Less than a month ago, I was at home thinking about the past and the good ole days. I was remembering all the fun times and more importantly the history and paradigm shifts that I witinessed and/or was apart of.
Being almost 60 years old I thought about the personal relationships I still have and how they started. One of those thoughts was how "Mo" and I became friends. I remember how I was trying to be a DJ while I was attending U of M in the late 70's. I was not very good at it but I had one of the best custom built, studio quality dual turntables, amp and speaker setup in Ann Arbor at that time. So, eventually I realized it made more sense for me to lease my equipment than try to drum up business as a DJ!!
Looking back that was a defining moment for me because now I was on course to meet and become friends with one of the most creative, innovative and visionary radio DJ whose work has become legendary.
I met Mojo in 77' when he rented my equipment for a gig he was doing in Ypsi. The rest is history which spans over 33 years. I was there when the Mothership first landed!!! I recall the day I came to the office and Mojo said he was contacted by Rolling Stone magazine and they wanted to do an interview and publish it. I remember going out to Metro Detroit retailers and establishing accounts for MFA muscle T's, MFA baseball shirts and the "Whammy Cloth". I have fond memories of getting excited over seeing the "numbers" which a radio station uses to determine the rates it would charge for advertising in a particuliar time slot. It was great to see Mojo dominate his time slots to the point where more people were listening to Mojo than Tiger baseball!! Wow, I could just go on and on.
I met Mojo in 77' when he rented my equipment for a gig he was doing in Ypsi. The rest is history which spans over 33 years. I was there when the Mothership first landed!!! I recall the day I came to the office and Mojo said he was contacted by Rolling Stone magazine and they wanted to do an interview and publish it. I remember going out to Metro Detroit retailers and establishing accounts for MFA muscle T's, MFA baseball shirts and the "Whammy Cloth". I have fond memories of getting excited over seeing the "numbers" which a radio station uses to determine the rates it would charge for advertising in a particuliar time slot. It was great to see Mojo dominate his time slots to the point where more people were listening to Mojo than Tiger baseball!! Wow, I could just go on and on.
Last Saturday I called Mojo because I found a site which I thought he had put together and I realized after closer examination he did not have anything to do with it. During our conversation he told me about a number of things that have been done in his name that he had no prior knowledge of.Mojo being the ever so humble, grateful and always positive person was thankful people think what he did in Detroit radio and the music industry as a whole was worth remembering. Whoa! its 5:57p and I got to go will continue later.
I'm saved now so as long as the lyrics line up with life choice of rightousness, I can flow with ya.
ReplyDeleteI was born in 1970 so I definitely grew up with momma and them listening to MOJO.
He did good work. I wonder if we can get some old recordings of the show?
What a great walk down memory lane! I could really get into listening to MOJO again. I'll definately be checking out this site for updates.
ReplyDeleteI remember back in the day, I used to run home afterschool and activities to listen to Mojo. Whether it was a Micheal Jackson or Prince marathon, it was great. I remember the Prince versus Micheal Jackson contests. His famous phrases were...'Don't give up', 'tie a knot and hang on', and 'keep on believing that nobody's bad like me'.
ReplyDeleteI've got some tapes of his show from the 80s that I'd love to trade. Let's keep the memories of Mojo alive!
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