Following a hunch

So, your saying most people sleep-walk through life? Nothing new here. As Ronald Reagan prooved, and the current leadership of this land prooves, the unexamined life is not only livable, but probably preferable.

I just realized that this comment belongs in the next entry. The one dealing with attention spans. sorry!

Detroit may have been exceptional to some extent. Can't provide hard analysis, but lots of prominent jazz musicians came out of Detroit in (roughly) the 1950s: the Jones brothers (Hank, Thad, Elvin), Kenny Burrell, Tommy Flanagan, Barry Harris, Donald Byrd, Yusef Lateef, Charles McPherson, Pepper Adams, Doug Watkins, among many others. I've read that there were some good school music programs (eg Cass Tech HS), but don't know how important they were.

Thanks. Probably this is history I should have known before posting my effusioins. Pending further information, though, I still think there's musical talent all over our country.

I half-agree and half-disagree with your above discussion. I agree that there is a great deal of musical talent all over the world, but I disagree with your statement that "the same thing could have happened in just about any other large American city". The culture of Detroit encouraged the musicians to grow. You are right when you say that there were strong music programs in the schools. The programs were much stronger than most cities, both during school time and in afterschool sessions, and summer sessions as well. The music was the solution many people used to encourage the children to stay out of drugs and off the streets.

Many of the radio stations were considered 'free' as well, allowing for a diversity in music that was also not found in many cities. This combination resulted in their being a strong level of music appreciation.

I realise that some cities like Memphis also had a strong musical influence, but I don't believe that every city followed the same path, which makes me think that not every city could have produced the vast number of musicians that Detroit has managed to produce. Motown, Rock, Jazz, Techno, and House, all impressive.

It's unfortunate that things have recently changed. The 'free' radio stations are now being overtaken by larger corporations intent on playing standardised formats. Bush's new initiatives in schools have also forced the schools to change the way they functioned all these years. Now that Detroit is abiding by all of Bush's fabulous new school policies, the children are losing their appreciation of the music, and the crime is rising again. Its a shame. Luckily the current mayor of Detroit has a strong vision and will hopefully be able to guide the city and overcome the current set-backs.

Thanks, Jodie. It's good to know more about this.

If we turn the clock back to the 1950s, did Detroit have any notable doowop groups? There were certainly a lot in Chicago, New York, and at least one famous one in Los Angeles (which surely means there were more). But I'm blanking on thinking of any from Detroit. There must have been some (and probably they were in every major city).

On another note -- I really like your photos! I went to the webiste to look at them....