ALOFT DETROIT IN THE DAVID WHITNEY BUILDING!

 Aloft Detroit in the David Whitney building

 I met this charming gentleman who had recently moved back home to Detroit and he sent me this lovely email with great photos....I really enjoyed Bob's story and he promises to send more! THANKS SO MUCH BOB!

Hi Kim-

We met and chatted at TGI Fridays in Ann Arbor. I mentioned that we were going to do a "staycation" at the Aloft Detroit in the David Whitney building for my birthday.We had an excellent experience.

The hotel lobby is actually the David Whitney lobby and it is jaw-dropping. I included a few pictures, including our room, which was a corner room with great views of Grand Circus Park and Comerica Park.

   Aloft Detroit in the David Whitney building

The hotel is adjacent to the Grand Circus People Mover station (unfortunately, closed for renovation) but is easily walkable to the Opera House, Comerica Park, and the Broadway People Mover station. The hotel staff were friendly and very high energy.

   Aloft Detroit in the David Whitney building

We also visited the new Detroit Police Museum (located in the Detroit Public Safety Headquarters); it has only been open a few weeks, but there were many interesting items to look at, and there is a retired policeman present to answer questions.

Be well
Bob

MOTOWN'S HISTORIC STUDIO B: ROCK PHOTOGRAPHER KEN SETTLE

Ken Settle
From the film archives: Many, many years ago, I wanted to go photograph what remained of the old Motown Studio B. Though everyone knows about Motown's "Hitsville" Studio A, relatively few people were familiar with Studio B on Davison near Livernois in Detroit. This was the location of Golden World Records, who had a hit with The Reflections "Just Like Romeo and Juliet." In the mid '60s, Berry Gordy purchased Golden World and turned it into Studio B.

This was the place where many of the incredible Motown vocals, horns and strings were overdubbed. Most pivotal to me, was that Marvin Gaye's vocals for the groundbreaking What's Going On masterpiece were done right here at Studio B.

Studio B sat vacant for much of the time after Motown moved to L.A. and has finally been torn down. At the time that I photographed this, you could still see a very weather worn Motown Studio B sign on the side of the battered structure.

I used the old Kodak Recording Film 2475 for this photo, because I wanted the incredibly grainy results that this film gave, along with its extended red sensitivity. I became real interested in that film for a time after I learned that many of the photos of the '67 Detroit riots were shot on this film. It was one of the first high speed (ISO 1000) films ever. Every time I look at this photo, I hear Marvin Gaye singing "Mother, Mother, there's too many of you crying."

Ken Settle Photography
Ken Settle Photography on Facebook

WITHOUT BOOTSEY X I WOULDN'T HAVE MET NIAGARA: COLONEL GALAXY

 .......Bootsey : "What is this called ?" ........Colonel : "Its called 'DAYLIGHT''

Colonel's Tale...

My first fateful meeting with Bootsey came in 1980 at a West side dive called Free Style. I was with my Jeep Racing Team just back from the Baja 1000. We were celebrating the end of our season and stopped in a place we'd never heard of...

It was the Bootsey band and Johnny Angelo's Reputations if memory serves. Everybody was pretty lit and Bootsey was doing an encore "Pusherman of Love.'' We started heckling, and we were a pretty rowdy group of outsiders. My musical taste ran from Led Zeppelin to J Geils, so this local music was pretty eye opening.
 

So Bootsey came directly off stage and sat down at our table . I thought he was going to be mad....but he dug the heckling ! We watched the rest of the show together and exchanged phone numbers, never thinking we'd meet again. A few days later when he called, I didn't even remember what it was all about. He said we should get together at his place in Livonia and go out to see some Mark Norton band later.
 

Next thing I knew I was sitting at his kitchen table helping him work on flyers for his next gig at the Ranch (which he called ''The Raunch''). Bob was multi-tasking as usual..."Yeah cut this out....use this logo with this photo of James Brown.....I'm writing a song...''

