Wild At Heart - CCHA Hockey Update

Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
He has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University

Wild At Heart

Wild At Heart CCHA Hockey update

The CCHA Championship is going on this weekend and day one gave us some great hockey for the 1st day. Game one pitted Ferris State trying to get to their second title game (first was 2003) versus Northern Michigan who hasn't been to the finals since 1999 (won the tournamnet in 1980 and 1981). The first period was a showcase for the goalies as only one goal by N Michigan was scored in 25 attempts when Todd Pococke got a rebounded shot in front of the net to give Ferris State a 1-0 lead. Things stayed this way until halfway through the 2nd when N Michigan went on a flurry for a period of a minute where they scored three goals within 1:02, two of which came from the stick of Ray Kaunisto. Ferris State's Cody Chupp closed out the second with a shot coming from behind the net to squeeze it past the goalie. N Michigan extended their lead at the 8:04 mark of the third with a goal by Tyler Gron off an assist by Kaunisto who solidified his MVP on this play. Ferrios State wasn't going to go away quietly as they had their own flourish of scoring when Mike Embach and Mathew Kirzinger both scored within one minute of each other and the regulation ended tied 4-4. The OT started slowly but then Gregor Hanson breaks down the middle of the ice and off his feet blows a shot past 2 players ands off the arm of the goalie to give Northern Michigan a 5-4 win over Ferris State.

In the second game, Miami (OH) made it's eighth appearance in the CCHA Championship against the Wolverines of Michigan. The place was lively as maize and blue held a 4 to 1 advantage over red and white. Michigan has won the Mason Cup 8 times since 1994 and came into the tournament as a 7 seed while Miami was coming off a 2 loss season in division play and about 20 points more than the 2nd place team. However, it was Michigan that looked like the better team on the ice. Miami seemed tentative while Michigan had numerous bursts of speed throughout the first period but only produced one goal as Tristan Lewellyn recieved a pass Carl Hagelin and shot it from the blue line just as a Miami power play ended. In the second, a breakdown of defense allowed a 4-on-1 for Michigan as four passes ended up with Lee Moffie making the score 2-0 in favor of Michigan. Tommy Wengels finally broke Miami's drought at the end of the second period. The third period started the same but after Carl Hagelin got his second assist to Kevin Lynch on a power play as he was right in front of the net, Miami disappeared off the ice. A few minutes later Brian Lebler brought the puck over center ice and shot the puck between the goalie's legs and then Kevin Lynch put things out of reach with his second goal making 5-1 as Michigan outshot Miami 10-5 in the third period. At 17:37, Trent Vogelhuber tried to make things more respectable when he tipped in a rebounded shot but that was the only life they showed at the end of the game as Michigan upset Miami 5-2. This game marked the only time the Miami goalie was pulled from a game as Michigan just dominated a team which beat them twice in the regular season.

Tonight starting at 3:30PM, Miami will try to salvage something as they face off against Ferris State for 3rd place and at 7:30PM, Northern Michigan and Michigan will play for the championship. Winner guarantees a spot in the upcoming Frozen Four at Ford Field.

Wild At Heart - Tuesday April 28

Hey Kirk-doesn't this weather suck!
here is this week's blog post - Bill

Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
He has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University

Wild At Heart

Not much is going in my world today except I have started putting put resumes again since I just got laid off my new job after 2 months due to lack of work. After a year off of work, I was really enjoying getting back into a work setting and was getting some recognition from upper management about the quality of my work in some areas. I met some really nice people and ran into a few employees that I had worked with before at my previous job so I felt right at home. The day before being let go, I was in my first supervisor meeting about dealing with stress and hearing about how the company had now stabilized. Guess they knew I would need the stress. On the good side, I now qualify for free movies courtesy of Emagine Entertainment who is offering qualifying guests and their immediate family members FREE MOVIES along with FREE SODA AND POPCORN from Monday, April 27th through Thursday, April 30th on a first come/first serve basis. Participating
theatres include Emagine Novi on 12 Mile Road just west of Novi Road, Emagine Canton on Ford Road just east of I-275 & Cinema Hollywood on Dixie Highway in Birch Run.
Speaking of movies, here is one to miss. It is called “Fighting” and stars Channing Tatum as a young man named Shawn MacArthur who moves to New York where he struggles to make a living selling counterfeit goods on the street. He is spotted by Harvey (Terrence Howard) who is a veteran street fighting coach who offers him the chance to earn big money by competing in illegal underground fights. Maybe it’s just me, but neither character really captured my attention and I found both basically dull as they go through the movie trying to capture something from their past. The fight scenes never seem to come together and are basically boring. A fighter from Shawn’s troubled past enters the picture and sets up the big fight scene at the end which almost is worth it but not quite. All in all, I can find nothing in this movie which makes me want to recommend it as nothing in this movie grabs my attention enough to give it a fighting chance. My grade
is a F.

For Star Trek fans, here is some new news about the Detroit release. The film will open
at the Science Center with showings at 7PM and 9:30PM on May 7, preceded by launch activities starting at 5 PM. Visitors can enjoy Star Trek trivia on the Science Stage at 6PM and 8PM and enter a costume contest from 5-9PM. Visitors may also add Star Trek: The Exhibition to their experience for an additional fee. Call 313-577-8400, Option 5, to reserve advance tickets.

Sonic Youth ticket go on sale this Saturday for their 6/29 show at the Royal Oak Music Theatre but you can win tickets on WXOU 88.3FM between 8-10AM during my show which you can listen to online at www.wxou.org.

I had Josh Epstein of The Silent Years on my show last week promoting their new EP “Let Go” which has a definite Lovin’ Spoonful sound to it who Josh admits is a hugh influence on his music and that he considers lead singer John Sebastian as one of the great artists of all time. You can go to their myspace page and listen to their new song “Madame Shocking” or go to http://thesilentyears.com for more info on the band and links to purchase their EP. Support your local music.
Some interesting shows this week. Colin Hay is playing at the Ark tonight for all you Men At Work fans. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart is playing the Crofoot on Wednesday 4/29 with openers Zaza, a nice brooding electronic band from NYC (who you might have heard interviewed on my show last Sat). Heavy metal band Mastodon will be at the Crofoot on Friday 5/01 which I am excited about since they were one of the few bands I wanted to see 2 years ago at Ozzfest but they had to cancel due to a family emergency. Saturday 5/2 has a free Serena Ryder show at Hard Rock Café and the wacky fun-loving Japanese Peelander Z @ the Magic Stick (the last time they did human bowling). Sunday 5/03 gets things kicked of with Franz Ferdinand at Clutch Cargos, London based early punk rockers Eddie & The Hot Rods @ the Magic Stick or you can see “One Tree Hill” star Kate Voegele @ the Eagle Theatre.
This seems short this week but I will be back next week so take care and have a good week


"MCB IS DETROIT"
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WILD AT HEART - July 21st 2008

Bill Kettelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blogHe has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University

Wild At Heart

This post was meant be dropped by Blogger's autopost that doesnt work - SAGINAWSOME!

Wild At Heart
What a wonderfully busy weekend, esp for folk music fans in Detroit this past weekend. Besides Crosby, Stills & Nash at Meadowbrook, we had Buffy Saint-Marie, Ricki Lee Jones and Michelle Shocked at the Concert Of Colors. CSN actually sounded wonderful despite my being worried about Crosby's voice. I have heard too many people say they have been disappointed in their shows due to his dependency on drugs (esp in the 80's when Crosby got busted and sent to jail). One of my buddies saw them years ago and told me Crosby kept disappearing backstage leaving Stills and Nash wondering if he would come back out. However, I must say they sounded good and the rain in the air couldn't keep the crowd from getting excited for songs such as "Teach Your Children" and "Southern Cross".

