Michigan Music History Podcast -- MMHP989 · Scott Baker, Gary Johnson, Fred Reif, Mike Beattie

Michigan Music History Podcast--Barbara Bacon--Sin's A Good Man's Sister Part 1 of 2

·1 hr 10 min·4 clips

Barbara Bacon is at the Who party when Keith Moon hoists Diana over his shoulder and Townsend says, 'Don't worry. She's okay.'

The show is recorded live from the Michigan Rock Legends Hall of Fame inside the Bay County Historical Museum in Bay City. Barbara Bacon joins the hosts as a special guest. They greet her warmly and talk about her visit to the museum the day before, along with dinner and a concert in the park by the Beatles tribute band Shout. The mood stays friendly and easy. The conversation treats the museum as a real gathering place, not just a backdrop. The hosts thank her for memorabilia she donated to the exhibit. That leads into a longer stretch of memory and scene-setting. Barbara talks about being around groups and friends from that period. The talk turns to the kinds of people who were hanging around rock circles then. Heroin comes up, and Barbara is clear that she and her circle stayed away from it. The conversation circles back to a Holiday Inn party. There is uncertainty about who got her into the room. She thinks it may have been one of several people, including the Ashtons, Pete Andrews, Bob Dell and Diana, or possibly her sister. She remembers being 17 and standing there in the middle of a wild crowd. The hosts and Barbara compare versions of the same old story. Keith Moon gets mentioned. So does Townsend. Barbara remembers cake being thrown. She also remembers people being stoned. The famous car-in-the-pool story comes up, and nobody treats it like a settled fact. Different witnesses remember it differently. That tension between memory and legend gives the whole segment its shape. The episode stays conversational and unhurried. It sounds like people who know the scene and know each other. The ending points forward to part two and more of Barbara’s stories.

As heard by us

A loose, lively oral-history stop full of Michigan rock names, places, and party stories.

Barbara Bacon's visit gives this Michigan music-history stop its best energy: a first-hand account from someone who was there, moving through a museum tour, a Beatles tribute night, and memories of clubs, parties, and the scene around them.

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Why you'd press play

You want a front-row seat to Michigan rock memory, and Barbara Bacon has stories.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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