Tell me everything you know about Electrifying Mojo

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I think his shows ran about five hours? four hours? can't remember exactly. He'd start with like an uptempo playlist of current pop/r&b/hip-hop/electro tracks. Or sometimes he'd premiere his own homemade mixes. I'm not sure if he did them live in the studio or pre-recorded them. I remember one he called the "Shut Up mix" which had the shout from the beginning of Run-DMC's "You Talk Too Much" recurring throughout the mix. From the hour of 11 to midnight would be the segment he called "Lover's Lane". Basically a big old mix of slow jams and mellower cuts. I wasn't always into that. THen, at midnight, the Midnight Funk Association would be called to order.

He would go into his signature spiel, repeated the same every night, about how members of the MFA were called to order, "if you're in your car, honk your horn; if you're at home, turn your porchlight on, if you're in water, make waves" etc. Then he would address the funkateers, talking about how "the journey of a thousand miles begins with that first step. Whenever you feel like you're nearing the end of your rope, don't let go! Hang on; tie a knot. Keep hanging, keep remembering, keep believing that there ain't nobody bab like you!!" It was inspirational stuff!!

The MFA was an actual group too; if you joined you got a letter and an ID card and, uh, a "Whammy Cloth". Which was basically this handkerchief-sized piece of cloth emblazoned with his name and the logo of the radio station. I still have mine around here somewhere, but I can't remember where I've stored it. I do still have my introductory letter, though; maybe I'll scan it and post it up here (you can also see one on the back cover of Big Black's Atomizer lp). I lost my ID card forever when my wallet got stolen back in 1990 :( My first ever year in Chicago, and still the only time I've ever been the victim of a crime in this city. I guess I was an easy mark way back then.

I can't remember what you had to do to become a member, though. Maybe you just had to call in? Or was there some sort of contest? Hmmm. Andy K are you out there? Do you remember? Everybody that called and got through was the recipient of a "shout-out". That definitely marked my introduction to the term shout-out. It was great - he'd go on for like five minutes rattling off the first names of every single person who had called in to the show.

Anyway, yeah, we all used to listen religiously. It was a pretty regular occurence to get on the bus in the morning and talk about Mojo's show from the preceding night. "Did you hear what Mojo played last night?" That would be, of course, if we'd all stayed up late enough to listen. Sometimes I'd just leave a tape in the deck recording it, and then listen back the following day. Especially if there was a particularly important Tigers game I needed to sneak the handheld radio under the covers to listen to.

As far as the whole techno-godfather thing ... I mean, yeah, he totally favored synth-based stuff, tough sounding electro tracks, etc. In later years, his show came on right after Jeff Mills (who was billed at "the Wizard"), so that's a specific link-up there. Kraftwerk were positively huge with Mojo. He played "Numbers" at some point seemingly every show, "Tour de France", etc. And Prince, of course. Tons and tons and tons of Prince. Whole sets and shows of Prince and the extended family. He'd play a B-side as soon as it came out. He'd play the 12" mixes of things. He'd even play that 12" mix of "Girl" that goes on forever. He had no shame when it came to his love of Prince!

I've always wanted a copy of that book. Could never find it.

has a mix by "The Wizard" on realaudio.

http://www.detroitbumps.com/memories.htm

oh also, I forgot - I linked to this page a few months back on the Matos "Sign O the Times" thread:

http://www.detroitbumps.com/memories.htm

Way down at the bottom of the page there is an archived show. I hesitate to really recommend it though because I'm fairly certain this dates from sometime in the 90s. Also, it's basically only half of a pretty tepid "Lover's Lane" segment, and like 5 minutes of the "Midnight Funk Association" and then it cuts off. You still get to hear the MFA spiel (same as ever, of course), so it's definitely worth for that. And also it's nice to have a sampling of the soft grain of his voice, which was always instantly recognizable and a definitely a big part of his appeal. Oh, and there are some Mills sets on that page too!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0963981110/qid=1092098575/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-1816537-6596014?v=glance&s=books

http://users.rcn.com/rschrade/whammy2.jpg

I don't think he ever told us what the heck they were *for*.

I remembered a Dave Marsh piece on Mojo in his "Fortunate Son" anthology and had to look it up. It's from '83, nothing terribly revelatory, but he speaks tantalizingly of "brilliant segues of tracks as various as Stevie Nicks, Gang of Four and Afrika Bambaataa!" Makes me wish there was a volume of Cruisin' 1983 or some such out there.

http://www.jahsonic.com/ElectrifyingMojo.html

J. Stone Audio Books,
PP Box 11135
Detroit, MI
48211-0135

Ph: (313) 972-1709

Mojo had (has?) this somnambulant Jesse Jackson way of speaking, and I recall he pronounced Prince "prance"...he also ended many a show with "Stairway To Heaven"...

if you're in bed, dance on your back...

wikipedia talks of him being "in negotiations to bring his show to XM satellite radio in 2006, where he will not only begin a new show, but also air shows from his archive dating back to 1977." Anything come of that? and I'd still love to hear recordings of his old shows if anyone has any leads!

I can't remember what you had to do to become a member, though. Maybe you just had to call in? Or was there some sort of contest? Hmmm. Andy K are you out there? Do you remember?

It involved a SASE, I think, but I'm not 100% sure.

He wrote a weirdass book entitled "The Mental Machine" that's over 500 pages of poetry, and short essays (on topics such as survival tips for seniors, and fatherless children).

Scored an autographed copy at John King in Detroit, around 2000. It is duly weirdass but full of valuable information.

"On team one: Pat Benatar, Rockwell, and Yes. On team two: Laid Back, the Romantics, and Captain Rock."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc2hf4Ylozo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btbLgWT6n1A

The Prince interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJZCoxZ5COY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftKtWgXzMS8

So I wasn't imagining a version of "White Horse" that included bits of "Din Daa Daa."

-bump-

DJ Assault's page has a 2-part recording of something called "The MixerDome" recorded off the Mojo show. http://www.jeffersonave.com/tag/tapes/

But I still don't understand why it's so hard to find archives. Especially MFA. All I've found are the YouTube clips with the first 15-20 minutes of certain episodes.

Anyone had better luck?