{"id":3629,"date":"2025-08-15T23:51:40","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T23:51:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=3629"},"modified":"2025-08-15T23:53:38","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T23:53:38","slug":"ftv-steve-seymour-connections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=3629","title":{"rendered":"FTV: Steve Seymour Connections"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201c<\/span>Don\u2019t Make Promises You Can\u2019t Keep,”<\/span><\/i> was written by Tim Harden and it became one of Gary Puckett and the Union Gap\u2019s many hits.\u00a0 Technically, it was the B-side of <\/span>Woman Woman<\/span><\/i>, but it was still a great song and ended up on their <\/span>Greatest Hits<\/span><\/i> LP.\u00a0 The title is also a line I used frequently when the occasion warranted it.\u00a0 It came to mind when I was sorting a box of books in the basement the other day and I ran into a paperback entitled <\/span>Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll Graffiti<\/span><\/i> published by Steve Seymour in 2007.\u00a0 It dawned on me that the last time Loraine was cutting my hair, I had mentioned the book and told her, \u201cHey, you would find this interesting.\u00a0 All I have to do is remember where I put it.\u201d\u00a0 I am glad to say that in this case, I didn\u2019t make a promise I couldn\u2019t keep.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Steve Seymour and his wife owned the Record Rack shop in Escanaba, Michigan for many years.\u00a0 Todd, from the WOAS-FM West Coast Bureau in Eugene, Oregon, grew up a few miles down the road from there in Powers.\u00a0 Todd was a frequent visitor to the store and he was the one who first put me on to the <\/span>Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll Graffiti <\/span><\/i>column Steve used to run in the<\/span> Escanaba Daily Press.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 The book I rediscovered for Loraine (a gift from Todd and Elizabeth at the WCB) is a collection of some of his writings from the early 2000s.\u00a0 Along the way, I had sent Steve an email commenting on one of his articles that Todd had sent me (from Steve\u2019s web site).\u00a0 Wteve and I began corresponding about various music topics, particularly ones concerning the Upper Peninsula music scene we were exposed to growing up.\u00a0 I was just up the road in Marquette before work transplanted me to Ontonagon so we both share a lot of common musical memories.\u00a0 In no particular order, this <\/span>FTV<\/span><\/i> mines just a few of his fascinating tales.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The first story isn\u2019t actually in the book, but if memory serves me correctly, the article that I first contacted Steve about involved some of the strange band names from the 1960s.\u00a0 I told him briefly about almost becoming a member of The Self Winding Grapefruit in the summer of 1967.\u00a0 We shared a few laughs about the Strawberry Alarm Clock, Chocolate Watchband, and other 60s band names.\u00a0 Not too long after this exchange, Steve emailed and said, \u201cMy wife and I went to see a concert at the casino in Harris the other night.\u00a0 I struck up a conversation with the man sitting in front of me.\u00a0 We were discussing the usual musical stuff and out of the blue, he said, \u2018I used to be the drummer in a band called The Self Winding Grapefruit in Marquette.\u2019\u00a0 I was so stunned I didn\u2019t think to mention that I knew about them through you.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For the record, I was subbing as a rehearsal drummer for the SWG band because the guy Steve had talked to wasn\u2019t showing up.\u00a0 The band called and asked if I could help them out.\u00a0 One fateful day, the regular drummer did show up and after seeing me pounding his drums, he decided to become more reliable.\u00a0 I never was offered a permanent gig but that was okay.\u00a0 I was just about to start my freshman year in high school and wasn\u2019t ready to start gigging regularly yet. \u00a0 I am sure my mother was just as happy that her early teen son wasn\u2019t going to be out and about until all hours playing music with a bunch of college age guys.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In a February 16, 2006, article, Steve inventoried the career numbers for The Rolling Stones up to that point.\u00a0 Near the end of the piece, he mentioned the passing of their long time road manager Chuch (\u2018Chooch\u2019) Magee.\u00a0 On July 18, 2002, The Stones and Magee were in Toronto rehearsing for their next tour when Chuch suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 54.\u00a0 Chuch had met and married a woman from Marquette and when their dear friend was laid to rest at Messiah Lutheran Church, the Stones flew into Sawyer International Airport for the funeral.