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Culture of Detroit

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The culture of Detroit, Michigan, has been closely associated with various forms of popular music in the 20th century, notably with Motown. The city's culture has also been associated with the automobile, as well as by the large role industry plays in the city's economy.

Entertainment and performing arts

The Fisher Building, located in the City's New Center area, home to the Fisher Theatre.
Main articles: Music of Detroit and Theatre in Detroit

Music has been the dominant feature of Detroit's nightlife since the late 1940s. The metropolitan area boasts two of the top live music venues in the U.S. DTE Energy Music Theatre (formerly Pine Knob) was the most attended summer venue in the U.S. in 2005 for the fifteenth consecutive year, while The Palace of Auburn Hills ranked twelfth, according to music industry source Pollstar.[1] Detroit's major performance centers include Orchestra Hall home of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Opera House, the Fox Theatre, Masonic Temple Theatre, the Fisher Theatre, and the Detroit Film Theatre at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Through the 1950s Detroit was a jazz center with stars of the era often came to Detroit's Black Bottom neighborhood to perform.[2] One highlight of Detroit's musical history was Motown Records success during the 1960s and early 1970s, founded in Detroit by Berry Gordy, Jr. and home to popular recording acts including Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross & the Supremes. Also during the late 1960s, Detroiter Aretha Franklin became America's preeminent female soul artist, recording on the competing Atlantic Records label.

In the late 1960s, Metro Detroit was the epicenter for high-energy rock music with (MC5 and Iggy and the Stooges),[3][4] the precursors of the punk rock movement. Rock acts from southeast Michigan that enjoyed success in the 1970s were Bob Seger, Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes, Alice Cooper, The Romantics and Grand Funk Railroad as well as more recent acts like Marshall Crenshaw, Kid Rock, The White Stripes, The Von Bondies and Madonna. The Detroit area is also generally accepted as the birthplace of the Techno movement, which has grown from local radio and clubs to dance venues worldwide. The three musicians most frequently credited with giving birth to Techno are Derrick May, Juan Atkins, and Kevin Saunderson. Detroit hip hop rose to prominence in the late nineties with the emergence of Eminem.[5][6] Other Detroit hip-hop artists include Insane Clown Posse, Aaliyah, D12, Royce Da 5'9" Teairra Mari, Obie Trice,Trick Trick, Rock Bottom, Street Lord'z and the late Blade Icewood, Slum Village.

Fashion

The Renaissance Center's Winter Garden is the site of the annual "Fash Bash", a major fashion event traditionally held in August.[7] Coordinated by the Detroit Institute of Arts, the event features celebrities and models showcasing the latest fashion trends.

In 1991, a cultural phenomenon began among hair salons which evolved into the Detroit Hair Wars. Trendsetting salons, like Hair N Shears II, on The Avenue of Fashion, helped usher in this trend. A showcase of fantastical hair piece creations, often using human hair as the main content, has since become a national trend among African-American hair-styling tours.[8]

Festivals and events

The giant decal on the Renaissance Center, for the 2005 MLB All-Star Game, represents 4,612 feet (1,375 m) to the home plate in Comerica Park.
Fireworks at the Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival
Main articles: Tourism in metropolitan Detroit and Sports in Detroit

Detroit has three major events that are associated with the automobile industry: the North American International Auto Show (January), Society of Automotive Engineers world congress (April) and the Woodward Dream Cruise (August). Annual music events in the city include the DEMF/Movement/Fuse-In electronic music festival (May), Ford Detroit International Jazz Festival (September), and the Concert of Colors, a summer music festival. The Comerica CityFest is traditionally held in the New Center area around Independence Day.

The Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival features a fireworks display over the Detroit International Riverfront and coincides with U.S. Independence day (July 4) and Canada Day (July 1). The Tastefest and Detroit Thunder Fest hydroplane race take place in July. Detroit Fashion Week happens in August. The America's Thanksgiving Parade, originally the Hudson's Thanksgiving Day Parade, is one of the nation's largest and has been held continuously since 1924.[9]

The day before Ash Wednesday, or the festival of Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday, is more frequently celebrated locally as "Paczki Day" by the large Polish population. Many Metro Detroiters join in the festivity by indulging in jelly-filled donuts called paczkis.[10]

Founded in 1907 by two Russian immigrant brothers in Detroit, Faygo pop remains a Detroit tradition. Detroit was also the birthplace of Vernors ginger ale, the longest-surviving soft drink in the United States, Better Made potato chips and the Coney Island restaurant.[11]

The Bayview Yacht Club sponsors the annual Port Huron to Mackinac Boat Race as well as a number of other regional and local regattas.

Recently added events include the Motown Winter Blast in February and the Detroit River Days celebration in June.

Black culture

The City of Detroit has had a large and thriving black community since the 1920s, when many African Americans moved to northern cities to find work in the then-booming industrial sector. This Great Migration continued through the 1960s. Paradise Valley and Black Bottom were early centers of black culture in the city, which were later leveled to build a freeway and high income apartments. By the mid-1970s, African Americans formed more than half the city's population.

Many black churches are located in the city, including the historic Second Baptist Church, which assisted runaway slaves. A monument to the Underground Railroad was erected in 2001 at Hart Plaza downtown.

Shrine of the Black Madonna Bookstore on Livernois.

The Shrine of the Black Madonna of the Pan-African Orthodox Christian Church was founded in 1953 by the Rev. Albert B. Cleage. Rev. Cleage was an influential figure in the Black Power Movement both nationally and locally. One of the churches' institutions is the Shrine of the Black Madonna Cultural Center & Bookstore, one of the nation's oldest black-owned bookstores.

The Graystone International Jazz Museum documents jazz in Detroit.[12][13]

In 1959, Berry Gordy founded Motown Records, one of the first black-owned record labels. Over the next decade, a number of top artists, including The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, signed with the label. The company relocated to Los Angeles in 1972, but the city has seen new movements develop since then, including disco, funk, and hip hop music.

Detroit has produced a large number of black athletes. Perhaps the most legendary is Joe Louis, heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949. Louis is memorialized with a sculpture of a giant fist at the intersection of Jefferson and Woodward Avenues, as well as in the name of Joe Louis Arena.

Detroit has an emerging section of hip hop artists from the inner city, such as: Blade Icewood, the Street Lord'z, Tone-Tone, Y.B.I., Trick-Trick, Big Herk, and Rock Bottom

Detroit has a reputation as one of the finest centers of soul food in Michigan, with a number of highly-regarded establishments.

See also

References

  1. ^ DTE Energy Music Theatre Listed as 2004 Top Attended Amphitheatre (1/25/05. DTE Energy Music Theatre.
  2. ^ Herb Boyd (9/17/97) Cookin' in the Motor City. The Metro Times.
  3. ^ Harrington, Joe (2002). Sonic Cool: The Life and Death of Rock'N'Roll. Hal Leonard. ISBN 0634028618., p. 251.
  4. ^ Bogdanov, Vladimir and Chris Woodstra, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, John Bush (2002). All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul (3rd Ed.). Hal Leonard: Backbeat Books. ISBN 087930653X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Bogdanov, Vladimir and Chris Woodstra, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, John Bush (2003). All Music Guide to Hip-Hop: The Definitive Guide to Rap and Hip-Hop. Hal Leonard: Backbeat Books. ISBN 0879307595.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Gavrilovich, Peter and Bill McGraw (2000). The Detroit Almanac. Detroit Free Press. ISBN 0937247341.
  7. ^ Hodges, Michael H. (September 8, 2003).Fox Theater's rebirth ushered in city's renewal. Michigan History, The Detroit News. Retrieved on November 23, 2007.
  8. ^ Sarah Klein (7 April 2004). "Tressed to kill". Metrotimes. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  9. ^ Everyone Loves a Parade. The Parade Company.
  10. ^ Robert Strybel (2/5/01). Polish fast food in America?. polartcenter.com.
  11. ^ Kim Silarski (5/22/03).Insider Tips. USA Today.
  12. ^ The Graystone International Jazz Museum
  13. ^ Swinging Through Time: The Graystone Museum and the story of Detroit jazz
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