Speaking of sounding good, Thursday and the Max E Fisher for the opening day was highlighted by a performance of the Detroit Symphony and native american folksinger/educator Buffy Saint-Marie, who is looking very spry for her age. Her biggest hit was actually sung by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes ("Up Where We Belong" from the film 'An Officer And A Gentleman'), but I loved the version which she played at the concert which will forever make the Cocker/Warnes version pale in comparison. I really enjoyed the way she incorporates Native American chants and instrumentation into her songs which make for a very special show. Along with her very controversal song "Universial Soldier", she also did songs like "He's An Indian Cowboy in the Rodeo" and "The Big Ones Get Away" and in my opinion, was the highlight of the festival.My radio station, WXOU 88.3FM (http://www.wxou.org/) was present on Sat and Sun and I would like to thank everyone for showing up and giving support to the mavericks of college radio. I would also like to thank the staff of the Concert of Colors (esp the second floor crew which watched my booth when I would walk around) and my new friends at the other cool Detroit area station - WHFR 89.7 - which even had me on for a few minutes prior to the Terrance Simien set. Simien is a grammy award winning zydeco musician who has been an ambassador for zydeco music. He has worked to get zydeco it's own Grammy category (which he won in it's first year) as well as working numerous education programs letting kids learn about the zydeco heritage. He also was the first zydeco musician to play in Cuba and Mauritius (which has the biggest native Creole population) as part of cultural exchange programs.I also got to meet Don Was (esp after our hour and fifteen minute interview on last Thurs), Mitch Ryder, Wayne Krammer, John Sinclair, Michelle Shocked (again) and got some drops from Toots Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals.

That really made it a great experience and all the performers were great though Toots had some microphone issues for the first 20 minutes of his set but they ended strong. One of the strengths of the festival is musical diversity and next to Buffy, I was really impressed by Sudan United For Peace which was a jam session of numerous African musicians such as singer Abdel Gadir Salim, vocalist Abu Araki and the Al Balabil Sisters. It is just special to hear quality international music in a great venue with a crowd that just gets it.Also, I met my nemesis Bam who was stationed at the table across from me. Besides trying to set the building on fire, he kept giving me the evil eye the whole time I was there. However, by the last day we did make peace and get our picture taken together at the photo booth.

For those who were there, Bam was the squirrel at the nuts vendor. I'm hoping my photographer friend is going to put the picture on the site to see us.

Besides the serenity of the Concert of Colors, I also spent Friday morning at the Warped Tour. I wasn't overly excited by the line up this year but heck, I was getting in for free. The one band I will recommend was Oreskaband, an all female Japanese ska band which rocked the Hurley stage early in the morning and if I had paid to get in, they would have made it all worth it by themselves (I willbe playing the on my Thursday show - 8-10AM on http://www.wxou.org/).

I also enjoyed the Horrorpops and the Aggrolites which both had ska backgrounds. The odd girl out was Katy Perry which despite being indie, just seemed out of place surrounded by bands like Chiodos and Pennywise. I was only able to catch a couple of songs because I had to work the Boris show afterwards. After warped, I really wasn't ready for the opening bands (which included Torche) since my head was pounding, but Boris' experimental Japanese rock (started in the hardcore punk scene) was excellent.

They are more similar to bands like current Blue Cheer or old Motorhead, so if you like that, try out Boris. Like the Watson Twins, Boris also records their albums on analog.I will be having Dan McCowan on my show Thursday morning talking about his new movie "The Tower" which will be showing at the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak on July 23rd at 8PM. The cost is only $5 and you can read more about it on http://www.thetowermovie.com/.

Part of the film was shot at the Eagle Theatre in downtown Pontiac. Come out and support the local film scene before the movie hits the festival circuit.I hope to see some of you at the Cavalera Conspiracy show at Clutch Cargo's tomorrow and I will be seeing 2 movie previews tomorrow afternoon - Tropic Thunder & Henry Poole Is Here - which I will be talking about in my next column. I will be interviewing Brandon T Jackson, a local Detroiter who appeared in Tropic Thunder which I will be airing that on my July 28th show.

Check out my myspace page http://www.myspace.com/wildatheart_13 for more stuff coming up.

A quick pet peeve. I noticed at Warped Tour and the Concert of Colors that some people working the booths looking half dead when they are at these events promoting their station, newspaper or whatever. At the Concert of Colors, I was constantly talking to people while some other tables saw their people leave early because no one was talking to them. If you are working a table at an event, you need to be willing to be a little animated so people think you are worth talking to and learning about what you have to promote. Such a simple concept. I had one girl at the Warped Tour sitting me for a whole hour without smiling once. WOW. Lighten up girlfriend!

http://www.myspace.com/wildatheart_13
http://www.wxou.org/

WILD AT HEART - Tues Sept 3rd 2008

Kirk
Here is the post Labor day blog, one day late as promised:) - Wild Bill
Bill Kettelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blogHe has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University

Wild At Heart


Wild At Heart

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!

I spent 1 day at Jazz Fest and 2 days at Arts Beats & Eats taking in some really cool performances like Emily Rose (saw her twice – once at ABE and once at Jacoby’s). Her ABE performance was one of her best and she is quickly becoming my favorite local artist. At Jacoby’s (which has good onion soup BTW) she had sugar cookies which the fans could decorate themselves. Just a nice touch! The best of Friday’s Jazz Fest included the b-bop stylings of Esperanza Spalding on bass, the New Orleans jazz-funk-rock group Bonerama and Stratospheerius who is led by electric violinist/vocalist Joe Deninzon. These groups provided the energy of the 1st full day of the festival.

Arts Beats & Eats was enjoyable with national acts Chaka Khan and Puddle Of Mudd. I have seen a lot of the local bands at event but I found a couple of locals who deserve special mention. I have already mentioned Emily Rose doing a great set where she played some of her original material as well as covers by Billie Holiday, Leonard Cohen and the Violent Femmes. She even brought some members of the audience on stage to play along with her on some songs. The other band Sunday which impressed me is the Questions though I only heard 1 song, it had a great garage sound to it and wished they either a) played longer or B) didn’t start early. This is one band I want to see again and soon. On Monday, it was the blues playing of Paul Miles who had a little bit of a Keb Mo sound and was just nice listening on a sunny morning.

I also got into a little trouble down at Arts Beats & Eats. Now I am a Republican (I actually worked on Reagan’s campaign) though I hate Bush and haven’t made up my mind yet on McCain. I ended up getting into an argument with one of the guys at their table (I think he thought I was a Democrat or just stupid - not sure which - anyway, he was just plain rude). Anyway, I was trying to address some of my concerns about the way the campaign was going and he basically only wanted to ignore me. So as I was listening to one of the bands, I came up with the idea to invite both the Republican and Democrats on my show on Sept 4th to debate why we should vote for their candidate. Both sounded hopeful (even when I saw them the next day), so between 8-8:30AM this Thursday, we'll find out who will show up and who doesn't. If they both show, it should be a fun show. Tune in to find out what happens!!!

Once again, that is between 8-10AM on Thursday, Sept 4th on WXOU 88.3FM or online at www.wxou.org. I hope that both sides show up and can put forth a good effort so I can make up my mind who I want to support.

One thing I want to support is a new movie coming out by Neil LaBute called ‘Lakeview Terrace’. I recently sat in on a round table with Neil LaBute to talk about his new movie. LaBute is known for making films about controversial subjects (In The Company Of Men being a good example) while maintaining sharp realistic dialogue. This film is no exception! LaBute says it is hard to find the backing for such "message" films in today’s market but this property was brought to him as a thriller and the subject matter gets brought out by having Jackson attached. He says that anyone could play a hard-nosed cop (he brought up Tommy Lee Jones for example) but Jackson really brings the race issue into the front.

With someone like Jones you wouldn’t get the racial edge the movie has. Samuel Jackson plays a LAPD officer who is a strict single parent and is the type of officer who has a tendency to get reviewed for complaints but protected by a strong boss (think Hill Street Blues). He patrols the neighborhood which brings some comfort to his neighbors but a newlywed young couple (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) has just moved in next door. It soon becomes apparent that Jackson has a problem with their interracial relationship and things become strained. LaBute brings in some nice tension and doesn't make some of the tactics obvious. Did Jackson sabotage the air conditioning unit or was it coincidence? We don't know and that helps make this work so well, along with some of the tension of a married couple whose relationship might not be so perfect. The couple must overcome their neighbor and their own insecurities when things start go too far. A nice thriller by LaBute and it is currently my top film of the year. Grade: A!!

Also, this Thursday morning on my show, I will be talking to the people bringing Indian Ocean to the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center on Sept 20th.

They are a contemporary Indo-rock fusion band and the show will support the Isha Foundation. Tune in and find out how to win tickets. I’ll catch you all later.

