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Norwalk
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Username: Norwalk

Post Number: 13
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2007 - 11:45 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

A belated congrats to Patti for her Selection to the Rock'N'Roll Hall of Fame. I was fortunate enough to see her Detroit debut at Ford Auditorium. For the encore of the Who's My generation she brought out special guest Fred Smith. It must of been spring of "76".Bebop Deluxe opened the show! It marked a big change in my life as far as music goes and I never looked back.

I had the great honor of being the manager of the Musicland store in Eastland Mall in the late 70's and early 80's and us vinyl junkies were always on the look out for the Smith's which when spotted we would follow around the Mall.

I do remember 1 time they actually came into the store Patti being very pregnant and bought a classical cassette. And when I told them the total they looked at each other looked at me and said what??? HOW MUCH???? and they reluctantly paid me. and went on their way
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Pam
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Username: Pam

Post Number: 865
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Friday, January 12, 2007 - 7:42 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Cool story. Yay for Patti, her induction was overdue.
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Middleageguy
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Username: Middleageguy

Post Number: 2
Registered: 01-2007
Posted on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - 3:03 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Can anyone name a song that she did that everyone would know? Something like A Coopers , "I'm 18"? She is not exactly a household name, and I really can't say she contributed significantly to songwriting or anything else? Whats her mystique?
What have I been missing ?
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Oldredfordette
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Username: Oldredfordette

Post Number: 1008
Registered: 02-2004
Posted on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - 3:07 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Because the Night (the real version, not the bloodless, sexless Natalie Merchant version).

She contributed significantly to modern rock music. That is a giant understatement.

Try picking up a copy of "Horses".

*still reeling from the example of Alice Cooper in context with Patti Smith*
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Rjlj
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Username: Rjlj

Post Number: 227
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - 3:21 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"I really can't say she contributed significantly to songwriting or anything else?"

Wow!! Way to rush to judgement without knowing the subject. Maybe just google Pattie Smith and CBGB's for a start and turn off your top 40 radio.
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Norwalk
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Username: Norwalk

Post Number: 16
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - 4:21 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

She was a published poet way before she became a rock'n'roller. But for Middleageguy sake I think Alice Cooper should have been elected before Patti. Both are deserving of the honor!
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Kenp
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Username: Kenp

Post Number: 166
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 9:18 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think its great she was picked though at first I was a little suprised. Somebody made the comment that it was long overdue, which also suprised me. However, when you look at past inductees they tend to pick one act from the punk genre every year. I see Blondie, the Sex Pistols and the Ramones were all picked before her. She was a pioneer in punk rock culture, and deserves everything those bands that are already inducted have.
I always wondered if the act Gilda Radner did on SNL as the punk rocker was based on Patti.

Gives me hope for Iggy to be in the Hall one day. We should start our own musical hall of fame here in Detroit.
Congratulations PS
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Bussey
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Username: Bussey

Post Number: 477
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 10:17 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Are the MC5 in the hall already?
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Pam
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Username: Pam

Post Number: 896
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 10:19 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

I always wondered if the act Gilda Radner did on SNL as the punk rocker was based on Patti.



Yes.

I believe she would have first been eligible for nomination in 2000, so waiting 7 years does seem overdue to me. Especially while acts of lesser merit got in during that time.
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Schoolcraft
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Username: Schoolcraft

Post Number: 78
Registered: 07-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 10:30 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

And her connection to Fred Smith/Detroit probably started because she first met him at none other than Lafayette Coney Island at a private party...I always thought that was cool.
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Gianni
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Username: Gianni

Post Number: 272
Registered: 05-2004
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 10:33 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

LMAO at "still reeling from the example of Alice Cooper in context with Patti Smith."
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Pam
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Username: Pam

Post Number: 898
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 10:43 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

And her connection to Fred Smith/Detroit probably started because she first met him at none other than Lafayette Coney Island at a private party..



She had a Detroit connection before that. Creem mag. published her writing.
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Schoolcraft
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Username: Schoolcraft

Post Number: 79
Registered: 07-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 10:46 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

If James Jewell Osterberg, Jr. and
Vincent Damon Furnier are not in Hall of Fame it is a sin for sure. But the Hall of Fame is in Cleveland not Detroit so thats the original sin.
Detroit definitely should start its own. The greatest music in the last 50 years has come out of Detroit and UK/Ireland..hands down.
Patti Rules!
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Carolcb
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Username: Carolcb

Post Number: 18
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 11:05 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

In 1976 when I was at EMU, her album "Horses" was the coolest thing for me at the time. Find the song "Gloria" and play it! My kids and I were in Chicago several years ago and walked in the door of Tower Records and it was playing. I almost fell over, it sounds as great today as it did then. But if you werent of the Ziggy Stardust/Roxy Music genre back then - you probably thought it was stupid - as most of my friends at the time did. I thought it sounded fantastic! "Jesus died for somebodys sins but not mine....."
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Kenp
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Username: Kenp

