Wednesday
November 23, 2005
arts.michigandaily. com
artspage@michigandaily.com

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40

Sticking it to the man

SCHOOL
OF
ROCK

MUSIC LEGEND
MITCH RYDER
SURPRISES U' CLASS
By Caitlin Cowan
Daily Arts Writer
You wouldn't expect to find a rock legend in
Angell Hall's stuffy Auditorium A on a week-
day. But that's exactly where Mitch Ryder, the
'60s Detroit rock pioneer of Mitch Ryder and
the Detroit Wheels, was hanging out yester-
day morning. Ryder spoke in front of lecturer
Bruce Conforth's American Culture class,
History of American Popular Music.
"I've known Mitch for 15 years," Conforth
said. "I have a tremendous respect for his art
and tremendous respect for him as a person.
If anyone was going to say this stuff in front
of the class, it would have to be Mitch. This is
the only man I could think of for the job."
Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, who
propelled the enduring hits "Devil with a
Blue Dress On," "Little Latin Lupe Lu" and
"Sock It To Me Baby" into the permanent
stratum of popular American culture. They
rode parallel to Barry Gordy and Motown's
stronghold on the Detroit scene in the 1960s.
Fusing borrowed soul and blues with a brand
of rock'n'roll all their own, Mitch Ryder and
the Detroit Wheels launched five songs into
the Top 40 in 1966 and 1967.
The 61-year-old Ryder spoke to the class
in the same gravelly voice that once ripped
and rolled through "Jenny Take a Ride" and
"I Like It Like That." He told the class about
his days in the burgeoning Detroit rock scene.
"Everything about being a star at 18 or 19 is
very, very attractive," she said.
The predecessor to such Detroit-born acts
as Iggy and the Stooges and the MC5, Ryder
also explained the creative energy that has
roared through the city since his days as a
musician. "Michigan and Detroit have been
breeding grounds for talent because there's a
determination and a frustration here," Ryder
said. "It's a working-class city ... how many
ways out do you have? There was this frustra-
tion among white teenagers trying to get our
music heard."

And so I leave you, with my
thoughts on "The Vagina
Monologues," Valentine's
Day, running off to New York and
poetry's healing power on the world,
That's right: I'm leaving you, my
faithful readers. Even knowing I'm
someone who, in reality, is not very
educated about fine arts, you have
listened to my "Fine Arts
rant," and it's been fun,
folks. I've had fun, and I
hope you've had fun too.
But now it is time to settley
on something not so fun.
Something I'm sure you'll #
get enough of, going
home to parents, big tur-
keys and so forth. "Soooo
... you're graduating in a
month. (pause) Any idea ViC
what you're doing with EDW
your life?"
There are several options at your
disposal: One, you can stare down
at your plate, attempt to stuff even
more turkey in your mouth to delay
the inevitable answer; two, attack the
question head on. If you're anything
like me (walking the line between
neurotic and angry), the answer will
sound something like this: "Well I
have an ideaaa..." But the reality
is, of course, that we don't know.
I'm wondering very hard right now
where an English and political sci-
ence degree can possibly take me. I'm
looking on the inside to see if I have
any semi-marketable skill - if after
four years at this university there is
anything from my two humanities
majors that I can possibly turn into
green - and I can't say I've quite
found an answer.
Even worse, I went to a job fair
called the "Spirit of Diversity" last
weekend, where I got knocked down
and told I would never have a job. All
the while an editor thought it would
be hilarious (cute, even), to fuck with
me by telling various riddles and
loudly berating me when I got them
wrong, calling me "stupid" and mak-
ing fun of the University of Michigan
and the like. I realized that without
internships, my stint at the Daily has
been pretty much worthless. So I
think I'm rightly scared. Especially
after my friend Aymar told me that
his friend, who has a masters degree
in journalism from Columbia, can't
find a job.
So what are we to do? Noble
social-science majors - we face

