The Mystery Of Mingering Mike
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"Between 1968 and 1977 Mingering Mike recorded over fifty albums, managed thirty-five of his own record labels, and produced, directed and starred in nine of his own motion pictures. In 1972 alone he released fifteen LPs and over twenty singles, and his travelling revue played for sold out crowds the world over." Says the opening paragraph of the Mingering Mike website. Never heard a Mingering Mike record? Well that'd be no surprise, as up until 2003 when the whole back catalog of Mingering Mike's albums and singles was discovered by a record collector at a Washington DC flea market, only one other person in the world had. And that was Mike himself.
It turns out that Mingering Mike is the alter-ego of Mike Stevens. He created the whole discography and history of funk / soul super-star Mingering Mike. The imaginary musical career of this ficticious super-star's world was uncovered by vinyl collector and crate-digger Dori Hader at 5am one morning, when he came across a whole collection of records by an artist he'd never heard of, despite his encyclopaedic knowledge of soul and funk. It wasn't very long however, before he realised all wasn't as it seemed. |
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He pulled out a few pieces, and took out the "vinyl" to see what condition it was in. To his surprise he found pieces of record shaped cardboard, painted to look like vinyl, with grooves marked on them and intricately designed labels. He noticed that all the album sleeves were hand-drawn and painted. That some were still wrapped in cellophane, and had price labels on them. Most of the albums were gate-fold, featuring detailed liner-notes and track listings. What Dori had found, was not an unknown soul super-star, but the work of an unknown outsider artist.
As a youth Mike Stevens coped with the real world issues around him, by immersing himself in the fantasy world he created, and his alter-ego. The world he created went beyond just Mike, there were albums by other artists such as Joseph War, the Big "D," and Rambling Ralph, on labels like Fake Records, Inc., Decision, Sex, and Mother Goose. There were soundtracks to imaginary kung fu films and a benefit album for sickle cell anaemia. |
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The sleeve art, the liner-notes, the song titles all reflected aspects of Mike Stevens world, and elements of political and social history of the 60s and 70s, when the artwork was produced. The covers paint a poignant picture of the split between the fantasy of life in the limelight and the stark reality of drugs and disenfranchisement of Civil Rights era Black America. Every intricate detail of the collection revealing something about the artist who made them, with such care and attention. The fantasy started after Mike was mugged in his local neighbourhood. He withdrew, staying at home a lot, until one day watching the world from his window, he drew the cover art for Sit’tin By The Window. That’s how Mingering Mike began. (The word “mingering” was an amalgamation of mingling and merging. Mike got the idea when he saw a road sign that said Merge.) At first he just created the album covers, the idea of putting records inside the sleeves came later. He wanted to make them as real a possible, he said in an interview.
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In 1969 Mike was drafted into the military, and was due to be sent to Cambodia. He went AWOL, and "dodged the draft" by hiding in his house, immersing himself deeper into the fictional world he had created. The artwork got darker, reflecting his isolation, but also the world he saw from his window. A world turned-upside-down by the Vietnam war, as his neighbours returned, shell-shocked, limbs missing and suffering from PTSD. He saw his community crumble, as his life and those of others around him spiralled into petty crime and drug addiction. All of which was reflected in the world of Mingering Mike. Suddenly though in 1975, the musical career of the great soul super-star came to an end. President Jimmy Carter had been elected, and he had pardoned all the draft-dodgers. It meant that Mike Stevens could leave Mingering Mike at home and go back into the world and get a job.
He put Mingering Mike's record collection in storage, and there it remained for years. Until one day Mike's didn't make the rental payments on the storage locker, and the owner sold off the contents. And thus it ended up at a flea market, and into the eager hands of Dori Hader. Eventually Dori managed to track down Mike Stevens, and thus the mystery was solved, and a legend was born.
He put Mingering Mike's record collection in storage, and there it remained for years. Until one day Mike's didn't make the rental payments on the storage locker, and the owner sold off the contents. And thus it ended up at a flea market, and into the eager hands of Dori Hader. Eventually Dori managed to track down Mike Stevens, and thus the mystery was solved, and a legend was born.
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