Post Number: 168
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 11:17 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

James Jewell Osterberg, Jr jumped on me from the stage at Pine Knob a couple years ago. If was a big highlight for me. He was trying to get people on the stage and the Pine Knob security were freaking out. It was kaos which gave me my opportunity to get from row 15 to row 1 and the stage. I got into a argument with security because they were roughing up people. Next thing I know I look up and he is right in front of me. He kind of snarled and then jumped right on me. He got back on stage with half his ass hanging out of his pants and kept on singing.
Props to Norwalk for the thread, and Pam Im interested in your musical knowledge. Tell us a good PS story
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Pam
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Username: Pam

Post Number: 899
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 11:44 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

Tell us a good PS story



Hmm, I don't know if I have any good stories! Just read a lot about her and liked her records. I was a bit young to really "get" her in her heyday. Appreciated her more as I got older. I saw her do a benefit show in Ann Arbor were she just did a reading. This was at the Nectarine Ballroom, can't remember the year. I also saw her at one of those 89X fests in '95 I think. Haven't seen her since she came out of retirement and moved back to NYC. Her recent music is still good, in my opinion.
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Pam
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Username: Pam

Post Number: 901
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 12:19 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I just remembered there was a famous fight between Ted Nugent and Patti Smith at WABX. Can anyone remember the details? I read about it at the time. Just tried Google and didn't find much.
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Cheguevara
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Username: Cheguevara

Post Number: 48
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 1:16 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Patti's website:
www.pattismith.net
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Middleageguy
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Username: Middleageguy

Post Number: 5
Registered: 01-2007
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 2:41 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

OK, OK, Rjlj.... so I rushed to judgement. I am ignorant of her contributions...But somebody tell me what was significant, innovative?
WHod did she clearly influence?
Is she anything like Iggy?

BTW, do not rush to assume I listen to top 40.....ugghhh!!!
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Pam
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Username: Pam

Post Number: 904
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 2:56 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

...But somebody tell me what was significant, innovative?




http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg .dll?p=amg&sql=11:2r63mp9d9f8o ~T1
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Bongman
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Username: Bongman

Post Number: 1400
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 3:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I remember Patti Smith backing up Journey in I believe Port Huron in the late 70's. The third band was Van Halen, who were on their first tour. They cancelled a week before because their debut album started getting major airplay.
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Swingline
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Username: Swingline

Post Number: 675
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 3:59 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Patti Smith was perhaps the first female performer to pursue a rock and roll career in a direction other than as a Top 40 hitmaker. Her poetry and politics led her down that trailblazing path. She was/is hard, loud and raw, yet capable of an emotional ballad. She really is the original female "hard" rocker. (I hate the "hard rocker" term. We need a better one.)

Patti Smith was the perfect choice as the last artist to perform at CBGB's last fall. Given her career choices, I was not surprised to learn that upon her return to the concert stage in the last couple of years, she continued to perform "Rock and Roll Nigger" No bowing there to political correctness from any direction.
quote:

Rap
I haven't fucked much with the past.
But I've fucked plenty with the future.

Song
Baby was a black sheep. Baby was a whore.
Baby got big and baby get bigger.
Baby get something. Baby get more.
Baby, baby, baby was a rock-and-roll nigger.
Oh, look around you, all around you,
riding on a copper wave.
Do you like the world around you?
Are you ready to behave?

Outside of society, they're waitin' for me.
Outside of society, that's where I want to be.

How's that for a Hall of Fame anthem.
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Taj920
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Username: Taj920

Post Number: 171
Registered: 01-2004
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 9:15 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Used to see Patti and Fred in the old Lido's now Andiamo's on Jefferson. Also saw her on the Journey tour in '78 at the Lansing Arena.
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Barnesfoto
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Username: Barnesfoto

Post Number: 2937
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007 - 1:46 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I remember when "Easter" came out...a friend's older brother had just bought it, and put it on, and my taste in music changed instantly...
Her voice was so powerful and so pure and the music was stripped down and raw and honest, gentler than Iggy, but still strong enough to shatter glass.
A few days later I opened the door of my parent's house and frisbeed my Led Zeppelin records out the door and down the street.
Next I heard the B'52s, then the Clash, then Pere Ubu, even though they were already a few years old...I never listened to WRIF again, and nothing was ever the same.
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Barnesfoto
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Username: Barnesfoto

Post Number: 2938
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007 - 1:51 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

ps, for some of her writing, check out "The Coral Sea", which is a memorial of sorts to her good friend, the great photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.
Most of the photographs on her earlier albums were done by him.
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Beavis1981
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Username: Beavis1981

