quoted 8 lines there was an excellent> there was an excellent
> interview with a guy from UR on CKCU-fm here in Ottawa
> where he explained the random origins of the techno scene
> there, mainly thanks to Derrick May who is basically such a
> nice guy that he would help anyone get started making
> records who was interested. (ie; it has more to do with
> Derrick May than with the city of detroit, other than
> the unpressured atmosphere of detroit as a place to work).
It's a bit more complicated than that. In the late 70's and early 80's,
the most challenging and interesting music being played on the radio in
Detroit was coming from one source -- the nightly show of a near-anonymous
gentleman who went by the name "The Electrifying Mojo". He would begin
his late night show every night by landing his Mothership (I'm not making
this up), complete with spacy commentary and bizarre hoover noises. For
the next 4 hours, interspersed with his otherworldly ramblings, he would
play the most eclectic free-form selection of music ever heard in this
town, before or since. He'd veer from Miles Davis to Queen to P-Funk to
gospel to gregorian chants to Prince to... Kraftwerk. During their
impressionable teenage years, the city's leading techno lights absorbed it
all.
When they started making music, all of this stuff seeped out with it --
the instrumentation of Kraftwerk, the space-funk ethos of George Clinton
& his clan, and the gritty post-industrial decay of Detroit all found
it's way into tracks like "No UFO's" and "Strings Of Life".
quoted 3 lines One main reason is that> One main reason is that
> there really isn't big money associated with any of
> this, the DJs do it mainly because they like it.
There are a few people making money -- take a look at Richie Hawtin's car
if you don't believe me. :) But for the most part it's true -- no one does
techno in Detroit to get rich. But then again, after seeing what the
smell of money did to Seattle and Manchester, is that such a bad thing?
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dave walker, detroit art services _
marmoset@msen.com freeke robot luv