High octane, turbo, high performance, super charged Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels didn’t need to hail from the Motor City for those adjectives to be tossed their way but it was certainly appropriate that they called Motown home. Born in Hamtramck, Michigan, Ryder began singing at the age of seventeen in a high school band called Tempest before turning heads in a Detroit soul club. He then formed the band, Billy Lee & The Rivieras with musicians John Badanjek, Jim McCarty, Earl Elliot and Joe Kubert who were soon booked as an opening act at a music club north of Detroit. It was during this time that The Four Seasons’ producer, Bob Crewe discovered the band and took them to New York after changing their name to Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels. The band’s first single, “I Need Help” was released in 1965 followed by “Jenny Take A Ride!” which climbed to #10. A year later, they recorded “Little Latin Lupe Lu” which cemeted their commercial appeal as it reached #17 and set the general outline of the band’s most popular sound … an R&B standard or two revved up, Wheels-style with Ryder’s peerless soul shouting ripping away over the top. The “Devil With A Blue Dress On” and “Good Golly Miss Molly” medleys exploded over the airwaves as they hit #4 on the charts. Ryder’s final Top 10 single, “Sock It To Me – Baby!” was released in 1967. Crewe then packed Ryder off to Las Vegas with a big band in tow. He released a few solo albums including the 1971 album, Mitch Ryder’s Detroit. It was in 1983 when Ryder returned to a major American label for the John Cougar Mellencamp-produced album, Never Kick A Sleeping Dog … the album was highlighted by a world-weary, gritty version of Prince’s “When You Were Mine.” Today, Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels are playing to sold-out audiences across North America and will be performing at Boulevard Casino’s Red Robinson Show Theatre in October.

Tickets: Cabaret Seating | $34.50 | plus service charges