Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah, Hi, there to Detroit's wheels.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Yeah, Detroit Wheels. Ted NuGen reporting for duty?
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Podell, Well, there you are, sir, reporting for duty.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Who's going to stop me? Doug? You know what I
mean you? By the way, Doug, it's official. You are
the MotorCity mad Man from now on.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
I don't know about that. I think I'll leave that
in your corner. But yeah, I'm pretty proud to still
be here hanging on by a thread. But I'm heading
into my fiftieth year. As a matter of fact, I'm
celebrating fifty years this year with my broadcasting, and you
are celebrating fifty years of the greatest rock song ever made, Stranglehold.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yes, indeed you put that so accurately Podell. But number one,
congratulations on your fifty years, because it wouldn't be real
MotorCity ass kicking rock and roll celebration without Doc Podell.
So thank you for your dedication the celebration and promotion
and living the real soul music rhythm and blue was
rock and roll MotorCity life. God Bleaciester, do you do
(01:03):
you really grasp? Can you process how much real music
lovers love you? Padel? Can you handle that?
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Well? I'm you know, not yet. I'm just I'm here.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I'm here to tell you and here to emphasize. But yeah,
what what a great song. God, but my band I've
always just gone crazy celebrating the gift of world class virtuosos,
the musicians that have always been at my side. I mean,
what a lucky, lucky Detroit guitar player. I am so yeah.
That song Stranglehold was when I decided not to use
(01:39):
the name Amboy Duke's anymore, which was also what a
what an era of that was? Those those kids, we
were kids, we were teenagers in the Amboy Dukes and
the musical authority of a Dave Palmer and a Gregor Raymond,
John Brake and Steve Farmer and Rick Lober and Andy Solomon.
I mean, the musicianship we really carried on the incredible
(02:03):
musical power and emotion and soulfulness of Mitch Ryder, Detroit
Wheels and James Brown and Wilson Pickett and Motown. So yeah,
fifty years ago, Derek and Robin Cliff and I a
big salute to those guys, boy, talking about putting your
heart and soul into a musical statement. They it was
a magic moment in time where the planets aligned, and
(02:25):
here it is fifty years later. When it comes on
the radio, your truck goes faster. And when it comes
when we play it on stage, nobody's feet touched the ground.
I still get goosebumps every time I unleash that lick.
So thank you for helping make that such a powerful,
connecting piece of music, because people love the spirit and
(02:48):
the groove of that song and it's alive and well,
God bless you, Hodell oh Man.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Well, thank you for that. And yeah, thank you for
that song. And I'm going to get back to that.
I'm going to circle back on that. But I was
jumping for joy today, and I know the Motor City
was jumping for joy today when we found out that
you have announced a tour date for the Motor City,
and you know, you pushed pause for a little while,
(03:16):
but now here you come back. You've got some dates
in Luddington, Michigan, in Paw Paw, Michigan.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I only thought that was like, I thought that was
like a myth.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
I love pap Well. I told Doug Banker, the greatest
manager in the world, the real music lover, keyboard monster,
Doug banker, I told him, and this isn't a tour,
because tour means you leave home and go to airports
and hotels, which I will never do again. But I
said before that airports and hotels are like jail. And
I'm not convicted of anything, but I will do these
(03:49):
wonderful gigs in Lexington, Michigan, both August twenty five and
twenty six, and Saginaw at the Unbelievable Theater. It's like
it's like old school, pure outraged music Lover Celebration Saginaw
twenty seven, Luddington and Luddington, Michigan, right where I go
deer hunting on the twenty ninth Paw Paw where all
my bronco mechanic friends will show up. And then Freedom Hill?
(04:12):
Are you kidding me? Podell? Freedom Hill? Seventy years I
started playing music in Detroit nineteen well, I was six
years old, but it's been seventy years back to Freedom Hill.
What a great, great life this has been high and
what a soundtrack to go with it.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
I just love it, you know, I mean we all
knew that. You know you press pause. You took some
time off and the travel has been a problem for just.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
About everybody right now.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
But to see that date August thirty, first pop up
at Freedom Mill, that is a day to celebrate, and
we are celebrating here in the Motor City.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Now, tell me who's going to be with you?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Well, I got the greatest musicians the world. We do
these uncle ted shit kicker speakeasy rockouts here in Texas
with John Kutz on drum, just an absolute animal grinding drummer,
and Johnny Big who's been my bass player the last
few years. He will be doing bass guitar and vocals.
