Juan Atkins and Richard Atkins first recorded as Cybotron in 1981, and the release of their first full-length — on an almost-major label, no less — was a huge deal, spreading this innovative sound from our fair city and across the world.
16) Detroit Blues: The Early 1950s compilation, Various (Blues Classics, 1966)
Compiled by Chris Strachwitz (later of Arhoolie) with liner notes from blues scholar Paul Oliver, this compilation of mind-bending blues from the likes of One-String Sam and Dr. Ross showed just how dirty and weird the blues became once it hit our shores.
17) Going to a Go-Go, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (Tamla, 1965)
Their first album with Smokey Robinson receiving top billing, this magnificent Miracles album found the act backed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Funk Brothers, and alongside the title track it has "Tracks of My Tears" and "My Girl Has Gone."
18) Houserockin', The Gories (Wanghead, 1989)
Though they were unfairly compared to the Cramps (who they'd never heard) these blues punk primitivists really didn't sound like anyone else when they first recorded in the late 1980s. This is howling, noisy, messy music that makes you want to stop what you're doing, and tear shit up.
19) The Quest compilation, Drexciya (Submerge, 1997)
Further proof that dance music in Detroit is far ahead of its time came from these 1990s retro electro heads, whose techno was influenced by "a unique mythology involving a race of undersea dwellers born from pregnant slave women thrown overboard into the Atlantic."
20) Afro Harping, Dorothy Ashby (Cadet, 1968)
Dorothy Ashby was the great genius of the harp in jazz music, paving the way for the Detroit-born Alice Coltrane. This relentlessly funky and diverse album is a joy from start to end, but the opening track "Soul Vibrations" begs repeated plays.
21) Greatest Hits compilation, Hank Ballard & the Midnighters (Federal, 1956)
As R&B morphed into rock 'n' roll, the Midnighters were at the forefront of the revolution. By 1956, they had enough killers to warrant this dancefloor-flooding collection, with songs such as "Moonrise," "Work with me Annie," and "Get It."
22) Someday My Blues Will Cover the Earth, His Name Is Alive (4AD, 2001)
Longtime Livonian Warren Defever's His Name Is Alive project really deserved universal success on the level of Moby with this, perhaps his sexiest and most cohesive album. Lovetta Pippen's voice is deeply soulful, and the album itself differed quite a bit from the group's previous efforts.
23) Cold Fact , Rodriguez (A&M, 1971)
Rodriguez's story of being a huge star in South Africa and Australia (unbeknownst to him) and unknown at home (which he knew all too well) has been told now, thanks to the justly celebrated, Grammy-winning 2012 documentary Searching for Sugarman. His folksy, soulful, genre-bending debut remains a high point for singer-songwriters with full bands.
24)Tied Down, Negative Approach (Touch & Go, 1983)
When Black Flag played in town, they were a little bit intimidated, as Detroit hardcore was so fierce, strange, and raw. And while its two best bands, the Necros and Negative Approach, had made phenomenal 7-inches, neither made full-lengths that equaled their chaotic live shows. Of the bunch, Negative Approach's debut, Tied Down, is the best.
25) Signed, Sealed & Delivered, Stevie Wonder (Tamla, 1970)
The cover image of Mr. Wonder about to ship himself off in a box, à la Waldo Jeffers, is ridiculous. But the hit record itself is a high water mark for the creative pop-soul engine that was Motown in the 1960s. The take on "We Can Work It Out" is one of the best Beatles covers ever recorded.
26) Elephant, White Stripes (V2, 2003)
One listen to this stripped-down, blues-loving garage rock duo's less stripped-down and excellent fourth album (their first for a major label), and it was instantly clear that these critics' darlings were about to play stadiums the world over, and just basically become Led Zeppelin for the Dubya years. The only weird thing is how much they deserved it.
27) Old, Danny Brown (Fool's Gold, 2013)
By the time his third album was finally released at the end of 2013, there was no denying that this witty, talented rapper was making some of the most forward-thinking and fun hip-hop anywhere, brazenly sampling the Moments, Alan Parsons Project, and "Return of the G."
28) Faces & Phases compilation, Kevin Saunderson (6x6, 1996)
Born in Brooklyn and raised in Belleville, Saunderson befriended Derrick May and Juan Atkins in high school (they later became known as the "Belleville Three" for their work pioneering techno). Featuring tracks recorded as Reese, Tronik House, E-Dancer, and Inner City, Faces remains the key entry point to Saunderson's deep grooves.
29) Kick Out the Jams, MC5 (Elektra, 1969)
The debut album by the Motor City Five was recorded live at the Grande Ballroom, on both Devil's Night and Halloween, in 1968. Incredibly influential, high-energy rock music that was a huge influence on punk rock, the album starts with the intensity of a swearing preacher and ends with an interpretation of an intergalactic jazz jam by Sun Ra.
30) Judgment Day, Esham (Reel Life, 1992)
Rapper Esham's second studio album, released in two volumes, was in some way an answer to Prince's Love Symbol record, though you'd never think that to listen to this prime early example of horrorcore. A huge influence on ICP, Kid Rock, and all that would follow, this demented and rock-influenced hip-hop still has plenty of edge to this day.
31) Ted Lucas, Ted Lucas (Om, 1975)
Though he quite nearly made it big in the late 1960s with a series of bands, he never did. And in the mid 1970s, Lucas quietly released this slow-burning selection of nimble acoustic guitar work and great stoner singer-songwriter fare for his own label, Om.
32) Ultraglide in Black, Dirtbombs (In the Red, 2001)
In an alternate universe, songs like "Ode to a Black Man," "Underdog," and "Your Love Belongs Under a Rock" would have all served as the soundtrack to the latest Scorsese film, catapulting Mick Collins and crew into superstardom. That didn't happen, of course, but this is soulful garage at its finest.
33) What's Going On, Marvin Gaye (Tamla, 1971)
With a level of poetry and composition easily rivaling that of other song cycle albums such as Pet Sounds, Strangers in the Night, and Astral Weeks, What's Going On, Gaye's stunning eleventh studio album, is told from the perspective of a vet returning from the Vietnam War.
+ 1/3) "Sharevari," A Number of Names (Capriccio, 1981)
Detroit's first techno 12-inch is so awesome and audacious, with its fake Euro (French? German?) accent and insistent, Kraftwerk-ish beats and bleeps. Like all great Detroit dance music from this time, it's a stellar work of reinvention.
