One girl’s material
One of 10 Detroit Discs that Shook the World: Madonna’s self-titled debut hit the shelves as MTV was catching on, as disco waned and just after punk gave way to New Wave.
Show us the money
Auditor General Joe Harris addresses the city’s inefficent and wasteful spending…
Heroes for our time
Relearning courage: ACLU activist Robert Sedler urges all Americans to uphold our civil liberties and values, even in the face of terrorism.
Unhappy meal
University Cultural Center upset over new fast food locale…
Universe-soul shakedown
One of 10 Detroit Discs that Shook the World: Mick Collins and Carl Craig talk about the influence of Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions — it’s the sound of an artist at the peak of his powers.
Tower of dour
As we’ve seen in this space these past months, not all abandoned homes are created equal. Many are decrepit dumps that serve as homeless hotels in rundown neighborhoods. Others possess such a stately elegance that allowing them to deteriorate to the point where they must fall victim to the wrecking ball seems almost criminal. This…
Designer drug
Trading Spaces offers an addictive dose of potential disaster…
… & all we got was this stupid diary
Nate Cavalieri plays keyboards in the Come Ons, local-hero soul-garage rockers currently touring Europe. Because Nate’s also Night & Day editor for Metro Times, we asked him to keep a road diary so us kids back home can know what’s going on whilst he and the band ride the Eurotrain powered by Jack White and…
Sista Ree spells it out
One of 10 Detroit Discs that Shook the World: Aretha Franklin’s I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You signaled the arrival of the new kind of voice, a rallying cry for feminism, sexual liberation and racial equality.
Abandoned Shelter of the Week
As we’ve seen in this space these past months, not all abandoned homes are created equal. Many are decrepit dumps that serve as homeless hotels in rundown neighborhoods. Others possess such a stately elegance that allowing them to deteriorate to the point where they must fall victim to the wrecking ball seems almost criminal. This…
Blame Canada
One of 10 Detroit Discs that Shook the World: Alice Cooper’s Love It to Death nailed the hippie coffin shut and ushered in a whole new era of rock ’n’ roll.
Jumping on board a runaway train
Every time I mention the book They Went Whistling: Women Wayfarers, Warriors, Runaways and Renegades to another woman, her eyes widen with interest (even if she’s on the phone. You can tell these things), and she asks to hear the full title again. When she hears the categories, along with the rest of the chapter…
Gangsta surprise
One of 10 Detroit Discs that Shook the World: Before Eminem’s Slim Shady LP, the only white faces associated with hip hop were a joke.
Jazz Age follies
Regardless of its visual quality and the treasures found in some of its performances, Peter Bogdanovich’s re-enactment of a rumored murder among the royalty of Hollywood’s golden age is tarnished by the flawed plot and stagy dialogue of its script — with Kirsten Dunst.
Heartlines
Mosaic Youth Theatre’s power-potent play HeartBEAT intertwines the ancient connections between love, hate, motion and rhythm.
Nine Queens
Argentinian director Fabian Bielinsky’s feature debut is the story of two con men, an old pro and a young beginner, who hook up for a day and seemingly stumble on the score of a lifetime. “Seemingly," of course, is the key word here, since this is the kind of movie that begs to be second-guessed.
Letters to the Editor
Fixing the neighborhoods This is in response to a letter you published from Ryan Dloski (Metro Times, April 24-30, 2002). I find it hard to believe that a reader in Grosse Pointe Woods has a clear idea of what Detroit needs. Living and working in Detroit, I feel surrounded by despair and destruction. I drive…
World Traveler
Which direction do we look to for self-definition? In, out, behind — or is the answer out on the road? This is an important film, existing in a space well beyond entertainment, not doing anything new when it comes to style or technique, just breaking through a few brick walls to understanding the human condition…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Half of what you know today will be obsolete in five years. This is a perfect time to figure out which half that might be; all the supposedly tried-and-true information that has already begun to decay. Next, plan your learning adventures. What training can you get that will ensure you’re not…
Proto-punks
One of 10 Detroit Discs that Shook the World: The eight-song Stooges debut album is the first punk rock record — at once spare and haunting, brimming with sex and raw as fuck-all.