And then in Michigan the great Jason Hartless, the MotorCity
mad Man, Jason Hartless on drums, son of John Benangic,
(05:16):
and Johnny Big out bass guitar. But we've been jamming
and rehearsing and I got it's so timeless. And when
we whipped into these songs down here in Texas we
do these little speakeasies. They're not little. There's thousands of people,
but we break into a Stones or a Beatles or
a Yardbirds or a James Brown or a Motown song
(05:36):
or Mike Classics, and the music has a life of
its own. So when we hit Freedom Hill on the
thirty first of August twenty twenty five. It'll be like
the realignment of the planets that I was so blessed
to experience and celebrate in Detroit when I was born
in forty eight and performing six years later at the
(05:58):
fact that the Nugent Family Reunion and in the basement
on Breton Drive in Redford. So so these these are
magic songs, magic moments. And Johnny and Jason they put
their heart and soul into every night, every song. You
just never know what mountains we're gonna reach with the music.
We love the like you, Doug, I love the music
(06:20):
more now than ever. It's it's intoxicating, and when I
play it, it's like a horny teenager on his first date.
It's just it's a timeless celebration of what Chuck berring
Bow did and the little Richard pot Us.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Well, I see you got one of your old bandmates
opening up the show, and I had just talked to
Tommy Cliffto's uh oh, I have to say about six
months ago when he came through with his his own
solo band now and I played the Token Lounge and
he's going to be opening up for you, and he
used to be your drummer for a while, and then
he went on to Ozzy and some big things. But
(06:56):
now he's got his own band.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Well once again, and he carries on that Johnny Beach
tradition of musicianship from Detroit, because everybody around the world
looks at Detroit. I think Mitch Riding and Detroit Wheels.
Mitch and Jim McCarty and Johnny b and Earl Elliott
and Joe Kubrick. I remember these guys. They really established
a level of musical authority. That's really the best way
(07:21):
to put a musical authority. Their soulfulness, the tightness, the
work ethic that they put into making the songs dynamic
and adventurous and outrageous and tight. James Brown Motown Titan,
That's what Tommy Clefeto's represents. That's what Jason Hartless represents.
You know, Derek Saint Holmes and Jimmy McCarty they're still
doing gigs, Mark Cassa with slight return in Detroit. They're
(07:43):
keeping that soulfulness alive. If anybody's got a chance to
go see Jim McCarty and Derek Saint Holmes or Mark Cassa,
there's so much great music out there, So God bless
the real music lovers, and I have a funny feeling
that those are the people that will show up at
Freedom Hill on the thirty first August.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Yeah, it was blessed to be with those guys actually
for that Love of Buddy Miles concert just about a
week or two ago, and it was another great celebration,
and they did celebrate the song Stranglehold, the fiftieth anniversary
of it. So Derek was there along with McCarty and
Kenny Olsen from the Kid Rock Band. They were all
(08:22):
jaming your songs. So they were pretty proud. We were
all pretty proud, and and you know they wanted to
do that, you know, in honor of you and the
Motor City and the fiftieth anniversary of Stranghold, So it
was pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yeah, well, Derek plays it every night. He plays all
those classics. He's just one of the greatest. Between Jim McCarty, Derek,
Mark Cassa and Kenny and all the other guitar players
and the drummers, the bass players and the keyboard players.
I watched some videos on YouTube of that Buddy Miles tribute.
My God, the power that those guys create, you know,
(08:59):
no matter what song they do. But when they unleased
Stranglehold and then Jim McCarty unleashes lead guitar on my
Stranglehold Masterpiece and Derek's things that like nobody else can
sing it. Yeah, that's some pretty special stuff. That's that's timeless,
That that song and great songs like that will last forever.
How cool is that? Huh?
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Yes, sir, well, that's one of them, that's for sure.
So along with this celebration now of playing live, you've
also got this vault coming out, the Ted NuGen Vault,
and you and Jason Heartless Junior have gone into your
vault and pulled out a bunch of live stuff and
demos and unreleased recordings. When can we start seeing some
(09:45):
of that? Ted, have you, you know, put your finger
on it yet?
