Mingering Mike - an IMAGINARY record collection?!

[MingMikeFan]

Hi there,





I registered with this service specifically because of you and what you found, so first of all, thanks very much.





I read through the thread and was intrigued by some of the debate going on between some people about the merits of the collection (though most, like me, are simply awestruck). I'll add my voice to the chorus of people who believe that the sheer amount of labor involved, the time and energy that went into designing the art and the lyrics, down even to the promo stickers and shrink-wrapping, far outweighs any objections any reasonable person could have as to its artistic merits per se. There is so much passion here, for what I hope are musical styles and tastes shared by most of you posting on this thread (Lalo Schifrin! Bruce Lee!), that you can't help but be overwhelmed.





You've really struck gold here, and despite your being overwhelmed by work, I think I can safely say that we all appreciate your continued efforts to share as much of this with us as you can. And like I said, you even got me to climb on board after lurking for the last day or two.





Congratulations, Secret Chimp, and keep it up!

 

[MingMikeFan]

Oh, and before I forget, the Muppets totally rule.





You know, if you go to timelife.com, you can buy not one, not five, not even ten, but FIFTEEN DVDs with three episodes apiece on 'em. Go check 'em out, and bring the seventies back to your television set the way they were meant to be!





(Not that I'm trying to shill or snything, I just want to share the Muppets love. I'm a Statler and Waldorf man myself.)

 

[LooksLikeSinbad]

Like everyone else here I'm wrapped up in Minger Mike Mania. This stuff is so amazing.





My mom works at the Visionary Art Museum in b'more. If anyone is not familiar with it it's a truly amazing place. It's devoted to outsider artists which means people with no formal art training. Many of them suffer from psychological disorders like schizophrenia and depression and many are recovered drug addicts and alcoholics. Mike's artwork reminds me ALOT of the stuff I've seen there. Secret Chimp - once you have all of this stuff sorted out, I can put you in touch with someone at the museum if you'd like. I am sure that there are people in the art world that would love to have a look at what you've found.





If any of you ever get a chance to see the museum it's really amazing.





"Visionary art as defined for the purposes of the American Visionary Art Museum refers to art produced by self-taught individuals, usually without formal training, whose works arise from an innate personal vision that revels foremost in the creative act itself."

 

[pj4533]

I was thinking about this find more this morning. There has been some debate about it (both here, and on another mailing list I am on), so it got me to thinking.





I think I figured out what really captured my imagination about this....i believe someone eluded to it earlier. This has genuinely inspired me to dig deeper, and work harder to unearth new finds. It has been a long time since I have truely felt this excited about actually digging....in this day of eBay, overpriced dealers, etcetc...I was afraid the game had become 'who ever has the most money gets the prize'. Finds like this are what keep things fresh, and keep me from being so cynical.





Anyway....Chimp...quit readin' this and go track down a reel-to-reel!





-peeJ

 

[Raystar]

We need to find the others volumes... this is so big... I'm already out of tissues and its too cold out to take off my socks and use them... what the heck...

 

[Phill_Most]

I didn't read every single post here, but am I the only one that things that maybe Mingering Mike was just a wee bit insane?





That doesn't take away from his greatness, though, so don't get made it me for my blasphemous thoughts! I'm just sayin', though.

 

[JRoot]

From what we've seen here, I feel comfortable saying that Mingering Mike was a dedicated, obsessed, and ultimately frustrated artist. As with all art, you don't have to like it, but we should all be able to respect the time, energy, and focus it required to put this stuff together. (and the time, energy, and focus it requires to go through it all now - thanks chimp!)





What inspires me about this collection is the way it has fired many of our imaginations. Who was Mingering Mike? We don't know and we probably never will (I hope I'm wrong, but I think he's dead). But we can see his work and take from it what we will. The hits on this website are almost without question more exposure than Mingering Mike ever had for his work during his productive period. If he is alive, I hope that he catches wind of this so we can at least give him a round of applause. This is what makes digging fun.

 

[SensiRider]

Who was Mingering Mike? We don't know and we probably never will (I hope I'm wrong, but I think he's dead).

First: I think the find is amazing.





Second: Is it our business who Mingering Mike was? Or which of his friends were caught up in drugs or jail or whatever?





Understand that I'm not asking these questions while I know the right answer, but as I read through the thread I feel like some of this is one step away from reading somebody's diary. With his music and art it seems safe to assume that he was looking to communicate with others (like sending demos out and whatnot), but it seems like there's a fine but very real line between wanting some life-context for this guys art and voyeurism.

 

[Secret_Chimp]

Is it our business who Mingering Mike was? Or which of his friends were caught up in drugs or jail or whatever?





Understand that I'm not asking these questions while I know the right answer, but as I read through the thread I feel like some of this is one step away from reading somebody's diary. With his music and art it seems safe to assume that he was looking to communicate with others (like sending demos out and whatnot), but it seems like there's a fine but very real line between wanting some life-context for this guys art and voyeurism.

Man, I'm feeling you there. I just posted a message on Fatback's Mingering Mike 45 thread about this very same issue. I really want to hear from you guys on this. Are we going too far? I'm thinking we need to slow down a little- at least determine what his status is before we start posting specific personal details, like his full name, for example.. I have old addresses and so forth, but I sure as hell am not going to post those on here. What if he is still around here somewhere and all of a sudden all of us crazy Soulstrutters start showing up at his doorstep? I don't know about you, but that would really freak me out.





