Midsummer Rock

Last updated
Midsummer Rock
Genre Concert
Starring The Stooges
Mountain
Grand Funk Railroad
Traffic
Alice Cooper
Narrated by Jack Lescoulie
Bob Waller
Production
Production locations Crosley Field, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Camera setup Multicam
Running time90 minutes

Midsummer Rock is a television program based on the Cincinnati Pop Festival. The 90-minute TV version featured Alice Cooper, Mountain, Grand Funk Railroad, The Stooges, and Traffic.

Contents

History

A rather thorough history of the Cincinnati Pop Music Festival that spawned the Midsummer Rock TV show is available on the Cincinnati City Beat website. The festival took place and was filmed on June 13, 1970 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio, the home of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team since 1912. The Reds only had a couple more games to play there before moving to Riverfront Stadium downtown that summer. It was broadcast nationally in August of that year, but edited down to 90 minutes including commercials with 5 five acts being The Stooges, Alice Cooper, Traffic, Mountain, and Grand Funk Railroad. It was never rebroadcast. The video features now legendary performances by the Stooges, including stage diving and the peanut butter incident by Iggy, and a psychedelic-era Alice Cooper, where Alice received a cream pie in the face while he was attempting to hypnotize the audience. Poor quality videos of a couple of the acts have been available for years on youtube.com, specifically the Stooges, Alice Cooper and Mountain. It was produced through the facilities of WLWT-TV, which was owned by Avco-Embassy group. In most cities broadcasting it, including Cincinnati, the audio was simulcast in stereo by FM stations.

Festival line-up

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Stooges</span> American punk rock band

The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, and 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Funk Railroad</span> American band

Grand Funk Railroad is an American rock band formed in Flint, Michigan, in 1969 by Mark Farner, Don Brewer and Mel Schacher (bass). The band achieved peak popularity and success during the 1970s with hit songs such as "We're an American Band", "I'm Your Captain ", "Some Kind of Wonderful", "Walk Like a Man", "The Loco-Motion", "Bad Time" and "Inside Looking Out". Grand Funk released six platinum and seven gold-certified albums between their recording debut in 1969 and their first disbandment in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iggy Pop</span> American rock musician (born 1947)

James Newell Osterberg Jr., known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1967 and have disbanded and reunited many times since. Often called the "Godfather of Punk", he was named one of the 50 Great Voices by NPR. In 2010, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Stooges. Pop also received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020 for his solo work.

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.

James (Jim) Tarbell is an American politician of the Charter Party, who was a member of the city council and vice-mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio. By mayoral proclamation, Jim Tarbell holds the title "Mr. Cincinnati" for life.

Terry Knight was an American rock and roll music producer, promoter, singer, songwriter and radio personality, who enjoyed some success in radio, modest success as a singer, but considerable success as the original manager-producer for Grand Funk Railroad and the producer for Bloodrock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goose Lake International Music Festival</span> 1970 multiday rock event in Michigan, US

The Goose Lake International Music Festival held August 7–9, 1970, in Leoni Township, Michigan, "was one of the largest music events of its era", and featured many of the top rock music bands of the period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agora Theatre and Ballroom</span> Music venue in Cleveland, Ohio

The Agora Theatre and Ballroom is a music venue located in Cleveland, Ohio.

Moondance Jam is an annual rock and classic rock festival held in mid-July in the Leech Lake/Chippewa National Forest Area near Walker, Minnesota. It is recognized as Minnesota's largest rock festival and a major classic rock festival in the United States. The Jam has gone from being a party for a few hundred family and friends back in 1992 to a rock 'n' roll and camping celebration that entertains tens of thousands today mainly because it has maintained a clean, safe and friendly atmosphere along with open festival seating for general admission ticket holders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knebworth Festival</span> Open-air rock and pop concert

The Knebworth Festival was a recurring open-air rock and pop concert held on the grounds of the Knebworth House in Knebworth, England. The festival first occurred in July 1974 when The Allman Brothers Band, The Doobie Brothers and other artists attracted 60,000 people.

Chimo! was a Canadian jazz-rock/jazz fusion band, founded in 1969. The band played with some of the biggest acts of their era, and recorded one album, Cross Country Man for Revolver Records.

The Dirty Americans were a Detroit-based rock band that released one album and EP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">We're an American Band (song)</span> 1973 single by Grand Funk Railroad

"We're an American Band" is a No. 1 single by American rock band Grand Funk Railroad. Released on July 2, 1973, from the band's album of the same name, it became the band's first single to top the Billboard charts. Written by Don Brewer and produced by Todd Rundgren, its huge chart success broadened Grand Funk's appeal. In a 2023 interview, Brewer said the song, which stiches together snippets of events from the band's touring life, was written in an effort to garner the band more hits as FM radio stations were transitioning into singles-oriented formats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Detroit Music Awards</span> Award show held in Michigan, US

The Detroit Music Awards Foundation is a Michigan 501(c)(3) organization, whose mission is to recognize Detroit area musicians working on a national, regional, and local level. The Foundation supports and nurtures the musical community in Detroit and the Detroit metropolitan area to create a network for musicians that cuts across genres and styles.

Since the dawn of rock music in the 1950s and continuing through the 1960s, various artists pushed the boundaries of the genre to emphasize speed, aggression, volume, theatricality, and other elements that became staples of the heavy metal style. In the late 1960s, this experimentation coalesced into various rock subgenres like hard rock, acid rock, and psychedelic rock, which were all influential in the development of heavy metal. These albums would later be retroactively categorised as proto-metal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas International Pop Festival</span>

The Texas International Pop Festival was a music festival held at Lewisville, Texas, on Labor Day weekend, August 30 to September 1, 1969. It occurred two weeks after Woodstock. The site for the event was an open field just south and west of the newly opened Dallas International Motor Speedway, located on the east side of Interstate Highway 35E, across from the Round Grove Road intersection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludlow Garage</span>

The Ludlow Garage began life as an automobile shop and later became a music venue located in the Clifton neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. The original music venue hosted concerts from September 19, 1969 through January 20, 1971. The original proprietor of the music venue was ex-City Council member and Vice Mayor Jim Tarbell.

<i>Suck</i> (film) 2009 Canadian film

Suck is a 2009 rock-and-roll vampire black comedy horror film starring, written and directed by Rob Stefaniuk. Stefaniuk stars alongside Canadian actress Jessica Paré, Nicole de Boer, Malcolm McDowell and rock artists Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop, Henry Rollins and Alex Lifeson of Rush. Production took place in and around Toronto in late 2008.

The Strawberry Fields Festival was a rock music festival held at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, about 100 kilometers east of Toronto, between August 7 and the early morning hours of August 10, 1970. Although accounts vary, the audience has been estimated at between 75,000 and 100,000 people. A three-day ticket for the festival sold for $15.00.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Detroit</span> Music traditions in Detroit, Michigan, US

Detroit, Michigan, is a major center in the United States for the creation and performance of music, and is best known for three developments: Motown, early punk rock, and techno.

References