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yeah, I've put my boot up it. I've stopped all
over it with a vibrum souled steel toed work. What Jake,
what Jason has done? Thank that he discovered all that
stuff in my barn, because he goes all the way
back to before the amboy dukes and rehearsal tapes and
cassettes and CDs and eight tracks of recordings and real
(10:11):
to real stuff of demos and rehearsals and first recordings
and some of the outtakes from those recording sessions on
the Amboy Duke's albums, the Damn Yankees albums, my solo albums.
And Jason found that stuff, and I was aware that
I had all these boxes and vaults and giant tubs
of tapes and videos, but I never Doug. You know,
(10:34):
you know, I'm kind of obsessed with tomorrow. I played
my Birdland today through a Fender ramp and new grinds,
new grooves, new musical ideas always just go nuts. I mean,
how lucky am I that I still have that passion
and love for the musical adventure, but so obsessed with
making new music and getting ready for the new gigs
(10:57):
and getting ready to jam new songs, I kind of
lost touch with all that outrageous history of this American
motown music adventure that I've been on for the last
seventy plus years. And so Jason started digging into it.
And he's a maniac music lover. He loves the music.
People love the music, the dynamic, the lyrics, the pulse,
(11:20):
the attitude, the spirit of our favorite songs, that our
soundtracks were such important, crazy moments in our life. And
when he started showing me some of this stuff, I went, wow,
I remember that that's out rageous. So if you really
love it and it's outrageous, He's created this new technology
called the nuge Vault. I think you go to nugevault
(11:41):
dot com and it's the subscription based thing where I
do live zoom calls and guitar lessons and archery lessons
and just middle finger lessons and where the music comes from,
and reminding people that those black heroes, they rose above
the status quo music of the time, and Little Richard
(12:01):
and Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley and James Brown and
Wilson Pickett and certainly Motown everything, Motown Funk Brothers and
what Mitch Ryder represented in so many great bands, so
many great musical forces. And I've documented that every lick
of the way from the sixties right up till today.
And Jason uncovered that stuff, and I got to tell you,
(12:22):
if it wasn't me, I'd subscribe because it's fascinating stuff
because of the musicians and the songs and the jam
sessions and the outtakes and some of the funny I'm
a doug. I'm a funny, funny man. If you're not
having a good time with me, you're weird. And we've
got we've got videos and recordings and photo sessions. So yeah,
(12:45):
thank god for Jason Hartless. He loves the music and
when he discovered this archive, he started digging and it's
going to be available at nuge vault dot com. And
it's unprecedented. There's never been anything like this before. It's
really fascinating. I love it.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
I love it too, and I got a chance invited
me to the studio to just take a look at it,
and we pop some of it in and it is
it is amazing, the quality, the sound. I mean, yeah,
anybody who who loves your music is gonna love and
want to subscribe to this because it's unending. It will
go on for years and years. There is so much
(13:21):
of it. I was just blowing away by that. So yeah, congratulations,
that is going to be That is going to be
a special, a special thing right there.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
So yeah, my great grandchildren will have fun with that.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Yeah, yeah, no question.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
So I guess lastly, take me back to Stranglehold, Take
me back to nineteen seventy five. You're changing the name
of the Amboy Dukes, You've got new guys all around you,
you're in the studio and somehow you're coming up with
this lick for stranglehold.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Tell me how that all came together?
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Well, boy, what series of advances. And it really is
a magic moment in time where the planets alive. Where
I had Rob Grange probably the greatest bass player that
ever lived. I really mean that. I mean the way
he focused on the pulse and the spirit of the
songs that I was creating, how he performed the soulfulness
(14:19):
of the bass rhythm. And then with Cliff Davies on drums,
just an absolute savant as a musical force, and Derrek
Sante Holmes probably the greatest voice in guitar player that
people are still able to watch and celebrate his performances
to this day. But those were the bandmates at my side,
(14:41):
And it goes all the way back to nineteen sixty
eight when I got on stage with Steve Maruga Booker
and John Sowder at a church after playing with The
Amboy Dukes at the Grandy Ballroom, and Steve Booker invited
me to jam. So I grabbed my Birdland and there
was a Fender twin ant there, which was the holy
grail of my guitar tone, and I plugged in. And
(15:04):
when you do a jam session, we're just teenagers. And
when you do a jam session, it's no holds bar,
there's no rules, there's no parameters, there's no there's no
control at all. You just unleash, especially when you're strong
with a guy like John Sowder on bass and Steve
Booker on drums. Has been the story of my whole life.
