Willie Tyler today

Does anyone ever hear any mention of Willie Tyler and Lester? At the Martha Reeves Walk of Fame celebration it was announced that Willie Tyler was in attendance but no mention was made of Lester.

Willie had an album released on Motown which I have a copy of.

I hope Lester is still with us.

Any comments?

A question about these releases:

Does anyone know why "Your Wonderful Sweet, Sweet Love" is absent from both?

I don't subscribe to Sirius XM, but whenever I travel and rent a car, I do my best to make sure the vehicle has Sirius XM so I can play it. In years past I would sometime listen to Soultown channel on the service and enjoyed the music and the DJs. I just got back from another vacation and this time I noticed that Sirius has rebranded Soultown as "Smokey's Soultown". The music is the same, but the DJs seem to be gone, and replaced with Smokey Robinson's remembrances. It's not the same. Especially when I compared it to the classic country Music channel "Willie's Roadhouse". Sure there are recorded bits from Willie Nelson, but there were DJs with a knowledge and love of the music and it made that channel a more rewarding listening experience than "Smokey's Soultown".

What are your thoughts on the rebranded "Soultown" Sirius XM channel?

In the late 60s and early 70s Motown signed several well established acts but then sort of took their eye off the ball resulting in frustration. True that a lot was happening at once with the move to LA and entering the film industry with "Lady Sings The Blues". Nevertheless there were some fantastic tracks from artists such as Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Bobby Darin and to a lesser extent Sammy Davis Jr and Lesley Gore.

Thankfully, in the case of Bobby Darin, material that had long been vaulted has been made available over the years - mainly thanks to Joe Marchesse & co [[e.g. Andy Skurrow) who've made it possible for these tracks to see release on CD. The Real Gone CDs have wonderful liner notes as well and are well worth looking up. In particular, "Another Song On My Mind" includes a great resume of Darin's Motown career - much of this can still be seen on the Real Gone website -

https://theseconddisc.com/2011/02/16...-motown-years/

You can see the full CD artwork here -

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cookep...57668721459480

And here are the covers for Darin's Motown albums / CDs

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cookep...in/dateposted/

Please advise of any errors

BOBBY DARIN MOTOWN DISCOGRAPHY

Recorded - 6 February 1971 Live at The Desert Inn [[Renamed “Finally” but still unreleased at the time)

M1183 – 17 April 1971
A Melodie
B Someday We'll Be Together

M1193 – November 1971
A Simple Song Of Freedom
B I'll Be Your Baby Tonight

M1203 – 2 June 1972
A Sail Away
B Hard Headed Woman

M753 ALBUM AUGUST 1972 – Bobby Darin

M1212 – Promo 3 November 1972 [[withdrawn)
A Average People [[mono)
B Average People [[stereo)

M1212 – 3 November 1972 [[probably a bootleg)
A Average People
B Something In Her Love

M1217 – 20 November 1972
A Happy [[Love Theme From "Lady Sings The Blues")
B Something In Her Love

Bobby Darin died 20 December 1973

M813 ALBUM February 1974 – Darin 1936-1973

PR4 [[PROMO EP) - 1974
A1 If I Were A Carpenter
A2 Moritat [[Mack The Knife)
B1 Blue Monday
B2 Happy [[Love Theme From "Lady Sings The Blues")

MW3014 – 1974 [[UK & EU)
A Blue Monday
B Moritat [[Mack The Knife)

M5185 ALBUM July 1981 – Darin 1936–1973 re-issued with 5 tracks having different mixes.

MCD09070MD CD 1987 – Live At The Desert Inn [[first ever issue)

MOTD -5185 CD 1989 – Darin 1936–1973 first issue on CD.

3746351852 CD 1991 – Darin 1936-1973 CD re-issue

NTD-6509-2 CD 2005 – Live At The Desert Inn [[re-issue / remaster / 2 extra tracks “Work Song” and “Beyond The Sea”.

RGM-0440 2xCD 6 May 2016 – Another Song On My Mind [[Real Gone Music)

RGM-0714 CD 13 July 2018 – Go Ahead And Back Up [[Real one Music)

From BestClassicBands.com:

Dennis Thompson, the original drummer for the influential Detroit rock group, MC5, and the last survivor of that band, died today [May 9, 2024]. The death of Thompson—known as “Machine Gun”—at age 75, a month after suffering a heart attack, follows the passing of the band’s guitarist and vocalist, Wayne Kramer, also 75, in February. The MC5’s manager, John Sinclair, who was also a political activist and poet/writer, died April 2.

After being passed over for induction, for decades, by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the MC5 was finally selected in April as a member of the Class of 2024, in the Musical Excellence category.

The group’s lead singer, Rob Tyner, died in 1991; guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith passed in 1994; and bassist Michael Davis died in 2012. News of Thompson’s death at a medical rehabilitation facility was first posted by the Detroit Free Press, citing a “series of medical issues.” The paper notes that he was in the hospital when he was told the group had finally been chosen for induction by the Rock Hall.

“It’s about f---g time,” was Thompson’s reaction upon receiving the news, according to the Free Press, quoting Tyner’s widow, Becky. Thompson was hoping to attend the induction ceremony in October. “Dennis was thrilled with it, so excited and happy,” Becky Tyner told the paper. “He just wanted to get home to his cat, Annie, and was optimistic about recovering.”
Controversy confronted the band constantly. Managed by leftist activist John Sinclair, the MC5—for Motor City 5—became aligned with the White Panther Party, a radical political and social organization opposed to racism and capitalism. The group’s debut album for Elektra Records, Kick Out the Jams, recorded live at Detroit’s Grande Ballroom in late 1968 and released in 1969, caused a stir for its in-your-face brand of rock, infused with a sense of abandon borrowed from jazz greats like Sun Ra and Albert Ayler. Its title track, which, in its earliest release, included the phrase “Kick out the jams, m-----s” being shouted, caused the record to be banned by most radio stations, and also caused Elektra to issue a censored version.

Formed in 1963, the MC5 prefigured punk-rock with an aggressive, thundering approach to hard rock that eschewed meandering psychedelia and flower-power and went against other prevailing trends of the late ’60s. By 1967, the core membership of the group was in place, the band’s infatuation with radical politics serving as a touchstone for its songwriting. Discovered by Elektra publicity director Danny Fields, the MC5 was signed to the label and released its debut; it received substantial attention from the rock press but lack of radio airplay kept it from ascending above #30 on the Billboard LPs chart. Dropped by Elektra, they signed with Atlantic Records, but neither of their two albums for the label, Back in the USA [produced by future Bruce Springsteen manager Jon Landau] and High Time, both studio recordings, cracked the top 100.

Is there a photo of Mike with the Modifiers or as Mike Varo as I want to put together a CD for my collection. I`d be very grateful if somebody could help.