By dave (172.160.211.58 - 172.160.211.58) on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 08:45 am:

It seems like Detroit has produced an amazing number of musicians skilled at a very young age ever since the '30's. What do you guys who went through the public schools in Detroit think about their programs. What do they do right that other education systems should look at? Are they still doing it?

By Paulie 3 shoes (64.12.96.230 - 64.12.96.230) on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 09:39 am:

Hey youse guise!! Paulie(over here)

Uh... I went to skool in east Detroit an' I was in auto shop most of da time loinin to heist 'em an da rest a da time I loint how ta crack open safes in metal shop.
I hookeyed from english most o da time, I t'ink!?
Da teacher in auto shop was dis fine dame mrs.petr..pertu..uh..petruccio.. what a rack..morrone...I can still feel.uh..see em now.
Anyways, I tink dat mitch ryder guy was in da same skool, I tink, maybe?!!
Like I said, english was not my best ting wit da spellin an all o dat.

Paulie (over here) I tink

By 65 memories (198.109.0.237 - 198.109.0.237) on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 10:00 am:

To name just a few of many, musicians and instructors like Ernie Rodgers at Northwestern, Ben Pruitt at Henry Ford/Cass, John Wilkins at Mumford, and the always talented Patricia Terry-Ross at Cass have produced tremendous talent over the years. Under their tutilage, many students have gone on to successful careers in the music business.

By Ralph (209.240.198.62 - 209.240.198.62) on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 10:16 am:

65,
Great memories. I attended both Cass and Henry Ford High.

By MEL&THENSOME (195.219.7.114 - 195.219.7.114) on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 11:11 am:

Hey Paulie,your too much man,youve got me in stitches.Do you know of any spare horses heads that you could put me on to.Love the bit about the safes.MEL(An Ant-Hill Mob appreciator).

By Bob Olhsson (68.32.101.228 - 68.32.101.228) on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 11:21 am:

Detroit had a great school music program however the United States in general had great school music programs between the 1920s and the 1970s.

Some of the unique opportunities for young musicians in Detroit were:

1. Detroit was one of only four major broadcast network production centers in the United States along with New York, Chicago and Los Angeles

2. Detroit was one of only three major centers of the advertising industry alongside New York and Chicago

3. Detroit had a diverse population with many close family ties to the southern United States.

4. Detroit had excellent reception of WLAC in Nashville TN which was the leading station that played a lot of R&B music from all over the United States.

5. Detroit and Chicago were not dominated by the mainstream entertainment industries like New York and Los Angeles were.

6. The Detroit Symphony, The University of Michigan and the National High School Orchestra Camp at Interlochen made world renowned music teachers accessible and affordable to Detroit area music students.

By Ritchie (62.254.0.7 - 62.254.0.7) on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 12:07 pm:

Not relevant to the discussion, but I thought it might amuse our American friends...

In the UK, the term "public school" means the exact opposite of what the words would logically suggest. These ancient establishments are privately-owned and funded principally by the high fees the parents pay for the privilege of sending their children to them. Entry is mainly restricted to the moneyed elite of British society, so in reality, they ain't too public!

By Lynn Bruce (64.233.239.143 - 64.233.239.143) on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 12:29 pm:

A lot of early Detroit musicians recieved formal training in the schools.The real training for the music we liked came at night when we could pick up Gene Nobles the other D.J. called Hoss Allen out of Tennesee,it probably was WLAC.I remember they were sponsored by Randys record mart in Gallitin Tenn.This was before WCHB.They played what most of my pre-teenaged friends wanted to hear in the Inkster\Dearborn area.I recall getting my first record special from Randys record mart.78s =Ray Charles,I got a woman=Smiley Lewis,I hear you knockin=Chuck Berry,Maybeline=The Crows,Gee.I thought I,d died and gone to heaven when those came in the mail.I took private lessons,but without the great training of the schools,we wouldn,t have been exposed to classical&marching music, also big band music.Plus we got to play with other kids in a band at a young age.It teaches you to listen and complement what other people are playing,instead of doing your own thing all the time.
P.S.I couldn,t wait to get home and play drums along with Ray Charles&Chuck Berry.We all had our dreams!

By Livonia Ken (136.1.1.33 - 136.1.1.33) on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 01:00 pm:

Ritchie,
Even if "public" schools in the UK have highly restrictive admission policies, I assume we are all still welcome to attend "public houses" when we visit, right.

Regards,

Ken

By Ritchie (62.254.0.7 - 62.254.0.7) on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 01:28 pm:

Yes, Ken.

But with the rising price of drinks, you might have to belong to the moneyed classes before you can afford to buy a round ;)

By Bob Olhsson (68.32.101.228 - 68.32.101.228) on Thursday, September 19, 2002 - 12:14 pm:

http://www.reelradio.com/ricky/index.html#johnr73

http://www.reelradio.com/gifts/hossman.html#hossman

By dave (172.172.151.58 - 172.172.151.58) on Thursday, September 19, 2002 - 06:23 pm:

Thanks for the great links Bob! I can see tonight will be spent searching out the guys I used to listen to.