  
The song "That's Lou Yeah'' ....was a little ditty he worked on for a couple years...it was about Lou Reed sitting on the side line : "While you are out mowing the lawn....Dream Syndicate is stealing your song...'' Next thing I knew I was going over to Bob's a couple times a week.
 

He was drumming for the Mutants and he ''drug"  me to all the shows and introduced me as "The Colonel'' because I built him up, promoted him, and would carry a black briefcase and hand out flyers.

I soon knew everyone on the scene and started talking about forming a ''SUPER GROUP'' with one member from all these bands. After a nightmare I had about a freak show that had set up at Hines Drive ''where you could check out, but never leave'' Dark Carnival was born. Bootsey was the first drummer.

The shows that started out that Halloween were an instant success. Bootsey was always scheming..."You know if you wanna do this right....you really should get Niagara...''

JOHNNY BEE BADANJEK BACKSTAGE WITH EDGAR WINTER AT FREEDOM HILL!!!

Hi Kim, I went to see Edgar Winter and Rick Derringer tonight out at Freedom Hill, along with The Pat Travers Band, Canned Heat, and Ten Years After. It's always a pleasure to see Edgar after playing on his "They Only Come Out At Night" Album and the hit song "Free Ride" Much love, Bee

JOHNNY BEE SAYS COME TO THIS SHOW!

JOHNNY BEE BADANJEK'S THE EARLY ROCKETS & THE TORPEDOS' JOHNNY ANGELOS

The Rockets

The seventies rock & roll in the Motor-city... An amazing time to be playing in the bar scene. Between Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Toledo there where only a handful of clubs and they would be packed every night.

I started a new band called The Rockets featuring Jim McCarty on guitar who was also a band mate from our first band Mitch Ryder And The Detroit Wheels. And on bass was John Fraga, and Marc Marcano on keyboards. We had no vocalist at the time and so I sang from behind the drums.

 

There were many musician friends who would always stop by and wanna sit in, we only allowed the musicians we knew who could play to sit in. There was a young lad that would always be hanging out and asking us to let him sit in, he had a cropped haircut like the English musicians ala The Faces and he always had on a Burgundy Velvet suit.

He was like the Mick Jagger of Detroit. Before he would sit in he'd walk into the restroom and wrap wads of toilet paper around his neck and as we started to play he would grab the mike and start singing while ripping piece's of the paper off from around his neck and he'd be throwing piece's of it at the girls on the dance floor.

 Johnny Angelos (photo) Sue Rynski

And believe me I'm talking about a lot of toilet paper. The dance floor would be covered. He had it all, a rock star in the making. At the time The Rockets were managed by John Sinclair and Pete Andrews who lived in Ann Arbor.

Johnny Angelos and Robert Gillespie

(photo courtesy of Robert Gillespie)

After playing the Red Carpet one night and Johnny sitting in with us, the next day I had to go to a band meeting in Ann Arbor. It was early afternoon and I was in heavy traffic, as I was flying down I-94 just passing Metro Airport I did a double take because out of the corner of my eye....

I saw Johnny Angelos hitch-hiking on the side of the freeway with his Burgundy Velvet suit on and messed up hair in the hot sun, and I'm thinking damn that's one crazy mf. He never even went home yet and the man is heading out to sing on another gamble with love in his eyes. Johnny was a bad-ass singer who never reaped the awards he was due.

RIP my brother. Much love, Johnny Bee Badanjek

From Ricky Ratt's Article: Fallen Angelos

Detroit Guitarist Robert Gillespie and Johnny Angelos formed the Torpedos in October 1978, fusing their love of classic Motown soul and blues with elements of Heartbreakers and Sex Pistols punk. Gillespie says the Torpedos stood out from an emerging pack of new bands because “we had killer songs and a excellent front man in Johnny, who was like Rod Stewart, but more deviant.”

They developed a following, label interest and landed choice shows with the Romantics at venues such as Cleveland’s Agora ballroom and Detroit’s Masonic Temple. They got some radio support from Doug Podell and Steve Kostan. Yet it was not enough.

The Torpedos broke up shortly after Angelos split in 1981. He went on to form the Reputations with guitar slinger Bobby East. The Torpedos tried to continue with Thomas Anonymous, a singer from New York.

