The BLOWOUT is upon us. 200′some bands, a lot of thrashing guitar arms and plenty of interesting folks to chat with at Paychecks during, perhaps, a $1.50 guzzling session with PBR (they serve cans of that stuff all the time for $1.50 by the way). There’s that temptation to list off five bands that you absolutely must see this weekend, but that’s probably what MetroTimes et al are for. Instead, here’s an artist that definitely is NOT at the Blowout in Hamtramck this weekend, but will undoubtedly provide some Detroit throwback joy:

Marv Johnson was quite the troubador, having been remembered probably most for performing on the first ever record to come out of Motown Records. In 1968, after some mixed business, ol’ Marv hung up his hat with his recording career in Detroit. Like clockwork, this is exactly when his jams became smash hits in the UK. Ahhh. Funny how that works. Speaking of the UK, have a gander at this article, hot off the press from foggy London-town, it is an account of (AHHH!) the real estate market here in Detroit. But don’t fret, get beyond the chatter about $100 houses and focus more on the two stories of folks from out of town moving here because they see opportunity in the city. AHA! That’s what I’m talking about.