WILD AT HEART - Monday August 11th 2008

Hi Kirk - Here is today's blog - Wild Bill
Bill Kettelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
He has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University

Wild At Heart

RIP – to both Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes. Bernie, best known for his TV series “The Bernie Mac Show”, died of complications of his respiratory disease at the age of 50. A great stand-up, who appeared in such movies as Bad Santa and the Ocean’s 11 series, recently told Letterman that he was thinking of retiring so he could enjoy his life a little bit. Just goes to prove you need to live life to the fullest because you never know what will happen. Isaac passed on a mere 10 days before his birthday at the age of 65. He grew up in the cotton fields of Covington but was singing in church at the tender age of 5. He learned to play piano, flute and sax and started recording in 1967 with Stax Records. He is perhaps best known for his Academy Award nominated soundtrack for Shaft (the single “Theme From Shaft” won for best song along with 3 Grammys), of which he also had a cameo as a bartender in the film. He put out a number of
great records during these years and had continued to be active in recent years (he played the chef in “South Park” along with appearances in Stargate SG-1 and “Hustle & Flow”). It makes you think why these great people pass away when people like Castro and Charles Manson seem to live forever.
I found out Hayes had passed away when I stumbled into the 7th Annual River Raisin Jazz Festival. The headliner was Detroit native Ray Parker Jr and his band made the announcement and broke into an unrehearsed version of Shaft which rocked. Ray put on a great show of jazz, R&B and rock including such hits as “Jack And Jill”, “The Other Woman” and for the kids, “Ghostbusters”. I hadn’t realized he was so proficient, having 12 Top 40 Hits as well as writing songs and doing session work for Chaka Khan, New Edition, Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder. Despite the horrors of Detroit driving, I’m glad I made the trip.
While in Monroe, MI, I did partake of some of the local history. The city itself is named after our 5th President, James Monroe who visited the area in 1817. Along with being the home of La-Z-Boy, it is best down as Monroeis known for its ties to General George Armstrong Custer who spent much of his boyhood there with his half-sister and his brother-in-law. At St Mary’s Park where the festival was held, they have a giant bronze statue of Custer and they have a great exhibit dedicated to him at the Monroe County Historical Museum. The museum houses a nice display of artifacts from the 18th and 19th centuries that pertain to Southeast Michigan and has a new exhibit dedicated to sewing. Through a grant, they are replicating up to 40 War of 1812 era women's garments along with 15 Native American women's trade clothing, and they are using the sewing equipment of that era to do this. Definitely worth a stop if you are in the area. Go to
www.co.monroe.mi.us for more information. Make sure to ask the staff at the front desk about the history of the area as they are all very knowledgeable. You can start asking about the history of the Yellow Ribbons (popularized by the John Wayne movie and the song by Tony Orlando and Dawn).
I also spent some time at the Monroe County Labor History Museum which is right around the corner. Not overly impressive though the current exhibit on child labor is important. The museum is more educational in function than having actual exhibits. If you would like more info, go to www.monroelabor.orgwhich does have some nice online exhibits.
This morning, I had singer Tori Sparks on the show who will be performing with the awesomely cool Emily Rose at the Lager House on Tuesday Aug 12th. It should be a great show, so go to www.torisparks.comand check out her songs, videos, etc. For those who can’t make that show, she will be doing an in store performance and signing at Border’s in Dearborn. She is touring the Midwest by herself, so help support this wonderful singer and check her out.
Some upcoming cool shows include Paramore @ Freedom Hill on 12th, Steely Dan @ Pine Knob (DTE) on 15th, Cute Is What We Aim For @ Magic Stick on 16th and the O’Jays will be headlining the African World Festival down at Heart Plaza this upcoming weekend (esp if you want to stay away from the Woodward Dream Cruise traffic). Also, Weezer just announced tour dates for the Palace.
That is all for now. Keep listening to Wild Bill on www.wxou.org or check out my myspace page at myspace.com/wildatheart_13.

Wild At Heart

Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog

Wild At Heart

Wild At Heart

Sci-fi fans - 1, Mayor Bing – 0. While Robocop is not the first major film set in Detroit (Beverly Hills Cop holds that distinction), it is probably the most famous depiction of Detroit on the big screen. Coming from upstate New York, we felt that this might be a pretty accurate depiction of the city (of course that changed once I moved here). Despite that, Robocop was one of my favorite movies during that time period. How can you not love an armor-wearing cop? And what about that scene where the guy is melting as he gets hit by a car? And that last scene where Jones gets fired from OCP by the President so Robocop can shoot him? Talk about a tear jerk ending when at the end he replies to being asked his name with just his name, “Murphy”. This is definitely one of the best sci-fi/action films ever though we will try and forget the sequels.

After Bing rejected a request for a Robocop statue, probably because he doesn’t think it will represent a positive image, a group of local artists and fans of the 1987 cult classic exceeded the fund-raising goal of $50,000 to build a larger-than-life sculpture of the crime-fighting cyborg. If you would like to be a part of the process, you too can make a donation at www.detroitneedsrobocop.com as the group plans to continue raising money until the March 29 deadline. While I do agree it might not be exactly in line with the image that Detroit proper wants people to see as they look at Detroit, this is exactly the type of things that would get someone like me to come to the city and check out. That being the same type of person that travels to Detroit to see ICP, or the Movement Festival (or whatever it is calling itself this year), a Kid Rock concert and the like.

I hope this gets made and gets put in an area were people can get to it easily to see and with a small as possible chance of vandalism. I also hope that Dave Bing would come to the unveiling and make a short speech. My hat goes off to the fun people who are making this happen. Maybe you can get the DIA, or someone, to sell mini-Robocop statues to tourists. Long Live Detroit!!!

This Sunday marks the 83rd Annual Academy Awards and I usually put out a Top 10 movies of the year but I still haven’t seen a lot of last year’s top movies so a list is out of the question but I will talk about three films that should be on your radar. Jackie Weaver got the only nod for “Animal Kingdom”, an Australian crime film about a young boy whose mother dies of an overdose and he goes to live with his criminal family and things go downhill for him from there. This film won best film at the Australian equivalent of the Oscars and is a very powerful film for those that love crime dramas. Not to be confused with the live action film, “The Illusionist” is a French animated film (by the same team that did Triplets Of Belleville) which revolves around a struggling illusionist who visits an isolated community in Scotland and meets a young lady who is convinced that he is a real magician. The story is basically a father/daughter relationship story and is very touching in respects to the portrayal of their unique friendship. The documentary “Exit Through The Gift Shop” is one of those it might be real or it might not be. It depends on whether you take street artist Banksy at his word. Whether real or not, it is a fun film to watch as a fan of street art starts to make a documentary about the art form and after meeting the mysterious Banksy, decides to try and be a street artist himself by the name of “Mr Brainwash”. The film does a good job at looking at what is art and what isn’t. Some of the stuff you see looks like crap but sells for thousands of dollars. So is that truly art because of the price? Watch this film and make the decision for yourself. I also think that “Kick-Ass” is the one must see film of the year so if you missed it, get to your library, video store, retail store or Netflix and get a copy.


For those looking for a concert this week, here are my picks for the week:


Tuesday (2/22) – Fishbone @ Magic Bag

Wednesday (2/23)- Motorhead @ Royal Oak Music Theatre

Thursday (2/24) - Dropkick Murphys @ Fillmore Theatre

Friday (2/25) - Pistol Day Parade and 60 Second Crush @ Motorcity Soundboard, Atavan (last show) @ Pike Room, funk brother Dennis Coffey @ Majestic Cafe

Saturday (2/26) - CJ Chenier and Red Hot Louisiana Band @ Dream (Ann Arbor), Ke$ha @ Fillmore, Melissa Etheridge and Serena Ryder @ Caesar's Windsor, Plain White T’s w/Parachute @ Clutch Cargos, Super 70’s Soul Jam (featuring Stylistics, the Dramatics, the Manhattans and Harold Melvin's Bluenotes) @ Fox Theatre

Sunday (2/27) - Scissor Sisters @ Royal Oak Music Theatre

Have a good weekend.

Wild At Heart - Monday March 30 2009

Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
He has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University

This coming Saturday April 4th @ 8:30am MCB's Kirk and Amy will be guests on "Wild at Heart" talking to Wild Bill about the anti-blog and a bunch of the events going on around town that MCB is helping to promote....also we will spinning a few new local records from Friends of Dennis Wilson and I,Crime so tune and check it out!

Wild At Heart

Win tickets for: Glasvegas who will be at the Magic Stick on Saturday, April 4th.

They are a Scottish alternative rock band whose self-titled debut album has given them a couple of top 20 UK hits with “Geraldine” and “Daddy’s Gone”. Q magazine ranked their album 5th best of 2008. Great band you should check out!

The first person to email me at doramu13@yahoo.com will win the tickets to Glasvegas!

Good luck!