Johnny Angelos with The Amboy Dukes

The Torpedos

*John Angelos (V)

*Robert Gillespie (G, V)

*Tom Curry (K, Sax)

*Mike Marshall (B)

*Ralph Serafino (D)

Thanks Bee and Robert!! xxKim

Stay tuned for more...

DENIZ TEK'S VIDEO VAULT VOL 3

Deniz Tek

Johnny Winter 1984 Guitar Greats concert. This is a bit long, but pure magic if you like fluid, inventive blues. Wait for it because it really takes off. I first saw Johnny at Gallup Park in Ann Arbor in '69. I saw him again at the Ark about 4 years ago, old and infirm. Both times, magnificent and inspiring.

John Coltrane 1965 playing "Vigil" with the quartet featuring Elvin Jones on drums. This is just a tiny slice of the vast galaxy of greatness that Trane created. Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson once told me that when he was starting out, he aspired to be like a combination of Elvin Jones and Keith Moon. (Machine Gun achieved that and much more)

Lady GaGa 2009 Paparrazi This is a great song done in a lovely way, live and intimate, just Stef on the piano and singing without processing. She doesn't need the pitch leveler and her producers should ditch all that crap. (you can click off the stupid opening advert after the first few seconds)

DENIZ TEK'S VIDEO VAULT VOL 2

Fleetwood Mac with Danny Kirwan and Peter Green on guitars, playing the hit "Oh Well" in 1969, written by Green. This was from a time (before their commercial pop period of the late 70's) when Fleetwood Mac was a great blues band. Peter Green, an extraordinarily fine guitarist and singer, descended into madness and deprivation while a new lineup in the 70's became zillionaires.

The MC5 playing Kick Out The Jams at Wayne State University, summer of 1971 on independent Detroit station WABX-TV Tubeworks. The mindblowing energy of this band at peak power needs no further explanation.

Bo Diddley on the Big TNT SHOW (1966) playing "Hey Bo Diddley" while the kids in the crowd go nuts."The Duchess" features on guitar. Once when Bo was playing in Australia, a teenaged Angie Pepper filled in for Bo's main backing singer at the show when she became suddenly indisposed.

Deniz

DENIZ TEK: RON SANCHEZ AT ALTAMONT 1969

Altamont Free Concert 1969

Foreword from Deniz Tek:

The late 60's saw the advent of the big outdoor rock festival. Monterey Pop was probably the zenith of the phenomenon. The most famous of them, Woodstock, gets generally good revisionist press. It was heralded as a shining example of peace and love, and a "functional spontaneously organized community". (Despite being planned, far from spontaneous, and regarding functionality, the Army had to bring in food and water by helicopters).

Mick Jagger

Still, the sound there was good, and nobody got murdered. Goose Lake, our big festival in Michigan, was more like the scene described below. Altamont, outside the bay area, was the nail in the coffin .... the "dark side" of the Woodstock nation, and a disturbingly negative representation of the Stones, (perhaps unfairly) and of humanity in general.

The documentary film "Gimme Shelter" is an amazingly cogent picture of that unique and strange time ... I have seen it several times and never lose interest in it.

Last November I was visiting my friend Ron Sanchez. It was the 40th anniversary of Altamont. Ron had been there. Having drinks and talking about it late that night, deep in the Montana winter, I asked Ron to write down his memories of that fascinating piece of cultural history ... a story that hasn't really been covered recently from the audience perspective.

Here now is :

Memories of Altamont

by Ron Sanchez

6 December, 1969
Altamont Raceway, Livermore CA

At the end of the first Rolling Stones tour of the USA since 1966, talk of a "free gig in the park" began to circulate. This was quickly nixed by the city fathers. An alternate plan was to hold the show at the Sears Point Raceway, in Sonoma, north of San Francisco. Just two days before the December 6th date, the event was moved to the Altamont Raceway, between Livermore and Tracy, east of Oakland. This last minute change was probably a warning sign that all would not go well, but we and 300,000 others chose to ignore it.

