Podcast: Play in new window
Subscribe to This Show RSS | More
We turn the great gaze of LESTER to… DEE TROIT Rock and Roll!! And not any old rock and roll – punk and post punk rock and roll with bandmate, drummer and guitarist Ron Chambers. Stories of Iggy Pop, Bob Seger, Grand Funk Railroad fill our ears. This week on Lester the Nightfly: The Cadillac Kidz.
SPECIAL GUEST – RON CHAMBERS
The Cadillac Kidz feature an eclectic collection of original songs and is a band that represented the east and west sides of Detroit back in the late 1970’s. Cameron Wesley who operated a local music booking agency known as SureShot Productions on Van Dyke and Topher in Warren that morphed into a rehearsal room and multi-track recording studio. Cameron also played guitar with childhood pal Dan Cadillac. They enticed singer Spaz Seville to leave his cover band to explore the new wave of music that was beginning to break into the music scene. Cameron, SureShot, and Spaz had a mission to get the new all original rock bands into the Top 40 bars that catered exclusively to cover bands performing strictly radio hits.
Spaz brought Chris Badynee from Detroit’s Livernois and McGraw area to play bass. The band went through a half dozen drummers as they built their audience via radio and impressive live performances. They were the opening act for Iggy Pop, The Ramones, Romantics, Wayne Kramer, Johnny Thunders, Mitch Ryder, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, Cheap Trick, J. Geils Band, Alice Cooper, Bon Jovi and most of their rock and roll heroes.
In the middle of the gigging madness, the band brought in Ron Chambers as their permanent powerhouse drummer and additional songwriter.
After taking a hiatus in the late 1980’s & 1990’s as the new Millennium approached they got back together and play occasionally. They performed is at the Motor City Muscle Festival in Downtown Detroit in August 2018 where they played their Award winning Motor-Rock anthem, “Detroit’s A Go-Go”.
Show Playlist – Cadillac Kidz (Detroit Rock & Roll)
| Track | Artist | Album/Single | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just Wanna Talk | Cadillac Kidz | Just Wanna Talk | 1985 |
| The Beatles on Ed Sullivan | Ed Sullivan, The Beatles | The Ed Sullivan Show | 1961 |
| Loves Gone Bad | The Underdogs | Loves Gone Bad | 1967 |
| We’re An American Band | Grand Funk Railroad | We’re An American Band | 1973 |
| Out Past the Reef* | Jonathan Ammons | Far From the Hearth | 2023 |
| Footstompin’ Music | Grand Funk Railroad | Mark, Don & Mel | 1972 |
| Ramblin’ Gamblin Man | Bob Seger | Ramblin’ Gamblin Man | 1969 |
| Persecution Smith | Bob Seger and the Last Heard | Heavy Music | 1966 |
| If I Were a Carpenter | Bob Seger | Smokin’ O.P.’s | 1972 |
| Establishment Bash | The Cadillac Kidz | Establishment Bash | 1979 |
| Five foot One | Iggy Pop | New Values | 1979 |
| I’m a Fool for Loving You | The Cadillac Kidz | I’m a Fool for Loving You | 1979 |
| Meeting the Master* | Greta van Fleet | Starcatcher | 2023 |
You lucky radio stations – for finding LTNF you get this fabulous show on your air! Well done!
Another great show! It exposed me to music that I normally don’t listen to. Thank you for expanding my music world
So nice to hear some Detroit voices too… 🙂