Trouble City (1989-1991) The Show Michaels (far right) founded the band in 1989 and is the only member to endure the ever-revolving doors that swapped out members faster than the promo pixs could be printed.  But, not only was Show a rock-solid basist, but was (and probably still IS), the most stable personality. The pic to the right shows the band's final line-up, but only played out 3 or 4 gigs over the final 3 months, with a lot of emphasis on producing a 4 track demo and accompanying video as a primer for intended pro quality recording (which never happened).  A few dozen copies of the cassette were sold at gigs for $4 USD, and included 3 of the dozen original songs that could be heard at the live shows.  A copy of the cassette L-card is shown below.

T.C. Lee               Kenny B              K.C. Marx            Show Michaels

Trouble City  - Original Titles: *Public Nuisance       *Down 'N' Out *Trouble City Shock Rock       Tears on your Pillow Ode (to Life)              Forbidden She's a Teazer            Little Girl Electric Luv * Included on the cassette

Before Trouble City had carved out their own identity with their own original material, the band set itself apart from others in the Detroit club scene by song selection they selected to cover.  Unlike the vast majority of other "club" bands playing the Detroit circuit in the late 80's/early 90's, Trouble City worked material from the likes of Babylon AD, Bang Tango, Dirty Looks, Roxx Gang, Faster Pussycat, Sea Hags and L.A. Guns.  When they were called on to play four full sets in certain clubs, they brought in "more familiar" material made popular by Guns 'N' Roses, Bullet Boys, Tora Tora and Motley Crue to supplement their original material.

CLUBS Trouble City performed at: *  Harpo's * The Ritz *  New York, New York  *  I-Rock   * Token Lounge *      * Blondie's *  Todd's  *  Key West  *   Canto's (Flint)  *  Night Owl   * Editor's Note: I'll try to add dates and organize these in chronological order, if and when I can sort it out.  If anybody remembers seeing Trouble City someplace not listed, please e-mail me or use the feedback forum ~ my memory's not what it used to be...)

Fliers from gigs showing progression of members and artwork development over a span of 2 years. Clockwise from upper left: New York, New York - Saturday Oct. 14,  and Friday Nov. 2 plus The Ritz Oct. 14 and Nov. 17 1990 (flier actually had rated X detail blocked here for TOS compliance) The Ritz - Jan. 4 1991 Key West - Aug. 21, 1991 The Token Lounge - Sept. 11, 1991

The History ~

The first Trouble City logo (shown at left) was too similar to Guns 'N Roses logo so was soon dropped.

Trouble City went thru several guitarists and drummers during the band's quick-lived history.  There where a couple "versions" before I got involved, too, please forgive me ~ I don't know who played what, except Show Michaels was always there on bass.  To my knowledge, none of the earliest combos played out any "live" gigs, though they used to squeeze a lot of people in to the rehearsals (a.k.a., "parties at band practice").

The first gig I did with the band was an outdoor Graduation party in Washington Twp.  We found a drummer from the Lapeer, MI area and crammed a bunch of junk covers together just for kicks.  Next thing you know, someone booked us a club gig, then another...  Suddenly, we had a lot more material (though vastly covers), a

press kit, then management.  It just kept rolling.      I was having a blast.  This was the first band I was given the opportunity to just "front" as the singer ~ and the freedom of movement provided a creative outlet to use the kinds of cool props (whips, swords, beer bottles) I'd always longed for.  I still played guitar on about 1/2 the songs, but wasn't burdened by learning other people's lead solos (which I never had the patience for).  Donny Jae (pictured front-left in picture at right) handled that, and much better than I would ever have had the attention span for.

The 'first' Trouble City Line-Up: TC - Vox, axe         Show Michaels - Bass, vox Donny Jae - Axe, vox       Joey Francos -Stix, kix

I'm not sure what happened, so it wouldn't be fair to make any kind of statement here accordingly ~ but I remember Donny and Joey left the band at about the same time ~ maybe a couple weeks apart (?).       But that didn't stop ANYTHING.      Within a short time, there was a revised line-up.

The 'second' Trouble City K.C.Marx - 2nd from left-(previously w/ PUSH, Stiff Kitten, One Way) replaced Donny Jae on guitar, and as a very competent vocalist and accomplished song writer brought the energy and creativity the band needed to move out of the 'cover band' gutter. Jason Hartless - far right- (previously w/ Kong and One Way) joined the band on drums and added a strong element of 'flash' and showmanship and an element of stability that had been missing at the stool position.

Unfortunately, the promo pix from this era never made it to press nor do any of the pics appear on fliers.  So, here they are for the first time. I believe there is a Harpo's video and some killer Blondie's videos floating around out there somewhere... Anybody?

Show Michaels - Always the strong stable force and foundation on bass and vocals.  Trouble City's success is due to his unique taste in music and  conceptualization.

K.C.Marx - Lead Guitar, vocals.  Many people still consider him one of the best Rock writers ever from Detroit. He was also the first guitarist with Push and wrote all their best songs.

Jason Hartless (a.k.a. "Jake") - Brought a refined and experienced element to the drums accentuated by flashy showmanship both on and off stage.

T.C. Lee - Front antics / vocals and guitar.

More Change ~

Again, I'm not certain exactly why, but Jason was gone - and yet another drummer was in.    This time, Kenny Bee ~ a young, long-haired rock dog from Canada (somehow) hooked up with us.  He picked up where Jason left off for the  self-produced "Trouble City" 4 track tape and accompanying video (known as the "Haircuts video").

CLICK on IMAGE ABOVE to view Trouble City video from rehearsal studio!

(Above) This is the line-up that experienced the most recognition, and progressed the most rapidly.       Somehow, we got hooked up with wanna-be self-declared record exec. who had a good line of bull.  Skeptical, but optimistic, we bought into his line of crap for a few weeks.  During 10 days of intense rehearsal, we cranked out an entire set of original material in preparation for the pending studio time and record release.  After review of the proposed contract, we realized we'd be signing away all rights to the material, with absolutely nothing - in writing - in return.  Fortunately, we were smart enough to smell it, and didn't sign.  Instead, we gave him the clenched-fist finger point and went back to playing the Detroit rock clubs - but this time, we had at least one full set of songs we could call our own.

The Ultimate Ending ~ Trouble City came to an end one night up in Flint, Michigan, after playing the opening set for one of Detroit's more notorious bands of the day. After an unusually strong set in a beyond capacity club, after being called back out for two encores, and after too many shots of Jack-n-Quervo, the band broke up over 2 dollars discrepancy in pay.   Too bad.

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