The Wisdom of Jerry From Queens
Longtime Soundcheck listeners may recall that we used to regularly get calls from “Jerry From Queens” when we opened the phones. That’s my brother Jerry, who before changing jobs had a position that...
View ArticleWalking The Line
I come from a union family. I walked my first picket line when I was 6, along with my brothers Jerry, who was also 6 (we are the same age every December, and it was Christmas season), and possibly...
View ArticleSoundcheck Smackdown: Gotham vs. Motown
The ballfield isn’t the only place where New York and Detroit are facing off. Today: The music of the two metropolises go head to head in a city versus city Soundcheck Smackdown. Plus:...
View ArticleThe (Crappy) Week In Review
Two big stories occupied us on Soundcheck this week: first, the Detroit/New York baseball playoffs led us to a Soundcheck Smackdown on which city had the better music scene; and we also looked at the...
View ArticleMy Brightest Diamond And yMusic: Where Indie Rock And Indie Classical Meet
Remember the Venn diagram? You know, two circles that overlap a little bit where they meet… well, if we made a Venn diagram consisting of indie rock in one circle, and indie classical in the other, My...
View ArticleThe Saga Of Strata Records
During its brief run in the late 1960s and '70s, Detroit's Strata Records put out just six albums, but the owners of the jazz and funk label recorded many more that went unreleased. Now, one New York...
View ArticleA Band Called Death: Something Special From The Very Beginning
In the 1970s, three brothers in Detroit — Bobby, Dannis, and David Hackney — formed a band called Death. Until recently, their story had gone almost entirely untold. But the new documentary A Band...
View ArticlePunk, Then And Now: Savages, Death, And A Magazine That Burned Out Before It...
Soundcheck is revisiting some of our favorite segments from the past year. Today, we're presenting "Punk, Then And Now," featuring a live set from a highly celebrated new post-punk band, a documentary...
View ArticleMadonna's Detroit Roots
In 1984, shortly after Madonna embarked upon her musical career, Detroit News reporter Susan Whitall interviewed Madonna about her childhood growing up outside of Detroit. Now, 30 years later, Susan...
View ArticleDanny Brown: A Motor City Hip-Hop Original
Even in a crowded field of hip-hop megastars, there's no denying Danny Brown is a straight-up original. Recording since his teens, the dynamic young rapper burst out of Detroit's underground hip-hop...
View ArticleGig Alert: R. Ring
ARTIST: R. RingGIG: Friday night at the Bell House Until now, the rock duo known as “R-Ring” was mostly spare atmosphere, guitars and voices. But a new single shows the group wearing its shaggier,...
View ArticleMLK's Original 'I Have A Dream' Speech
Click on the audio player above to hear this interview.We all know Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech—it’s remembered nearly every January, when we celebrate the federal holiday...
View ArticleRemaking Detroit
Detroit-area native Mark Binelli talks about Detroit—it’s long downward spiral and its new role as a laboratory for the future of cities. In Detroit City Is the Place to Be, he goes beyond the usual...
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[Unedited] Richard Feldman and Krista Tippett
Richard Feldman is a board member of the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership. Krista spoke with him on December 16, 2011 in Detroit. This interview is included in our show...
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[Unedited] Wayne Curtis / Myrtle Thompson and Krista Tippett
Wayne Curtis and Myrtle Thompson are co-founder of the organization Feedom Freedom Growers. Krista spoke with them on December 16, 2011 in their home in Detroit. This interview is included in our show...
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[Unedited] Grace Lee Boggs and Krista Tippett
Grace Lee Boggs is a philosopher and civil rights legend and the heart and soul of the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership. Krista spoke with her on December 16, 2011 in...
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[Unedited] Gloria Lowe and Krista Tippett
Gloria Lowe is the CEO and founder of the organization We Want Green Too. Krista spoke with her on December 16, 2011 in Detroit. This interview is included in our show 'Becoming Detroit.' Download the...
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Grace Lee Boggs — Becoming Detroit: Reimagining Work, Food, and Community...
Chinese-American philosopher and civil rights legend Grace Lee Boggs turned 100 this summer. She has been at the heart and soul of a largely hidden story inside Detroit’s evolution from economic...
View ArticleNYC Mayoral Race; How To Be Brave; Five Pillars Continued
Azi Paybarah of Capital New York and Kate Taylor from the New York Times update us on the latest in the mayoral race, including who is raising the most money, and where it’s coming from. Plus: active...
View ArticleDetroit is Broke
Mark Binelli, contributing editor at Rolling Stone and Men's Journal and the author of Detroit City Is the Place to Be: The Afterlife of an American Metropolis (Metropolitan Books, 2012) talks about...
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