Detroit Rock City: The Uncensored History of Rock 'n' Roll in America's Loudest City

by Steve Miller

From the Stooges and MC to Grand Funk Railroad and Ted Nugent, to the White Stripes, Eminem, and Kid Rock, and whole casts of other great bands and performers, Detroit has always produced louder, more rumbling, more subversive rock music than any city in the world.

In Detroit Rock City, readers get to hear the stories straight from the participants themselves—the singers, the guitar slingers, the fans, the reporters, the promoters, even the guys who handmade amps to be louder and crunchier than the competition’s. This is the story, by the people who saw with their own eyes, made with their own hands, and heard with their own ears.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History, Pop Culture, Rock N Roll, Biography, Historical

339 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 9, 2013

About the author

Steve Miller is an investigative reporter with 19 years of experience in daily newspaper and magazine reporting. Miller has covered countless trials and murder cases, including serving time as a court and cops beat reporter at the Dallas Morning News and writing about numerous national crimes as a national reporter for the Washington Times, People magazine and U.S. News and World Report. Miller, the former vocalist in the Midwest punk rock outfit the Fix, is also a music journalist and has been a contributing editor at Your Flesh Magazine since 1991. Books: A Slaying in the Suburbs; The Tara Grant Murder (Penguin/Berkley, 2009) Touch and Go: The complete Hardcore Punk Zine '79-'83 (Bazillion Points, 2010) by Tesco Vee and Dave Stimson, edited by Steve Miller Girl, Wanted: The Search for Sarah Pender (Penguin/Berkley, 2011) Johnny Ramone Memoirs (Abrams, 2012) (co-editor) Nobody's Women: The Crimes and Victims of Anthony Sowell, the Cleveland Serial Killer (Penguin/Berkley, 2012)
Detroit Rock City: The Uncensored History of Five Decades of Rock 'n Roll in America's Loudest City (Da Capo, 2013

Reviews

[Melissa Seitz]

The background information was interesting, but ho-hum for the book overall. No writer perspective. Waste of money. Zero rating.

[Nestor Rychtyckyj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally – a book about America’s “loudest city”; Steve Miller (a former rock & roller in the Fix) brings together 50 years of Detroit Rock & Roll history. Yes, we get plenty on the MC5, Stooges and the White Stripes, but there are plenty of great bands in between that made Detroit rock throughout the years.

This is an oral history, so the comments range from the profound to the ridiculous. Most of the heavy hitters like Iggy and Jack White are well represented, but others whose success never reached beyond Bookies or the Gold Dollar are also here. The book is divided into three sections that roughly correspond to the 60s MC5/Stooges era, the 70s punk and hardcore scene and the late 90s garage rock scene. Each generation of musicians and fans creates their own scene that frequently has no connection to their elders, but somehow all of this music carries that Detroit DNA that gives it that grittiness and toughness that doesn’t seem to exist anywhere else. A lot of people have theories, both astute and farfetched about the reason why Detroit just keeps creating these rock & rollers. It may be melting pot of people from all over the world who came here for what once were plentiful jobs, it may be blue-collar mentality of the people, it may be the freedom and ability to do whatever they want in a city where most people don’t choose to live in. Whatever it is – this book provides ample evidence of what the results are.

Another thread that runs through this book is the dual themes of artistic success and commercial failure – Stooges, MC5, SRC, Rationals, anybody from Bookies but the Romantics, anybody but the White Stripes from the Gold Dollar. The reasons and missteps for these failures are all explained here in detail, but Detroit (Kid Rock & Eminem notwithstanding) is a tough place to commercially succeed from,

A Powerpoint presentation on this book would have the following headings: Mitch Ryder, SRC, drugs, MC5, Grande, drugs, Stooges, drugs, Creem, Alice Cooper, drugs, Seger, Nugent (no drugs here), Bookies, drugs, hardcore, Negative Approach, etc… The frequent stories about drugs are both hilarious and sobering – there would be many more people in this book if drugs were not so prevalent, but the book just lets the people who were there tell their story.

One flaw with oral histories is that you need to know the subject pretty well as frequently there is very little explanation of when and where certain bands were formed or broke down. Each of the people in the book is introduced with a listing of their musical credentials (bands and roles) except for the somewhat nebulous title of “scenester”. I guess that I am a “scenester” too, which basically means that you go to a lot of shows and don’t play in any bands. I guess that being a “scenester” is a step up from “hipster” and does provide a certain amount of credibility when people ask you why you’re so many shows.