\u00a0 They arrived without fanfare, played an acoustic rendition of <\/span>Amazing Grace<\/span><\/i> during the service, and departed to continue preparations for their upcoming world tour.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I was aware of this turn of events because my brother had called to tell me, \u201cI patted Mick Jagger on the shoulder at Chuch\u2019s funeral today.\u201d\u00a0 He cleared up my confusion after I asked, \u201cWho was Chuch and why was Mick Jagger at his funeral?\u201d\u00a0 Ron explained that Chuch was part of a group of his friends that did a lot of snowmobile and four-wheeler trips together over the years.\u00a0 To give you an idea of what kind of guy he was, nobody in this circle knew he worked for the Rolling Stones.\u00a0 All they knew was his work took him out of town for long stretches of time.\u00a0 Ron was impressed that the Stones did not make a big show of being there and the other people in attendance gave them space – no one took any pictures or asked for any autographs.\u00a0 \u201cHe sure is a short little guy,\u201d was Ron\u2019s last comment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0On a somewhat related note, Chuch Magee worked for the Faces when Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood were still with that band.\u00a0 They put out an excellent live album called <\/span>A Nod is as Good as a Wink . . . to a Blind Horse<\/span><\/i> in 1971.\u00a0 The cover photo shows the entire band on stage from above and behind.\u00a0 It was obviously taken from the lighting rig at the back of the stage.\u00a0 As it\u00a0 turned out, the photographer commissioned to take the shot was scared of heights so Chuch grabbed his camera, climbed the rigging, and took the shot used for the album cover.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0P.J. Olsson was the subject matter for <\/span>R\u2019n\u2019RG<\/span><\/i> on March 22, 2007.\u00a0 Steve tells the tale of Houghton native Olsson\u2019s path to becoming the lead singer for the Alan Parsons Project (APP).<\/span><\/p>\n

P.J. had his own solo musical career going when he was hired to be the engineer for a day on a track Parsons was working on for his album <\/span>A Valid Path.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>According to Olsson, \u201cI ended up there for six months, engineering, writing, singing, and mixing for Alan\u2019s last record.\u201d\u00a0 P.J. got a songwriting credit for the track <\/span>More Lost Without You<\/span><\/i> on which he also sang the lead vocals.\u00a0 Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour provided guitar on another cut.\u00a0 \u201cSomewhere along the way, Alan asked me to see his band,\u201d Olsson commented.\u00a0 \u201cI was horrified with what the lead singer at the time was doing to the songs.\u00a0 Alan asked if I could do better.\u00a0 I sang him <\/span>Time<\/span><\/i> and was hired for the next world tour.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Alan Parsons Project came to Houghton from October 9 – 12, 2007 to rehearse and then perform with the 65 member Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra.\u00a0 The KSO director was none other than Milt Olsson, P.J.\u2019s father.\u00a0 My wife and I attended this show that featured not only Parsons and P.J. Olsson, but also guitarist Godfrey Townsend, keyboardist Manny Focarazzo, bassist John Montagna, and drummer Steve Murphy.\u00a0 It was a wonderful concert and at the time I wrote, \u201c Murphy is not only an excellent drummer and vocalist, but the APP\u2019s biggest cheerleader for the KSO.\u00a0 Murphy continually acknowledged the KSO members seated behind the band with applause, thumbs up, and a lot of smiles.\u201d\u00a0 The orchestrations for the KSO backed concert were done by movie soundtrack composer Andrew Powell, KSO director Milt Olsson, and keyboardist Focarazzo.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In his March 16, 2006 article <\/span>Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll Queries Answered<\/span><\/i>, Steve proved that we grew up in the same musical age and have simpatico tastes in our musical choices: <\/span>\u00a0Question 1. What\u2019s the heaviest album in rock \u2018n\u2019 roll? <\/span>\u00a0SS:\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s easy.\u00a0 Led Zeppelin\u2019s debut LP, complete with the seminal <\/span>Dazed and Confused<\/span><\/i>, ranks as the weightiest slab of modern music.\u201d\u00a0 ME:\u00a0 I could not agree more.\u00a0 For me, learning to play the drums along with records took a different turn when <\/span>LZ 1<\/span><\/i> hit my turn table.\u00a0 I never was able to match John Bonham\u2019s bass drum footspeed on <\/span>Good Times, Bad Times<\/span><\/i>, but just trying to sound like him made me a better player.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Who\u2019s rock\u2019s greatest guitarist?<\/span> SS:\u00a0 \u201cThat was and is Jimi Hendrix.