Damn, the interest in this is incredible! I just checked my mail and was amazed to see how many people are interested in documenting this, be it through articles or whatnot. I promise to respond to all of you as soon as I can- work is pretty crazy for me right now, so I'm going to have to do a lot of this stuff [gasp] over the weekend. The question is, can you guys wait that long? You're fiending hard! In the meantime, I promise to keep scanning and posting..
Here's an interesting one- it's an offshoot of JB's "Say It Loud! I'm Black and I'm Proud" (I've blocked out the writers' names because I figure it'd be a bad idea to post anyone's full name without seeking their permission first).
Man, this is the ultimate Soulstrut post! If it's reported that those Mingering Mike tapes actually have some funky music and breaks on them, hundreds of computers worldwide will be splattered with seed as the whole Soulstrut community has a mind numbing simultaneous orgasm! I'm getting my tissues ready right now, I suggest you all do the same.
Man, this is the ultimate Soulstrut post! If it's reported that those Mingering Mike tapes actually have some funky music and breaks on them, hundreds of computers worldwide will be splattered with seed as the whole Soulstrut community has a mind numbing simultaneous orgasm! I'm getting my tissues ready right now, I suggest you all do the same.
Hahaha!!
Not to get everybody's hopes up, but I just pulled out a reel that is labeled "Brother of the Dragon!" My GOD. That shit's gotta be dope.
already the dopest score of 2004. if that audio is dope this cat will go down in history like baby huey!
yo, how could yall not want to hear this guys music? those junkie situation lyrics are pure poetry. and that fuckin track listing??!?!?!?!? oh my god , my man was deep into lalo schifrin and soul and funk AND THE MUPPETS! he was all across the board. i dont really have a grasp as to how varied peoples tastes were back in the day...i lean toward thinking that hiphop-bred beat heads are among the most eclectic music lovers around...but my man mike seemed to be on some serious shit. chimp and fats...my first big big ups is for being out at the flea markets in this weather. my second big big ups is for obviously appreciating this beautiful collection of work right off the bat. its one of the aspects of the flea market that i'm absolutely in love with...a cleaned out storage facility, presented for sale in cardboard boxes, that are veritable time capsules of people's lives and probably sad endings. melancholy and fascinating and in a way a beautiful recycling process: early morning scavengers sifting through the broken pieces of some unknown family's world..
chimp and fatback...could yall please hook up a art show? i'll bring refreshments. those covers touched me. i hope mike's all right and catches wind that we really appreciate.but maybe its like when people close to you die, i feel that you just have to keep them alive by memory. if mike passed on, i'd like to think he's enjoying seeing all of our imaginations getting fired up like this.
props to the mingerer
The magnetic tape is bound to be super brittle after 30 years -- that stuff can literally turn into dust. I'd suggest transferring to a digital source or something like that to avoid multiple playbacks. Not to be your dad or anything!
We can't appreciate Mingering Mike because he isn't relevent to discussion of contemporary art! He's hardly been reviewed by the intelligencia and didn't live in Europe or New York (plus, he's no Christian Marclay).
Christian who? Mingering Mike's got it (had it?) on lockdown!
Real records are less desirable than some fake records and that scares me.
MM's just funny, don't think about it. Besides, Raj's prices for advertising just went up after 5000 hits on this thread, where's his kickback?
I already printed out one or more MM images for my wall, if they're faked I'll cry.
Trumping up a fantastic bit of cult art that's only of interest to a minority... how can you not like it, is it THAT much different than trumping up a fantastic bit of cult music that's only of interest to a minority?
I came here on a link from another website, could you tell me what these circular plastic discs are?
I am still held captive by this phenomenon...and upon a few more hours of pondering...almost TOO good to be true...all the wear and tear and aging on those scans would BE HELLA HARD AND TIME CONSUMING TO FAKE. Like Cheryl Lynn, IT'S got ta be _REAL_.
I'll keep my fingers crossed that I can buy a Mingering boxset within the next 5 years.. get on it Chimp, you got my hard earned cash if you need/want/ask for it.
Shall we plan for a book release? Spread love.... :-)
I posted alot on this thread earlier today...now I am home from the bar after a few draaanks and I read all THIS?!?!?!