In either case, if you love rock & roll – especially the raw sound that seems to permeate the Motor City – this book is for you. Kudos to Steve Miller for putting this all together and thanks to all those Detroit-area rock & rollers (and scenesters) who made it all happen.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detroit-based journalist, Steve Miller interviewed 200 subjects from bonafide rock stars (Ted Nugent, Iggy Pop, Mitch Ryder) to compelling, yet unknown scenesters to create an exhaustive portrait of thirty years of the Detroit music scene. Solidly kicking off this story with quotes from astute subjects like charismatic former members of the MC5 who adroitly link the relentless Detroit rock sound to the 24/7 reign of Detroit manufacturing, this oral history has the momentum of a well-oiled machine, at least for the first 200 pages. (Interviews of former writers of the luminous Creem magazine are especially fascinating.) Miller's seeming compulsion to leave no stone unturned gets tiresome, however. How many transient former members of ephemeral indie bands should I be interested in?

[Larry · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book could have been an interesting historical account, but instead it was just a collection of mostly meaningless, poorly conceived quotes, loosely arranged in chapters defined by vague topics. I grew weary of the format almost immediately. While there were a few interesting facts to be garnished amongst the boasting talk of drugs, drugs and more drugs, I found it utterly amazing how some good, unique music was actually created during this time period. BTW Ted Nugent was an ass hole back then and is an even bigger one today.

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book has a problem in that if Detroit is going to make the claim of being a great rock and roll town, it shouldn't then have books that are just about the white people. Motown and Aretha make Detroit on par with Memphis or Nashville or Austin--whereas I can come up with several dozen cities who have done better than produce Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop. That aside, this is a book of anecdotes and there are quite a few funny ones.

[Stewart Sternberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Imagine a book where an author dumps all his research on you and does nothing to put anything in context or give it any meaningful framework. Imagine no more.

It's like a student gathered a thousand note cards and rather than write the assigned paper, he instead turned in a folder of banded together cards.

Unless you possess intimate knowledge of the Detroit music scene already. give this a miss.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recollections about the rock 'n' roll scene in Detroit by Mitch Ryder, MC5, Iggy & the Stooges, Bob Seeger, Grand Funk, Suzi Quatro, Jack White, and a whole bunch more.

[K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, much like a Detroit version of Please Kill Me by Legs McNeil.

[S.S. Genesee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great oral history on the rock scene of Detroit! The focus seemed to jump around a lot, never really staying on one topic for very long before moving on to something else, but I suppose with a medium consisting of nothing but interview segments, that's just how it is, lol. But it still was very informative, and I loved reading about some of the crazy stories people talked about from back then!

I'm actually stopping at Part 3—while it seems interesting, I mainly was reading this book for my own writing research, which is about the 1970s. Part 3 is about the late '80s to today, and I just want to move onto something else now! That's all.

[Jesse Wiedel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read. It is written as a series of quotes from various Detroit music scenesters, some replying to quotes from others. So it kind of comes off as a giant AA circle chat. The glaring omission of Funkadelic bothered me, though.

[Jessica Biggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF 50%
This book has taught me:
1. Ted Nugent really is the a**hole I always thought he was
2. Motown is way more interesting than the Detroit Rock scene

This book lacked order and a purpose. It’s just random stories from band members not many have heard of.

[Don Healy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't finish it. Found the first 2/3 a somewhat interesting trip down memory lane, but after that I couldn't relate to the bands, having been preoccupied with family during those years.

[Nicholas Facca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great History or Detroit rock

Intimate details and stories. First half is great and second half does off....no fault of the author . Detroit music died and never picked back up.

[JuanK Russo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast reading 3rd person narrative of the rock scene around Detroit... not much detailed info, just what I think are edited comments.

[Mrs.Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

I lived in Detroit until 1973 so I was there for those early years and enjoyed the first part of the book about those years but that's about it.

[Kevin]

Rachel Nagy is a quote machine.

[Suzinnebarrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having long been a fan of Iggy and the Stooges and more recently have gotten hip to the under recognized MC5, this book was a natural choice for me. LOVE oral biography format, and Steve Miller's "Detroit Rock City" ranks among the very best. This book grabbed me on page one. Wish the photos were better (they're horribly printed), and a better job could have been done in identifying the players. Same mistake has happened in two other oral biographies I've read and enjoyed. Why not identify each and every voice, and even better give us a picture, even if it's a small one alongside each contribution? Not everybody knows who these people are. Also, if you were a fan of Creem Magazine, this book is a must read. Would have liked more about Creem and Lester Bangs, but various writers from Creem do contribute, like Dave Marsh and Jann Uhelszki. Creem, located in Detroit, offered the very best of rock journalism and music reviews and regularly blew its competitor Rolling Stone out of the water. Rolling Stone kissed a lot of butt, but Creem instead sported an authentic rock and roll attitude and never did.

