SRC

How musically influential was Detroit in the 60s? The city produced Motown, which would forever color pop aesthetics. It produced some of the groups from which punk rock and heavy metal would later claim lineage - most notably the Stooges and the MC5. Detroit would also produce its own brand of psychedelia that has since been largely forgotten. The most famous of these psychedelic acts was the Amboy Dukes, which featured a young Ted Nugent on guitar. Apparently, the arch-conservative Nuge was unaware that his band's first hit, "Journey to the Center of the Mind," was about drugs. Go figure.

However, of all Detroit's psychedelic acts, my personal favorite is SRC - Scott Richardson Case. Powered by the guitar/Hammond organ pyrotechnics of Gary and Glenn Quackenbush and the vocals of Scott Richardson, the band made a name for itself as one of the finest Detroit live acts of the era. Frequenting the Grande Ballroom (the venue where the MC5 recorded Kick Out the Jams) and opening for national touring acts such as Jimi Hendrix, SRC was rather well-liked by the local scene. Like most of the era's Detroit rock, the band's music was more "acid rock" than feel-good psychedelia - its darker themes, feedback-laden guitars, and rawer aesthetic provide a nice counterpoint to the contemporaneous hippy-dippy West Coast fare. Today's track is "Black Sheep," SRC's biggest hit from their self-titled record. Note the menacing sustained guitar during the breaks in the song - you won't be finding anything like that on a Scott McKenzie record.

SRC's first record. Apparently, it sounds great on vinyl. No surprises there.

Nowadays, things have changed in Detroit. We've traded Motown and the Stooges for the Insane Clown Posse and Kid Rock - pennies on the dollar, as far as I'm concerned. Regardless, we still have old records as proof of Detroit's moment in the sun - a time when the Motor City was a hub for forward-thinking music.

Black Sheep