First, squash the naysaying. This is a great find, we don't need any negativity. I think we all can agree we want to hear everything on the tapes, and have it preserved forever.
Second, to Chimp & everyone involved, thanks for sharing all this. I know you could have been all secretive and shit. I look forward to more postings.
Last, If you guys need _anything_ to get this repressed & distributed, I'll gladly help. Money, distrobution house hookups...whatever. Send me a message. Even if the tapes are semi-wack, I think its still worth some sort of wide release, just for preservations sake.
Songs are no longer than your desired time of 3¸ minutes
With instruction to make a 45 dis (sic; note my use of sic everyone) of the two songs. One can guess that this was either meant to be a demo recording of some sort, perhaps for a label or radio? Not sure.
I'm sure a lot of people are hoping for some solid soul or funk, but even if it isn't, and it's just him singing offkey with a band as good as those on most church records, I'd still like to take a listen.
Wow, i found this story on metafilter, and it's touched me deeply. I live in the nyc area and am involved in radio, and have strong contacts in dc. I would love more than anything to lend my resources to this cause, I not only know where to acess to reel to reel's, the radio network i'm affiliated with has their archives in dc, which means it full of special equipment to play reels that haven't been played in decades, and also record them to digital media. please contact me, it happens to be by chance that i will be in dc the 24-25 my email is fruit_cake187@hotmail.com. I would love nothing more that to lend my time and resources to solving this touching mystery.
btw, i think his record covers are illustrations of the actual records covers he wanted to have, and i bet a few of those reels are records which he drew covers for.
One can guess that this was either meant to be a demo recording of some sort, perhaps for a label or radio?
I think that these were definitely intended as demos- one of the 3" boxes is addressed to a recording studio here in DC (U.S. Recording Company & Studio). It was mailed from Fort Lee, Virginia, a military base. The one that I'm refering to was sent in 1970- so I'm also thinking that most of these 3" reels will be from the earlier years. Some of the other boxes are addressed to someone at a military base in San Francisco, maybe a friend or musical partner.
Scanning in album covers just doesn't do them justice- I need to get my hands on a camera so that I can take a picture of the entire thing. I should be able to snag the one from work tonight.
I registered with this service specifically because of you and what you found, so first of all, thanks very much.
I read through the thread and was intrigued by some of the debate going on between some people about the merits of the collection (though most, like me, are simply awestruck). I'll add my voice to the chorus of people who believe that the sheer amount of labor involved, the time and energy that went into designing the art and the lyrics, down even to the promo stickers and shrink-wrapping, far outweighs any objections any reasonable person could have as to its artistic merits per se. There is so much passion here, for what I hope are musical styles and tastes shared by most of you posting on this thread (Lalo Schifrin! Bruce Lee!), that you can't help but be overwhelmed.
You've really struck gold here, and despite your being overwhelmed by work, I think I can safely say that we all appreciate your continued efforts to share as much of this with us as you can. And like I said, you even got me to climb on board after lurking for the last day or two.
Oh, and before I forget, the Muppets totally rule.
You know, if you go to timelife.com, you can buy not one, not five, not even ten, but FIFTEEN DVDs with three episodes apiece on 'em. Go check 'em out, and bring the seventies back to your television set the way they were meant to be!
(Not that I'm trying to shill or snything, I just want to share the Muppets love. I'm a Statler and Waldorf man myself.)
Like everyone else here I'm wrapped up in Minger Mike Mania. This stuff is so amazing.
My mom works at the Visionary Art Museum in b'more. If anyone is not familiar with it it's a truly amazing place. It's devoted to outsider artists which means people with no formal art training. Many of them suffer from psychological disorders like schizophrenia and depression and many are recovered drug addicts and alcoholics. Mike's artwork reminds me ALOT of the stuff I've seen there. Secret Chimp - once you have all of this stuff sorted out, I can put you in touch with someone at the museum if you'd like. I am sure that there are people in the art world that would love to have a look at what you've found.
If any of you ever get a chance to see the museum it's really amazing.
"Visionary art as defined for the purposes of the American Visionary Art Museum refers to art produced by self-taught individuals, usually without formal training, whose works arise from an innate personal vision that revels foremost in the creative act itself."
I was thinking about this find more this morning. There has been some debate about it (both here, and on another mailing list I am on), so it got me to thinking.
