The Great Detroit Riverboat Race

After a very busy & lazy period, I'm back on track. Expect a few updates in the next couple of weeks...

In the mid 90s there were a slew of bands that almost spawned a genre. I don't know what the genre would have been called, but the formula was something like DC-ish emo type rock with a female vocal. There were a few bands that followed this formula with mixed success. Examples that immediately spring to mind include Ashes, Baby Gopal, Junction, Copper, Samuel, Idle Hands & Roosevelt's Inaugural Parade. There are probably more that I can't think of right now. But yeah, I was a big fan of this style and was always trying to find more bands & records that sounded similar.

One such find was a 7" by a band called The Great Detroit Riverboat Race. I vaguely remember reading reviews about the 7" and then wanting to check it out, but for some reason it seemed impossible to get hold of. I also remember reviews mentioning that it was numbered out of 100 copies, so for the longest time I thought that there were literally only 100 copies made in total. And I also seem to think that it came with a zine too, although I don't know what zine that may have been, or whether I am in fact just imagining it.

Anyway, as is usually the case I eventually tracked a copy down, although I am slightly disappointed in myself that I don't recall where or when. Usually I have a good memory for such things, but try as I might I have no idea where I got this record from originally. But when I did pick one up, the one thing that puzzled me was that my record wasn't numbered anywhere. In the end I just assumed that any write-ups mentioning it being numbered out of 100 must have had an insert that mine was missing. And I didn't even worry that I didn't have the zine!

Well anyway, many moons later and the mystery has been solved. I was on ebay recently & stumbled across one of these things in a different sleeve, which was (or rather is) numbered out of 100 copies. Here it is:

I can therefore guess that every review I ever read had one of these numbered out of 100 sleeves, whereas there were other copies in a non-numbered sleeve like my other copy. So just for reference, here's the copy that I have had in my collection for the last 10-15 (can't remember) years with the alternate sleeve:

If you are at all curious about this band (i.e. if you like any of the bands I mentioned at the start of this post) then I recorded the vinyl and made some mp3s. I figured nobody would mind. Here ya go:

Great Detroit Riverboat Race mp3s

I think these songs (and indeed, this genre) has held up well over the years. To me, these songs never get old and certainly don't sound dated. It's funny though is how strange it is hearing profanity in a female voice. I quote the second song... 'And still this happens every f*cking year'. Listen for yourself. Weird. But cool.

Finally.. if anyone knows anything at all about this band, please let me know. I literally know nothing. Who were these people? Did they do any other bands, either before or afterwards? Did this band record anything else? What's the score with the different sleeves? What are the band members up to now? If you know anything at all then please post a comment. Thanks!