Having been to a few shows where the opening acts have dropped out (Watson Twins for Ben Kweller, Nico Vega for Von Bondies, Alphabeat for Katy Perry) which I find a current trend possibly linked to the cost of touring in today’s climate, I was thinking here we go again when both Poison Arrow and the Cute Lepers failed to show for the Queers show last night. However, Joe (of the Queers) confided that a member of the Cute Lepers died of an OD when given drugs by one of the Poison Arrows. Apparently, the band member took too much (I was told that while a big drinker, he rarely did drugs) and passed away after their Cincinnati show. I had been hearing good things about the band whose future might now be up in the air. Our hearts go out to Travis Criscola who was said to be a really great guy and a talented guitarist.

For movie fans this week, I have a wonderful 3-D animated film, “Monsters Vs Aliens” which starts with lovely Susan getting hit by a meteorite on her wedding day and growing super-sized a la 50ft Womanish. The army captures her and takes her to a secret base and labels her a monster where she meets her fellow mates, BOB (a gelatinous mass), Dr Cockroach (think the Fly), Missing Link (similar to the Creature From The Black Lagoon) and Insectosaurus (a giant grub). Soon after, the Earth is attacked by the evil Gallaxhar who wants to take over the world and it is up to our monsters to save the world and get their freedom. While not quite as good as recent Pixar films, this is still very entertaining with some nice in-jokes for the sci-fi nerds and definitely is one of the few good DreamWorks animated films. This is a good film for the kids which adults should like also and the 3-D effects are pretty subtle after you get past the flashy opening.
My grade is a B-.

A new opera is in town with the production of Donizetti’s “The Elixir Of Love”. This version is updated from the small village to an American town circa 1950’s which brings me to think of the current Rockwell exhibit at the DIA. Nemorino is the local ice cream guy who loves the beautiful Adina though she hates him and is set to marry the local army sergeant. Desperate for any hope of gaining her love comes when a travelling sideshow man Dr Dulcamara selling miracle cures. Thinking to make a buck, the Dr sells Nemorino a bottle of wine which he tells them is a love potion and tells him to wait 24 hours for it to work (so the DR can be long gone). However, the drunken courage helps Nemorino not gush over Adina which peaks her interest. This leaves the following questions such as will Adina break off her marriage with the sergeant and marry Nemorino instead. Go down Apr 4th and find out. Go to www.motopera.com for more info. My grade is an A.

Tune into my show on Saturday when I will have Kirk/Amy on the show promoting some new bands and a live performance by Bayje between 8-10AM this Saturday.

You can listen to this soulful singer on www.wxou.org so make sure to check her out. You can also run into a few of the MCB folks who are exhibiting at the event and I at the movie industry networking event at the Crofoot starting at noon and running until 6PM. With new movie companies coming into Pontiac and downtown Detroit, this is the place to get a feel for what is happening whether an aspiring actor or someone looking to invest in a project. For more info, go to http://www.michiganmovienetwork.com or call Lew Smith at (586) 615-3504 or e-mail to lew@vanirent.com . Hope to see you there!

I am going to quickly rant about the uproar about Bill Ayers talk at OU last Tuesday, which unfortunately I missed. For those who don’t know, Bill Ayers was a member of the Weather Underground in the 1960’s which used some questionable tactics in their protest of the Vietnam War such as blowing up a statue with a bomb. Some people today can only think of him as a terrorist and I think that is short-sighted, esp when you look at the times. For example, why doesn’t anyone say the KK were terrorists when they were hanging young American black men for no reason except to inspire terror? Unlike most KKK members, Ayers has apologized for what he did and admits in hindsight they could have done things different. In the “Real Bill Ayers”, he states simply “The Weather Underground went on to take responsibility for placing several small bombs in empty offices.... We did carry out symbolic acts of extreme vandalism directed at monuments to war and racism, and the attacks on property, never on people, were meant to respect human life and convey outrage and determination to end the Vietnam War.”. His current work has seen him praised as a teacher and getting a Citizen of the Year award in Chicago in 1997 for a public school reform issue. It amazes me that there is backlash against the guy today where people will stop contributing to OU because of his lecture. Universities are about diversity and we all can’t like everybody. To me, not having the guts to book someone like Ayers is a sign of cowardice. If you don’t like Bill, then don’t go to his lecture but don’t stop contributing to a university you love because of this. What about the good things OU has done or doesn’t that mean anything? I am starting to get upset here so let’s talk music.

Here is a look at some upcoming shows of interest. Tues, Mar 31st has Morrissey returning to the Michigan Theatre (did you know he got his start in a punk rock group called the Nosebleeds). Wed, Apr 1st will have rockers Gaslight Anthem paying at St Andrews with the Cincinnati-based country garage rock of the Heartless Bastards. The South American band Bajofondo will be at the Majestic on Thurs, Apr 2nd (look for an interview on my show on Apr 4th between 8-10AM on www.wxou.org ). The Scottish alternative rock band Glasvegas will be at the Magic Stick on Sat, Apr 4th while jazz great Chick Corea will be in Ann Arbor at Hill Auditorium. The Magic Stick will host local rockers the Hentchmen on Sun, Apr 5th while legendary British Folk singer Graham Parker will be playing at Callahan’s.

If you are not interested in the NCAA tournament despite Michigan St making it to the Final Four along with U Conn, Villanova and N Carolina (I’m rooting for Villanova since I am from Big East territory), you can also check out some free NCAA related concerts by the Riverfront. One of my least favorite singers, Jesse McCartney, will be playing with funk/hip hop act N.E.R.D. on Friday while the Pussycat Dolls, Keith Sweat and Gavin DeGraw will provide tunes on Saturday. Sunday is the big day with Staind, Gym Class Heroes and Fergie. I hope the weather brightens up this weekend.

"MCB IS DETROIT"
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Wild At Heart

Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
He has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University

Wild At Heart

Well, it’s getting to that time when the last show is right around the corner. This Saturday (10/02), I will be hosting my final show of Wild At Heart on the airwaves of WXOU 88.3FM (www.wxou.org). I hope everyone can tune in. I don’t really have anything special planned in terms of music, but I might have an interview with RA Mihailoff talking about the new slasher film Hatchett II (to be reviewed here next week).

As my time here in Detroit gets shorter, I am still trying to experience as much of the city as possible. My most recent thing was a tour of the Detroit Yacht Club which is the private marina and sailing club in located on its own island off of Belle Isle in the Detroit River between the MacArthur Bridge and the DTE generating plant. The DYC clubhouse is a beautifully restored 1920s Mediterranean-style villa that holds the distinction of being the largest yacht club in the United States. The origin of the club goes back to the 1870’s, though the current building was built in 1923 by George Mason (the same architect who designed the Grand Hotel, GEM Theatre and Detroit Masonic Temple among other buildings in the area). The facility includes 2 pools (with Pewabic tiles), a large trophy room and a grand ballroom and is open for membership for interested parties and you don’t need a boat. On the tour I went on, they gave us a nice buffet to snack on which included meatballs and some wonderful desserts. If you are looking for a club to join, you can contact Jack Lyon by phone (313-824-1200 x233) or email (membership@dyc.com). At the club, you can even take lessons on how to race a yacht.



Also, mentioning the Grand Hotel, it is time for Part II of my trip to the Upper Peninsula. Day 2 saw me wake up to catch an early morning ferry courtesy of Shepler’s Mackinaw Island Ferry service. The ride going over was a bit bumpy but not that bad as we got up close to the Mackinaw Bridge before heading over. We had a great view of the island including the Grand Hotel and the two light houses in the bay.



Upon landing, I walked around a bit including going through the Biddle House and Mission Church and some local stores before getting on my carriage tour of the island which included stops at the Wings Of Mackinaw Butterfly Conservatory, scenic Arch Rock, Fort Mackinaw and Grand Hotel. The ride itself was around 2 hours and very relaxing as we got puller by teams of 2 and 3 horses. The island itself doesn’t allow cars. The only cars on the island are a police cruiser and fire truck for emergencies. This dates back to 1900 when a vacationer brought his car to the island and caused an accident which killed a couple of horses. Ever since then, you have only horses, bikes and in the winter, snow mobiles. The trip through the State Park includes the local cemetery also. The Park is Michigan’s oldest State Park.