(15:25):
That caliber musicianship. And so I started that lick and
somehow I had one of those little cassette recording units
and I just and I never did this, but I
pushed the record button at that gig. It was about midnight,
one o'clock in the morning, after the grandy, and I
started that riff, which is basically a bastardized bow Diddley
(15:46):
lick with a little bit more grunt and grind and
groove and dare I say sexuality. And so that jam session,
I just started mouthed and lyrics, probably singing about girls
or maybe maybe deer hunting. I don't know what I
was singing about, but that lick stuck with me, and
so as went on with the amboy Dukes, we started
(16:09):
using that as an encore at our concerts and it
morphed into this pattern, this development where I went down
to F sharp and then when you have Cliff and
Day and Derek and Rob. We went into the studio
and I could go on and on about this, but
Epic Records and my production team they all said, we
(16:30):
don't think we need to record Stranglehold for your solo
album because it's just a jam session and it doesn't
have a chorus. Dug, you gotta be kidding me. So
I had a bumper crop of middle fingers that year,
so I whipped out a basket full of them, and
I said, you guys have got to be kidd me.
(16:51):
We played this song every night in various forms as
an ongoing, developing, adventurous jam session, and the people love this.
Groove is grind. The people, including my people, my band,
we love this. It doesn't need a chorus, it doesn't
need the rules of music. In fact, I like it
(17:13):
better because it breaks the rules of pop music. So
they kind of shrugged their shoulders and we went in
and jammed it and it was a take one with
Cliff and Rob nailing the groove and that guitar solo
that's on there was only supposed to be a guide
to show where the dynamics went up and down and
(17:36):
developed and broke into the ballero god and that Dad,
I don't know where that came from, but it's musical history.
And then when Derek did the vocal on it, I said,
who cares that it doesn't have a chorus. Listen to this,
son of a bitch. This is a monster fun song.
(17:57):
And so that's the history of Stranglehold and that spirit
that Derek and Cliff and Rob and Tom Worman and
Tony Reality, my production team, they loved the essence of
that music. It doesn't have to have a chorus, it
doesn't have to have a bridge, it doesn't have to
have a verse, it doesn't have to have anything except
(18:18):
what we believe in our hearts should be in a
musical statement. And so to this day, that song means
a lot to a lot of people. And I give
all the credit to Tom Worman, Tony Reality as the engineer, Derek,
Cliff and Rob. That was a moment in time that
was unique to that age, our age our musical experience,
(18:42):
our love of musical adventure, and to this day, it's
more powerful today than it was when it was released
in nineteen seventy five. Surely, yes it is.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Yep, boy, I'll tell you you know, I'm getting goose
thumps right now. And I've never heard that story from
you before, so thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
And whoy But isn't that amazing? It is? That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Yes, yes, it's amazing.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
You had it all that time, you saved it for that,
and it is it is stronger.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
I mean, in the world of radio speak.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
It researches very very well, better than I'd ever seen
over the course of thirty forty fifty years.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
So congratulations, Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
And by the way, on the radio with Doug Podell
in my beloved birth state of Michigan, thank you. Real
music lovers in Michigan are all across the world because
it's it's a powerful piece of musical force all around
the world. But it's the real music lovers that demand excellence,
that demand soul, that demand a heart and soul into
(19:50):
performing on stage and not in the recording studio. So
thank you, Michigan, real music lovers wherever you may be,
because it's the people that love music that identified with
Cliff and Derek and Robin I put into that and
they're the ones that made it a huge, powerful piece
of music. So thank you everybody.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Well, everybody's loving the fact that you've announced that show
August thirty first at Freedom Hill along with the others
and pop on Michigan and Luddington and Lewiston, and congratulations
on that. We're all excited to have you back on
the big stage the Ted Nugent Stranglehold fiftieth Anniversary Tour, and.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Let's hope there's more dates to come, all right, So well.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
You never know, Doug, I still love music. Thank you
very much for celebrating it with me. And congratulations on
your fifty years. Man. I know you will still be
out there celebrating this all American rock and roll soul music,
so thank you for that. Man.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
All Right, well, Ted, congratulations on fifty years of one
of the greatest rock songs ever written.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
They're played Stranglehold.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
We can't wait for the August thirty first date at
Freedom Hill, and tickets go on sale this Friday, so
get them up and let's get ready to rock.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Thank you Ted, Thank you Doug. I love you, buddy,
see you soon
Speaker 1 (21:09):
All right, I'll see you soon, brother, Bye Bude.
