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Splatt Gallery's History of Michigan Concert Posters
Volume Eleven - 1975 - Page Two
Gordon Carleton was the most prolific staff illustrator for the State News newspaper in East Lansing, Michigan, his drawings appeared on nearly every page, accompanying news stories, stories regarding MSU, and for the ads of many local businesses. He didn’t do many for the bars and the concerts which is why few of his pieces have been included here, but this full-page illustration for a special section of the February 7, 1975 edition is an atypical, but nice example of his work.
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A full-page Discount Records ad for the album “Ghosts” by the Strawbs, released at the time that the English band made their fifth Michigan appearance, at the Michigan Palace in Detroit on February 8, 1975.
An ad for CTI/Kudu Records which were being distributed by Motown Records, in the February 8, 1975 issue of Billboard magazine.
Newspaper ad for the first Michigan appearance by Queen, at the Ford Auditorium in Detroit on February 10, 1975.
An Elektra Records ad for Queen with tour dates, including their first Michigan appearance, at the Ford Auditorium in Detroit on February 10, 1975.
The schedule for the Savoy in Detroit, Michigan starting with Deodato on February 10, 1975, followed by Muddy Waters and Grover Washington Jr. It was the third Michigan appearance for Brazilian musician Eumir Deodato, but his first as a headlining act.
His 1973 rendition of the Richard Strauss composition “Also sprach Zarathustra” was a surprise hit, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and winning the 1974 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. The amazing line-up on the track, with Deodato on keyboards, was Ron Carter and Stanley Clarke, both on bass, Billy Cobham on drums, John Tropea and Jay Berliner on guitars, Airto Moreira on percussion and Ray Barretto on congas.
Deodato - Also sprach Zarathustra (1973)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJKsp9_L24Q
An ad for Rod Stewart and the Faces, with Blue Oyster Cult at Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan on February 12, 1975. Two days later, Stewart and the Faces appeared at Cobo Arena in Detroit, on the 14th, with opening group Man.
Poster for a Rod Stewart and Faces tour, including two Michigan shows, in the second and third slots, at Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo on February 12, 1975, and at Cobo Arena in Detroit, on the 14th, both already sold out.
Poster by Ken Featherston for Commander Cody at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas, February 13-14, 1975.
Poster with Parliament-Funkadelic at Radio City Music Hall in New York City for eight shows, February 13-19, 1975.
Poster/ad for Marvin Gaye at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, NYC on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1975.
The schedule for the Savoy in Detroit, Michigan starting with Muddy Waters on February 14, 1975.
Poster/ad by Ted Echterling for a night of very avant-garde free jazz with Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill and Fred Hopkins at Michigan State University in East Lansing on February 15, 1975.
Posters for Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes in Tulsa, Oklahoma on February 15, 1975.
Ads for Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen in Dallas, Texas on February 15, 1975, and five days later in West Hollywood, California for four nights, February 20-23.
The 1974 Music Week Award winners, published in the February 15, 1975 issue of the British music magazine, with two Michigan women in top spots, Diana Ross for Albums-Female and Suzi Quatro for Singles-Female.
An ad for The Stables in East Lansing, Michigan with a nice six-night run by Sun Ra, February 17-22, 1975. Having performed in the state at least 29 times since 1967, he would not return to Michigan for another two years.
An ad for the Four Tops at the Michigan Palace in Detroit on February 20, 1975. The group Luv’s Expression later provided the vocals for ex-Motown band leader Choker Campbell’s 1977 album “Street Scene”.
Choker Campbell – Street Scene (1977)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGvO5qHulQg
Poster/ad for ZZ Top at the Finch Fieldhouse in Mount Pleasant, Michigan on February 21, 1975. Not mentioned is that the opening act was Rush.
A newspaper ad for Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti on February 21, 1975.
One of the greatest Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes posters, by Micael Priest for two shows at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas, February 21-22, 1975.
Ad an for Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas, February 21-22, 1975.
Non-descript poster for an appearance by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band with Catfish Hodge at East Detroit High School in Detroit, Michigan on February 22, 1975.
Poster by Amy Horowitz for Herbie Hancock with the Lyman Woodard Organization at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan on February 22, 1975.
Discount Records ad with tie-in to the concert by Herbie Hancock with the Lyman Woodard Organization at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan on February 22, 1975.