I had lunch at the Grand Hotel which was very expensive but one of those you just have to do. The buffet, priced at $40, includes a variety of salads, lunch meats, you-peel shrimp, carved beef, fish, chicken and a nice dessert bar. While the cost is high, you are paying for the beauty of the surroundings which are extravagant. I had a nice view of the water while dining and afterwards, went out onto the porch which is the longest in the world. The hotel has an on-site art gallery, tons of historic items on the walls and in display cases (including Christopher Reeves hat from the movie “Somewhere In Time” which was filmed there, a carriage museum and some gorgeous gardens. Of historic note, the hotel hosted the first public demonstration of Thomas Edison's phonograph on that very same porch. You just feel rich walking around the place and at over $250 a night, you should.



After dinner, I walked around Fort Mackinaw. It was a military outpost built by the British during the American Revolutionary War to control the strategic Straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron (and by extension the fur trade on the Great Lakes). In use from the late 18th century to the late 19th century, it later became the scene of two strategic battles for control of the Great Lakes during the War of 1812. During most of the 19th century, it served as an outpost of the United States Army and eventually closed in 1895. The view from the fort is very nice as it overlooks the town and the lakes. I have been through many forts in my time and the only thing that really separates this from others is the view. The grounds are well kept and they do firing demonstrations at regular interviews and have a nice history of the island in one building. If you enjoy this type of thing, this is a nice fort to tour.



Afterwards, I walked around town until the last boat was ready to leave. I got a quick ice cream and a relaxed downtown atmosphere as things were winding down. Back on the mainland, I stopped by a local pastry shop for a pasties before going to bed and getting ready for day three which will come at a later date along with some cool things I found in Windsor this week as I went on a day trip prior to a Bobby Vinton concert at Caesars.

Here is a list of some upcoming shows this week.

Tuesday (9/28) – Citizen Smile opens for Acorns @ Pike Room

Wednesday (9/29) – blues-harp master Charlie Musselwhite @ Callahans

Friday (10/01) – Fireworks w/The Swellers @ Magic Stick, James @ Royal Oak Music Theatre, Shirock @ Academy Of Sacred Heart (Bloomfield Hills), Broken Social Scene @ Michigan Theatre, Jeffrey Osborne @ Fox Theatre, Savoy Brown @ Magic Bag

Saturday (10/02) – King’s X opens for Accept @ Emerald Theatre, Irish folk rockers Great Big Sea @ Chatham Capitol Theatre, LeAnn Rimes @ Macomb Center For The Performing Arts, Mustard Plug @ Blind Pig, Graham Parker @ Corner Brewery (Ypsilanti)

Sunday (10/03) – Primus @ Fillmore Theatre

Monday (10/04) - punk rockers DOA @ The Loop (Windsor), Ra Ra Riot @ Blind Pig

I hope you enjoy you week. I can’t recommend it enough to tour Mackinaw Island if you get a chance. I hear a nice time to go is when the lilacs are in bloom or during the islands jazzfest.

Wild At Heart - Wednesday April 8 2009

Hey Kirk-thanks for coming on the show last weekend

it was great -- here is this week's blog post - Bill

Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
He has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University

Wild At Heart

What a day starting with that traffic accident on I-75 South which turned my 40 minute commute to work into an hour and 15 minutes despite the fact that the roads didn’t seem too bad. My voice is also sore from taking so much yesterday and today at work didn’t help either. I almost don’t want to go to the Fucked Up (yes that is the name of the band) concert at the Magic Stick tonight but at least they have TV’s to watch the game. My money is on N Carolina but I hope Michigan St can pull off the upset.

Speaking of the NCAA, it was a good weekend though I thought there would be more people downtown, or maybe I just was in the wrong places. The highlights of the NCAA related events were:
8) Ultra Violet Hippopotamus – local jam band I had the pleasure of watching this weekend on the AT&T stage got me thinking of Rothbury and besides, it is just a cool name.
7) Janelle Monáe – she was on the main stage doing her best Grace Jones impression. I thought I was back in the 70’s.
6) I hate GNR but I like Slash who showed up on stage to accompany Fergie on cover versions of “Sweet Child O Mine” and Heart’s “Barracuda”.
5) The great OAR show at the Fillmore. Despite always picking on the River Crew since we work a lot of the same shows, the River is doing some nice work in this area.
4) Being recognized at the NCAA fun fest activities by someone who remembered me from my appearance on America’s Funniest Home Videos. I’m the guy in the turkey coop that airs 2 weeks before Thanksgiving every year. I was at the shoot out at the time and while I didn’t make it al the way around thanks to missing the 3 pt shot too many times, I got style points for making a nice hook shot from the foul line after time ran out.
3) Making fun of Ryan Seacrest. To all videographers: Don’t take a clear shot of the host obviously reading a teleprompter because like in this case it makes him look stupid.
2) I hate Coke Zero but thanks for the souvenir Final Four pin.
1) With all the colors of the teams in the Final Four it was great seeing four fans dressed up in lavish make-up representing four teams including some that weren’t in the tournament. I don’t remember one, but the other three were Illinois, Oklahoma St and California. You guys rocked whoever you are!!!

Despite the honor of the Final Four in Detroit, some people are looking forward to Tigers opening day on April 10th. If you want to do something to celebrate baseball season and also do some good for the community, you can go to the Majestic Complex for a Ball Park Breakfast to benefit the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign which also offers free parking and shuttle service. It starts at 9AM and $25 for adults ($15 for kids) gets you a big breakfast including scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes, etc. Strong Kids is focused on raising much needed financial support for deserving children, teens and families who are unable to afford the full cost of participation in a YMCA program or activity such helping a child attend day camp for the first time or enabling a struggling family to use a child care facility. It is definitely a worthy cause. Tickets are available by calling the Majestic Theatre Center Monday thru Friday between 10am and 4pm at 313-833-9700 ext. 202.

Have you been waiting for the new Wolverine: Origins film? If so, go to this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-drLdnk-g24 and you can have the chance to vote for a premiere of the movie in your hometown which will feature Hugh Jackman in person along with some other mutants from the film.

Speaking of films, I went to the Crofoot event where people interested in the film industry could network with other people. It was a nicely attended event of which I was there for MOTORCITYBLOG and also representing WXOU 88.3FM. I mostly talked to people and it was nice to get a feel for how vibrant the industry can be here when these film companies actually get down to working. I ran into local rocker Stewart Francke and will be working to get him on my show. For those interested, make sure to tune in this Saturday the 11th between 8-10AM for a big show. If you are out of range of the station, go online to www.wxou.org because I have interviews with the all female rock trio Von Iva who brings a nice garage rock feel to their music, 2-time Academy Award winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla (scored Babel, Brokeback Mountain, 21 Grams, Motorcycle Diaries, etc) who was in town with his new band Bajofondo and Stomp’s own Brad Holland (Stomp will be in Detroit Apr 21-26th) and I am a huge fan of the group.

I must also admit that the best thing I did this weekend with all the basketball and concerts was to have a nice sit down dinner at a Pontiac diner with my friends Amy and Rebecca.

Too often I go out with friends who want to rush and just avoid chilling. My one word of advice to everyone is find the time to unhook yourselves from your damn electronics and cell phones and just enjoy those special moments with your friends when you can. Don’t be rushing and driving yourself to an early grave. I used my friend’s cell phone for some calls to try and interview the artist Bayje and I could feel the pressure which just reminded me why I don’t want a cell phone. I don’t need that in my life. Thanks Amy and Rebecca for that special moment which is better than 100 concerts (unless it’s Cyndi Lauper).

Speaking of fun life moments, I’m hoping this comes out but it is a blurry picture and me and my friend Aric when we were in school at Hartwick. An epic pillow fight right up there with the scenes from Braveheart and LOTR. He is also a friend I have lost touch with but the memories are still there. Thanks Carleen for the pic.

I also have a review for a new film which seems awfully familiar. The movie is “Fast And Furious” which is an interquel between the 2nd and 3rd films and stars most of the main cast from the first film. Confused yet! Don’t worry, just sit back and turn off the brain as Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker)—now an FBI agent, is assigned to track down a notorious drug lord named Arturo Braga. In the meantime, Dom (Vin Diesel) has become an international criminal and learns that his girlfriend has been killed and he means to get revenge. Their paths meet as their leads bring them to the attention of an underground entrance race that guarantees them a spot on the team that traffics heroin across the United States-Mexico border. The two form an uneasy alliance as they join forces to stop the bad guys and heal old wounds. There are some nice racing moments and if you are fans of the series, this should give you a nice fix. Grade: B-.