VT
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an unkind world with a worthless
degree. Well, there's always the
option of welfare. I'm not proud of
this fact, but from a practical stand-
point, it's something I'm dealing
with. On the plus side, I'm not a big
fan of the government and honestly
the biggest way I feel like I can get
back at it, in a non-job situation (i.e.
not through the press) is
by going on welfare. Just
think about it, it's a huge
strain on the government.
I can be a leech and hit
the government from
inside. Being on welfare
is my surest means to
sticking up to the man.
Now granted, there
are people who really
ORIA need to be on welfare.
kRDS For whatever, reason I'm
not saying that welfare
is a system that's necessarily meant
to feed soon-to-be college graduates
like myself. However, now looking at
the options that I have in this world,
and after hearing from a Detroit Free
Press recruiter that my only future lies
working in a bookstore. I've decided
that welfare may be a viable option. In
Sweden and in many other European
countries, it's more effective to live on
the welfare system than to get a low-
paying menial job i.e. working in a
bookstore. Therefore, I feel that it is in
my best interest to squeeze the govern-
ment a little bit.
Perhaps you fancy me mad. Of
course you do, the ones who are crit-
ical of this philosophy are probably
engineers or pre-med. My dears, you
have actual job-training skills. You
have marketable talents. We're in
two completely different boats that
will probably never meet, unless you
want to take over the government's
responsibility, marry me and set me
for life.
So my dearest philosophy major
- yeah you, the one graduating with
an undergrad degree and no interest
in grad school. When your parents ask
over a dinner they've prepared for you
what your big plans are for the future,
give them a big smile, confident that
you are making a difference in the
only way you can - and tell them you
are starting the welfare revolution.
-Clearly, this is a joke.
Edwards is just freaking out about
graduating. Sympathize with
her at victoros@umich.edu.

I
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Courtesy of Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels

Mitch Ryder spoke to a class in Angell Hall on Tuesday.

Ryder's appearance in the class was unex-
pected. "I was really surprised. I'm glad I
didn't go home early for break," LSA junior
Jolene Bricker said. Though Bricker, like many
of Conforth's students, was not a fan of the
band before taking the class, she had respect
for Ryder and his music. "I think everyone
knows 'Devil with a Blue Dress On.' "
Ryder is a Detroiter through and through.
And in the face of the city's struggling scene,
he's doing exactly what he was born to do:
making music. He played two unreleased
songs for the class, which he called "rough
masters."
The first was a gospel-inspired tune about a
sexual encounter that Ryder described as hav-
ing "an energy I haven't touched on in many
decades." The second song, a slow variation
on a 12-bar blues called "Star No More," was
what Conforth called "one of the most heart=
felt things I've heard in a long time."
These days, Detroit's musicians have a
much harder time trying to get by in the city.
After the class, Ryder seemed even more will-
ing to express his personal opinions about this
as pectof the city. He said that many bands

here fail to stay true to their roots. The White
Stripes, one of the most successful rock bands
to come out of Detroit in recent years, bare-
ly escaped Ryder's scrutiny. "(Jack White's)
doing what Iggy did. He's doing the movie-
star thing. He's not committed to Detroit,"
Ryder said.
According to Ryder, this unwillingness to
stay in the city may be the problem with the
music scene itself. "You know you have to
leave the city to get a record deal anyway,"
he said.
And that isn't the only difference Ryder
sees between the Detroit of his youth and the
city as it is today: "There are fewer opportu-
nities for musicians to play, fewer clubs, fewer
venues and an absence of a powerful or even
moderately powerful label here."
If Detroit wishes to return to its days as the
gritty musical bastion of the Midwest, Ryder
said that it must continue to fight for its status.
"When someone kicked me, my street sense
told me to kick them back ... It's the same
with our sports teams, too. We've got to beat
our opponent into the ground in order to get
any recognition. But it makes us stronger."

0


'American Idiot' played across the pond

By Abby Frackman
Daily Arts Writer

Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy performed at the Michigan Theater Nov. 8.
Wilco demonstrates
live show prowess

By Lloyd Cargo
Daily Arts Writer

Wilco's Kicking Television is
another important step forward for
a band quickly becoming the indie-
rock Rolling Stones. Far from a
stopgap release, this live album is
the casual Wilco fan's introduction

to lead guitarist
Nels Cline. Cline,
who joined the
band after they
recorded 2004's
A Ghost is Born,
plays the Ron
Wood role and

