There once was a dude named Shaffee, who played the most kick-ass music that any radio station has ever played. He would rock the Lansing area latenight on his program called the Skank Shift like no one had ever done before. He would play 4, 5, even 6 good songs in a row at a time when most stations were having trouble finding 2 to rub together. There would be lots of different kinds of rock on the Skank Shift: punk, metal, rock with funk mixed in. But they were pure, man, all had the soul of rock. No, you couldn’t hear Van Halen, by then (and now) they had lost their way. And glam bands weren’t featured very often, glitter and makeup never mixed very well with rock and roll.

Now I know this sounds corny, but it was like he was teaching the Masters Classes for the School of Rock to the students of Michigan State.

But then one day he was gone.

Replaced by some hack; the Skank Shift vibe obliterated. And on Sunday night, the night that he rocked most hard, he was replaced by syndicated Dee Snyder and the House of Hair… The House of Hair?? !! HOH went from like 8 -10pm and had ads for geritol and adult diapers on it. The shame. The loss…

Dark days followed. Good songs here and there. A Barnes and Noble opened up with a good rock selection and those music sample player things and those overpriced lattes which were good but kinda had a bad aftertaste. People forgot.

Oh, you’d hear rumors: Shaffee drown in the Red Cedar River, was busted for picking up hookers on MLK Blvd, even that he was a local wrestling promoter See number 5. But most of the kids didn’t know Shaffee, you see, they had gone over to rap or to pop. Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears ect. Maybe Lansing just didn’t have the soul of rock anymore or wasn’t ready in the first place.


DETROIT ROCK-CITY!!!! HOPE




I do think “Cult-like status” is a bit much though…