Yeah, Hi, there to Detroit's wheels.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Yeah, Detroit Wheels. Ted NuGen reporting for duty?
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Podell, Well, there you are, sir, reporting for duty.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Who's going to stop me? Doug? You know what I
mean you? By the way, Doug, it's official. You are
the MotorCity mad Man from now on.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
I don't know about that. I think I'll leave that
in your corner. But yeah, I'm pretty proud to still
be here hanging on by a thread. But I'm heading
into my fiftieth year. As a matter of fact, I'm
celebrating fifty years this year with my broadcasting, and you
are celebrating fifty years of the greatest rock song ever made, Stranglehold.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yes, indeed you put that so accurately Podell. But number one,
congratulations on your fifty years, because it wouldn't be real
MotorCity ass kicking rock and roll celebration without Doc Podell.
So thank you for your dedication the celebration and promotion
and living the real soul music rhythm and blue was
rock and roll MotorCity life. God Bleaciester, do you do
(01:03):
you really grasp? Can you process how much real music
lovers love you? Padel? Can you handle that?
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Well? I'm you know, not yet. I'm just I'm here.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I'm here to tell you and here to emphasize. But yeah,
what what a great song. God, but my band I've
always just gone crazy celebrating the gift of world class virtuosos,
the musicians that have always been at my side. I mean,
what a lucky, lucky Detroit guitar player. I am so yeah.
That song Stranglehold was when I decided not to use
(01:39):
the name Amboy Duke's anymore, which was also what a
what an era of that was? Those those kids, we
were kids, we were teenagers in the Amboy Dukes and
the musical authority of a Dave Palmer and a Gregor Raymond,
John Brake and Steve Farmer and Rick Lober and Andy Solomon.
I mean, the musicianship we really carried on the incredible
(02:03):
musical power and emotion and soulfulness of Mitch Ryder, Detroit
Wheels and James Brown and Wilson Pickett and Motown. So yeah,
fifty years ago, Derek and Robin Cliff and I a
big salute to those guys, boy, talking about putting your
heart and soul into a musical statement. They it was
a magic moment in time where the planets aligned, and
(02:25):
here it is fifty years later. When it comes on
the radio, your truck goes faster. And when it comes
when we play it on stage, nobody's feet touched the ground.
I still get goosebumps every time I unleash that lick.
So thank you for helping make that such a powerful,
connecting piece of music, because people love the spirit and
(02:48):
the groove of that song and it's alive and well,
God bless you, Hodell oh Man.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Well, thank you for that. And yeah, thank you for
that song. And I'm going to get back to that.
I'm going to circle back on that. But I was
jumping for joy today, and I know the Motor City
was jumping for joy today when we found out that
you have announced a tour date for the Motor City,
and you know, you pushed pause for a little while,
(03:16):
but now here you come back. You've got some dates
in Luddington, Michigan, in Paw Paw, Michigan.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I only thought that was like, I thought that was
like a myth.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
I love pap Well. I told Doug Banker, the greatest
manager in the world, the real music lover, keyboard monster,
Doug banker, I told him, and this isn't a tour,
because tour means you leave home and go to airports
and hotels, which I will never do again. But I
said before that airports and hotels are like jail. And
I'm not convicted of anything, but I will do these
(03:49):
wonderful gigs in Lexington, Michigan, both August twenty five and
twenty six, and Saginaw at the Unbelievable Theater. It's like
it's like old school, pure outraged music Lover Celebration Saginaw
twenty seven, Luddington and Luddington, Michigan, right where I go
deer hunting on the twenty ninth Paw Paw where all
my bronco mechanic friends will show up. And then Freedom Hill?
(04:12):
Are you kidding me? Podell? Freedom Hill? Seventy years I
started playing music in Detroit nineteen well, I was six
years old, but it's been seventy years back to Freedom Hill.
What a great, great life this has been high and
what a soundtrack to go with it.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
I just love it, you know, I mean we all
knew that. You know you press pause. You took some
time off and the travel has been a problem for just.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
About everybody right now.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
But to see that date August thirty, first pop up
at Freedom Mill, that is a day to celebrate, and
we are celebrating here in the Motor City.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Now, tell me who's going to be with you?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Well, I got the greatest musicians the world. We do
these uncle ted shit kicker speakeasy rockouts here in Texas
with John Kutz on drum, just an absolute animal grinding drummer,
and Johnny Big who's been my bass player the last
few years. He will be doing bass guitar and vocals.
