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.
Pure Prairie League is an American country rock band whose origins go back to 1965 and Waverly, Ohio, with singer and guitarist Craig Fuller, drummer Tom McGrail, guitarist and drummer Jim Caughlan and steel guitarist John David Call. Fuller started the band in 1970 and McGrail named it after a fictional 19th century temperance union featured in the 1939 Errol Flynn cowboy film Dodge City. In 1975 the band scored its biggest hit with the single "Amie", a track that originally appeared on their 1972 album Bustin' Out. Pure Prairie League scored five consecutive Top 40 LPs in the 1970s and added a sixth in the 1980s. They disbanded in 1988 but regrouped in 1998 and continue to perform as of 2021. The line-up has been fluid over the years, with no one member having served over the band's entire history. The band's most recent line-up consists of Call, drummer Scott Thompson, keyboardist Randy Harper, guitarist Jeff Zona and bassist Jared Camic. Among the other notable past musicians to have played with Pure Prairie League include guitarists Vince Gill, Gary Burr and Curtis Wright.
Toy Dolls are an English punk rock band formed in 1979. Departing from the angry lyrics and music often associated with punk rock, the Toy Dolls worked within the aesthetics of punk to express a sense of fun, with songs such as "Yul Brynner Was a Skinhead", "My Girlfriend's Dad's a Vicar" and "James Bond Lives Down Our Street". There is often alliteration in their song titles. They are probably best known however for their sole UK hit, a punk-rock cover of "Nellie the Elephant".
Rare Earth was an American rock band from Detroit, Michigan. According to Louder, "Rare Earth’s music straddles genres and defies categorisation, [sic] slipping seamlessly between the two seemingly disparate worlds of classic rock and R&B." The band was signed to Motown's Rare Earth record label. Although not the first white band signed to Motown, Rare Earth was the first big hit-making act signed by Motown that consisted only of white members.
Blackfoot is an American Southern rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, formed in 1969. Though they primarily play with a Southern rock style, they are also known as a hard rock act. The band's classic lineup consisted of guitarist and vocalist Rickey Medlocke, guitarist Charlie Hargrett, bassist Greg T. Walker, and drummer Jackson Spires.
Moneen is a Canadian indie rock band from Brampton, Ontario.
Ralston Bowles is an American poet, songwriter, producer, musician and singer from Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The Meatmen are an American punk band headed by Tesco Vee, originally existing from 1981 to 1988, before reforming in the mid-1990s, and again in the 2000s. They were known for their outrageous stage antics and offensive lyrics. They reformed in 2008 and continue to tour and record.
Switch is an American R&B/funk band that found fame recording for the Gordy label in the late 1970s, releasing hit songs such as "There'll Never Be", "I Call Your Name", and "Love Over & Over Again". Switch influenced bands such as DeBarge, which featured the siblings of Switch band members Bobby and Tommy DeBarge.
Missing Links Volume Three is a compilation album of rare and previously unreleased songs by The Monkees, issued by Rhino Records in 1996. It is the third and final volume of a three-volume set, preceded by Missing Links in 1987 and Missing Links Volume Two in 1990.
Nantucket is a Southern rock band formed in Jacksonville, North Carolina in 1969. Originally known as a Beach music band named Stax of Gold, and later Nantucket Sleighride, the six-member group—Tommy Redd, Larry Uzzell, Mike Uzzell, Eddie Blair, Kenny Soule, and Mark Downing—first became successful in their home state of North Carolina as a cover band.
Spite was an American Heavy Metal band formed in Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S. and was a part of the Michigan hardcore scene. It was made up of members from other regional bands who participated in the hardcore music communities inside and outside the region. Vocalist Scott Boman became an area libertarian politician and media personality.
Rocky Mountain Jam is the ninth live album by the American rock band Little Feat, released in 2007. It is currently the band's most recent live release and features long improvisational jams on most of the songs including a nod to both Miles Davis' "So What" and the Grateful Dead's "Dark Star" at the beginning of "Dixie Chicken."
Here Today is an extended play released by the hardcore punk band Violent Apathy.
Reason is a 1996 compilation of songs by the hardcore punk band Violent Apathy. The songs are from the early days of the band before the release of their album Here Today.
The Tonight Show Band is the house band that plays on the American television variety show The Tonight Show. From 1962 until 1992, when the show was known as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, the band was a 17-piece big band, and was an important showcase for jazz on American television. During the Carson era, the band was always billed as "The NBC Orchestra" and sometimes "Doc Severinsen and the NBC Orchestra".
Water Tower formerly The Water Tower Bucket Boys was a bluegrass and old-time band from Portland, Oregon. They formed in 2005 and self released three full-length albums and two EPs. Their critically acclaimed and best-selling album Sole Kitchen was produced and recorded by Mike Herrera of Tumbledown and MxPx and featured all original songs, including Blackbird Pickin' At A Squirrel with guest vocals from Mike. The band performed live on NPR's West Coast Live and RTÉ1's Pat Kenney Show and recorded sessions for Mark Lamarr's program on BBC 2 on their 2009 and 2010 tours of the UK. In 2009 they were picked by Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music to appear on a portion of the Revival Tour and their song Wide Open Spaces was selected for inclusion on the 2009 Tour Compilation. The band played notable festivals such as the Open House Festival, the Pickathon, the San Francisco Bluegrass and Old-Time Festival, and Seattle's Folklife Festival. They have performed on stage with artists as diverse as Frank Turner, Kitty, Daisy, and Lewis, Chuck Ragan, the Crooked Jades, and the Foghorn Stringband, and shared bills with groups ranging from Hayseed Dixie to Old Crow Medicine Show.
Kalamazoo, MI 1997 is a live release by Athens, Georgia's Widespread Panic. These performances were recorded live at The State Theater in Kalamazoo, Michigan on November 11, 1997. This recording features all original band members including late guitarist Michael Houser.