Been a fairly serious music fan but even still was not aware of a good amount of the bands accounted for here. Much of the music remained central to Detroit and did not cross over to our other cities. The break out stars of the scene obviously were Alice Cooper, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Iggy and the Stooges, Bob Seger and Ted Nugent. Alice Cooper received the most airplay with Mitch Ryder not far behind. Much later on, Bob Seger has his moment in the sun with "Night Moves." One of the best stories, told by producer Bob Ezrin, recounts his trip to Alice Cooper and company's abandoned building rehearsal studio/hideout which reads as something out of Steven King novel! Mitch Ryder, Wayne Kramer (of MC5), Alice Cooper and Iggy and the Stooges tell firsthand of all the craziness. Now, the next step would be a documentary because the stories in the book BEG for one. There was so much talent and energy going down in Detroit in the late 60s and also in the 70s - socially, musically and politically, and it's nothing less than a crying shame that bands like the MC5 saw very little glory for their outstanding efforts. Bad management, cheap and clueless record companies and drug abuse account for these failures. For the record, the MC5 were one of the greatest live acts ever, although that never directly translated to their records. Check them out live on youtube to see what I mean.

Anyway, a wonderful and much needed look at the Detroit rock scene. Over the years, so much attention has been given to the Motown phenomenon, leaving the co-existing rock scene in the dark. This book was seriously overdue. And, unfortunately, given its former musical majesty, reading this only underscores the tragedy of current day Detroit.

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent stuff. I suck down these sorts of music-history books so frequently that at this point I tend to feel like new books in the genre can't possibly have anything more to offer me. Thankfully, I get proven wrong a lot, because I keep reading each new one that comes along. Steve Miller's oral history of the Detroit music scene sticks with things that could probably be considered punk or punk-descended for the most part--there isn't much of anything related to Motown in here, though a lot of the Nuggets-type bands, such as Ted Nugent's Amboy Dukes, the Stooges, Grand Funk Railroad, etc. get plenty of coverage. I learned a whole lot of new facts and stories about the Detroit scene from this book, and though it depended on the era he was talking about--the basic plotline of the late 60s MC5/Trans-Love era and the early 80s hardcore Negative Approach/Necros scene were all very clear to me in advance, for example--there were always great anecdotes that I've never seen anywhere else, which gave new insights into even the most well-known of major players and made every page entertaining and worth reading. Plus, I got solid backgrounds on eras of the Detroit scene I'd never heard anything about before, such as the mid-to-late 70s punk era of Destroy All Monsters and Gang War, or the late 80s/early 90s era when Laughing Hyenas and Mule were ruling the roost. If you're the sort of person who gets excited to read about musical history, you need this book. It'll make you laugh, it'll teach you things you didn't know, and it'll keep you thoroughly entertained to the point that you will be sorry when it ends.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's no narrative connective tissue between or within chapters, so the author assumes the reader already knows who all these musicians are. It can be frustrating if you're trying to figure out why so much time is being spent on someone you've never heard of. I also couldn't help but feel like some people were left out or not given enough time - Mitch Ryder in particular seems to get short shrift, and there's nothing about the Rationals even though Scott Morgan gets quoted a bunch. Surely the two Detroit musicians who first crossbred rock and soul should get more ink than SRC?

I'm also discouraged by what seems to be a typical tact taken by today's rock scene biographers: an emphasis on drugs (lots of them, in this case) and sexual escapades at the expense of talking about the development of the music. Is the latter too nerdy? Is it weird to expect a book about a music scene to describe how the music was created?

That said, I did learn a lot. And kudos for nice coverage of the Laughing Hyenas, the American answer to the Birthday Party (as their chapter makes clear) and a band that doesn't get enough credit.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

While many of the stories from the movers and shakers of Detroit's music scene over the past fifty years are priceless, I feel like the editing was a bit shoddy. The book also assumes you already know the bands discussed, the music played, and the people involved to some degree. If you are unfamiliar with many of these bands, you'll end up still being pretty ignorant of the bands mentioned and their impact on music today. This isn't so much of an uncensored history as a bunch of unedited anecdotes strung together in a semi-logical format.

That being said, it's quite refreshing to see a bunch of musicians being honest about the fact that money is the main motivator for making music. I have grown very tired of the old clice, "It's all about the music, maaaaan," and, almost to a man (and woman!), the luminaries in this book all talk frankly about money being just as, if not more, important than the music they created.

