Robert Penn
Mightier Than the Sword
(Spectrum X) 1985

Robert Penn — out of Inkster and Detroit — released this record with a hard-pounding, growling delivery, bee-sting (or more like B.B.-sting) guitar lines and (on some of the best cuts) a sledge-hammer horn section (including Marcus Belgrave and Ernie Rodgers). That record did not make him a star, but he did top the MT Music Poll a few years later for Best Blues Vocalist. And a few years back, when some tracks were reissued on a new Penn disc, the English Juke Blues magazine hailed the impossible-to-find original as "a stunning contemporary blues album." —WKH

Junk Monkeys
Bliss
(Metal Blade) 1992

"Smashing Bottles over my head/ It hurts/Trying to break my will/ I swear that we've been cursed." That opening line from "I Got Fear" kicked off the Junk Monkeys' second major-label release. The lyric pretty much states it all, because, while this album should've been the one that took them out of the dive bars for good, it was instead the Junk Monkeys' last call. —RP

R.U.R.
"Go Baby"
(Nebula) 1979

The inherent flaw in punk rock from Detroit in the late '70s/early '80s is the looming specter of the Stooges. When a band like that exists in your hometown a decade earlier, the shock factor of dog collars, blood and the middle-finger attitude (as employed by the Germs, the Sex Pistols) is already passé. It seems that local punk acts were overly aware of this, and while a fair number of the prominent players imploded before committing anything to wax (Ramrods, the Denizens), the best-known act from the "scene" will always be the Romantics.

But R.U.R. and their stinging "Go Baby" are prime examples of what potential things had. Not overtly punk and with more reverence paid towards Townsend-like guitar riff godliness, "Go Baby" crests with accusatory lyrics and understated drumming. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more memorable rock record from this town at that time — and it's proof positive that punk is equal parts execution and attitude. —BB

Willie Anderson Trio
"The Man I Love/Just Squeeze Me"
(Jamboree) 1948

Pianist Willie Anderson (Willie A to all and sundry) had the finesse of Art Tatum and the originality of Errol Garner, but when he finally landed on wax in 1947 with this 10-inch 78, his beautiful sounds were eclipsed by Bird and Diz: Bebop had arrived and the sounds of swing (of which Anderson was a prime exponent) took a back seat. This was a classic case of the artist asleep at the switch. Willie A had chances to migrate to Manhattan — first, and ironically, with Dizzy Gillespie, later with offers from tenor giant Coleman Hawkins and bandleader Billy Eckstine. Had Anderson eyes for the Big Apple, he could have made a significant mark in the jazz world. As it was, he flashed across the Detroit sky and vanished from sight. —JG

Power of Zeus
The Gospel According to Zeus
(Rare Earth) 1970

These guys were originally called Gangrene: four menacing-looking 1969 acid-rock freaks playing 40-minute Sabbath- and Zep-influenced heavy jams in Detroit
bars. After signing with Motown's Rare Earth imprint, they were apparently told to change their name and shorten their songs. The resulting fusion of heavy rock and Motown production values was deemed too slick by the band, so they broke up. The fact that "The Sorcerer of Isis (Ritual of the Mole)" would eventually become a familiar hip-hop sample suggests that this LP was 30 years ahead of its time. The album's more commercial moments sound a bit like Grand Funk Railroad. At other times, they explore bizarre narratives of bad acid trips and occult rituals. Some have argued that the guys in Power of Zeus were pagans, still others maintain they were a post-LSD born-again Christian rock group. Either way, they were great — and pretty weird. —MS

The Up
"Just Like an Aborigine"
(A-Squared) 1970

The Up had great songs, this one's classic. They never did the album though. They seemed to get fed up of John Sinclair imposing his politics on them. A real waste of a great band. —BC

Eddie Senay
Hot Thang
(Sussex)1972

An irresistable slab of guitar funk from Sussex, the label that put out most of Dennis Coffey's greats. —DC

Viv Akauldren
Old Bags and Party Rags
(Akashic Records) 1985

Viv Akauldren was a psychedelic space rock trio, capable of switching from trance-inducing drones to screaming guitar and synth solos to strange acid folk interludes. They looked and sounded like futuristic hippie mutants, and built up a small but devoted following during the '80s. Viv toured a lot, was managed by the Flaming Lips' manager, and seemed poised to change the world with its strange songs and outlook, but broke up too soon. Their debut LP was very different from anything else happening at the time, fusing elements of Hawkwind, Gong, Patti Smith, Popol Vuh and John Lennon. It has never been reissued and original copies are hard to find. —MS

Michael Orr
Michael Orr Presents Spread Love
(Sunstar) 1976

Ridiculous hand-drawn cover art (shirtless dude emerging from a rainbow with a pot of gold?), a killer synth-line on the title single and some sexy Lou Rawls-styled vocals. Spread love! —DC

Hentchmen
"LeSabre Radar"
(Norton) 2002

An undeniably catchy sing-along from the trio that basically brought garage rock to Detroit. —DC

Big Chief
Mack Avenue Skull Game
(Sub Pop)
(album, SRC/Capitol) 1993

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