Music of Michigan

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In Michigan, the city of Detroit has been one of the most musically influential and innovative cities for many years. It is perhaps best-known for three developments: early punk rock, Motown soul music and techno music.

1 Blues
2 Soul
3 Electronic Music
4 Pop
5 Rock
6 Punk rock
- 6.1 Hardcore
7 Hip-hop
8 References

[edit] Blues

Main article: Detroit blues

Detroit has had a thriving blues scene (see Detroit blues) for some time, including most famously John Lee Hooker.

[edit] Soul

Main articles: Motown, Detroit soul

Detroit's Motown Records dominated soul music for many years. Musicians included Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, Martha & the Vandellas, Smokey Robinson, Mary Wells and The Supremes. The Jackson 5 who also recorded on Motown were from Gary, Indiana, just a few miles from the Michigan border. Led by Berry Gordy, Motown revolutionized soul and made Detroit one of the American centers of musical innovation.

[edit] Electronic Music

Techno was primarily developed in basement studios by "The Belleville Three", a cadre of African-American men, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, and Juan Atkins, who were attending college, at the time, near Detroit, Michigan. Influenced heavily by George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic, Germany's Kraftwerk and the house music coming out of Chicago at the time, they created a new genre of percussive, entirely synthetic electronic dance music.

In the 1990s, a fusion of Miami bass, techno, and hip-hop called ghettotech arose in Detroit. Some notable artists were DJ Assault and DJ Godfather. Since May 2000, Detroit has also been the home of the hugely popular Detroit Electronic Music Festival and related festivals.

[edit] Pop

1960s pop-rock singer Del Shannon came from Coopersville.

Singer Madonna, born Madonna Ciccone in Bay City, Michigan, rose to be considered the "Queen of Pop" by many. Her long career began in the early 1980s and she continues to top charts today.

[edit] Rock

Detroit was a center of the 1960s garage rock scene, with such legendary bands as The Amboy Dukes (featuring guitarist Ted Nugent), The Bob Seger, ? and the Mysterians, and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. In the 1970s, Seger, Nugent, Alice Cooper, and Grand Funk Railroad (from Flint, Michigan) were popular rock stars.

East Lansing band The Verve Pipe rose to brief stardom in the late 1990s with the hit "Freshmen". Recent years have seen a revival of the Detroit garage rock sound, typified by bands such as The White Stripes, The Von Bondies, and The Detroit Cobras.

[edit] Punk rock

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, punk rock pioneers like MC5 and The Stooges (including Iggy Pop) came from Detroit. These performers had incendiary lyrics and outrageous, highly physical live shows.

[edit] Hardcore

Main article: Detroit hardcore

In the 70s, Detroit had a small New Wave scene that included The Romantics and Sonic's Rendezvous Band, who played at a converted bowling alley called Bookie's. The hardcore punk scene had arrived by 1981, and included Detroit bands L7 and Negative Approach, as well as Necros (Maumee, Ohio), Violent Apathy (Kalamazoo, Michigan) and Meatmen and Crucifucks (Lansing, Michigan). Tesco Vee, of the Meatmen, launched the first Midwest hardcore record label, Touch & Go. Tesco also helped form an alliance between the Detroit scene and Minor Threat and other Washington DC bands (see Music of Washington DC).

[edit] Hip-hop

Michigan's most famous hip-hop star is undoubtedly Eminem. Following his lead from Detriot is his group D-12, an artist now under his label, Obie Trice, and a former hype-man, Royce Da 5'9". Other performers include Insane Clown Posse, Kid Rock and Uncle Kracker.

See also: Music of Detroit