The night before the show, my brother and his friends would be going to see the Dead and Humble Pie (making their SF debut) at the Fillmore West. The plan was for them to drive back to San Jose to pick my girlfriend and myself up with all the necessary supplies and head back up the other side of the Bay to the gig. Visions of Woodstock were still dancing in our heads, and we all expected a day of peace, love and the Rolling Stones.

Altamont is not a place you'd want to go unless you were really into stock car racing. The dry rolling hills of the interior of Central California didn't offer much except wide open spaces. The last minute relocation of the concert meant there was no chance of preparation for 300,000 attendees. The stage and PA were hardly up to the standards one had come to expect. The low stage compounded the problems that were to erupt later in the day.

I remember driving out to this desolate location well before the sun had come up. It wasn't hard to find our destination. Seems like once we got off US 580, we drove as far as we could, then got out and walked. It was pretty surreal. The first hint that all was not well came as we neared the race track. People were headed the other way saying 'things are pretty weird". As if on cue, a couple of longhairs attacked a hapless program vendor screaming that he was a "rip off". Yikes.

The early December weather was warm once the sun was high in the sky. With already more than 100,000 people there, we weren't going to be getting a spot anywhere near the front of the stage. We ended up setting up a little behind the stage, on the left side. On the side of a hill, we did have an ok view.

It's just what we were seeing wasn't your standard rock gig behavior. A lot of people seemed to have decided this was going to be a good time to take a lot of drugs and get really wasted. A guy near us seemed to be going into violent convulsions. His friends pinned him down, shoved some reds down his gullet followed by a large dose of jug wine. This was not an isolated incident.

I'm pretty sure Santana was the first band to play. I managed to doze off, only to be woken by the commotion on stage. Marty Balin, from Jefferson Airplane had waded into a crowd of Hell's Angels in an attempt to stop some sort of violence being committed on a member of the audience. Marty got knocked out for his trouble, and the rest of the band was pretty unhappy. I'm surprised we didn't pack up and leave at this point. My brother and his friends decided to wander off to see what they could see. I don't know what they might have been thinking. A dose of acid probably didn't help their judgement.

I do have a vivid memory of the Flying Burrito Brothers playing Six Days On The Road, but that's all. Gram Parsons was there. I cant prove that, and I didn't have any sense of time either. At some point I thought I'd walk down to the outhouses for a pee, but one look at the overflowing honey buckets dashed any urgency. A friend from high school who was also there had similar memories:

".....my clearest recollection was going down to the hollow where they'd set up porta-potties. guys (i must presume it was at least mostly guys) had been urinating on the ground rather than wait in line, so it was all muddy with pee. There was a guy wearing nothing but a pair of jeans who was having a very bad trip, and was screaming and writhing around in the mud while people ignored him. I thought, "ugly...so not Woodstock."

At some point several Hell's Angels decided they needed to park their bikes right in front of the stage. The sight and sound of them forcing their way through the packed crowd down in front was plenty disturbing.

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young were the next band on stage. Again, there isn't anything I remember about this set, but I'm sure they were sorry they signed on. The Stones decided they wanted to wait until the sun went down before they would play. This meant a very long delay between CSN&Y and the Stones.

Not a good idea when the crowd was already in the early stages of Lord Of The Flies. Before long, bonfires were lit around the rim of the natural bowl we were situated in. This was very unsettling, and gave the proceedings an air of some strange pre-historic gathering.

There was a bit of hope when the Stones hit the stage. From our vantage point, we had a good view of Charlie Watts' head and we could see Mick when he'd jump up. You'd like to think music soothes the savage, but this wasn't going to happen today. By the third song, Sympathy For The Devil, things started to erupt.

The band stopped and Mick pleaded with everyone to cool down. If you've seen the Gimme Shelter movie, you can get a pretty good idea of the chaos ... a very out of control situation. A few songs later, just into Under My Thumb, I saw the most incredible thing I think I've ever seen in my life. In a blink of an eye, the whole crowd in front of the stage flew back 100 feet or more in a cloud of dust.