[Brian Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cool journey through the amazing music history of Detroit (and the surrounding areas). This book definitely works better when you are familiar with the music; I loved the first two-thirds, but it slowed down once I got into some of the fairly obscure hard-core and punk history of the mid-80s. I wish I remembered, for instance, The Gories and the Laughing Hyenas, but I don't. And it unfortunately makes the text less interesting. When you hear about the crazed, drug-fueled exploits of Iggy Pop and the MC5, they feel authentic. But reading essentially the same stories about bands you don't know seems...sort of silly and trivial. Either way, I would highly recommend logging into Spotify and actually listening as you read. Much of the music hasn't lost its power: The Stooges, Bob Seger, Brownsville Station, Grand Funk, Sonic's Rendezvous Band, Detroit Cobras, Jack White, The Dirtbombs, etc. It really is a pretty ridiculous lineage.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Been Picking away at this since it arrived last Christmas. It was a fun gossipy read, even though I was not familiar with many in the book. My main impression was incredible drug use. Everyone was high all the time. It seemed that the key to national break through success was to be sober about 30% or more of the time. Incredibly high number of musicians in this book whine on and on about how they never made it because they never had the right manager, agent, record company, etc -- Nope. You didn't make it because you weren't able to get out of bed. Somewhere in their folks point out that Bob Seger and Ted Nugent rarely (if ever) indulged. Yet they each made it big. (Not a fan of either, but cannot deny they were/are very successful). Really think it was better management or harder work?

[Trey Malone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book, though I do feel like there could have been far more content focused on the scene late 20th century. Instead, a lot of the stories felt like they were mostly an homage to Please Kill Me.

Some extremely talented musicians hit the scene that felt overlooked. Eminem, Sufjan Stevens, Electric Six, Uncle Kracker, and Xzibjt all immediately come to mind. Never mind ALL of Motown - or even if you just wanted to talk about old school punk rock, why not cover the band Death? Also would have loved to hear more about Glen Frey or Alice Cooper as opposed to just getting more MC5 stories...

All in all, I do feel like I learned something. Just wish the net would have been a little more broad.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Mitch Ryder to Kid Rock and everything in between (and I mean EVERYTHING! This book covers The Stooges, Seger, the MC5, Nugent, the Electric Six, The Gories, Von Bondies,Laughing Hyenas, White Stripes,Gore Gore Girls, Death, Detroit Cobras...and that's just scratching the surface.) This is an oral history told by the people that were there, from musicians to club owners to scenesters, this is a pretty much a definitive look at Detroit rock and roll. It is at times hilarious and heartbreaking and living just outside of Detroit it's pretty cool reading about places I've been with stories told by people I've met. Seriously, read this book.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Detroit Rock City" provides an insider's look at the city of Detroit and its unrecognized role in the music industry. The excitement begins with the list of interviewees - Iggy Pop, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper, and Jack White, to name a few. Every story is captivating and uncensored, everything from drugs to fights to betrayals. Major events are told from several perspectives, allowing the voices of each individual to come through. Band members discuss their beginnings and their eventual breakups over the years. This book reminds all that Detroit wasn’t New York or LA, and yet it created some of the best bands during the past 50 years.

[Kent Hayden · Rating 2 out of 5]

This pretty much confirmed what I already thought of the Detroit Rock Scene. They had their heyday in the early 70's and then petered out from there. After MC5, Nugent and the Stooges there was a climate of expectation with the music scene that Detroit had yet to be discovered like Seattle or Minneapolis but what actually happened were wannabees that thought 3 chords weren't too difficult and the drugs would help. The drugs is what took over and any hope of a renaisance in Detroit quickly went down the drain.

[Pamela Montano · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book filled with interviews from the men and women who created the Detroit rock scene. A lot of the history of the city is also woven in to the story. It's funny to learn that Ted Nugent was a jerk even in the beginning. One guy had this to say, "How could I trust him, he wouldn't even smoke a joint with me."

[Dwight Koslowski · Rating 1 out of 5]

The entire book consisted of one or two paragraph quotes from varying sources, loosely linked by subject. Most of these sources seemed proud of the fact that they were usually high on drugs, or addicts, so anything that was quoted had to be taken with a grain of salt. The author contributed almost no original thoughts or ideas.

[Joe Natoli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little thin and repetitive in spots, but overall a great book. I judge music books by their ability to make me want to put down the book and go check out the music I'm reading about, and I definitely got that in SPADES here!!

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so excited about the book but I was disappointed. It's focus is really only on the bands from 60s/70s. I'm wanted more about Kid Rock, Emenem and Jack White. All and all it was not the History of Rock 'n' Roll in Detroit, its a very limited view of its history.