Mingering Mike is here! · May 4, 04:00 PM
Mingering Mike: The Amazing Career of An Imaginary Soul Superstar was released on May 1st and is already causing a commotion! Here are just a few of the magazines thrilled to have “re-discovered” Mike…
“Hot Wax!”
—Entertainment Weekly
“For sheer DIY poignancy, Mike’s curios outclass the efforts of many real singers.”
—Time Out New York
“These are a few of our favorite things.”
—SPIN
“One friend of ours explained his artwork as ‘the black Marcel Dzama or Jockum Nordstrom.’ We just call it the best music we’ll never hear.”
—TOKION
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Who is Mingering Mike?
That’s what author Dori Hader asked when at a Washington, D.C., flea market he stumbled on crate after crate of records by a soul singer he had never heard of. On closer inspection he realized every album was made of cardboard. Each package was intricately crafted, complete with gatefold interiors, extensive liner notes, and grooves drawn onto the “vinyl.” Some albums were even covered in shrinkwrap, as if purchased at actual record stores.
Where did the records come from?
A DJ by night and a criminal investigator by day, Hadar was determined to find out. He bought the nearly 200 faux LPs and 45s and put his detective skills to work. He soon found the door of the elusive man responsible for this alternate universe of funk. The records, he learned, had been lost when Mike defaulted on a storage space. Their friendship blossomed and Mike revealed the story of his life and his many albums, hit singles, and movie soundtracks.
Then who is the “real” Mingering Mike?
A solitary boy raised by his brothers, sisters, and cousins, Mike lost himself in a world of his own imaginary superstardom, basing songs and albums on his and his family’s experiences. Early teenage songs obsessed with love and heartache soon
gave way to social themes surrounding the turbulent era of civil rights protests and political upheaval—brought even closer to home when Mike himself went underground dodging the Vietnam War.
Wow! What’s in the book?
Equal parts alternative music history and detective story, Mingering Mike is the outsider art discovery of a lifetime. It is the incredible true story of a man and his myth: the kid who dreamed of being a star and the fantastical “careers” of the
artists he created. All of Mingering Mike’s best albums and 45s are presented in full color, finally bringing to the star the adoring audience he always imagined he had.
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