Mad Mike Fun Facts 2!

• Posted by Kogar the swinging ape December 14, 2008 - 512 views
  "Records worth dying/killing for!" Mad Mike had the kids in Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas in such a frenzy that they had to find out the names of certain songs he played, or die trying! The thing that frustrated so many was that he never mentioned the names of the songs he played, unless they had been "discovered" first. Otherwise, the only way you could hear a particular song, was to listen to his radio show, or go to his record hops. This ensured listeners on the radio every day, and attendees at EVERY record hop he held... One story in the liner notes that had me laughing (because I think every record fanatic has had something similar happen to them at one point or other in their lives), was the story of a kid who bought a bunch of records that day, and while on his way home, he was listening to them in his truck on a portable battery powered record player. All of a sudden, a song Mad Mike had played came out of the tiny speaker! The kid was so shocked that he had "discovered" a Mad Mike song that he drove off the road and into a big boulder! The kid was ok, but the truck wasn't. But what did he care? He had actually identified a song Mad Mike played! Another story, a bit more serious, is this one: Basically, Mike had created a generation of record collectors. Serious, hard core folks that would do next to anything to get records. One tale relates the events of one collector inviting another over to his house to tape some of his records. When the guy showed up with his records, the other guy stabbed him in the back and tried to steal his records! The guy obviously fought back, escaped, with his records intact and made it to a neighbors house to call the cops. While the rest of the country was in the grip of the british invasion, Pittsburgh kids were ignoring the trends, and listening to crazy, small press records about alcohol, camel walking, twisted buffets with animal parts, and crazy vocal group gibberish! More tomorrow...and stay tuned for "More Mad Mike Madness" on Thursday!