Summer of Creem Part Two

50 Years Ago, I was the Editor of America's Great Rock Magazine

You may ask yourself, "what am I doing here?" The "here" being the suburbs of Detroit in the summer of 1975, fifty years ago. Why did Creem keep its headquarters in Michigan in the 1970s, when the entire music, publishing and advertising industries were in New York and Los Angeles?

The answer is provided by the question. The coasts were crowded with artists and labels and advertisers and other publications. The Creem strategy was to be the only fish in the small pond. Being half an hour outside of Detroit, a crucial stop on every rock band's tour, meant that they came to see us: Aside from local radio promotion--and Detroit radio, which included the most influential AM radio station in North America, CKLW/800 on the dial across the river in Windsor, Ontario--Creem was the place to visit. Kiss didn't write "Detroit Rock City" for nothing. It was true. It wasn't unusual for Alice Cooper or guys from his band to say hello at 187 S. Woodward Avenue in Birmingham, Mich. Alice Cooper was bor…