The crowd let out an audible gasp, wondering what just happened. Again, the band pleaded with the audience to calm down. If they had stopped now, I think things would have just exploded.

They tried to restart things with a debut performance of Brown Sugar. Due to the pathetic PA, I thought I was hearing "Crap Shooter". Amazingly, they continued on with this and another seven songs to complete the set with out any more interruptions. By this time I was sitting on the grass with my head in my hands. I was concerned that we hadn't seen the rest of our group for several hours. Everything going on around us was just not pleasant.

Sitting in the cold and dark with the possibility we might not find our ride home was not my idea of fun. I imagine everyone was happy when the music stopped and a few lights came on at the race track, which was behind the stage. There were no calls for an encore, just the realization it was over and time to go. The Dead were suppose to play, but it was clear that this wasn't going to happen.

Much to my relief, my brother and friends appeared out of the darkness and helped gather up our little camp. It was like a defeated army in retreat as we all made the long long trek to the car. We walked at least two hours each direction. I had no idea where we were, or where we parked. The familiar buzzing of the power transmission lines overhead were the only indication we were nearing our goal.

I don't think I went to many concerts in the next year and with few exceptions avoided the football stadium gigs that were the norm in the 70's. Watching the documentary of the tour and this gig, Gimme Shelter still brings back some very unpleasant memories and emotions. I never went to see the Stones again.

Rolling Stones Set, Altamont

1. "Jumpin' Jack Flash"
2. "Carol"
3. "Sympathy for the Devil" (stopped then restarted because of fights breaking out)
4. "The Sun Is Shining"
5. "Stray Cat Blues"
6. "Love in Vain"
7. "Under My Thumb" (stopped then restarted because of fights breaking out)
8. "Brown Sugar" (first live performance)
9. "Midnight Rambler"
10. "Live with Me"
11. "Gimme Shelter"
12. "Little Queenie"
13. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
14. "Honky Tonk Women"
15. "Street Fighting Man"

Thanks Ron and Deniz!!!..

DENIZ TEK PRESENTS 3 FAVORITE VIDEOS!!

Deniz Tek

I asked Deniz to pick some music to share with my readers and his legion of fans a while back. He finally got some time as he is back in Australia . He just sent me this email and these choices are great! Take a look and by all means read Deniz's take on these retro classics.. Thanks D xK

Roky Erickson, with short interview segment (45 seconds) and then Roky and the Blieb Aliens are captured on film playing "Two Headed Dog (Red Temple Prayer)" in 1980. This was one of my fave singles in 1977, along with Bermuda/The Interpreter.

Since the Thirteenth Floor Elevators kick started Texas psychedelic rock in 1966, Roky has had an exceedingly challenging life, in and out of some very bad mental hospitals. His work has had a lot of long gaps but is always brilliant, including his recent album with Okkervil River.

Roy Head in a rare live clip of Treat Her Right. The vocals are live. The dancing is great. Roy was kicked off the James Brown tour for being "too wild". He also once bit Elvis on the ankle, leaving a deep scar which the King took to his grave.

I had the unique opportunity of re-recording Treat Her Right with Roy and the original bass player, Gene Kurtz, for a commemorative Sugar Hill Recording Studios compilation CD pending release.

The Vibrators playing one of my favorite tracks, "Whips and Furs" live and raw at Bristol. When Radio Birdman moved to London in 1978, we were aligned with these guys.

Like us (Radio Birdman), they could play their instruments and did some ripping solos. They did not fit brit punk fashion of the day, and I believe they never fully got the recognition that they deserved. -D

Stay tuned for more unique video picks from Deniz!

Read More about Deniz on RK:

Deniz: Steel Beach
Deniz Tek's Art
Deniz Tek RK Stories

NACHO'S STORY WRITTEN BY FLIGHT SURGEON DENIZ TEK

Kimmer Deniz and Anne Laurent

Just a short note from Kimmer tonight... I met Deniz Tek in October of 2009 due to our mutual friends.. Well Deniz and I have really learned so much about online entertainment and promotion. Deniz is the most fascinating man. A Navy Flight Surgeon/Guitarist/Songwriter Arranger/Painter/Photographer/Sculptor/ER Surgeon/and oh yes... movie star handsome...

