The members of the Midnight Funk Association did indeed rise as a great audience gathered to pay tribute to one of Detroit's most magical and eclectic DJ's, the Electrifying Mojo!
The legendary Detroit radio personality held court on the airwaves from 1977 until the mid-1990s ushering some of the best loved and remembered music onto the air, in many cases becoming among the first to play artists like Prince and Was not Was on the air and popularizing those artists throughout Michigan, northern Ohio, southern Ontario and beyond.
Prince, the B52s, Kraftwerk and others were among the artists first played by Mojo in the region, and Detroit Techno owes a real debt of thanks to the legendary DJ for his on-air support of the genre.
Mojo's "mothership" would set down on Detroit airwaves at midnight for an hour-long dose of funk, classic rock and alternative artists like Parliament-Funkadelic, The Time, Rick James, Peter Frampton, Pink Floyd, Talking Heads and more. The Electrifying Mojo would then continue with his nightly radio how, often far beyond his allotted time slot and well beyond the narrow restrictions of race, genre or other standard radio formats.
The funk was certainly with the audience at the Concert of Colors during the final big show of the festival on Sunday evening as the Don Was Revue gathered a constellation of Detroit talent both vintage and new to recall and celebrate the spirit of Mojo's shows!
The man himself, ever mysterious, remained in the shadows with the occasional newly recorded dispatch, but his spirit was certainly in full force that night.
Here are a few of the highlights from Sunday evening's festivities:
Laura Rain
Muruga
Want to see more? Subscribe to Don Was' Detroit All-Star Revue channel on YouTube for performances from prior year's Revues and for upcoming video from this year's All Star Revue performances!
Text © Dominique King 2015 All rights reserved
Photos and video © Tim Marks and Dominique King 2015 All rights reserved
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