The Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexander. Initially playing a raw, primitive style of rock and roll, the band sold few records in their original incarnation and gained a reputation for their confrontational performances, which often involved acts of self-mutilation by Iggy Pop.
The music of Michigan is composed of many different genres. The city of Detroit has been one of the most musically influential and innovative cities for the past 50 years, whether in Michigan or anywhere else in the United States. Impressively, for 48 straight years (1959-2007) a greater Michigan-area artist has produced a chart-topping recording. Michigan is perhaps best known for three developments: early punk rock, Motown, and techno.
Birdsongs of the Mesozoic is an American musical group founded in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, in 1980.
Ronald Franklin Asheton was an American guitarist, bassist and co-songwriter with Iggy Pop for the rock n roll band the Stooges. He formed the Stooges along with Pop and his brother, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexander. Asheton, once ranked as number 29 on Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time is currently ranked at number 60.
John Sinclair is an American poet, writer, and political activist from Flint, Michigan. Sinclair's defining style is jazz poetry, and he has released most of his works in audio formats. Most of his pieces include musical accompaniment, usually by a varying group of collaborators dubbed Blues Scholars.
Niagara, born in Detroit, Michigan, is a painter and musician. She was the lead vocalist of the proto-punk rock bands Destroy All Monsters (DAM) and Dark Carnival. Her painting derives principally from the Lowbrow art movement.
Destroy All Monsters were an American, influential Detroit band existing from 1973 to 1985, with sporadic performances since. Their music touched on elements of punk rock, psychedelic rock, heavy metal and noise rock with a heavy dose of performance art. Their music was described by Lester Bangs as "anti-rock". They earned a measure of notoriety due to members of The Stooges and MC5 joining the band, and Sonic Youth singer/guitarist Thurston Moore compiled a three compact disc set of the group's music in 1994.
Steven Bookvich known as Muruga Booker is an American drummer, composer, inventor, artist, recording artist, and an autonomous Orthodox priest.
Phantom Tollbooth was a post-punk/noise rock band from New York City. They played a style of post punk that included elements from jazz, noise rock, and art rock. This allowed Phantom Tollbooth to make sudden starts, stops, and tempo changes in their music. All of their albums were released in a four-year window between 1984 and 1988 on Homestead Records. In 2003, Guided by Voices frontman Robert Pollard created new lyrics and melodies for Phantom Tollbooth's 1988 album Power Toy. The resulting work was released as Beard of Lightning.
Roger (Clark) Miller is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist best known for co-founding Mission of Burma and performing in Alloy Orchestra.
The Prime Movers were an American blues band based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, which was formed in 1965. The band originally consisted of Michael Erlewine, Dan Erlewine, Robert Sheff (keyboards), Robert Vinopal (bass), and Michael "Spider" Wynn (drums). Vinopal left soon after the band's formation and was replaced by Jack Dawson. Wynn left a short time later and was replaced by James Osterberg, who would later become famous as Iggy Pop. When he joined the Prime Movers Osterberg took the name "Iggy", from his previous band The Iguanas.
Sproton Layer was an American rock and roll group formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the late 1960s. Their music was mostly hard rock with psychedelic touches.
The ONCE Group was a collection of musicians, visual artists, architects, and film-makers who wished to create an environment in which artists could explore and share techniques and ideas in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The group was responsible for hosting the ONCE Festival of New Music in Ann Arbor, Michigan, between 1961 and 1966. It was founded by Ann Arborites Robert Ashley, George Cacioppo, Gordon Mumma, Roger Reynolds and Donald Scavarda.
Laurence Bond "Larry" Miller is an American rock and avant garde guitarist, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, who has formerly been a member of such Detroit/Ann Arbor bands as Destroy All Monsters, Sproton Layer, M3, Nonfiction, The Empty Set, and Larynx Zillion's Novelty Shop.
Nonfiction was an avant garde, post-punk rock band based in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the late 1980s. Members included Ben Miller, Larry Miller, Bill Franks, and Doug Peterson.
M3 was an American experimental rock group, founded by the brothers Roger Miller, Ben Miller and Larry Miller. Their name is a dual reference to the three M surnames, and also pun on the musical notation for a minor third.
The Up was an American rock band formed in Detroit, Michigan in early 1967. Along with fellow proto-punk bands the MC5 and The Stooges, The Up served as a "house band" for the Grande Ballroom in Detroit.
Timothy M. Ries is an American saxophonist, composer, arranger, band leader, and music educator at the collegiate/conservatory level. Ries is in his fourteenth year as a professor of jazz studies at the University of Toronto. His universe of work as composer, arranger, and instrumentalist ranges from rock to jazz to classical to experimental to ethno to fusions of respective genres thereof. His notable works with wide popularity include The Rolling Stones Project, a culmination of jazz arrangements of music by the Stones produced on two albums, the first in 2005 and the second in 2008.
Ben Wa was an American electronic band from Oakland, California comprising Anthony "House" Chaba and Eric Ware, who had worked together before in bands such as Limbomaniacs, Big Janitor, and MCM & the Monster.
