontario. They had different broadcast regulations (no FCC) and had a very strong signal. When I lived in Alabama I could pick up CK at night. which made me feel less homesick.

 Dave Shafer DJ CKLW

We had a couple of other channels like Keener 13 (no signal in Ann Arbor/Ypsi) and WAAM in Ann Arbor. But it was CKLW that we played non stop on our little transistor radios. Here is my list of my favorite TOP 40 songs from 1965-1969. In no particular order

1 Ode To Billie Joe, Bobby Gentry
2 On A Carousel, Hollies
3 Friday On My Mind, Easy Beats
4 Tell It Like It Is, Aaron Neville
5 Everlasting Love, Robert Knight
6 96 Tears, ? and The Mysterians
7 Lightning Strikes, Lou Christie
8 Kicks, Paul Revere and The Raiders
9 Sock It To Me Baby Mitch Ryder/Detroit Wheels
10 Don't Mess With Bill, Marvelettes
11 Cool Jerk, The Capitols
12 Pretty Ballerina Left Banke
13 Time Won't Let Me, Outsiders
14 Ain't Too Proud To Beg, Temptations
15 Homeward Bound, Simon and Garfunkel
16 Psychotic Reaction, Count Five
17 Message To Michael, Dionne Warwick
18 634-5789, Wilson Pickett
19 I Fought The Law, Bobby Fuller Four
20 Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Mel Carter
21 Make Me Your Baby, Barbara Lewis
22 Catch Us If You Can, Dave Clark Five
23 Baby Don't Go, Sonny and Cher
24 We Gotta Get Out Of This Place, Animals
25 Outta Time, The Rolling Stones
26 Cry Like A Baby, Box Tops
27 The Look Of Love, Dusty Springfield
28 Reach Out Of The Darkness, Friend and Lover
29 Fire , Crazy World Of Arthur Brown
30 Stay In My Corner, Dells
31 I Thank You, Sam and Dave
32 Elenore, Turtles
33 Time Has Come Today, The Chambers Brothers
34 Hot Fun In The Summertime, Sly and The Family Stone
35 Easy To Be Hard, Three Dog Night
36 Worst That Could Happen, Brooklyn Bridge
37 I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Gladys Knight and the Pips
38 Hooked On A Feeling, B.J. Thomas
39 Everybody's Talkin', Nilsson
40 Little Children, Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas

More on CKLW

Swingin Time Rosalie Trombley 20/20 News Team

THE STOOGE'S LEGENDARY GUITARIST RON ASHETON DIED

Ron Asheton R.I.P.

Legendary Iggy & the Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton was found dead in his Ann Arbor home on January 6th. He was 60 years old. Besides his work with the Stooges, Asheton played in groundbreaking local bands in the 80's including Dark Carnival and Destroy All Monsters.

The Stooges released "The Weirdness," their first studio album in over three decades last year. Tributes to Ron are being posted to his MySpace page.

DETROIT (Reuters) - Ron Asheton, a guitarist and founding member of the influential rock band The Stooges, was found dead at his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan on Tuesday, police said.

Asheton, 60, was found on his couch and appeared to have been dead for several days, Ann Arbor Police Sgt. Brad Hill said. (Brad is RK's cousin)" We do not expect foul play," Sgt Hill said.

Police were called to Asheton's home shortly after midnight after an acquaintance reported that he had been unable to contact him for several days.

Asheton's brother, Scott, is the drummer for The Stooges. The pair were founding members of the band formed in 1967 in Ann Arbor along with front-man Iggy Pop.

Known for a violent and primitive style that featured stage-diving and outrageous antics by Pop, The Stooges were a BIG part of a late 1960s Detroit-area rock scene that also included the MC5.

The Stooges broke up in 1974 after three albums, limited commercial success and mounting drug problems for Pop. But backed by Asheton's guitar riffs on songs such as:

"I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "TV Eye," the band's music has been credited as a powerful influence on a wide range of punk and alternative bands including The Sex Pistols, The Ramones and The White Stripes.After The Stooges broke up, Asheton acted in a series of low-budget horror films in the 1980s and 1990s.

Asheton, ranked as the 29th greatest rock guitarist by Rolling Stone, rejoined The Stooges when the band reunited in 2003 and for the 2007 comeback album, "The Weirdness."

The band has been inducted in the Rock Hall of Fame

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

IDLEWILD: THE BLACK EDEN OF MICHIGAN

The "Chitlin' Circuit" was the name given to a lot of clubs and venues throughout the Eastern and Southern US States.They were safe for African American musicians, comedians,and entertainers to perform at during the age of Jim Crow laws forcing their segregation (ending in the 1960s). Chitlin is slang for a soul food dish made from pork.

Some of the venues on the Chitlin' Circuit were the Cotton Club and Apollo Theaters in New York City, Regal Theatre in Chicago,Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C., Fox Theater in Detroit and the Uptown Theatre in Philadelphia, and a bunch of 1 night stand places in the middle. A lot of these acts played Idlewild to incorporate some relaxation

along with work.

Many of these fabulously talented artists started on the chitlin' circuit, including Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald,Lena Horne, Etta James, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis Jr., Ray Charles, The Supremes,
 

 Jackie Wilson at the Paradise Club

Moms Mabley, Ike and Tina Turner,George Benson, B.B. King, Richard Pryor, Muddy Waters, Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, Redd Foxx, Patti LaBelle, Jimi Hendrix, Gladys Knight & the Pips,The Temptations, John Lee Hooker, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, The Isley Brothers, and The Four Tops. ( The dancers were love with Otis)

And a Motortown Revue Dancer named Donna Dixon….I met Donna on the phone as she called into me for tech support a few years ago. It was just before the holidays and we struck up a long conversation as I fixed her computer problems. Donna was a backup dancer for the Funk Brother's band. They were the massively talented studio musicians that created the "Motown Sound"

See a bit of their movie:Standing in the Shadows of Motown HERE The touring company of acts from Motown were called the Motor Town Revue.Donna told me all the gossip "on the road"with the famous groups.She also sadly told me then how Levi Stubbs had just had a large stroke and was wheel chair bound. He would never perform again. See my post about him HERE

Donna told me about playing in the summers at Idlewild,Michigan's Paradise Club. This was an area of Michigan that I had never heard about and found it fascinating that there was very little information about Idlewild. Here is a little history from the book: Idlewild: The Black Eden of Michigan

Once considered the most famous African-American resort communityin the country, Idlewild was referred to as the Black Eden of Michigan in the 1920s and '30s, and as the Summer Apollo of Michigan in the 1950s and '60s. Showcasing classy revues and interactive performances of some of the leading black entertainers of the period, Idlewild was an oasis in the shadows of legal segregation.

Donna suggested I read a book that mentioned her and Donna's picture is in it twice! The book was written by Dr. Ronald J Stephens an acclaimed expert on African American History at several large universities.

It was a fascinating hour long conversation with a woman that has lived a fascinating life in Detroit. She is still as as sparkling as her costumes were back then.