Detroit Soundtracks Vol 1

This is the first issue of Detroit Soundtracks. It is a project I'm starting up to chronicle the city of Detroit through music- mostly 45s from Peoples Records on Woodward Avenue and mostly old Detroit acts. The aim is to capture the essence of the city today as you would for the background music of a film.

MACK Tracklist:

1 I Don't Know - Violinaires
2 Is It Me You Really Love - Black Velvet
3 Soulful Dress - Sugar Pie Desanto
4 I'll Keep Coming Back - Detroit Emeralds
5 What Our Love Needs - King Floyd
6 Eyes - Yvonne Baker
7 There's A Leak In This Old Building - The Pennington Specials
8 There Is Not A Friend Like A Lonely Jesus - The Mighty Kings of Harmony
9 Honey Dove - Lee Fields & The Expressions
10 She's So Good - Steve Mancha


1 http://www.themusichutch.com/listen.php?songid=58862
2 http://www.themusichutch.com/listen.php?songid=59095
3 http://www.themusichutch.com/listen.php?songid=59097
4 http://www.themusichutch.com/listen.php?songid=58874
5 http://www.themusichutch.com/listen.php?songid=59099
6 http://www.themusichutch.com/listen.php?songid=58875
7 http://www.themusichutch.com/listen.php?songid=58883
8 http://www.themusichutch.com/listen.php?songid=58863
9 http://www.themusichutch.com/listen.php?songid=58878
10 http://www.themusichutch.com/listen.php?songid=59100

Volume 1 chronicles a wandering drive I took on the first warm spring day in Detroit. Leaving Woodward and heading East on Mack - the trip quickly flows from bustling (Detroit-Style) Woodward Ave through an industrial S-Curve to a stretch of empty, destroyed, or lightly occupied industrial buildings peppered with prostitutes out front. Along the residential stretches of Mack signs for Block Clubs stand on empty corners and gospel churches recur with regularity. At St Jean, I steered back, looping through vastly vacant neighborhoods along Charlevoix and Goeth, the pace slow and habitation coming in small groupings of activity.

Highlights include:
Gospel Hands Car Wash
The Block Clubs along the N side of Mack
Dream Twist (advertising "Pork Chop Sand" + "Ice Cream Sandwich", etc.)
A vacant candy store with Mickey and Minnie painted on the side holding hands & smiling
A burning house (firefighters on the scene) - no joke