A full-page Warner Bros. Records ad in the February 22, 1975 issue of Billboard magazine that includes the newly-signed Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen with their first album for the label.
A pair of full-page ads/RAK Records posters for a nine-date UK tour by Suzi Quatro and her RAK Records label mates that kicked off in Glasgow, Scotland on February 23, 1975.
A full-page Atco Records ad with a tour itinerary for Roxy Music that includes a show at Ford Auditorium in Detroit, Michigan on February 24, 1975. It was the British group’s third Michigan show, and “by popular demand” a second Ford Auditorium show was added a week following, on March 3rd.
The reference to running afoul of the US Congress was in regards to the controversial (in the US) cover photo on the band’s most recent album “Country Life”. Early releases in the US were packaged in opaque shrink wrap; a later American release of “Country Life” (available during the years 1975–80) used the photo from the album's original back cover that featured only the foliage backdrop behind the models.
Here is a clip of Roxy Music performing one of the songs from “Country Life” live on the Midnight Special TV show later in the year:
Roxy Music – Out Of The Blue (live Midnight Special TV show) (1975)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E18qIkK9N6I
The schedule for the Savoy in Detroit, Michigan, starting with Louden Wainwright III on February 25-27, 1975, followed by Gil Scott Heron, Radio King & his Court of Rhythm, Papa John Creach, and J.J. Cale.
Poster/ad for War with Sugarloaf and Flash Cadillac in Kalamazoo, Michigan on February 26, 1975.
A full-page Warner Bros. Records ad for the release of the fifth album by Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen, published in the February 28, 1975 issue of the Ann Arbor SUN newspaper. The self-titled LP was their first for the major label and the recording and marketing of this record was the subject of Geoffrey Stokes’ 1977 book, “Star-Making Machinery”.
A real-nice Warner Bros. Records promo poster for the release of the fifth album by Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen, self-titled, in February 1975, with the awesome, as always, art work by the Commander’s brother Chris Frayne (Ozone).
It was their first release on Warner Bros. Records after four albums for Paramount and it became their highest charting, at #58 on the Billboard 200 album chart. It also yielded their second-highest charting single with “Don’t Let Go” which made it to #56 on the Billboard Hot 100, a distant second to “Hot Rod Lincoln” which actually broke into the national Top Ten in 1972.
Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen - Don’t Let Go (1975)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvh__taTu1I
Front and back covers of the 1975 album “Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen”, folded out with art by Chris Frayne.
The subscription form in the February 28, 1975 issue of the Ann Arbor SUN newspaper, with the premium offer of a free copy of the new album by Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen. Also, showing Warner Bros. Records’ promo dollars at work, landing the front page bottom strip of the February 8, 1975 issue of Billboard magazine.
Poster by Hugh Surratt for Gordon Lightfoot in East Lansing, Michigan on February 28, 1975.
The schedule for the Savoy in Detroit, Michigan, starting with Gil Scott-Heron on February 28, 1975. This was the first Michigan appearance for Gil Scott-Heron and he was in for quite a surprise.
Scott-Heron never knew his father, who had abandoned him and his mother shortly after his birth. Gil Sr. became a professional soccer player in Glasgow, Scotland, where he re-married, and he eventually brought his new family to live in Detroit. He never told his children from his second marriage about their famous half-brother, but at some point the oldest daughter Gayle found out and she began to collect the records and the magazine articles, following Scott-Heron’s career.
The following is excerpted from the Gil Scott-Heron biography “Pieces of a Man” by Marcus Baram:
“It was the winter of 1975, and Gil was playing in downtown Detroit, at the Shelby Hotel. Gayle wanted to introduce herself, but she was nervous. She got up the courage though, and went back-stage after the concert. When she told Gil that she was Gil Heron’s daughter, he fell back against a table. ‘He couldn’t believe it,” she says. ‘And when I told him that I had brothers – that really tripped him out.’ Gil was excited, gave Gayle a hug, and brought her onstage to meet the rest of the band: ‘This is my sister. This is my sister.’
“’I was impressed that he accepted me the way he did,’ Gayle says. ‘From that point on, we were brother and sister. We had just missed a lot of years.’ That evening she proposed that Gil come see his father. Gil was resistant – It wasn’t something he wanted to do. Gayle kind of roped him into it, and he couldn’t say no. So the next night Gayle picked up Gil and Brian (Jackson) and drove them through the light snow to the family’s house on Washburn Street so Gil could meet his father for the first time since he was a baby.”