Deniz however is very grounded and loves to find new ways to achieve his goals... With that in mind Deniz and I connected. So my latest idea came from associates that suggested I ask my celebrity friends to write for Retrokimmer.Com... Great Idea! We started with Scott Morgan on Sundays and now we are adding Deniz on Thursdays. So here is our first post from Deniz Tek... Strap yourselves in... it's going to be a bumpy ride...

Navy Flight Surgeon Deniz Tek

I was in Yuma Arizona for a WTI course. WTI is the acronym for "Weapons and Tactics Instructor Training". WTI is run by the Marine Corps, and it teaches students how to plan, coordinate and execute air support for an amphibious landing. It is like Topgun, which teaches fighter tactics but has a much broader scope. The students come from squadrons all over, and once qualified, bring their expertise back to their units. WTI has a range out in the desert with telemetry so that everything that happens out there gets monitored and recorded for later analysis.

 Phantom

I was there as the course flight surgeon, so I was not officially a student but I attended all the classes and flew as often as possible. The training area in the Chocolate Mountains is fantastic. They have all sorts of targets out there, including truck convoys, trains, mock air bases ... like the coolest video game ever, but with all real stuff. The area is restricted, because live fire is used. Every once in a while, some hapless person gets blown to bits out there scavenging for stuff.

Chocolate Mountains

It's hot in Yuma in the summertime. I recorded a temperature of over 150F under the canopy of a Phantom jet waiting in the bomb arming area by the runway prior to takeoff (the Phantom's AC doesn't kick in until you are flying). Marines are always running when they are not working, and you'd see guys coming back from runs around the base covered in white dust. That white crusty powder was salt from their bodies, where the sweat had instantly evaporated hitting the hot bone dry air.

It was during the final exercise. We had already lost a Hughes 500 helicopter early in the course, and I was hoping for no more crashes. I was in the CIC when the call came. "Base, we got an A4 Mike down out here. Fireball, no ejection, no chute." At that point a flash message goes up the chain to higher headquarters, and the next thing that happens is that the crash investigation team assembles. That always includes the flight surgeon, the safety officer, and others. We jumped in a 46 (Sea Knight helicopter) and headed out to the crash site. There was none of the usual joking conversation.

I was full of dread. We knew from the other aircraft that had observed (and even filmed) the crash that the pilot had not ejected. We expected to be picking up body parts, maybe of a friend. I went over procedures with the safety officer. He himself had once been in a crash, having ejected from an A4 after a midair collision. He had little round scars on his forehead, where traction pins had been inserted. I noticed that one of his flight boots was built up a couple of inches to compensate for that leg being shorter, due to a smashed femur.

We came up over a ridge line in the desert and saw a column of black smoke in the hazy distance. As we got close and circled the site, I saw that everything was on fire. Rocks, sand, cactus, little scrub mesquites ... all burning. Twisted and torn shiny aluminum airplane parts were strewn across the desert floor, catching the painfully bright sunlight. As we flared to a hover and landed, the crew chief said on the intercom: "Sir! Sir! There's a guy sitting over there at our 3 o clock!"

Sure enough, as the swirling dust from the rotor wash cleared, there WAS a guy sitting on a rock. The pilot had his helmet on his knee, and when our helicopter landed, he put his helmet back on, stood up, and ran to the door. He climbed in, strapped in, and gave us a "thumbs up". He then passed out. He would not wake up again for the next three days.

The patch on his flight suit said that his call sign was Nacho. We took off again, and flew him to the hospital in Yuma. I attended to him on the way there. He had a concussion, and had been partially scalped. An ear was hanging by a thread. There were third degree burns on both forearms, where he had rolled up the sleeves of his fireproof Nomex flight suit. And he had some minor spinal fractures. I left him in the care of the duty physician at the hospital and we left to go back to the crash site.

