A news item from Bay City , Michigan , yesterday informs us that NY Journalist , Alina Simone , will be hosting BBC a documentary on Garage Gods , ? and The Mysterians. Simone graciously turned down a potentially far more lucrative assignment to do a tell - all book on former Bay City resident , Madonna , to work on this project. If there were a Grammy Award for Common Sense in Music , baby , it'd be hers. 

The irony is , that ? and The Mysterians were not based in Bay City , though "96 Tears " was originally recorded there. Various members of the group lived there , but , they eventually made their home base in Saginaw at the time (Guitarist , Bobby Balderrama , once told me the song was recorded in a band members' living room .... so , it's probable that "96 Tears" did , in fact , see the light of day in Bay City , one year before it's actual release. ), in any case ,  the BBC will descend upon Bay City (Already fully aware that The Rollers never lived there , either.), next month  . Naturally , this could have been done a long time ago for a US - based TV program. Don't look at me . I already hosted  a "Chic - A - Go Go " episode dedicated entirely to ? and The Mysterians , featuring interviews with the entire band , in '97.  Obviously , the likes of VH1 were'nt going to pick that up , but , they did do an interview with "?" ( His friends call him "Q".) for the short - lived "Where are They Now?"program (Which also featured what was probably the late , great Cub Koda's last TV appearance.) around that time.

The further irony is , we're just now learning that John Kerry is not the only prominent Politician with a Garage Rock Past.

Former Bay City Mayor , and State Representative with the 96th (yes.) Ward  , Chas Brunner , it turns out , played Drums , briefly , on tour with ? and The Mysterians , and claims that he nearly played on "96 Tears" when he was only 13 (This statement is backed by members of the group.). Given the on again - off again nature of second Drummer , The Late Eddie Serrato's relationship with the band , Brunner  ( A friend of Keyboardist , Frank ( aka Little Frankie) Rodriguez )  was asked to fill in for a doubtful Serrato (Who still had a full time job.) for the recording , but , Eddie returned , then left , momentarily , after the band had a hit. Brunner played a series of dates , then , Serrato came back.

Brunner was never officially a member of the band . In fact , Bobby Balderrama informed me that they only ever had one White guy in the group , on an official basis , and that it was'nt Bass Player , Mel Schacher , who played in a later version of the band , before going to greater heights of fame with Grand Funk Railroad. I forget his name , but you can see his picture in the Norton Records " Do You Feel it , Baby?" gatefold.

? AND THE MYSTERIANS ("THE GREATEST ROCK AND ROLL BAND IN THE WORLD , BABY !" Question Mark.) 

THURSDAY , AUGUST 16 , 7 PM , OLD CITY HALL , 814 SAGINAW , BAY CITY , MICHIGAN , FREE !!

Alina Simone and Rep. Brunner announced plans to attend. And......YOU ? 

Speaking of Question Mark & the Mysterians... be sure to watch this and sign the petition to get them inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame:

Uh, thanks for giving my boys some print but boy howdy theres a lot of stuff out there thats just not right...you won't be offended if I set some of it right will ya?
BTW I'm the new Publicist for ? and the Mysterians...Que (as he spells it cuz computers don't like ? as a name) didn't have to warn me about the tall tales as I am part of his original '60s fan base.
I'll get on that debunking task later...gotta rest up for the Bay City show!

Susie ,   There IS a lot of stuff out there about the band that is merely rumor and exaggeration ,  no question about it. It's probable that not everything I mentioned is 100% accurate , most of it was from the two articles about the documentary that turned up online , not quoted verbatim , of course. But , if you'd like to clear the air on some things people may not know , or may think they know , but , they heard wrong , feel free. 

 I was'nt there when the band broke , but , I've known them for 18 ("8 - Teen") years . I interviewed Bobby about 20 years ago , then , met the band in Detroit , a couple of years later . Question Mark will confirm that I'm a friend , and longtime supporter , of his . 

I just say "Q" , in print , when not referring to him as "Question Mark" or "?". It's good to have many names for an Artist , as it gets tiresome reading the same name , over and over. "Que" reads , to me , like " What " in Spanish , and , if "Que" reads like a question , I'm sure he thought that part out , too.....

I hope the show in Bay City is a huge success , but , the fact that it's going to be a triumph is basically a given.... 

Thanks , and here's wishing further success to you and the band.       John.

 

Can't resist posting the link to my radio interview with Que last year. http://www.mixcloud.com/steveterrell/terrells-sound-world-03-31-13-question-mark-interview

Terrell's Sound World 03-31-13 Question Mark Interview by Steve Terrell on Mixcloud

When ? and The Mysterians played The Ponderosa Stomp (Preceded by Roky Erickson , Ronnie Spector , Mary Weiss , The Mighty Hannibal , and the unfortunately awful Greenfuz.), they went on at 2:00 or 3:00 am . They played for close to three hours  . Question Mark was in his glory , and no one took him to task when he proclaimed " Question Mark and The Mysterians are the greatest Rock'n'Roll band in the world , bay - bay !!!!".

"Bay - bay , groov - ay , Ron - ay , that's Rock'n'Roll !! Anybody out there got some               MON - AY ?!!"