ENTERTAINMENT

is regular Friday afternoon
listeners might express sur-
prise to learn that Bill
Shapiro grew up not only
listening to the mellow pop
music of the pre-rock and roll era, but,
enjoying it.
"I remember when I was a kid
growing up:' says Shapiro, "and I had
been a pop music fan, literally since
I was five years old — and I don't
know why. About the time I was five
an uncle gave me a 78 record player
and it became the favorite thing in my
life. I would listen to pop records
anytime that I would be allowed to do
so. And it just so happened that the
husband of my mother's best friend
was in the jukebox business back in
those days. And when they discovered
how much I liked it, they used to
bring me the old 78s after they took
'em out of the juke box."
Shapiro, host of the National
Public Radio (NPR) Show, "Cyprus
Avenue," and author of the new book,
The CD Rock and Roll Library: 30
Years of Rock and Roll on Compact
Disc, was in college when rock and
roll was born. "It was Elvis' ap-
pearance on the 'Dorsey Bandstand
Show, " recalls Shapiro, "in January
of '56 that really — I hate to say
changed my life, that's a little
dramatic — but that's what really
hooked me into rock and roll as
something that mattered in my life."
That gives Shapiro an interesting
perspective on the development of
rock and roll and its relation to
society.
"I really understand exactly what
they talk about today, the "revolu-
tion," of rock and roll. For somebody
who grew up with it (already there)
it really isn't that revolutionary a con-
cept. But if you know how adult-
controlled the world was before Elvis
and rock and roll came along — I
mean, the pop music that kids listen-
ed to was the pop music that their
parents listened to. And there wasn't
that split or dichotomy between what
was kids' music and adult music
which came along since that time.
"Of course, now what's happened
is the kids who were listening to it
back then have grown into adults so
we're back to a place where there isn't
a split anymore. But back then, in the
mid-1950s and thereafter, if you
listened to rock and roll you were
suspect. And back in those days, real-
ly and truly, rock and roll was
persecuted from pulpits in this coun-
try, from governmental agencies.
There was no question but that it was
conceived of as rebellious music and
was not well-received by the establish-
ment."
Detroit's prime contribution to
the early rock era was the Motown
sound of the 1960s. "The two things
that I like about Motown most," says
Shapiro, "are, first and foremost, I
think that it is just some of the most

H

RockandRo I

Never Forge

I GOING PLACES'

:

WEEK OF SEPT. 23-29

SPECIAL -EVENTS

RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL

Hollygrove, Holly, 10 a.m. to 7
p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 150
entertainers on four stages,
admission.

,

COMMUNITY HOUSE
380 S. Bates St., Birmingham,
trip to Detroit Symphony
Orchestra Coffee Concert, today,
leaving from Community House,
admission. 644-5832.
DETROIT FESTIVAL OF THE
ARTS
University Cultural Center,
Cass/Kirby area, Detroit, art,
music, theater and a children's
fair, today through Sunday,
admission to some events.
577-5088.
AUTUMNFEST
Thompson Center, 25630
Evergreen, Southfield, food,
crafts, entertainment. 3544717.

COMEDY

BERKLEY COMEDY CASTLE
2593 Woodward, Berkley, Soupy
Sales, today through Sunday;
John MuIrooney, Sales, Tuesday
through Oct. 1, admission.
542-9900.

F

THEATER

SHAW FESTIVAL

At 51, lawyer-disc jockey-author Bill Shapiro
still gets his kicks from rock and roll

MIKE ROSENBAUM

Staff Writer

listenable and infectious pop music
ever made. I also truly like the fact
that it was music made by black peo-
ple that sold to white people. Because
through so much of the history of rock
and roll the black man has been the
creator and the white man has ripped
him off. And I think it's really neat
that at least in the Motown scene, the
black artists got their just rewards
and they made the profits on the
stuff."
Shapiro just missed getting a
close look at the new Motown sound.
He attended the University of
Michigan Law School, graduating in
1961, before Motown's success.
Shapiro, who was graduated from
Washington University in his native

Kansas City in 1958, also spent a year
in New York University's graduate
tax law program, then set up practice
in Kansas City in 1962.
Around 1975, Shapiro became in-
volved in fund-raising for Kansas Ci-
ty public TV station KCPT. Lynn
Frye, a friend from KCUR, the local
public radio station, soon asked him
for advice on fund-raising, and after-
wards left Shapiro with the phrase, "if
there's ever anything I can do for
you . .
Shapiro took that often mean-
ingles phrase seriously. While at
NYU Shaprio had enjoyed a local con-
ceptual jazz show. That program
planted a seed in his mind. "I felt that
the same sort of an approach to rock

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario,
You Never Can Tell and
Dangerous Corner, through Oct.
15, Hit the Deck, Peter Pan and
Once in a Lifetime, through Oct.
16; Geneva, today and Saturday;
The Ircvsey Inheritance, through
Sunday; admission.
416-468-2172.

BIRMINGHAM THEATER
211 S. Woodward, Birmingham,
Sweet Charity, now through Oct.
16, admission. 644-3533.
ATTIC THEATER
7339 Third Ave., Detroit, 'Woody
Guthrie's American Song, now
through Oct. 9, admission.
875-8284.
READERS THEATER
Jewish Community Center, 6600
W. Maple, West Bloomfield,
Sundays through Oct. 16,
967-4030.
RIDGEDALE PLAYERS
205 W. Long Lake Rd., Troy,
Alone Together; Friday through
Sunday, admission. 542-0427.
ST.AGECRAFTERS
415 S. Lafayette, Royal Oak,
Amadeus, today through Sunday,
Thursday through Oct. 2, Oct.
Continued on Page 65

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

63

F

ki