Wilco
Kicking Television
Nonesuch

a song that has evolved into a live
staple. Showcasing his trademark
dry humor during selected bits of
between-song banter, Tweedy alter-
nates between sheltered witticisms
and naked emotion, melting them
together and accurately recreating
the Wilco live experience - despite
the fact these songs were culled from
a series of shows.
Not only does Wilco sound great,
but the songs are mixed perfectly,
with just the right amount of grit and
grime. When Tweedy tears into "I'm
The Man Who Loves You," every
bit of the jolting electricity he con-
veys emanates from his Gibson SG.
While the vast mPjority of the songs
are from the band's two Nonesuch
releases, earlier material is faithful-
ly recreated; "Misunderstood" and
"Shot in the Arm" sound as fresh as
they did the day they were written.
The Billy Bragg/Wilco one-off "One
by One" provides a nice change of
pace, while the cover of '60s LA
funk greatCharles Wright's "Com-
ment (If All Men Are Truly Broth-
ers)" ends the album on an upbeat.
Rut where KikinTo eleoviion suc-

Once upon a time an unknown punk-pop band
released their first major label debut. The album
was Dookie, and the band was Green Day. Back
then, Billie Joe Armstrong
(guitar, vocals) Mike Dirnt
(bass) and Tre Cool (drums) Green Day
were bad-asses. They gar- Bullets in a Bible
nered a major following of Reprise
spiky, green-haired kids who
devoured their catchy, whiny
single "Basket Case." Those
kids are still around, but with Green Day's latest
release, Bullet in a Bible, they're no doubt won-
dering what happened to the brash, rowdy boys
they once knew.
Bullet documents a 2005 Green Day concert stop
at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes, England.
Anyone unfamiliar with the locale will quickly
learn of its location, as Armstrong feels the need
to shout "England" countless times throughout
the performance. Unnecessary reminders aside,
it's the music that really counts.
Green Day's latest concert features mostly
songs off 2004's politically charged American
Idiot album. The rolling drums and intense
guitar riffs are enough to keep the crowd from
losing interest during "Jesus of Suburbia," the
five-part song.
Crowd participation is not in short supply, as
evidenced by the thunderous handclaps and fever-
ish shouts on "Holiday." "Are We The Waiting" is
another prime example, showcasing Armstrong's
ability to encourage crowd sing alongs.
The highlights of the disc are the older hits,
namely "Brain Stew," "Basket Case" and "Minor-
ity." These are the songs that fans who grew
up on Green Day wanted to hear, the ones that
made that $50 concert ticket all worth it. And
it's clearer than ever that devoted followers were
out in full force the night of this concert. One
listen to "Basket Case" validates this point; the

audience energetically sings along to every word,
with or without Armstrong's help. That's dedica-
tion, even more beautiful is Armstrong's voice. It
still has that pure, smooth, unique-as-ever sound
popularized at Green Day's inception.
As if not evident from the crowd response on
the CD, the supplemental DVD makes clear that
Green Day is still able to fill a venue to capac-
ity. A sea of black and red, no doubt influenced
by the signature red tie and black get-up sported
by Armstrong, bathes the outdoor arena. Dur-
ing "Holiday," the DVD gives life to the faceless
cheers as the camera pans through the audience.
Even more overwhelming is the chanting and
fist-pumping throughout the concert; it's like the

audience is a cult and Armstrong is their leader.
Which actually might not be far from the truth.
The DVD opens with a poignant moment with
Armstrong as he talks about what music and
Green Day means to him. He says that when he's
asked about people who only "like him because
he's in Green Day," he responds with "well, I am
Green Day. That is me." But he's not the same
Green Day as he was in the '90s. Sure, he can
still jam like a pro, but he's playing to a different
crowd these days.
The Dookie-era kids have been replaced by a
new generation of fans. But if Bullet is any indi-
cation, these fresh followers are just as taken with
them.

TREVOR CAMPBELL/Daily

Green Day performed at Cobo Arena in Detroit on Nov. 6, 2005.

singlehandedly revitalizes Wilco's
dynamic. Widely considered one of
the best jazz guitarists in the world,
he's made this the finest live incar-
nation of the band in their 10-year
existence.
Recorded during a sold-out run
of shows in May 2005 at Chicago's
Vic Theatre, Kicking Television's
two discs are heavy in more recent
.n.a.nal A (1.-r isR Pnrnr nn-Q_

Aerosmith rehashes stale material on live LP

Bly Abbv Frackman

will want to hear. no doubt everyone

the inseparable singer Steven Tyler

recognized Aerosmith songs, but its

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