I think I figured out what really captured my imagination about this....i believe someone eluded to it earlier. This has genuinely inspired me to dig deeper, and work harder to unearth new finds. It has been a long time since I have truely felt this excited about actually digging....in this day of eBay, overpriced dealers, etcetc...I was afraid the game had become 'who ever has the most money gets the prize'. Finds like this are what keep things fresh, and keep me from being so cynical.
Anyway....Chimp...quit readin' this and go track down a reel-to-reel!
We need to find the others volumes... this is so big... I'm already out of tissues and its too cold out to take off my socks and use them... what the heck...
From what we've seen here, I feel comfortable saying that Mingering Mike was a dedicated, obsessed, and ultimately frustrated artist. As with all art, you don't have to like it, but we should all be able to respect the time, energy, and focus it required to put this stuff together. (and the time, energy, and focus it requires to go through it all now - thanks chimp!)
What inspires me about this collection is the way it has fired many of our imaginations. Who was Mingering Mike? We don't know and we probably never will (I hope I'm wrong, but I think he's dead). But we can see his work and take from it what we will. The hits on this website are almost without question more exposure than Mingering Mike ever had for his work during his productive period. If he is alive, I hope that he catches wind of this so we can at least give him a round of applause. This is what makes digging fun.
Who was Mingering Mike? We don't know and we probably never will (I hope I'm wrong, but I think he's dead).
First: I think the find is amazing.
Second: Is it our business who Mingering Mike was? Or which of his friends were caught up in drugs or jail or whatever?
Understand that I'm not asking these questions while I know the right answer, but as I read through the thread I feel like some of this is one step away from reading somebody's diary. With his music and art it seems safe to assume that he was looking to communicate with others (like sending demos out and whatnot), but it seems like there's a fine but very real line between wanting some life-context for this guys art and voyeurism.
Is it our business who Mingering Mike was? Or which of his friends were caught up in drugs or jail or whatever?
Understand that I'm not asking these questions while I know the right answer, but as I read through the thread I feel like some of this is one step away from reading somebody's diary. With his music and art it seems safe to assume that he was looking to communicate with others (like sending demos out and whatnot), but it seems like there's a fine but very real line between wanting some life-context for this guys art and voyeurism.
Man, I'm feeling you there. I just posted a message on Fatback's Mingering Mike 45 thread about this very same issue. I really want to hear from you guys on this. Are we going too far? I'm thinking we need to slow down a little- at least determine what his status is before we start posting specific personal details, like his full name, for example.. I have old addresses and so forth, but I sure as hell am not going to post those on here. What if he is still around here somewhere and all of a sudden all of us crazy Soulstrutters start showing up at his doorstep? I don't know about you, but that would really freak me out.
Comments, please! (and let's try to keep them in the same thread if possible)
I've been watching this whole thing unfold in complete awe .. the only thing i have to add .. and this should be obvious enough .. is to be careful with those reel to reels !! depending on how old they are, i probably wouldn't suggest just finding a player and throwing them on .. like somebody said, they could break or fall apart .. and you might get one play out of them. if you can get the resources together, itd probably be best to take them to a studio thats done stuff like this before ..
this reminds me of when the bbe cats found those roy ayers reels .. apparently they had to put them in an oven and converted them to dat right away ..
all im saying is that it would be a shame to have the only recorded mingering mike music vanish (brother of the dragon ost ??? forget it) .. you guys are handling this all extremely well though and im sure youll do it right
truly refreshing stuff, all this. i cant get enough
Fatback and I discussed the issue of posting MM's full name, and I think we both agree that ideally it would be the right thing to remove his full name from any posts. The cat's already out of the bag, but out of respect I think we ought to edit our messages so that his full name doesn't appear anywhere.
So, if at all possible (and if you agree), could anyone who mentioned or quoted Mingering Mike's real full name please edit their messages? I don't mean to be anal about it or anything, but this stuff really is kind of personal.
(I'm going to post this same message in the other thread as well..)
Comments
Here's an interesting one- it's an offshoot of JB's "Say It Loud! I'm Black and I'm Proud" (I've blocked out the writers' names because I figure it'd be a bad idea to post anyone's full name without seeking their permission first).
Hahaha!!