And then in Michigan the great Jason Hartless, the MotorCity
mad Man, Jason Hartless on drums, son of John Benangic,
(05:16):
and Johnny Big out bass guitar. But we've been jamming
and rehearsing and I got it's so timeless. And when
we whipped into these songs down here in Texas we
do these little speakeasies. They're not little. There's thousands of people,
but we break into a Stones or a Beatles or
a Yardbirds or a James Brown or a Motown song
(05:36):
or Mike Classics, and the music has a life of
its own. So when we hit Freedom Hill on the
thirty first of August twenty twenty five. It'll be like
the realignment of the planets that I was so blessed
to experience and celebrate in Detroit when I was born
in forty eight and performing six years later at the
(05:58):
fact that the Nugent Family Reunion and in the basement
on Breton Drive in Redford. So so these these are
magic songs, magic moments. And Johnny and Jason they put
their heart and soul into every night, every song. You
just never know what mountains we're gonna reach with the music.
We love the like you, Doug, I love the music
(06:20):
more now than ever. It's it's intoxicating, and when I
play it, it's like a horny teenager on his first date.
It's just it's a timeless celebration of what Chuck berring
Bow did and the little Richard pot Us.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Well, I see you got one of your old bandmates
opening up the show, and I had just talked to
Tommy Cliffto's uh oh, I have to say about six
months ago when he came through with his his own
solo band now and I played the Token Lounge and
he's going to be opening up for you, and he
used to be your drummer for a while, and then
he went on to Ozzy and some big things. But
(06:56):
now he's got his own band.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Well once again, and he carries on that Johnny Beach
tradition of musicianship from Detroit, because everybody around the world
looks at Detroit. I think Mitch Riding and Detroit Wheels.
Mitch and Jim McCarty and Johnny b and Earl Elliott
and Joe Kubrick. I remember these guys. They really established
a level of musical authority. That's really the best way
(07:21):
to put a musical authority. Their soulfulness, the tightness, the
work ethic that they put into making the songs dynamic
and adventurous and outrageous and tight. James Brown Motown Titan,
That's what Tommy Clefeto's represents. That's what Jason Hartless represents.
You know, Derek Saint Holmes and Jimmy McCarty they're still
doing gigs, Mark Cassa with slight return in Detroit. They're
(07:43):
keeping that soulfulness alive. If anybody's got a chance to
go see Jim McCarty and Derek Saint Holmes or Mark Cassa,
there's so much great music out there, So God bless
the real music lovers, and I have a funny feeling
that those are the people that will show up at
Freedom Hill on the thirty first August.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Yeah, it was blessed to be with those guys actually
for that Love of Buddy Miles concert just about a
week or two ago, and it was another great celebration,
and they did celebrate the song Stranglehold, the fiftieth anniversary
of it. So Derek was there along with McCarty and
Kenny Olsen from the Kid Rock Band. They were all
(08:22):
jaming your songs. So they were pretty proud. We were
all pretty proud, and and you know they wanted to
do that, you know, in honor of you and the
Motor City and the fiftieth anniversary of Stranghold, So it
was pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yeah, well, Derek plays it every night. He plays all
those classics. He's just one of the greatest. Between Jim McCarty, Derek,
Mark Cassa and Kenny and all the other guitar players
and the drummers, the bass players and the keyboard players.
I watched some videos on YouTube of that Buddy Miles tribute.
My God, the power that those guys create, you know,
(08:59):
no matter what song they do. But when they unleased
Stranglehold and then Jim McCarty unleashes lead guitar on my
Stranglehold Masterpiece and Derek's things that like nobody else can
sing it. Yeah, that's some pretty special stuff. That's that's timeless,
That that song and great songs like that will last forever.
How cool is that? Huh?
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Yes, sir, well, that's one of them, that's for sure.
So along with this celebration now of playing live, you've
also got this vault coming out, the Ted NuGen Vault,
and you and Jason Heartless Junior have gone into your
vault and pulled out a bunch of live stuff and
demos and unreleased recordings. When can we start seeing some
(09:45):
of that? Ted, have you, you know, put your finger
on it yet?
