Tuesday + Forest = Rock and Roll

A Tuesday night in February is something I traditionally shun by such methods as contracting a delirium inducing illness or by simply hiding under blankets with plentiful amounts of booze while pretending the sun is out. But this week, when Frank Lee (drummer of Red China, Jura, and role player in like 50 other bands) told me he would be guest DJing at the Loving Touch in Ferndale, I decided to try drinking beer in public for a change.

It turns out, Frank was invited by Tuesday night regular DJ Richie Wohlfeil (drummer of Mother Whale, and doer of many things.) The two collectively put on a pretty sweet show, though the vibe was a conversational one, and the volume of the music reflected this. It was good times all around, and as for the bar – well I can’t really hate on four dollar Bell’s drafts. The night was billed something along the lines of “Richie Wohlfeil plays rock n’ roll, featuring Frank Lee, a man of dark and moody tastes.” Over the course of the night, Frank’s stack included stuff such as Mogwai, Blonde Redhead, Oscillating Fanclub, Neil Young, The Talking Heads, and Joy Division. Meanwhile, Rich had a number of records perched around him in what looked like Ivy or ferns. So, I’m not sure if he played all of these last night, but he brought out records by bands such as The Velvet Underground, Human Eye, David Bowie, Bo Diddly, The MC5, and Hawkwind. I had to ask who Hawkwind was, but Rich was happy to explain that they were Lenny Kilmister’s band before Motorhead. Aside from being great guys to talk to, they won me over when someone played Dark Entries by the Bauhaus.

The two of them took turns playing jams, and they were clearly having a great time of it – giggling like school kids, air drumming behind the turntables, and talking to anyone who wandered over from the bar to ask a question or request a song. Richie brought along some poetry books and a stack of old records to sell, so I asked him a little more about that stuff. The records, it turns out, were from his store, The Hoard House, in Hamtramck. The Hoard House is an antique shop specializing from the Art Deco period through the mid-century. They buy and sell records, clothing, furniture, and other interesting stuff. The poetry books were all ones that Rich published, through his company Lo & Behold! Publications, including his own book of poems. His company also deals with merchandise for a few local bands, as well as selling some random cool things like Christmas cards. If all that wasn’t enough, Rich also has a radio show on Hamtramck based AM 1610. He explained that the station is almost all music, and that local bands who send in their releases are added into the circulation. So anyway, from talking with Rich a little bit, it became very evident that he does a lot of cool stuff aside from just being a DJ. He agreed to be on the show to talk more about his endeavors, (and even invited us to come on his show!) so look forward to that. I didn’t get as much of a chance to talk to Frank, but if you want to know more about him and what he does, you can check out episode 1 of the Hunky Dory Music Hour, in which Tom and I interview his band Red China.

Richie Wohlfeil DJs at the loving touch every Tuesday night, which he calls “Tuesdays in the Forest.” He’ll be the dude rocking out and declaring “how heavy this shit is.” He also throws a regularly occurring old school R&B party called “The Whip,” though the date of the next one is tbd. His partner in rhyme, Frank Lee, looks to soon bring his dark and moody tastes to a turntable near you.

Rich's publishing website: http://www.loandbeholdpublications.com/

Rock out with Rich in Mother Whale: http://www.myspace.com/themotherwhale

Space out with Frank in Jura: http://www.myspace.com/juramusic

Check out AM 1610, The Station: http://station.hamtramckstar.com/