The scene was a vision from hell. There were still little fires burning everywhere. The smoking engine was the biggest intact part out there, everything else was shredded. We found the ejection seat on top of a crushed mesquite tree, a hundred meters from the rest of the wreckage. The parachute shroud lines were tangled up in the tree, the ripped chute nylon trailing in the wind like a flag. The seat had not fired, but had been ripped off the rails. Walking around the area, I found a little airline bottle of Bushmill's Irish Whisky. I put it in my pocket.

When we reviewed the film, and put together all the evidence, it was clear that a one-in-a-zillion miracle had occurred. Nacho was on a bombing run on a train. As he approached the target, he got too low. His jet hit the train, crosswise, probably doing around 400 knots. The Skyhawk split into two fireballs, diverging from the impact.

It seems that as the jet was ripped in two, the seat with Nacho in it was torn out of the cockpit and flew through the wreckage, the parachute coming out along the way. The trajectory of the seat took it to a landing on its back on top of a mesquite tree, crushing the gnarly branches down and providing for some cushioning effect. Nacho must have unstrapped and climbed down, and sat on that rock, and waited. He does not remember anything that happened after he took off that day.

Deniz Tek

I went to see him in the hospital. Some squadron mates were there, and a whole bunch of guys had been coming around and rubbing his head to try to get hold of some of his incredible luck. I said "I think you lost this" and tossed him the bottle of Bushmill's. He was so glad to get it back ... he said he always kept it in his flight suit so if he ever had to eject, he'd have something to drink while awaiting rescue.

He eventually made a full recovery and went back to flying. I went and visited him and his wife a year or so later. We drank beers, sat on the patio, and had dinner at their house. There is a plaque on his wall that the squadron made for him, with a mount of a model train with a model of an A4 stuck through it. It is a great thing to have on your wall. Nacho said he's not sure what brought him so much luck that day, but he never takes off without that little bottle of Bushmill's whiskey.

DENIZ TEK: STEEL BEACH/ MISS YOU TOO MUCH...

Deniz Tek Citadel Years 2 CD Set

From Deniz...

"I wrote Steel Beach while in the middle of the Indian Ocean in the mid 80's. On the aircraft carrier, they shut down flight ops and gave everyone a day off about once a month, usually on a Sunday. They cleared off an area of the deck, and set up BBQ's, made sliders, and sailors and airmen put their towels down and lie in the sun... they called it Steel Beach. I used that image, but of course took it in my own strange direction for the song lyrics. It's an electric blues in the classic sense." Deniz Tek

Download Steel Beach for free!

Deniz Tek and my favorite twin brothers the Godoy Twins (Art and Steve) are gearing up to play this weekend on the east coast. So wish I could be there but hopefully they will be here in Ann Arbor soon.. I have a ton of Deniz' music that he gave me or fans have sent in to me. Yesterday I clicked on "Steel Beach". It just haunted me for almost 48 hours.

I have played it over and over and each time I hear something new in Deniz' lyric and his gorgeous guitar. Steel beach, Deniz's song . I never sang it.I like that song too . Its refers to the ship an LST? Marine helicopter carrier.. equatorial hot, surrounded by water, but no swim. just steel.Sun on Steel must have been rather uncomfortable "Like a hammer from the sun's mind" Mark Sisto Here is a recent video Deniz Tek with Andy Newman , Steve and Art Godoy live @ the Patch , 3 April 2011 Wollongong , Australia ..OZ Tour 2011

Deniz Tek began his solo career in 1992 with the recording of the album Take It To The Vertical. The assembled studio band included Chris Masuak from Radio Birdman, Scott Asheton from the Stooges and Dust Peterson from Dust and the Rotorheads. The album was produced and financed by Deniz with Andy Mort Bradley engineering at the Sugar Hill studios in Houston, Texas.

The album was sold to Red Eye Records, a subsidiary arm of Polydor Australia. It marked the beginning of an ill starred relationship with the major label.

The band, with Bob Brown replacing Dust on bass, later toured Australia and then self destructed after experiencing artistic success on the one hand but a hideously mismanaged, near career destroying financial disaster on the other.