For those interested in the weekly concert guide, let’s start with blues guitarist Coco Montoya who used to be a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and will be taking the stage at Callahan’s on Tues, Apr 7th. Not to be confused with the book, but Christian hardcore band The Devil Wears Prada with be at Clutch Cargos on Thurs, Apr 9th. The Toronto based rockers, The Cliks (they have been on my show before and have opened locally for Cyndi Lauper and the Cult), who will be at the Magic Stick on Apr 10th or you can go to the Pike Room to see Craig Owens (of Chiodos fame), American blues-harp player Charlie Musselwhite at Callahan’s (he is rumored to be the inspiration for the Blues Brothers) or local rockers the Hard Lessons at the Blind Pig. Craig will also perform at the Pike Room on the Apr 11th. Don’t forget, basketball fans can also go see the Harlem Globetrotters on Sun, Apr 12th.

Almost forgot, check out the Mitten Movie Project Tuesday, March 10th at the Main Art Theater in Royal Oak. This month’s installment features short films from 14 independent filmmakers from the state of Michigan including “High-Step: A Story Of The MSU Marching Band” where you can experience game day through the eyes of four members of the Michigan State Marching Band (might be what you need if MSU is victorious this week) and “Can Man” which gives us insight into the life of Willy, an East Lansing Michigan homeless man, whose primary income comes from collecting cans (reminds me of college). Hope to see you there!

I hope I am not leaving anything out and I hope everyone has a great day and think warm thoughts to get rid of this snow. Here is some useless trivia: The names of the three monkeys are Mizaru (see no evil), Kikazaru (hear no evil), and Iwazaru (speak no evil) and are not to be confused with the band featuring Peter Tork.

"WILD AT HEART IS DETROIT"
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WILD AT HEART - Monday August 24th 2008

Kirk, Here is today's blog - Bill
"Wild Bill" Kettelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
He has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University

Wild At Heart

You know your city has a bad rap when the lead guitarist of a Christian band
(Third Day) takes a cheap shot at you during a performance. On Thursday, he
joked that he was a bit afraid of playing a USO show in Iraq for the troops
when he was reminded that they had played Detroit before.

Yeah it’s funny, but you wish it wasn’t so.

The Olympics is finally over and I must admit that I enjoyed watching them
this year, esp beach volleyball, team volleyball, BMX (did you see some of
the wipe outs – Ouch!), women’s basketball and events with Phelps and Bolt.

For most track, gymnastics and swimming events, I hate watching the
qualifiers but I like to see the final events. I still can’t get into Equestrian or floor exercises (maybe because looking at cute girls in those form fitting outfits whom you know are underage makes me feel creepy). I missed the closing ceremony but I thought the opening was spectacular (and I don’t care about what might have been faked with regards to the fireworks)
proving that there are some talented film people in China such as Zhang Yimou, the director of such wonderful films as Raise the Red Lantern, Hero and House Of Flying Daggers.

While his work on the Olympics is amazing, I can’t help but think about some of the hardships he encounters in his youth due to his parents involvement with the Nationalist
party when he was forced to give up his studies and spent time as a farm laborer and as a cotton textile mill. At the age of 27, he had to write a personal appeal to the Ministry of Culture.

Luckily for us and the Chinese government, the authorities relented and admitted him into the Department of Cinematography.

Speaking of politics, I had the opportunity to talk with James Brown last week.

This is not the Godfather of Soul, but the drummer of UB40 who was in town last Friday. UB40 is one of the biggest recording acts in England having around 50 top 40 hits and they put on a wonderful show. They got their start by claiming unemployment (using the UB40 form or Unemployment Benefit, Form 40) and they used their first check to help promote their
first gigs.

There current album, "TwentyFourSeven", is the last to feature Ali Campbell who left for solo work after 30 years with the band and replaced by his brother Duncan. Brown said the album is their most political in a long time and a lot of their early work touched on themes of
unemployment and racism, though when I asked about the politics of Briton, he was more interested in the US. He said that the British are very interested in our election (probably more so that most Americans) and said that most are hoping that Obama gets elected and brings a change to our policies. He feels Obama represents something which is hard to pin down but
similar to past presidents like Kennedy and Reagan. I had to miss their show for the Commodores, though I had seen them last year and hope they come back
around again.

Speaking of drummers, I went to see Def Leppard and enjoyed watching Rick Allen, the drummer who lost his arm but has managed to retool his drum kit to allow him to play using his one good arm and both his feet using an electronic kit.

Incredible! The guy rocks and the rest of the band aren’t that bad either. Also, the movie The Rocker is officially out. This is the story of a failed drummer (must be a theme this week) who is given a second chance at fame. Robert "Fish" Fishman (the Office's Rainn Wilson) is an extremely passionate drummer for the eighties hair band Vesuvius, who is living the rock n' roll
dream in Cleveland until he is kicked out of the band.

Twenty years later with crushed dreams and working in an office, he hears that his nephew's
high school rock band A.D.D. is looking for a new drummer.

They reluctantly make him the newest member of the band to play for the prom. After an
embarrassing finish to the set, he gets kicked out. He feels awful and tries to make good by getting them a real gig. A viral video of a nude "Fishman" drumming catapults them to success and the band goes on tour, culminating at a gig where they open for Vesuvius with hilarious results. I thought this was a very funny movie showing Wilson can carry a
movie and he is supported very nicely by Teddy Geiger (from my hometown of
Rochester, NY), Emma Stone and Josh Gad, who could actually play a real gig.
Christina Applegate plays the love interest in the movie and William Arnett
as Vesuvius’ lead singer. There are a few head-shaking moments but overall,
it is enjoyable to watch esp for the Beatles parallels (look for a cameo by
Pete Best). Grade: B.

Yesterday was a very 80’s day for me at the Regeneration tour. Naked Eyes
started the show with a nice set including "Always Something There To Remind
Me" and "Promises, Promises". A Flock Of Seagulls are hard for me to watch
nowadays but most of the audience enjoyed such hits as "I Ran" and "Space
Age Love Song". ABC came out and rocked the place with some new songs as
well as hits like "Poison Arrow" and "Be Near Me". Belinda Carlisle put on a
set of her solo hits and some Go-Go’s favorites. She is looking really good
these days. The stars of the night were Human League who I wished could have
played a longer set, but this was one of my favorite shows of the year.

This also sets up Friday’s show at the Royal Oak Music Theatre up nicely when
Squeeze and Aimee Mann take the stage. Tune in to Wild At Heart on WXOU
88.3FM (or online at http://www.blogger.com/www.wxou.org) between 8-10AM Thursday morning to win tickets to the show.

There is a lot going on this week starting with the Michigan State Fair, first held in 1849. From a music point of view, there is not much action this year with only a few name acts on the line up and most of them generic or aimed at kids such as Corbin Bleu of High School The Musical fame tonight and ex-Cheetah Girl Raven Symone on Tues.

We can purge ourselves on Wed when Alice Cooper returns for a rocking show. Despite the anemic lineup, I always enjoy hanging out at the fishing pond and trying out the bow target
shooting. I will hopefully run into some of you there and will post a special blog on Thursday talking more about the fair along with movie reviews of ‘Lakeview Terrace’ and ‘Death Race’. Also, I’ll look at line-up at Arts Beats and Eats and the Belle Isle Grand Prix.

Have a good week and see you all later and look at www.myspace.com/wildatheart_13 for more info about what’s happening.

WILD AT HEART - Thursday June 19th 2008

As we mentioned below Bill Hetelkut will be adding some "blog" to this anti-blog with not only his interviews/reviews but a weekly column called Wild at Heart....enjoy!
This guy gets in with EVERYONE for interviews and scores (with the ladies as well)
Todays entry will give you an idea of the man behind the words. - Enough said.

MCB Management

Wild At Heart - Thursday June 19th 2008

Cyndi Lauper! OK, since I figured this was my first blog on this site, I thought I would start off by putting forth my favorite performer. Most people reading this will think I am crazy for saying that, but who cares. I remember back to 1983 when my radio alarm clock went off and I heard “Girls Just want To Have Fun” for the first time.

I had never heard a song that excited me so much (at the time, I was still into KISS, Blondie and Sha-Na-Na and just started watching Solid Gold with acts like Styx and Laura Branigan). Anyway, I loved her multi-octave voice which could belt out danceable songs or show true beauty with ballads like “All Through The Night”.

I loved that she got involved in wrestling which was my favorite sport at the time. What really impressed me was a lot of people were worried that she would lose fans because of that connection, but she didn’t care. She did it because she liked it and knew her true fans would support her. It was the fly-by-night fans which would fall by the wayside. That carried on later when she ditched her big label and went independent.