Not to get everybody's hopes up, but I just pulled out a reel that is labeled "Brother of the Dragon!" My GOD. That shit's gotta be dope.
yo, how could yall not want to hear this guys music? those junkie situation lyrics are pure poetry. and that fuckin track listing??!?!?!?!? oh my god , my man was deep into lalo schifrin and soul and funk AND THE MUPPETS! he was all across the board. i dont really have a grasp as to how varied peoples tastes were back in the day...i lean toward thinking that hiphop-bred beat heads are among the most eclectic music lovers around...but my man mike seemed to be on some serious shit. chimp and fats...my first big big ups is for being out at the flea markets in this weather. my second big big ups is for obviously appreciating this beautiful collection of work right off the bat. its one of the aspects of the flea market that i'm absolutely in love with...a cleaned out storage facility, presented for sale in cardboard boxes, that are veritable time capsules of people's lives and probably sad endings. melancholy and fascinating and in a way a beautiful recycling process: early morning scavengers sifting through the broken pieces of some unknown family's world..
chimp and fatback...could yall please hook up a art show? i'll bring refreshments. those covers touched me. i hope mike's all right and catches wind that we really appreciate.but maybe its like when people close to you die, i feel that you just have to keep them alive by memory. if mike passed on, i'd like to think he's enjoying seeing all of our imaginations getting fired up like this.
props to the mingerer
after rereading them, maybe pure poetry isn't the best description, but i'm still hundred percent feeling my man mike. tissues ready
We can't appreciate Mingering Mike because he isn't relevent to discussion of contemporary art! He's hardly been reviewed by the intelligencia and didn't live in Europe or New York (plus, he's no Christian Marclay).
Christian who? Mingering Mike's got it (had it?) on lockdown!
Real records are less desirable than some fake records and that scares me.
MM's just funny, don't think about it. Besides, Raj's prices for advertising just went up after 5000 hits on this thread, where's his kickback?
I already printed out one or more MM images for my wall, if they're faked I'll cry.
Trumping up a fantastic bit of cult art that's only of interest to a minority... how can you not like it, is it THAT much different than trumping up a fantastic bit of cult music that's only of interest to a minority?
I came here on a link from another website, could you tell me what these circular plastic discs are?
I'll keep my fingers crossed that I can buy a Mingering boxset within the next 5 years.. get on it Chimp, you got my hard earned cash if you need/want/ask for it.
Shall we plan for a book release? Spread love.... :-)
First, squash the naysaying. This is a great find, we don't need any negativity. I think we all can agree we want to hear everything on the tapes, and have it preserved forever.
Second, to Chimp & everyone involved, thanks for sharing all this. I know you could have been all secretive and shit. I look forward to more postings.
Last, If you guys need _anything_ to get this repressed & distributed, I'll gladly help. Money, distrobution house hookups...whatever. Send me a message. Even if the tapes are semi-wack, I think its still worth some sort of wide release, just for preservations sake.
-peeJ
With instruction to make a 45 dis (sic; note my use of sic everyone) of the two songs. One can guess that this was either meant to be a demo recording of some sort, perhaps for a label or radio? Not sure.
I'm sure a lot of people are hoping for some solid soul or funk, but even if it isn't, and it's just him singing offkey with a band as good as those on most church records, I'd still like to take a listen.
Wow.
Herm
btw, i think his record covers are illustrations of the actual records covers he wanted to have, and i bet a few of those reels are records which he drew covers for.
anyway, mingering mike, yous a real motherfucker. keep truckin, where ever you are.
God Bless you Mingering Mike.
I think that these were definitely intended as demos- one of the 3" boxes is addressed to a recording studio here in DC (U.S. Recording Company & Studio). It was mailed from Fort Lee, Virginia, a military base. The one that I'm refering to was sent in 1970- so I'm also thinking that most of these 3" reels will be from the earlier years. Some of the other boxes are addressed to someone at a military base in San Francisco, maybe a friend or musical partner.
This just gets more and more interesting.
I registered with this service specifically because of you and what you found, so first of all, thanks very much.