Post Number: 61
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007 - 2:02 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

WOW rockers with your memory jackets and enchanted guitar picks no wonder they sell colanders with wires attached to them as time machines
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Oldredfordette
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Username: Oldredfordette

Post Number: 1020
Registered: 02-2004
Posted on Saturday, January 20, 2007 - 12:27 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'll share my Patti Smith memory. On the anniversary of her husbands death, Patti donated the big Mariners cross on the Mariner's Church downtown - they were married there. And had a ceremony in the church in celebration. Patti and Lenny Kaye sang a bit, her son played guitar too, then she spoke of Sonic and gave buttons with the cross to the crowd. What I mostly remember is her incandescent smile and the one song she played, from her great CD Dream of Life, Paths that Cross

Speak to me
Speak to me heart
I feel a needing
to bridge the clouds
Softly go
A way I wish to know
A way I wish to know

Oh you'll ride
Surely dance
In a ring
Backwards and forwards
Those who seek
feel the glow
A glow we will all know
A glow we will all know

On that day
Filled with grace
And the heart's communion
Steps we take
Steps we trace
Into the light of reunion

Paths that cross
will cross again
Paths that cross
will cross again

Speak to me
Speak to me shadow
I spin from the wheel
nothing at all
Save the need
the need to weave
A silk of souls
that whisper whisper
A silk of souls
that whispers to me

Speak to me heart
all things renew
hearts will mend
round the bend
Paths that cross
cross again
Paths that cross
will cross again

Rise up hold the reins
We'll meet again I don't know when
Hold tight bye bye
Paths that cross
will cross again
Paths that cross
Will cross again


A lovely graceful woman, and a kick ass rocker.
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Matt_the_deuce
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Username: Matt_the_deuce

Post Number: 693
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Saturday, January 20, 2007 - 1:23 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I was at the memorial too. A very touching ceremony.

I commend her for having an event that was so personal in nature, and making it open to the public. A very open and giving gesture.
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Wfw
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Username: Wfw

Post Number: 167
Registered: 03-2004
Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007 - 11:23 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

First off, I should mention that I'm an email subscriber to the "Lefsetz Letter", which is a music-biz newsletter read by many industry heavy-weights (not that I fall into that category, but anyway...). It seems Patti Smith's nomination into the RnR Hall of Fame has caused a great bit of controversy among the readers of the newsletter, with subscribers evenly divided between "long overdue", and "never should have happened".

I personally have no particular affinity for Patti Smith's work. Granted, I'm not that familiar with her work, but what I have heard leaves me unimpressed. I think at base what we have here is an attempt to flesh out the "women's section" of the RnR Hall of Fame, since for the most part it's just a big 'ol boys club. I mean hell, Blondie got in last year for god's sake...Obviously Patti Smith has more legitimacy than Debbie Harry, but that's not saying much.

However, the real argument here isn't whether Patti Smith deserves to be in the RnR Hall of Fame. The real argument is, does the Hall of Fame even matter? I would argue that it's irrelevant. Music appreciation is a subjective experience, and one man's trash is another man's treasure. Rock and Roll is about the feeling it gives you, not about whether some sinister cabal of industry types believes you're worthy of induction into the hall of fame. I'm sure Patti Smith could care less whether she's inducted or not.

So, keep on rocking, and hall of fame be damned!
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Oldredfordette
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Username: Oldredfordette

Post Number: 1029
Registered: 02-2004
Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007 - 11:47 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame might not matter, but to dismiss her incredible body of work as an attempt to flesh out the "womens section" is just plain ignorant. Perhaps you should familiarize yourself with her work before you make an astonishing statement like that.

The Lefsetz Letter is available for anybody through Rhino Records or at http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/? p=subscribe&id=1. Bob Lefsetz gasses on at length about music that interests him, regardless of accuracy. It's not exactly insider stuff, it's a oldies gossip column.
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Kenp
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Username: Kenp

Post Number: 171
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007 - 11:57 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The Rock and Roll hall of fame is a business. I have been told that one of the main reasons Bob Seger was inducted was because Kid Rock promoted it and gave the induction speech and performed at the show. It was all about TV ratings.
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Rjlj
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Username: Rjlj

Post Number: 230
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007 - 12:06 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

TV ratings? I guess that explains why we see so much Roak and Roll Hall of Fame stuff on TV.
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Kenp
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Username: Kenp

Post Number: 172
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007 - 12:10 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The induction show is big bucks and is televised,
at least for the rock and roll hof. Not sure of the roak hall your referring to.
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Oldredfordette
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Username: Oldredfordette

Post Number: 1030
Registered: 02-2004
Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007 - 12:12 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Have you ever been there? It's always half empty. They have to get revenue somehow since ticket sales won't do it.

It should have been built in Memphis, and this should be in another thread!

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