The Grand Maestro of Midwest Rock
Michael Stanley performing at Tower City Amphitheater, in Cleveland, Ohio, June 8, 2002. Photo by Joe Kleon. Secured through Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0.
They say there are books that should have been written, but weren’t… toasts that should have been made, but weren’t… and most of you know what I’m talking about (because you just might have been the one that didn’t do it).
You may not know it, but I love Rock and Roll and even took guitar lessons in junior high in order to start a band. The early death of my father changed my career direction, but not my love for music.
Thanks to Alan Freed and the Moon Dog Coronation Ball, the birth of Rock and Roll started in Cleveland, Ohio. And during the 70s and 80s, thanks to Scene Magazine, Rock and Roll station WMMS, and venues too numerous to list (but most notably the Agora, Coliseum, and Blossom), young musicians found positive encouragement through eager fans.
It was during this time that a musician born on Cleveland’s soil and raised on the west side of the river would make his lasting mark in music and in our hearts…
He was a musician of the people, for the people, and now, will be forever missed by the people! That is why this week, I had to write my tribute to a local iconic musical artist who, last week, finished his last tour and crossed the bridge to the Eternal Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
We all lost a good one with the passing of Michael Stanley last Thursday evening.
From humble beginnings to music icon on American Bandstand, Michael Stanley’s life was a rollercoaster of emotional and physical ups and downs. But he always kept his compass on the Heartland of America.
Stanley was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 25, 1948… under the astrological sign, Aries. Aries are known for being passionate, motivated, and confident leaders who build community with their cheerful personalities. Little did Michael know at birth how this would serve him well later in life. He graduated from Rocky River High School in 1966 and went on to Hiram College on a baseball scholarship. It was at Hiram that Michael began to take stock of his strength and passion for music and formed his first band, Silk, in 1969. The band broke up after just one year. But meanwhile, Michael graduated from Hiram and began a two-year, two albums, solo tour of local venues.
After his second solo album (creatively titled “Michael Stanley”) met with little success - and after being fired from his job working at a record store four months after the birth of his twin daughters - Michael decided to reconfigure his life.
Finding three simpatico musical souls and a manager from Rockin’ WMMS, Michael formed the Michael Stanley Band - or more affectionately known as MSB - in 1974. The seventies were the “hard knocks” time for the band, as they struggled for notoriety and recognition through their Midwest flavor of heart and soul Rock and Roll.
There were good times, such as opening for AC/DC in 1977 and REO Speedwagon in 1978, but being “discovered” was still the pot of gold at the end of their creative rainbow.
These are the times where bands hit bottom, find themselves, or break up. I’ve known a few band members and, in discussions about the “lean” years, they say we find ourselves best when we are the most desperate. From this time of challenge comes the best material for songs. And that is exactly what happened to MSB with the turn of the decade.
Michael, at lead guitar and vocals, had developed a Jagger swagger as he strummed his guitar at center stage. And, with a bit of Tom Petty style grit, he sang ballads of love, life, and growing up in the Midwest. Everything came together with the September 8, 1980 release of arguably MSB’s best album, Heartland. This album truly represented what Michael and the band stood for. It produced two top 40 hits, Lover and He Can’t Love You.
In 1981, on its inaugural day, MTV aired MSB’s He Can’t Love You rock video twice on national television, and MSB’s dream of acceptance was realized.
This decade had MSB on American Bandstand with Dick Clark, selling out New Year’s Eve at the Coliseum, and setting a four day sell-out record at Blossom in August of 1982 with 74,404 people!
Though super-stardom on the national level may have eluded MSB, Ohio and surrounding states held a love and loyalty for the band that continued through to their breakup in 1987.
I had the pleasure of seeing MSB several times at Tangiers and yes, I even saw Michael Stanley play at the Medina County Fair.
Michael was a songwriter and singer of the common person. When he sang, you felt he was singing to you about your life and your town. When you heard his lyrics, “When the cold comes to stay it will take your breath away,” you felt as if you were walking down any street in Cleveland or Northern Ohio in the winter.
The band enjoyed significant local success for several years, but as it always seems to be with passionate artists, the time to move on and discover new worlds always looms on the horizon. And, in 1987, MSB would be no more. Michael Stanley was again solo and in need of a canvas for his creative talents.
In 1987, Stanley became the co-host with Jan Jones of “PM Magazine” on WJW, which highlighted the life and culture of living in Cleveland. This gig lasted until 1990 when his second claim to fame was spawned…
Michael became the afternoon drive-home disc jockey for Cleveland’s classic rock station, WNCX, and this would be his home for the next 30 years.
During this time, he earned 11 Emmys for his creative spinning of classic rock and the development of a program that delivered several decades of by-gone music to a modern audience.
Cleveland’s afternoon airwaves will never be the same. And the drive home, at least for a while, will have a certain unsettled quietness about it. So back to a toast that I never made, but now do so in his passing…
In his song, Lover, Michael Stanley thanks God for the man who put the white lines on the highway.
I’d like to thank God for putting Michael Stanley into the musical tapestry of Cleveland and the hearts of millions.
Michael, you showed us how to love… how to care… how to make a difference in the world.
Thank you.
And cheers to your induction into the Eternal Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- Chuck Pfister