DISCLAIMER: This archive is dedicated... DISCLAIMER: This archive is dedicated to preserving and honoring the legendary and vibrant music scene of Flint, Michigan, from the 1980s and beyond. No profit has ever been, or ever will be, made from the content provided here. The sole purpose of this site is to celebrate the creative work of these artists exactly as it was originally created. This website is developed and maintained at the full cost of its curator. If you are an artist featured on this site or hold the rights to any material and wish for it to be removed or modified, please CONTACT this site directly. We will promptly comply with any reasonable requests. If we did not upload the content (and do not have control over it), we will remove our link to it. READ MORE

This archive focuses on the vibrant & legendary Flint underground music scene of the 1980s and 1990s.  It was a turbulent time in Flint’s history.  The 1980s began with the Flint area experiencing stability, growth, and cultural excitement.  By the decade’s end, a mass exodus had occurred due to the historic GM layoffs in Flint and the cascading effect it had on everyone in the area.  The following decade was an intense period of readjustment, as Flint was forced to redefine itself after decades of booming progress. It was the perfect environment to breed groundbreaking punk or garage rock. However, the Flint scene was actually known around Michigan, for a unique variety of musical output that resembled the AM radio of the 1960s.

It was also a time before the common use of the internet and digital media production.  Home cassette recording allowed bands to inexpensively record their music for the first time in history. Wyatt Earp Records helped distribute it.  There were Flint public radio shows that would lend them exposure and help Wyatt Earp’s distribute the music and live show information.  In 1989, there was even a TV series (“Take No Prisoners”) that ran for 8 years and was devoted to quality documentation of the scene by volunteer audio and video pros. It was an infrastructure that few cities ever enjoyed before punk and “alternative” music went mainstream in the mid-1990s.  Most importantly, it was a scene built and cultivated by a unique group of extraordinary individuals that freely lent their time and talents to create a cooperative, unified, and energized music scene.  Their story can now be told through this site. 

Few cameras were ever present at shows back then and even fewer moments were recorded on audio or video. Until 2007, these recordings sat in dusty collections all over the country.  If these recordings were originally available at a show or at Wyatt Earp's (in small, limited, hand-made batches sold on consignment and at cost), they instantly went out of print.  Back then, you usually had to know someone to get a copy of this stuff.  Not any more.

Aaron Stengel
Developer and Curator
Flint Music Scene Veteran