The Last Waltz
Filmed on Thanksgiving Day 1976, this farewell concert by the Band and special guest icons (Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, et al.) is atmospherically captured by Martin Scorsese in a kind of plush-noir style. Much of the music is very good in a way that seems nearly timeless.
Too close for comfort
Q: I am married with a 2-year-old child. My husband is passionate and caring. I expected our sex life to diminish after having a child, but it hasn’t. We have sex several times a week and it is really satisfying. My best friend had a child about the same time we did. We get together…
Time to holler
One of 10 Detroit Discs that Shook the World: One of the most amazing albums ever made, Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On is an intimate lesson in contemporary urban black history.
Piñero
For those not familiar with the life of poet-playwright and legend Miguel Piñero, director Leon Ichaso’s film will be a slightly bewildering experience, as it narrates Piñero’s painful odyssey without laying down much in the way of a coherent timeline — with Benjamin Bratt, Talisa Soto, Giancarlo Esposito, Mandy Patinkin and the glorious Rita Moreno.
Film noir, stuffed and baked
Walk & Squawk Performance Project’s newest play, Dirty Little Stories, casts several symbolic cycles of two ill-fated lovers in the shadowy world of film noir.
Big bangs
Between stately art deco theaters and the haunted ruins of downtown, between 250-year-old churches and Mexicantown, across the multiethnic expanse of bars and factories, there is a rattle and an energy in the Motor City that is undeniable. And it is so powerful that you can feel it resonate when you simply stand on a…
Life or Something Like It
This is Angelina Jolie’s first venture into comedy, and although well-endowed enough to play dramatic, action and hottie roles, she doesn’t have the chops to carry lines that call for a comedic magician to pull them off. And Life’s script is mediocre at best.
May 1-7, 2002
1 WED • MUSIC Broadzilla — Now that drummer Angie Zilla is fully recovered from her bout with breast cancer, the feisty Zilla girls are back in full force with their patented brand of tits-in-your-face and foot-up-your-ass attitude. If the band’s Hamtramck Blowout performance is any indication, Angie’s brush with mortality has breathed new life…
Scandal & scapegoats
Introspective questioning debunks several of the current myths surrounding the heated sexual conflicts within the Catholic Church.
Romanian holiday
Transylvania House is all-Romanian-all-the-time. The mushroom goulash appetizer, served warm, is amazing. Also good was a simple clear chicken soup with skinny noodles and parsley, and a romaine salad with onions, lemon and fresh dill. Dearborn’s Transylvania House milks the Dracula connection, displaying a picture of Vlad the Impaler and showcasing a black-clad guitarist named…
Blowin’ our blues away
One of 10 Detroit Discs that Shook the World: In “Boogie Chillen”, John Lee Hooker anticipates by almost 20 years that world-famous Motor City prime directive: Kick out the jams!
Who ought to audit?
SEC sues seven former officers of MCA Financial Corp. for allegedly lying to investors…
The tale of the tape
Q: I’m a 25-year-old student living with my wife at my dad’s place. My parents got divorced a couple of years ago (he had an affair), and my wife lost her job about four months ago. My dad graciously offered to let us stay with him for a few months. The other day, I had…
Discount makeover
Mayor Kilpatrick hopes Detroiters will volunteer their time and energy for “Kids Cops Clean”…
Freak-zone funk
One of 10 Detroit Discs that Shook the World: Perhaps no other LP crystallized the countercultural aesthetic quite so deftly as Funkadelic’s self-titled debut… They took the funk national.
Godsend in blue
Kilpatrick declares the appointment of new Detroit Police Chief, Jerry Oliver, as an “act of God”…