I read through the thread and was intrigued by some of the debate going on between some people about the merits of the collection (though most, like me, are simply awestruck). I'll add my voice to the chorus of people who believe that the sheer amount of labor involved, the time and energy that went into designing the art and the lyrics, down even to the promo stickers and shrink-wrapping, far outweighs any objections any reasonable person could have as to its artistic merits per se. There is so much passion here, for what I hope are musical styles and tastes shared by most of you posting on this thread (Lalo Schifrin! Bruce Lee!), that you can't help but be overwhelmed.
You've really struck gold here, and despite your being overwhelmed by work, I think I can safely say that we all appreciate your continued efforts to share as much of this with us as you can. And like I said, you even got me to climb on board after lurking for the last day or two.
Congratulations, Secret Chimp, and keep it up!
You know, if you go to timelife.com, you can buy not one, not five, not even ten, but FIFTEEN DVDs with three episodes apiece on 'em. Go check 'em out, and bring the seventies back to your television set the way they were meant to be!
(Not that I'm trying to shill or snything, I just want to share the Muppets love. I'm a Statler and Waldorf man myself.)
My mom works at the Visionary Art Museum in b'more. If anyone is not familiar with it it's a truly amazing place. It's devoted to outsider artists which means people with no formal art training. Many of them suffer from psychological disorders like schizophrenia and depression and many are recovered drug addicts and alcoholics. Mike's artwork reminds me ALOT of the stuff I've seen there. Secret Chimp - once you have all of this stuff sorted out, I can put you in touch with someone at the museum if you'd like. I am sure that there are people in the art world that would love to have a look at what you've found.
If any of you ever get a chance to see the museum it's really amazing.
"Visionary art as defined for the purposes of the American Visionary Art Museum refers to art produced by self-taught individuals, usually without formal training, whose works arise from an innate personal vision that revels foremost in the creative act itself."
I think I figured out what really captured my imagination about this....i believe someone eluded to it earlier. This has genuinely inspired me to dig deeper, and work harder to unearth new finds. It has been a long time since I have truely felt this excited about actually digging....in this day of eBay, overpriced dealers, etcetc...I was afraid the game had become 'who ever has the most money gets the prize'. Finds like this are what keep things fresh, and keep me from being so cynical.
Anyway....Chimp...quit readin' this and go track down a reel-to-reel!
-peeJ
That doesn't take away from his greatness, though, so don't get made it me for my blasphemous thoughts! I'm just sayin', though.
What inspires me about this collection is the way it has fired many of our imaginations. Who was Mingering Mike? We don't know and we probably never will (I hope I'm wrong, but I think he's dead). But we can see his work and take from it what we will. The hits on this website are almost without question more exposure than Mingering Mike ever had for his work during his productive period. If he is alive, I hope that he catches wind of this so we can at least give him a round of applause. This is what makes digging fun.
First: I think the find is amazing.
Second: Is it our business who Mingering Mike was? Or which of his friends were caught up in drugs or jail or whatever?
Understand that I'm not asking these questions while I know the right answer, but as I read through the thread I feel like some of this is one step away from reading somebody's diary. With his music and art it seems safe to assume that he was looking to communicate with others (like sending demos out and whatnot), but it seems like there's a fine but very real line between wanting some life-context for this guys art and voyeurism.
Man, I'm feeling you there. I just posted a message on Fatback's Mingering Mike 45 thread about this very same issue. I really want to hear from you guys on this. Are we going too far? I'm thinking we need to slow down a little- at least determine what his status is before we start posting specific personal details, like his full name, for example.. I have old addresses and so forth, but I sure as hell am not going to post those on here. What if he is still around here somewhere and all of a sudden all of us crazy Soulstrutters start showing up at his doorstep? I don't know about you, but that would really freak me out.
Comments, please! (and let's try to keep them in the same thread if possible)
this reminds me of when the bbe cats found those roy ayers reels .. apparently they had to put them in an oven and converted them to dat right away ..
all im saying is that it would be a shame to have the only recorded mingering mike music vanish (brother of the dragon ost ??? forget it) .. you guys are handling this all extremely well though and im sure youll do it right
truly refreshing stuff, all this. i cant get enough
So, if at all possible (and if you agree), could anyone who mentioned or quoted Mingering Mike's real full name please edit their messages? I don't mean to be anal about it or anything, but this stuff really is kind of personal.
(I'm going to post this same message in the other thread as well..)