This was not a woman to be trifled with and she marched to her own drummer. She just released her newest album “Bring Ya To The Brink” (her third in the past 3 years) which is a little more dance oriented than I would like but is a big hit in Japan where Cyndi is one of the few American megastars over there (they seem to get what she is all about).

Recently, she was at Pine Knob for the 2nd annual True Colors Tour which featured the B-52’s, Tegan And Sara, Rosie O’Donnell, the White Tie Affair and the Cliks. The tour promotes tolerance which we can definitely use in today’s world. Most of the acts on tour with her are know for being openly gay or bi-sexual, Cyndi is actually straight though her sister is openly gay and a big role model to Cyndi. This and a chance meeting of Matthew Sheppard’s mom (a gay man brutally killed by ignorant idiots) ignited the sparks that got Cyndi involved in these bigger issues and I really applaud her commitment. Not many musical stars would put themselves in front of an issue like this (she also signs at numerous Gay Pride events) and have the guts to pull it off so well.

Enough about Cyndi for now but I will say I will someday get that interview with her.

Oh yeah, the Cliks (http://www.thecliks.com)are/ a really cool rocking band from Toronto that you should check out and have been on the True Colors tour the past two years and also toured with the Cult. Don’t let the fact that Lucas used to be a woman freak you out as to not give this deserving band a chance.

My pet peeve for the week comes from the fact that I do a radio show 8-10AM on WXOU 88.3FM (http://www.wxou.org/) and we cover a lot of shows in the area or do ticket giveaways. It bugs me that we could get a table for Peter Murphy or the Detour Festival but 93.9

The River did. Now I will listen to them occasionally and I am good friends with half of their street teamers, but when was the last time they ever played a Peter Murphy or Bauhaus song? Besides Sloan, have they played any of the bands on Detour (I have played about 16 of them)? Sure, put the River at Jack Johnson or Dave Matthews, but local college stations should be able to get tables at the alternative rock shows since we play the music and commercial radio doesn’t.

What would happen if I called the River and asked for music by local artists Serenity Court or Friendly Foes? Probably, “we’re sorry, we don’t play them, would you like to make another request”. I played them both on my last show. Local music rocks! I don’t care that they are at these shows, but I hope that college stations can also get in on the opportunities.

Speaking of Detour, I really enjoyed the Saturday show at the CAID and the later shows at the Majestic complex. I caught 22 of the 26 acts and with 2 exceptions, really enjoyed them all. The bands that I really enjoyed were the Silent Years, Serenity Court, Great Lakes Myth Society (my favorite local band), Golden Dogs, Nice Device and F*ke Blood.

The more I go to festivals and shows like this, the more I realize how rich the local music scene is and should be enjoyed. I hope there is a Detour II.

A brief observation: it is really cool to be watching a night show at Pine Knob, such as Stevie Nicks, and see lighting strikes in the distance. I’m just glad they stayed in the distance and allowed for a good show.Looking forward to the River Days festival this weekend!

Some of my local music recommendations include on Friday = Nadir-Distorted Soul (one of the hottest local bands), Broadzilla (the great female hard rock band) & the Robin Horlock Band (good pop/rock sound) and Saturday = Loba Aku (a wonderful local jazz musician who has graced my show twice).

Of the bigger acts, make sure to check out the Verve Pipe who are from Michigan and one of the great alternative bands out there.

Don’t forget there will also be the tall ships which are always cool to see.

Also, don’t forget about the 13th Annual Arab International Festival in Dearborn for an opportunity to get a truly cultural experience. I went last year and had a great time.Starting next week this should be coming out on Mondays, enjoy your weekend.

Wild At Heart - day late, dollar short

Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog

Wild At Heart



Monday is a day that started out great that fell apart for me. I decided to go see Hank & the Cupcakes (if my pictures came out, you'll see them later) in concert at a local venue called the Bug Jar. The show was listed as an early show and since I thought I had to be at work at 7AM, I decided to go since some online songs by the band rocked. I got there at 8PM and the show was supoosed to start at 8:30. Even the door guy told me the band would go on at 10:20 so I thought I was in good shape. 8:30 came and went and the bands were just setting up. A little after 9:30 the first band went on and at this point I was getting a bit anxious. While the first band, "The Dads" had a nice sound and the second "Stereophone" just annoyed me (probably because I wanted the headliner to hit the stage). They finally did at 11:30 and since I had to be in bed by midnight to get enough sleep, I only got to hear three songs before I had to tear out of there. The band sounded great but it is hard for me to enjoy a show that I know I can't stay until the end (or at least the encore). I wish the door guy had known they were running late because I might have just left and headed home. Things were made worse when I got to work and found I had the wrong schedule and was supposed to be here at 6:30 added insult to injury. So I missed the majority of the headliner and showed up for work (there is no way I would have done the show at all if I knew I had to be in at 6:30. I hate it when days start like this. I hope everyone else's day is going better and I'm pissed because I blew a 15 year perfect attendence record and I take pride in that (I might show up late when meeting friends, but I take pride in getting to work on time). The main thing this gets me on also is that when working in a small club, someone should know what time the band starts and if there are delays. More communication folks!

Here are some shows that you might want to check out this week (and hopefully they will be on time):


Tuesday (5/31) - 4th Street Farm Benefit feat Audra Kubat and Noman (free but ask for donation) @ Magic Stick

Wednesday (6/01) - Coco Montoya @ Callahans, Gaelic Storm @ the Ark

Thursday (6/02) - Raphael Saadiq @ St Andrews Hall, Brian Vander Ark @ Liberty Plaza (Ann Arbor)

Friday (6/03) - The Maine and Augustana @ Clutch Cargos, Amy Gore and the Fondas @ Magic Stick Lounge, Stewart Francke @ Callahans

Saturday (6/04) - Panic! At The Disco @ Fillmore, Robyn @ Royal Oak Music Theatre, Detroit Derby Girls after party w/ Orbitsuns (free w/Derby Ticket) @ Magic Stick, Charlie Davis (of the Contours) and Vandellas @ Crofoot, Martina McBride @ Ceasars Windsor, Otep @ Harpos


Monday (6/06) - Ray LaMontagne and Brandi Carlile @ Meadowbrook Theatre

Wild At Heart weekend

Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
He has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University

Wild At Heart

With the Red Wings positioning themselves for the playoffs, their are some other teams playing for the chance to be the best in their division. The 2010 Frozen Four hit town yesterday with four teams vying for top billing. They were RIT, Wisconsin, Miami (OH) and Boston College. I'm originally from Rochester, NY so it was exciting to see my old hometown team in the Frozen Four for the first time in their third year of elligibility. They upset number 2 seeded Denver and New Hampshire to reach this spot and while their home town fans dressed in bright orange were the loudest at the tournament, Wiosconsin's strong play and a series of 2nd period penalties brought RIT down. Things started off fast for Wisconsin as John Mitchell scored the first goal of the game at the 1:27 mark before most people even started paying attention. Eight minutes later, Derek Stepan deflected in a shot and put Wisconsin up 2-0. It was the second period when RIT really got into trouble with a series of penalties which kept Wisconsin on the power play for almost 10 minutes including 2 goals on 5-on-3 situations. By the 15:00 mark of the 2nd period, RIT was down 6-0 and being outshot 24-9. RIT's lone goal came on a power play with 28 seconds left in the 2nd and that was the only time they got a shot past the Wisconsin goalie. Wisconsin ended the 3rd period with two goals within 30 secs for a final of 8-1 and the first to clinch a spot in Saturday's finals game. It was nice seeing my team and hopefully they will be able to make it back in the near future.

Going into the next game, CCHA's own Miami (OH) which was beat up by Michigan during the CCHA Finals got revenge by beating them on their way to the Frozen Four against Boston College. I was rooting for Miami because 1) they have never won the Frozen Four and 2) they are a MAC school (I went to Bowling Green). The game strated slowly with the only goal in the first period being a power play goal by Ben Smith of Boston College giving BC a 1-0 lead. Things went south quickly for Miami in the second with Boston College scoring twice in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the game on goals by Jimmy Hayes and Joe Whitney. The third started with Joe Hartman of Miami making a backhanded shot at the 5:19 mark and the idea that they could get back in this game. However, at the 10:10 mark, Cam Atkinson got his own backhanded goal followed by 2 more Boston College scores in the next 2 minutes with a final clincher as Ben Smith scored his second goal of the game at the 16:21 mark advancing Boston College to the finals with Wiscionsin with a 7-1 win over Miami (OH). Ben is the only player for both games to score 2 goals in what became two lopsided games. The game did set a World Indoor Hockey attendence record with 34, 954 fans attending the games.