\u00a0 He only produced three albums during his lifetime and guitar players of the day couldn\u2019t figure out how he created his unmistakable sound.\u201d ME:\u00a0 As previously mentioned above, during the summer before my freshman year in high school, a bass player (who was my sister\u2019s classmate) called and asked me if I could drum for their rehearsals as their drummer wasn\u2019t showing up.\u00a0 The band was the aforementioned Self Winding Grapefruit.\u00a0 At one such session, future Walrus guitar player Mike McKelvy stopped by with Hendrix\u2019s first album he had bought on a trip to California.\u00a0 He dropped the needle on <\/span>Purple Haze<\/span><\/i> and our jaws dropped.\u00a0 McKelvy\u2019s band was playing <\/span>Purple Haze<\/span><\/i> at dances that fall and I was already a big fan.\u00a0 I learned a lot of my drum kit tricks playing grooves along with The Experience\u2019s drummer Mitch Mitchell and watching Mike\u2019s drummer Randy Seppala (who happened to play the identical Ludwig silver sparkle kit qw mine).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Which older disc has the best sound?<\/span> SS:\u00a0 \u201cPut on <\/span>Chronicle<\/span><\/i> by Creedence Clearwater Revival and prepare to be amazed.\u00a0 Singer, songwriter, lead guitarist, arranger, and producer\u00a0 John Fogerty masterfully put onto disc the \u2018swamp rock\u2019 he heard in his head.\u00a0 <\/span>Proud Mary, Green River, Who\u2019ll Stop the Rain, <\/span><\/i>and more still sound fresh today.\u201d\u00a0 ME:\u00a0 Amen, brother Steve, AMEN.\u00a0 CCR songs were also great fun to play and every one of the four bands I got to play with from 1970 through 1990 or so played a bunch of them.\u00a0 Getting to hear Fogerty perform in Eugene, Oregon last fall with his two son\u2019s band (Hardy Har) backing him showed that none of his songs have lost their vitality.\u00a0 Come to think of it, neither has John Fogerty.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. What rock \u2018n\u2019 roll book should everybody read? <\/span>\u00a0SS:\u00a0 \u201c<\/span>Heroes and Villains<\/span><\/i> by Steve Gaines is the true story of the Beach Boys and leader Brian Wilson.\u00a0 You\u2019ll wonder how Wilson, even if appearing fragile mentally, managed to survive his tumultuous life before and after the early hit-making years.\u00a0 Michael Jackson\u2019s got nothing on Brian Wilson.\u201d\u00a0 ME:\u00a0 I have read a couple of books about Brian Wilson, but not this one.\u00a0 I borrowed a couple Beach Boys 45s from my neighbor when I was first starting to learn my way around a drum kit, but I soon got into some heavier bands.\u00a0 I have always enjoyed playing Beach Boys songs live and still consider <\/span>Good Vibrations<\/span><\/i> one of my top ten rock songs of all time.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. What\u2019s the most under-rated rock band?<\/span> SS:\u00a0 \u201cThat has to be Badfinger.\u00a0 These Beatles proteges put out the perfect single, <\/span>Come and Get It<\/span><\/i> followed by <\/span>No Matter What<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Day After Day.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 They even wrote <\/span>Without You<\/span><\/i>, a song that became a big hit for Harry Nilsson and Maria Carey.\u00a0 Being compared to the Fab Four was both a blessing and a curse, however.\u00a0 Success eluded them and two members of the group committed suicide in a sad ending to a great band.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    ME:\u00a0 Two of my bands covered <\/span>No Matter What<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>I Can\u2019t Take It<\/span><\/i> thanks to my brother who got me their debut album <\/span>No Dice<\/span><\/i> for Christmas one year.\u00a0 The last member standing, Joey Molland, passed away just this year (of natural causes) but their music still sounds great fifty years after they first came out.\u00a0 Molland also played guitar with George Harrison on a lot of the sessions for George\u2019s triple L.P. <\/span>All Things Must Pass.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In a July 20, 2006 article, Steve recounts the story of Upper Peninsula native Kris Stevens.\u00a0 Stevens graduated from Ishpeming High School in 1962 and was a pal of a founding member of\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Da Yoopers, drummer Jim DeCaire.\u00a0 Stevens began his radio career at local station WJPD AM.\u00a0 The studio at that time was housed in a little red building on the opposite side of U.S. 41 from the current location of the Ski Hall of Fame (the transmitter building is still there but the studio was moved to a different location).\u00a0 Stevens was a natural and soon found himself moving up the radio DJ success ladder as employment opportunities in larger markets opened up.