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yeah, I've put my boot up it. I've stopped all
over it with a vibrum souled steel toed work. What Jake,
what Jason has done? Thank that he discovered all that
stuff in my barn, because he goes all the way
back to before the amboy dukes and rehearsal tapes and
cassettes and CDs and eight tracks of recordings and real
(10:11):
to real stuff of demos and rehearsals and first recordings
and some of the outtakes from those recording sessions on
the Amboy Duke's albums, the Damn Yankees albums, my solo albums.
And Jason found that stuff, and I was aware that
I had all these boxes and vaults and giant tubs
of tapes and videos, but I never Doug. You know,
(10:34):
you know, I'm kind of obsessed with tomorrow. I played
my Birdland today through a Fender ramp and new grinds,
new grooves, new musical ideas always just go nuts. I mean,
how lucky am I that I still have that passion
and love for the musical adventure, but so obsessed with
making new music and getting ready for the new gigs
(10:57):
and getting ready to jam new songs, I kind of
lost touch with all that outrageous history of this American
motown music adventure that I've been on for the last
seventy plus years. And so Jason started digging into it.
And he's a maniac music lover. He loves the music.
People love the music, the dynamic, the lyrics, the pulse,
(11:20):
the attitude, the spirit of our favorite songs, that our
soundtracks were such important, crazy moments in our life. And
when he started showing me some of this stuff, I went, wow,
I remember that that's out rageous. So if you really
love it and it's outrageous, He's created this new technology
called the nuge Vault. I think you go to nugevault
(11:41):
dot com and it's the subscription based thing where I
do live zoom calls and guitar lessons and archery lessons
and just middle finger lessons and where the music comes from,
and reminding people that those black heroes, they rose above
the status quo music of the time, and Little Richard
(12:01):
and Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley and James Brown and
Wilson Pickett and certainly Motown everything, Motown Funk Brothers and
what Mitch Ryder represented in so many great bands, so
many great musical forces. And I've documented that every lick
of the way from the sixties right up till today.
And Jason uncovered that stuff, and I got to tell you,
(12:22):
if it wasn't me, I'd subscribe because it's fascinating stuff
because of the musicians and the songs and the jam
sessions and the outtakes and some of the funny I'm
a doug. I'm a funny, funny man. If you're not
having a good time with me, you're weird. And we've
got we've got videos and recordings and photo sessions. So yeah,
(12:45):
thank god for Jason Hartless. He loves the music and
when he discovered this archive, he started digging and it's
going to be available at nuge vault dot com. And
it's unprecedented. There's never been anything like this before. It's
really fascinating. I love it.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
I love it too, and I got a chance invited
me to the studio to just take a look at it,
and we pop some of it in and it is
it is amazing, the quality, the sound. I mean, yeah,
anybody who who loves your music is gonna love and
want to subscribe to this because it's unending. It will
go on for years and years. There is so much
(13:21):
of it. I was just blowing away by that. So yeah, congratulations,
that is going to be That is going to be
a special, a special thing right there.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
So yeah, my great grandchildren will have fun with that.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Yeah, yeah, no question.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
So I guess lastly, take me back to Stranglehold, Take
me back to nineteen seventy five. You're changing the name
of the Amboy Dukes, You've got new guys all around you,
you're in the studio and somehow you're coming up with
this lick for stranglehold.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Tell me how that all came together?
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Well, boy, what series of advances. And it really is
a magic moment in time where the planets alive. Where
I had Rob Grange probably the greatest bass player that
ever lived. I really mean that. I mean the way
he focused on the pulse and the spirit of the
songs that I was creating, how he performed the soulfulness
(14:19):
of the bass rhythm. And then with Cliff Davies on drums,
just an absolute savant as a musical force, and Derrek
Sante Holmes probably the greatest voice in guitar player that
people are still able to watch and celebrate his performances
to this day. But those were the bandmates at my side,
(14:41):
And it goes all the way back to nineteen sixty
eight when I got on stage with Steve Maruga Booker
and John Sowder at a church after playing with The
Amboy Dukes at the Grandy Ballroom, and Steve Booker invited
me to jam. So I grabbed my Birdland and there
was a Fender twin ant there, which was the holy
grail of my guitar tone, and I plugged in. And
(15:04):
when you do a jam session, we're just teenagers. And
when you do a jam session, it's no holds bar,
there's no rules, there's no parameters, there's no there's no
control at all. You just unleash, especially when you're strong
with a guy like John Sowder on bass and Steve
Booker on drums. Has been the story of my whole life.
