Steve Sortor Tribute at Paychecks

Steve Sortor was the drummer for the Mutants, Sillies, Roommates and other bands in Detroit.  He was a great promoter of the Detroit music scene and the following links

http://www.readmag.com/sortor.htm

http://www.i94bar.com/newspage.html

give much more info on his life and times than I could possibly give.  Steve died a while ago from complications from diabetes and many of his friends and former bandmates came to Paycheck’s to pay tribute to him.

Paycheck’s was the only appropriate place for this show; Lili’s just closed at the end of September and Paycheck’s is the sole survivor of those clubs from the 70s and 80s.  This place has covered the entire spectrum of the club scene.  It started as a tiny narrow bar to see the many local bands that were playing in the late 1970s with Johnny’s Pizza wedged next door.  Johnny’s Pizza closed down and Paycheck knocked the wall down and doubled the size of the place.  It quickly became a national stop where bands like the Gun Club, Beastie Boys, Butthole Surfers and Ten Thousand Maniacs played their first shows in Detroit.  As time and tastes changed Paycheck’s continued to be home to many local bands.  It still resonates with live music on weekends and this Friday night was extremely special.  Doug Podell was the MC and he told many stories and anecdotes about Steve – both as a person and a musician.

First up was a reunion of the fabulous Roommates.  The Roommates played around Detroit in the early 1980’s and I remember seeing them often at the legendary club on Gratiot in Detroit called Traxx.  That show brought back a ton of pleasant memories and the girls can still rock !!!

The evening culminated with a reunion of the Mutants.  The Mutants were one of Detroit’s finest bands back in the late 1970s and 80s.  They managed to combine great rock & roll with a sense of humor and irony that was second to none.  Their two singles “So American” and “I Say Yeah” are highly sought after on Ebay these days and I doubted that I would ever hear this legendary band again.  But this both sad and happy occasion brought most of the band together for one more awesome set.  All those great tunes were heard again: “Piece of Shit”, “Pizza”, “Buggers on You” and so on.  It’s so ironic that usually only tragedies bring people together, but this evening celebrated Steve’s life and legacy and brought back those hard-rocking days from the 70s and 80s that many of us grew up on.

There was also a great tribute to Steve Sortor on WRIF on Sunday, November 17, 2002 when the local show was dedicated to Steve and his many bands.  It’s hard to believe, but Detroit FM radio was actually playing the Mutants and the Sillies.  We all know that this should have happened 20 years ago, but I’ve given up hope in ever actually hearing real rock & roll on the radio.  Thank God that we had people like Steve Sortor who showed us what real music is supposed to sound like.