\u00a0 On Valentines Day of 1968, WLS AM 890 hired him and the station\u2019s 50,000 watt signal allowed listeners in the Upper Peninsula to once again hear Steven\u2019s golden tones.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I can\u2019t say if I ever heard him on WLS.\u00a0 Prior to Kris arriving in Chicago, we used to catch legendary WLS DJ Art Roberts on our ancient AM radio when we were at our camp on Huron Bay.\u00a0 Stevens was lured away from WLS by rival Windy City station WCFL AM in 1972. \u00a0 I never heard Stevens on that station either.\u00a0 His work was immortalized on the <\/span>Cruisin\u2019 1970<\/span><\/i> compilation put out by a Chess Records subsidiary label, Increase Records.\u00a0 This series of albums was compiled annually to document what was happening on rock radio.\u00a0 Each album\u00a0 presented songs from a famous DJ\u2019s playlist with snippets of commercials, weather reports, news, sports, and jingles mixed in – a simulated radio broadcast if you will.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Produced by Frank Slay, Stevens\u2019 playlist for 1970 included <\/span>Green Eyed Lady <\/span><\/i>(Sugarloaf), <\/span>Spirit in the Sky <\/span><\/i>(Norman Greenbaum), <\/span>Vehicle <\/span><\/i>(Ides of March), <\/span>One Less Bell To Answer <\/span><\/i>(Fifth Dimension), <\/span>Gypsy Woman <\/span><\/i>(Brian Hyland), <\/span>Sunshine<\/span><\/i> (Jonathon Edwards), and a 1960s WLS oldies by the Shirelles (<\/span>Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow<\/span><\/i>).\u00a0 The <\/span>Cruisin\u2019<\/span><\/i> series started in 1955 and continued over the next 18 years.\u00a0 They were easy to spot in the record bins with iconic cartoon cover art (by Mike Royer) telling the continuing story of \u2018Eddie\u2019 and \u2018Peg\u2019.\u00a0 Stevens would eventually land in California at another fabled station, KIIS in Los Angeles.\u00a0 In L.A. he founded Kris Erik Stevens Enterprises, a broadcast services company.\u00a0 He used KESE as the foundation for his continuing voice over work for outlets like HBO, ABC, NBC, CBS, and countless national companies like Levi\u2019s and McDonalds.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When he was still in the midwest, Stevens appeared as a guest host for WLUC-TV6\u2019s annual March of Dimes telethon.\u00a0 I saw him on air then and it had to have been after the 18 year old drinking law was enacted in Michigan in January 1972.\u00a0 This may be a strange way to remember the date, but this is what sticks in my mind:\u00a0 I was with some friends at a local watering hole and happened to see Stevens and some of his friends occupying several bar stools opposite our table.\u00a0 I recognized him because I had just seen him on the TV 6 telethon.\u00a0 They were having a good time and pretty well \u2018into their cups\u2019 as the Brits say.\u00a0 At one point, he turned to a woman sitting on the stool to his left and said, \u201cHi, I\u2019m Kris Stevens, the DJ.\u201d\u00a0 She eyed him for a few seconds, responded, \u201cWell, isn\u2019t that nice,\u201d before she turned her attention to the person on her left.\u00a0 Steven\u2019s party were still ribbing him about his failed pick up line when they headed to the next stop on their pub crawl.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I have written previously about some of my DJ inspirations like Mike Burr, Barry Seymour (no relation to Steve), and Dave Kreig.\u00a0 Like Stevens, they all got their start in radio DJing at Marquette County\u2019s AM stations (WJPD and WDMJ (WJPD\u2019s rival from Marquette)).\u00a0 Reading Steve Seymour\u2019s accounts of the Upper Michigan music scene back in the day kindled a lot of fond memories for me.\u00a0 When I get <\/span>Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll Graffiti <\/span><\/i>back from Loraine, I am going to have to read it again and see what other interesting tidbits I can mine from this fine book.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Top Piece Video – Tell ’em Gary – still looking for a better quality of video but maybe it will look better on a phone screen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t Make Promises You Can\u2019t Keep,” was written by Tim Harden and it became one of Gary Puckett and the Union Gap\u2019s many hits.\u00a0 Technically, it was the B-side of Woman Woman, but it was still a great song and ended up on their Greatest Hits LP.\u00a0 The title is also a line I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11,8,7,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bands-musicians","category-education","category-from-the-vaults","category-local-music-news","category-woas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3629"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3632,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3629\/revisions\/3632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}