Jamie Farr, Toledo's Favorite Son

Not content to simply sit back and enjoy the spoils of his success, Toledo native and solid gold superstar Jamie Farr, aka Jameel Farah, is leveraging his legacy with Klinger Kreations, a can't miss entry in the highly competitive celebrity condiment arena. Try some today!


*Art and concept courtesy of comedic genius and talented illustrator Cris Shapan.

Toledo – The Fireworks Center of America

The "good old days," when a young man could stuff a sawback into an envelope and receive a haphazardly packaged box of potentially lethal pyrotechnics via the U.S. Mail Service no questions asked.

Oh Boy! THINK OF IT! World's Loudest.

FUN FACT: John Miller, of Toledo's Miller Fireworks Company, is largely credited with popularizing the M-80 as a civilian firework.

02.07.73 Raw Power Released, Life Made Tolerable.

Released 49 years ago today.

Brutal, simple, and boogie-free, Raw Power forgoes melody instead relying on the visceral power of the guitar riff to drive the songs forward. Although hardly noticed when released in 1973, the album would serve as the "how to guide" for aspiring guitarists of the nascent punk scene. Without it, players such as Cheetah Chrome, Johnny Ramone, Steve Jones, and countless others would likely have never made it out of the basement. For that we are eternally grateful.

Produced by David Bowie, the original mix was polarizing. Several attempts have since been made to "improve" it, which at this point is a bit like trying to punch up the Ten Commandments for a more casual feel. But before the masters were committed to vinyl, a few early mixes were leaked to WABX, Detroit's premier FM rock station at the time. Listen here as Mark Parenteau and Dennis Frawley discuss and play the tracks during a live broadcast.

John Lee Hooker in Frogtown: The Secret Session at Toledo's Sweeney Sound Engineering

Dig below the surface of Toledo's rich and diverse music history and you'll inevitably uncover vague references to  John Lee Hooker recording at Toledo's Sweeney Sound Engineering. While the bluesman's affinity for the Toledo-adjacent Hines Farm blues club is well documented, the link between Hooker and Sweeney Sound is far more tenuous.

Hooker's notoriously cavalier attitude regarding the signing of and adhering to binding contracts makes verification difficult, but Sheldon Brown, son of Detroit Based Fortune Records founder Jack Brown, has long maintained that John Lee Hooker’s first recording session was actually conducted under his father’s supervision at Toledo’s Sweeney Sound Engineering. The session, which reportedly produced the tracks “Miss Sadie Mae: Curl my Baby's Hair” and “609 Boogie,” went unreleased at the time. Additionally, David A Carson confirms the session in his exhaustive Grit, Noise, and Revolution: The Birth of Detroit Rock 'n' Roll. This is significant as historians have for years generally credited Hooker's late 1948 recording of "Boogie Chillen" at United Sound Systems in Detroit as his first session. These claims instead indicate that Hooker's first session was, in fact, in Toledo.

Information detailing the history of Sweeney Sound Engineering is similarly hazy, a lazy google search turning up a 1950 recording of Fred Harris & his Uptown Band. Ripped from the 1980 release, Vintage Toledo Blues 1950-1980 (TRH Records #8001), Fred Harris--not to be confused with the legendary Canadian TV host of the same name--apparently went on to form Fred Harris' Red Tops who recorded this jam in the studio at Toledo's WTOD radio station in 1957.

Given the willingness of Fortune Records founder Brown to travel to Toledo for a session, what other gems may have been committed to tape or acetate inside the walls of Sweeney Sound Engineering? Those with even cursory knowledge of the studio and or the owners/employees are encouraged to chime in in the comments.

Linkapalooza: 
The Bull- Fred Harris' Red Tops Organ Trio- New Song
Remembering Hines Farm, a legendary African-American mecca for the blues
Hines Farm Movie

Five Photo Flashback: Maumee Car Show 2010

Glad-Bagged Ford F250

Found! #2: Giant "I Drink Your Blood" Silk Screen and Vintage Hand Crafted Rad Boyz Longboard Protoype.

As juvenile delinquents go, we were unquestionably some of the most creative and productive.

necros, maumee, rad boyz, rad boys, skates, skateboarding, horror movies, screenprinting, screenprint

WHAM-O WHEELIE BAR: Go with the Big Ones

Anyone else remember an America where you laid your money down and took your chances with the understanding that the very real possibility of bodily harm was just part of the thrill?
Kid-wise, it really separated the wheat from the chaff at the street level.