Comments, please! (and let's try to keep them in the same thread if possible)

 

[sims]

I've been watching this whole thing unfold in complete awe .. the only thing i have to add .. and this should be obvious enough .. is to be careful with those reel to reels !! depending on how old they are, i probably wouldn't suggest just finding a player and throwing them on .. like somebody said, they could break or fall apart .. and you might get one play out of them. if you can get the resources together, itd probably be best to take them to a studio thats done stuff like this before ..





this reminds me of when the bbe cats found those roy ayers reels .. apparently they had to put them in an oven and converted them to dat right away ..





all im saying is that it would be a shame to have the only recorded mingering mike music vanish (brother of the dragon ost ??? forget it) .. you guys are handling this all extremely well though and im sure youll do it right





truly refreshing stuff, all this. i cant get enough

 

[Secret_Chimp]

Fatback and I discussed the issue of posting MM's full name, and I think we both agree that ideally it would be the right thing to remove his full name from any posts. The cat's already out of the bag, but out of respect I think we ought to edit our messages so that his full name doesn't appear anywhere.





So, if at all possible (and if you agree), could anyone who mentioned or quoted Mingering Mike's real full name please edit their messages? I don't mean to be anal about it or anything, but this stuff really is kind of personal.





(I'm going to post this same message in the other thread as well..)

 

[jinx74]

its too late now, and im sorry i didnt say this from the get but i was so wrapped up in this, you need to take away the thread and any thread relating. take down those pics off your web or make it private. too many cats have the info now and some dumb fuck out there is gonna fuck shit up. so if i was raj or dcas take these off the forum now before it really is too late.

 

[Secret_Chimp]

jinx74 said:its too late now, and im sorry i didnt say this from the get but i was so wrapped up in this, you need to take away the thread and any thread relating. take down those pics off your web or make it private. too many cats have the info now and some dumb fuck out there is gonna fuck shit up. so if i was raj or dcas take these off the forum now before it really is too late.




For real? Maybe you're right.. Damn, I dunno. I know there are people out there who probably have concocted their own self-serving plans for this stuff and very well might screw everything up.





But isn't it too late already? I mean 8,000+ hits?!

 

[pj4533]

jinx74 said:its too late now, and im sorry i didnt say this from the get but i was so wrapped up in this, you need to take away the thread and any thread relating. take down those pics off your web or make it private. too many cats have the info now and some dumb fuck out there is gonna fuck shit up. so if i was raj or dcas take these off the forum now before it really is too late.




Nah...I think that is going a bit far. No need to be completely secretive, just use some discretion (which they have done very well), and i think it'll be alright.





I hope someone with record label connections is in contact, for when/if they do track him down. Seems like a natural fit for release over at Egon's branch of Stones Throw.....





-pj

 

[jinx74]

chimp - i emailed you some stuff earlier. i know you wont/cant get back to me til a lot later but if you need to do something with it holler.





like i said i do think its too late really to be pulling anything but nevertheless i would. there is no need to keep this stuff up. weve all seen the pictures. dcas is gonna give some internet space to chimp to post all the stuff up (in time). we keep discussing the same stuff over and over now making jokes about shit. i also disagree with you pj cause nothing has been held back. pictures have been posted, info has been dropped, everyone has done a search on him (as noted by oli and others), and while there may be some stuff not yet mentioned, hell, from SF i could find him at this point. yet, take down these threads and theres a nicer chance that someone wont fuck it all up.





what do i know though...i cant even get mongo slade to respond back to my emails for a local 45 battle...

 

[deepstank]

I'm not for censorship in any form, but I think it might be wise to snip the cord on this one. as noted above. If it's gone, there's less chance. Not no chance, because it's out there, but less chance. That'd be the bad that comes with the good.





Chimp & Fatback, y'all have acted with tact and respect since you "met" Mingering Mike. Thanks for sharing. Now put your toys away!

 

[JRoot]

Man, I'm feeling you there. I just posted a message on Fatback's Mingering Mike 45 thread about this very same issue. I really want to hear from you guys on this. Are we going too far? I'm thinking we need to slow down a little- at least determine what his status is before we start posting specific personal details, like his full name, for example.. I have old addresses and so forth, but I sure as hell am not going to post those on here. What if he is still around here somewhere and all of a sudden all of us crazy Soulstrutters start showing up at his doorstep? I don't know about you, but that would really freak me out.





Comments, please! (and let's try to keep them in the same thread if possible)





-d.

I agree that there is a fence between "life-context" and voyeurism, and I would hate to feel like we went all the way over to the voyeuristic side of the fence. When I asked "who is mingering mike", I didn't really need or even want to know the answer. Just when things started to get a little out of hand on the mingering mike 45 thread, cooler heads prevailed and perhaps truly sensitive personal information (i didn't see what O-Dub turned up) was removed before it was disseminated too widely. Keep up the good self-censorship everybody.

 

[Secret_Chimp]

Thanks everybody for their input on this- I agree about removing the pictures for the time being.





I'm shocked at how quickly everybody edited their messages. Mingering Mike commands some serious respect up in this mug.

 

[RAJ]

15th Year anniversary.

 

[Givemesoul]

You might be on to something with this collection,this artist had something to say and only he can explain it,good luck in your search.