The book goes on to describe the meeting, which was strained, though amicable, but was ultimately described as disappointing. “The only benefit to the ill-fated reunion” was that Gil got to meet his half-sister and one of his half-brothers, Denis, who “became family to him”. Denis quit his job at the Ford plant and joined up with Gil, first as a roadie and later becoming his manager.
“It took Gil two years to express his feelings about the reunion (with his father), in the only way he knew, through song lyrics:
“It was on a Sunday that I met my old man. I was twenty-six years old. Naw, but it was much too late to speculate. Hello Sunday, Hello Road”.
Gil Scott-Heron – Hello Sunday, Hello Road (1977)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtbKZDT5EuI
A picture sleeve for the promo single and a record store hanging display for the album “Flash Fearless Vs. the Zorg Women, Pts. 5 & 6”, a one-off comic book concept album with an all-star cast, released in February 1975. Alice Cooper is backed by John Entwistle on bass and Bill Bruford on drums on this, first of two, songs that Cooper contributed to the project.
Alice Cooper – I’m Flash (1975)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGz12SHLSXM
The month of March 1975 page from the Stanley Mouse Monster calendar.
The cover of the premier issue of Back Door Man, a music zine started by Phast Phreddie Patterson and Don Waller in Los Angeles, California in March 1975. Sub-titled “For Hard Core Rock ‘N’ Rollers Only”, it was practically the only publication to promote Ron Asheton’s band “New Order”, coming up soon.
The subscription page in the March 1975 issue of CREEM magazine, offering the book “Rock Dreams” by Guy Peellaert as a premium.
Stevie Wonder was the subject of the “CREEM’s Profiles” feature in the March 1975 issue, while the Extra CREEM section featured a profile on the musical Quatro family.
An ad for George Carlin at the Michigan Palace in Detroit on March 1, 1975.
A most-excellent poster by Parnell Nelson(?) for Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes with Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band in Madison, Wisconsin on March 2, 1975.
An ad for John Entwistle’s first Michigan appearance as a solo artist, already with four solo albums to his name, at the Masonic Auditorium in Detroit on March 2, 1975.
An MCA Records ad for John Entwistle with tour dates, including his first Michigan appearance as a solo artist, at the Masonic Auditorium in Detroit, the fifth show of the tour, on March 2, 1975.
Poster by Hugh Surratt and record store ad or Johnny Winter in East Lansing, Michigan on March 4, 1975. Winter had also performed in Detroit five days earlier, at Cobo Arena on February 28th.
The schedule for the Savoy in Detroit, Michigan, starting with Radio King & his Court of Rhythm on March 4, 1975.
An ad for Radio King & his Court of Rhythm at the Savoy Room in the Shelby Hotel in Detroit, Michigan, March 4-7, 1975.
Cover art by Overton Loyd for the March 6, 1975 issue of the Fifth Estate newspaper in Detroit, Michigan. Starting with this issue, Loyd became part of the FE staff, he would later become one of the main artists for George Clinton’s Parliament.
An ad for “A Night with The Beatles!” in the March 6, 1975 issue of the Fifth Estate newspaper in Detroit.
An ad for the Tribe at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, Michigan, March 7-8, 1975.
Yet another great poster from the Grand Valley State Colleges, in Allendale, Michigan, although not the usual Dome Productions. Poster is signed by Devoursiney, for Dead Eye Productions, for a show by the Whiz Kids and Hot Lucy on March 8, 1975.
A full-page ABC Records ad in the March 8, 1975 issue of Billboard magazine welcoming the newly-signed Dramatics to the label. The album “Dramatic Jukebox” featured their rendition of Billy Paul’s 1972 hit “Me & Mrs. Jones”, performed in the clip below, they stretch it out like a rubber band.
The Dramatics – Me & Mrs. Jones (1975)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaUWVEhmmiE
Volume Eleven - 1975 - continues - HERE
The front page bottom strip ad of the February 8, 1975 issue of Billboard magazine with Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen’s fifth album, self-titled.
Ads for Herbie Hancock at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, February 22, 1975.