 #whamo, #wham-o, #wheelie-bar, #stingray, #little, red, wagon,

Five Photos: House Industries Exhibit at Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation

 House Industries: A Type of Learning

As you might expect, the exhibit leans heavily on the work of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth.

House Industries first collaborated with Roth over twenty years ago, turning some of his iconic hand lettering into font and clip-art sets for graphic designers and collectors of Roth paraphernalia.

Roth's Mysterion disappeared decades ago after a confluence of owners picked its chassis dry. The remnants were reportedly acquired by a body shop owner in Missouri. This replica was built by Dave Shuten.

Also on hand is Evel Knievel's jumpsuit from his failed Snake River Canyon Jump. It shares a display case with a generic Misfits poster, some back issues of Thrasher, a fuel tank and some other sundries pulled from the psyche of 70's era teens.

A Danelelctro doubleneck guitar--six on top, four on the bottom--accompanies a display of the "Flyer" font set. Culled from a selection 80s hardcore flyers and records and often named accordingly, the typefaces will be instantly recognizable to even casual hardcore aficionados. If it feels a little as if your youth has been co-opted for others benefit, well, you are not alone. That said, HI cuts no corners, and everyone one of its products and projects is completed with the utmost integrity. The exhibit runs through September 4, 2017 at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Michigan.

06.20.1975: JAWS Opens on 464 Screens in The U.S. and Canada

"Y'know the thing about a shark, he's got... lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'... until he bites ya. And those black eyes roll over white, and then... oh, then you hear that terrible high-pitch screamin', the ocean turns red, and spite of all the poundin' and the hollerin', they all come in and they... rip you to pieces."–Quint

I can't overestimate the imapct JAWS had on me as pre-teen. Both beautifully scripted and photographed, JAWS offered a master class in how to keep a budget from getting in the way of a good story. I had seen plenty of low-budget horror and sci-fi by then, but in those flicks, the victims were generally vilified well in advance. Jaws killed at will and without remorse.

In addition to taking home three Academy Awards and a nomination for Best Picture, JAWS was the first major motion picture title to be released for home viewing on the the then nascent LaserDisc format. That alone speaks volumes.

Fun Fact: Apparently, the original artwork for the one-sheet poster has been missing for decades. 
   

Steven Spielberg, Peter Benchley, Roy Scheider, Martin Brody, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Brucie, Universal

DETROIT | Official Trailer 2

The second trailer for Kathryn Bigelow's long awaited film DETROIT. Based on the Detroit riots of 1967, the film employs the notorious police raid at Algiers Motel as storytelling device.  Formerly located on Woodward avenue and Virginia Park, the hotel was demolished in the late 1970s and the land turned into a small common area. Let's hope what few truths exist don't get lost in the name of art.
Kathryn Biglow, Detroit, Detroit Riots, 1967, 12th street, Mark Boal, Hannah Murray

Pit Stop: A Real Man's Deodorant

Recommended for everyday use by non-race drivers too.

As my old lady always says, "Don't go around stinkin' up the joint."

Yes this was a real thing, and unopened cans have sold on eBay for over $1500.

Carrol, Shelby, Pitstop, pit-stop, deodorant, fragrance, LeMans,

Descent into The Maelstrom: Radio Birdman Documentary Nearing Completion

Born in Ann Arbor, Deniz Tek grew up in the wake of the region's prolific underground music scene  soaking up the inescapable sonic influence the Stooges, MC5, and the rest of the Rust Belt Guitar Army. So when he split town for Australia in 1972, it didn't take long for him to apply the sound and attitude of his formative years to a musical effort down under. Although Tek would ultimately be associated with numerous combos including TV Jones and New Race (with Ron Asheton from the Stooges and Dennis Thompson of the MC5), it's Radio Birdman where he made his bones. 

Considering glut of documentaries currently clogging up viewersphere, we're hoping this one finds a way to stand on its own legs and drops some genuine knowledge.
Deniz Tek's website
The Radio Birdman Story, #deniztek, #radiobirdman

The Crowd Cheered a Pagan Tumultuous Roar.

Harley, Harley-Davidson, chariot racing, Australia