Madhatter Deniz and Mark Sisto

From the ashes of the conflagration emerged a stable line-up that featured Celibate Rifles' Kent Steedman on guitar and Nik Rieth on drums along with ex New Christs and Barracudas' bass player Jim Dickson. The new band rehearsed, recorded and began playing shows around Australia in mid 1993. This line-up was to become known as The Deniz Tek Group.

Early 1994 saw them release the hard rock album Outside on Red Eye. This release was followed by a national Australian tour, and then in 1995 a gruelling world tour encompassing Australia, Europe and the west coast of America. In early 1995, while in Australia, they recorded the EP 444 The Number Of The Beat, mislabeled by the Red Eye art department as 4-4. Perhaps ominous for looming trouble, the label didn't find it worth the effort to correct the error.

One of Deniz' most beautiful songs for me is "Miss You Too Much" with my friend Mark Sisto on vocals with The Visitors. The Visitors was a self-titled album from the band The Visitors released in 1983. The album was originally recorded under the Radio Birdman label Trafalgar Music, and the tapes were left to sit for four years with no interest bar the Phantom EP release.

Mark Sisto Deniz Tek

The insistence of Citadel to make the material available convinced Trafalgar into agreeing to allow Citadel to finance the remixes. Deniz was available for the remixes that were done at EMI 301's eight-track studio. However, he was not available to assist with the artwork, and the process ultimately took longer than expected.

Deniz and I first met in December 2009. He came to Ann Arbor to play in Chris Taylor's Ann Arbor Rock and Roll Revival. It was such fun to see Deniz when Madhatter walked into the green room at The Blind Pig... LOL

Deniz Tek's Discography NYC/NJ/PHILLY SHOW INFO

YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME.. ROKY ERICKSON/DENIZ TEK

The 13th Floor Elevators

The 13th Floor Elevators were an American rock band from Austin, Texas formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland, which existed from 1965 to 1969. During their career, the band released four LPs and seven 45s for the International Artists record label. Rare performance video of 13 Floor Elevators....

You know... strange as it may seem... since I began Retro: Kimmer's blog in 2008... So many of the musicians and music fans I have met have given me such a musical education. 13th Floor Elevators are band I never heard of... Deniz Tek is a huge Roky Erickson fan and Deniz recorded with Roky years ago in Texas. Deniz told me alot about this band. My Facebook friends have filled in a lot of history as well. Gotta love the internet!

Deniz Tek and Radio Birdman

From Deniz: I've been inspired by the voice and songs of Roky Erickson aka Roger Kynard Erickson, from my teen years. His band the 13th Floor Elevators recorded at Sugar Hill in the 60s on the International Artists label. Some say they spearheaded psychedelic rock.

Deniz's band Radio Birdman did a great cover of "You're Going to Miss Me"... Occasionally I will post one version or another as lots of garage bands covered Miss Me too. It is just a classic rock song... Sad that I missed out on these great bands years ago but how LUCKY I am to meet the bands now and hear the back stories of these great songs...

The 13th Floor Elevators found some commercial and artistic success in 1966-67, before dissolving amid legal troubles and drug use in late 1968 (familiar story...). As one of the first psychedelic bands, their contemporary influence has been acknowledged by 1960s musicians such as Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Peter Albin of Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Chris Gerniottis of Zakary Thaks. Their debut 45 "You're Gonna Miss Me", a national Billboard #55 hit in 1966, was featured on the 1972 compilation Nuggets: Original Artifacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968, which is considered vital in the history of garage rock and the development of punk rock.

Punk band Television played their song "Fire Engine" live in the mid-1970s. In the 1980s-90s, the 13th Floor Elevators influenced important bands such as Primal Scream and Spacemen 3, both of whom covered their songs, and 14 Iced Bears who use an electric jug on their single "Beautiful Child".

In 2009 the International Artists released a ten CD box set entitled Sign of the 3-Eyed Men, which included the mono and new, alternate stereo mixes of the original albums together with two albums of previously unreleased material and a number of rare live recordings.