There are still tickets available for the Finals which begins at 7PM on Staurday April 10th. I recommend sitting up away from the ice since lower seats do have trouble seeing the ice but sight lines higher up are pretty good for what amounts to hockey in a football stadium. There are free team practices at 9:30AM and 10:45AM and College Hockey Fan Fest events going on at the Detroit Wintergarden which are fun for the kids. That goes on from 10AM-5PM. I hope to see some of you out there as they try to go for another attendence record. I'll also point out that the electricity for the event is 100 renewable energy courtesy of the DTE Energy's GreenCurrents program. So all the electricty used to keep the weather chilly inside so the ice won't melt is made right here in Michigan through wind, biomass and other environment friendly sources which is esp important since Earth Day is right around the corner.

The weather is a bit chilly outside so if you are looking for something to do indoors like a movie, I've got a couple of films for you. Let's start with "Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" based on the novel by the late Swedish author and journalist Steig Larsson. The novel itself features a

middle-aged investigative journalist, Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), who has recently lost a libel case against the corrupt Swedish industrialist Hans-Erik Wennerström (Stefan Sauk) and is sentenced to three months in prison. Prior to his serving his sentence, Blomkvist is hired by Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube), a wealthy former CEO who wants Blomkvist to solve the thrity-seven year old disappearance of his great-niece when she was only sixteen. Vanger is convinced that the girl was killed by someone in his family but keeps running into dead ends until he is ultimately helped in his search by Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), a young punk computer genius who is currently in the system for a past bit of juvenile behavior. The two form a nice odd couple of styles who find they compliment each other on the way to uncovering the past and also the uncobering of a serial killer who might still be on the loose after all these years. What is supposed to be the first movie based on Larsson's millennium series, we have a nice thriller. It might lose it's pace every once in awhile but it is still captivating. I was esp drawn to the character of Lisbeth who is at one time vulnerable and yet can still be brutal when standing up aganist injustice. She is a character that knows her strengths and weeknesses and can use them accordingly to get where she needs to be. The black make-up, spiked dog collar and piercings also look sexy IMHO. I definately recommend taking a chance on the Swedish thriller when it plays the Main Art Theatre this week. My grade is a B+.



Cherie Currie was in town this past week with the showing of her new movie at the Magic Bag and book release at Borders. If you missed her, tune into my show Wild At Heart on Saturday morning between 8-10AM (WXOU 88.3FM or www.wxou.org) for your chance to catch up with Cherie and hear about a possible of a few tour dates, movie info and learn about her chainsaw art. The movie "Runaways" about the hard rocking girls band which spawned the careers of Joan Jett, Lita Ford and Micki Steele (Bangles). The movie itself follows the friendship between Cherie (Dakota Fanning) and Joan (Kristen Stewart), as they rise from rebellious LA street kids to rock stars of the now legendary group that paved the way for future generations of girl bands such as the Go-Go's. We see how the influence of rock impresario Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) turns turns the group into an outrageous success and a family of misfits aty the same time which eventually leads to the break-up of the band. During my interview, Cherie admits that if they had finished one more album they might have broke it big but the constant touring and recording without a break paired with drugs and other female issues put too much of a strain on the band. The big disappointment for me is the fact that drummer Sandy West and Lita Ford are left on the sidelines as the movie turns into the Cherie-Joan movie more than just the Runaways. The film misses it's chances to really delve into the heart of what makes a band like this tick and explode but for me, it is nice to see them get their due on the big screen and hopefully inspire another generation of girl rockers. All the girls really look and sound like their counterparts. Dakota Fanning surprised me as a sexpot actress here and Kristen really brings out the rocker in Joan. See this movie just because of the music it represents. Expect too much from the plot and disappointment will follow. My grade is a B-.



On Monday, I will review "Date Night" starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey and a few other things. Getting ready to head out for Johnny Winter so rock on everybody!

Wild At Heart

Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
He has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University

Wild At Heart

Wild At Heart

Welcome to 2010 which has been designated the International Year of Biodiversity (a year-long celebration of biological diversity and its value for life on Earth) and International Year of Youth by the United Nations. I am just hoping that it is the year of finding a lasting job though I am really enjoying the work I am doing now with the Census Bureau. I just updated my myspace page (myspace.com/wildatheart_13) with upcoming test dates so if you haven't called for an appointment, feel free to stop by and take the test. We need to hire about 1,000 people throughout the area and while it is only temp work, it could be worth it. Call 1-866-861-2010 to schedule an appointment.

I spent New Year's working my security job which gets annoying just standing around watching people get drunk and stupid without being able to do the same. The most annoying thing was the fact that the venue was unable to keep up with the number of people at the event. This meant overflowing trash cans with lots of people slipping and sliding. The live video feed of other areas around the country also seemed underused. If you have a live feed of Chicago, why not use it when they celebrate midnight? I just expected more of an event that charged quite a bit for tickets and didn't seem to deliver thought the food looked good even though I didn't get a bite. And when did women's dress outfits start looking overly skanky and bland. I though fancy dresses were suposed to make girls look hot, not like whores. When did it become fashion for belts to be worn just under the breasts? Belts or ribbons are supposed to make your waist look sexy. They just look geeky when they are up high. And sexy dress skirts should be just above the knee or the ankle. Anything shorter is something I expect on a hooker or stripper. Also, white girls wearing black stockings with a black dress looks stupid. The only time you should be wearing black stocking is if you are posing for fetish magazines a la Bettie Page. Also, with a nicely cut dress, wear a nice necklace. Just something simple and elegant to draw attention to your neck and bust line. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but a high class party deserves high class outfits which should make me turn my head thinking "sexy" instead of "did her dog pick that outfit for her". Hopefully next year I'll be at some simple NYE party at some small club with a live band.

Not much else is going on in my life. I would like to bring attention to a new video project by filmmaker hopeful Laura Schwartz who has a series called "Unheard" which focuses on local bands that are on the cusp of breaking it to the big time. At the Crofoot before Christmas I saw her Detroit installment which looked at a number of bands such as the Silent Years and Deastro. I think this is a great idea and hope to see this get picked up by someone. Most people like top ten lists this time of year, so here are my top 10 local bands I would like to see in her series. 1) Great lakes Myth Society, 2) Emily Rose, 3) Oscillating Fan Club, 4) Audra Kubat, 5) Alex Winston, 6) Wildcatting, 7) Jill Jack, 8) Lightning Love, 9) Loretta Lucas, 10) Nadir's Distorted Soul.

Speaking of music, not much is happening this first full week of the new year and what their is is mostly local bands.

Thursday (01/07) the Reefermen @ Memphis Smoke (Royal Oak) or Bump @ Small's

Friday (01/08) local rock/country with Whitey Morgan & the 78's w/Deadstring Brothers, Doop and the Inside Outlaws and The Orbitsuns @ Magic Bag, the classic Dennis Coffey Quartet @ Baker's Keyboard Lounge or the Satin Peaches @ PJ's Lager House

Saturday (01/09) - the metal band that could Anvil @ Crofoot, the beautiful Ragbirds @ Majestic Cafe, Dick Siegel @ The Ark, Jill Jack's CD Release party @ Callahan's or blues artist Thornetta Davis @ Harbor House (Detroit)

I would also like to start the new year with something new. I would like to bring the wonderful readers of this blog a sampling of bands and songs that I think everyone should know. There are so many great local and national bands that get forgotten or overlooked by the radio stations that I would like to use this forum as a way of supplementing my radio show and bring these artist back into the light. I hope that everyone enjoys this and I am open to suggestions. Starting off this section is a band that features my favorite artist of all time, Cyndi Lauper, before she became famous. Before girls wanted to have fun, Cyndi was in a band called 'Blue Angel' which was was a retro-rockabilly band that was popular in the New York club scene for a bit. Besides Cyndi, the band included John Turi (keyboard and saxophone), Arthur "Rockin' A" Neilson (guitar), Lee Brovitz (bass guitarist who also played with 60's garage band Shadows Of Knight) and JHohnny Morelli (drums). Lauper and Turi wrote the bulk of their material which covered new wave and punk in a fun way with Cyndi showing early glimpses of what was to come. While just a blip on the radar here, the album did decent overseas. Here is a video for the song "Late" which I hope you enjoy.