(15:25):
That caliber musicianship. And so I started that lick and
somehow I had one of those little cassette recording units
and I just and I never did this, but I
pushed the record button at that gig. It was about midnight,
one o'clock in the morning, after the grandy, and I
started that riff, which is basically a bastardized bow Diddley
(15:46):
lick with a little bit more grunt and grind and
groove and dare I say sexuality. And so that jam session,
I just started mouthed and lyrics, probably singing about girls
or maybe maybe deer hunting. I don't know what I
was singing about, but that lick stuck with me, and
so as went on with the amboy Dukes, we started
(16:09):
using that as an encore at our concerts and it
morphed into this pattern, this development where I went down
to F sharp and then when you have Cliff and
Day and Derek and Rob. We went into the studio
and I could go on and on about this, but
Epic Records and my production team they all said, we
(16:30):
don't think we need to record Stranglehold for your solo
album because it's just a jam session and it doesn't
have a chorus. Dug, you gotta be kidding me. So
I had a bumper crop of middle fingers that year,
so I whipped out a basket full of them, and
I said, you guys have got to be kidd me.
(16:51):
We played this song every night in various forms as
an ongoing, developing, adventurous jam session, and the people love this.
Groove is grind. The people, including my people, my band,
we love this. It doesn't need a chorus, it doesn't
need the rules of music. In fact, I like it
(17:13):
better because it breaks the rules of pop music. So
they kind of shrugged their shoulders and we went in
and jammed it and it was a take one with
Cliff and Rob nailing the groove and that guitar solo
that's on there was only supposed to be a guide
to show where the dynamics went up and down and
(17:36):
developed and broke into the ballero god and that Dad,
I don't know where that came from, but it's musical history.
And then when Derek did the vocal on it, I said,
who cares that it doesn't have a chorus. Listen to this,
son of a bitch. This is a monster fun song.
(17:57):
And so that's the history of Stranglehold and that spirit
that Derek and Cliff and Rob and Tom Worman and
Tony Reality, my production team, they loved the essence of
that music. It doesn't have to have a chorus, it
doesn't have to have a bridge, it doesn't have to
have a verse, it doesn't have to have anything except
(18:18):
what we believe in our hearts should be in a
musical statement. And so to this day, that song means
a lot to a lot of people. And I give
all the credit to Tom Worman, Tony Reality as the engineer, Derek,
Cliff and Rob. That was a moment in time that
was unique to that age, our age our musical experience,
(18:42):
our love of musical adventure, and to this day, it's
more powerful today than it was when it was released
in nineteen seventy five. Surely, yes it is.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Yep, boy, I'll tell you you know, I'm getting goose
thumps right now. And I've never heard that story from
you before, so thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
And whoy But isn't that amazing? It is? That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Yes, yes, it's amazing.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
You had it all that time, you saved it for that,
and it is it is stronger.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
I mean, in the world of radio speak.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
It researches very very well, better than I'd ever seen
over the course of thirty forty fifty years.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
So congratulations, Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
And by the way, on the radio with Doug Podell
in my beloved birth state of Michigan, thank you. Real
music lovers in Michigan are all across the world because
it's it's a powerful piece of musical force all around
the world. But it's the real music lovers that demand excellence,
that demand soul, that demand a heart and soul into
(19:50):
performing on stage and not in the recording studio. So
thank you, Michigan, real music lovers wherever you may be,
because it's the people that love music that identified with
Cliff and Derek and Robin I put into that and
they're the ones that made it a huge, powerful piece
of music. So thank you everybody.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Well, everybody's loving the fact that you've announced that show
August thirty first at Freedom Hill along with the others
and pop on Michigan and Luddington and Lewiston, and congratulations
on that. We're all excited to have you back on
the big stage the Ted Nugent Stranglehold fiftieth Anniversary Tour, and.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Let's hope there's more dates to come, all right, So well.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
You never know, Doug, I still love music. Thank you
very much for celebrating it with me. And congratulations on
your fifty years. Man. I know you will still be
out there celebrating this all American rock and roll soul music,
so thank you for that. Man.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
All Right, well, Ted, congratulations on fifty years of one
of the greatest rock songs ever written.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
They're played Stranglehold.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
We can't wait for the August thirty first date at
Freedom Hill, and tickets go on sale this Friday, so
get them up and let's get ready to rock.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Thank you Ted, Thank you Doug. I love you, buddy,
see you soon
Speaker 1 (21:09):
All right, I'll see you soon, brother, Bye Bude.
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