The guitar was worn and poorly repainted. A gift from a friend, the instrument was his beater guitar. It would be found resting against any piece of furniture in the house. \u201cLyle\u201d read the headstock, his hands strummed a blues riff against the sunburst body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mike Skill picked up a guitar for the first time at age 13. His over 50 years of experience with the instrument has become second-nature. The Lyle was surely no stranger to him, just like any guitar. Like his first guitar, it played rough and raw. Nothing special, really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Skill\u2019s interest in music germinated in his parent\u2019s car while he listened to the hits of the 50\u2019s on the radio. To and from the skating rink, the music would play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At first, drums were his first interest. The beats of the 50\u2019s and 60\u2019s stood out to Skill as a child and teen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRolling Stones\u2019 \u2018satisfaction\u2019 came out, I was learning to play beats and I liked the drums in the song,\u201d said Skill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His parents agreed to buy him a drumset and his brother a guitar. He remembers someone convincing him to buy a guitar instead. Skill said it came down to not wanting to carry all the drum equipment around. A guitar was simply portable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The guitar was new, compared to his brother\u2019s used guitar. The strings were tight and the sound was thin. After one summer, Skill set it aside and picked up his brother\u2019s guitar. Nearly deterred, he persisted through another summer and taught himself to play songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In junior high school, Skill and his friends Frank, Chris, and Charlie, formed a neighborhood band influenced by psychedelic rock (lots of reverb and fuzz tones), \u201cHigh Tyde,\u201d booking venues at the school dances on the eastside of Detroit. Moving from one band to another, Skill pushed himself further. His free time was consumed with music. Jamming and creating his own music, Skill used to keep his mom and dad awake at night learning songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently graduated, Skill and his friends Bobby East and Jimmy Marinos rented an old store front. The rent: $90 per month, and they could barely scrape it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe would create songs and jam,\u201d Skill said. \u201cIt was our own little get away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Covers filled his current band\u2019s setlists, originals only dotted their performance. Still, the experience of playing a gig proved an important part of Skill\u2019s development as a musician and songwriter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bandmate Marinos is a close friend of Skill\u2019s. Together they got themselves kicked out of the band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHanging with girls too much,\u201d as Skill put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Together, Marinos and Skill proved a suitable pair of musicianship and creativity. It was this creative power and stubborn determination that lead them to success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During this time, New York City grew as a center for punk and new forms of rock. Most of the country\u2019s radio occupied itself with lightweight California folk and pop. Two polar opposites on each end of the country with Detroit, MI in the dead center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The New York music scene originated in clubs and bars such as \u201cMax\u2019s Kansas City\u201d and \u201cCBGB.\u201d At CBGB (Country, Blue Grass, and Blues), Iggy, Todd Rundgren, Andy Warhol, and countless others hung out. Entertained by the endless wave of music on the stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe really wanted to go to New York,\u201d Skill said. New York was motivation. \u201cWe knew we could write the same songs or better,\u201d Skill said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marinos, Skill, and two others formed the \u201cMotor City Rockers,\u201d hailing from Detroit, the Motor City itself. They called up CBGB, then run by Hilly Kristal, and booked a gig. They were off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe dressing room was a bathroom and the bathroom for the owner\u2019s dog,\u201d Skill said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The gig at CBGB was successful, despite the conditions, and contributed to Skill\u2019s abilities like a job on a resume. He was one show more experienced than the rest. Though the Motor City Rockers split apart shortly after, Marinos and Skill were motivated once more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From there, Skill\u2019s musical career progressed rather rapidly. He and Marinos recruited Wally Palmar on rhythm guitar and Rich Cole on bass, all sang lead vocals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what started the ball rolling for the Romantics,\u201d Skill said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Legend has it, at least in the music world, \u201cThe Romantics\u201d formed and played their first show on Valentine’s Day of 1977.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The band \u201cwas always creating new music,\u201d writing originals inspired by the group they grew up listening to in the early days of their career. The four were signed to Nemperor Records with Nat Weiss and released their first album by the name of \u201cThe Romantics.\u201d One of Skill\u2019s most notable songs, \u201cWhat I Like About You,\u201d was on the album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The band toured continually with groups like \u201cCheap Trick\u201d and \u201cThe Ramones.\u201d Their venues included the \u201cPeppermint Lounge\u201d and \u201cDanceteria\u201d in New York City and \u201cThe Rathskeller\u201d (The Rat, for short) in Boston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe shows were getting bigger as the songs climbed the charts,\u201d Skill said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their songs, \u201cWhen I Look in Your Eyes,\u201d \u201cTell it to Carrie,\u201d and, of course, \u201cWhat I Like About You,\u201d were among the most popular, with \u201cWhat I Like\u2026\u201d reaching #47 on the charts. A sizeable accomplishment for four Detroit musicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After recording and writing the second record, Skill was fired from the band. Always pushing for a raw and edgy sound in contrary to the uniform suits look, he also question the management\u2019s handling of finances and royalties. Meanwhile, the remaining Romantics released their third album. It was less than a success. Shortly after, Skill returned to the band, and focused on songwriting. Skill came up with the idea and everyone built upon it. From that came their fourth album, \u201cIn Heat\u201d featuring \u201cTalking in Your Sleep,\u201d which reached #2 on the charts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Romantics still tour today, with three of the original members: Palmar, Cole and Skill, accompanied by their drummer, Brad Elvis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The guitar was worn and poorly repainted. A gift from a friend, the instrument was his beater guitar. It would be found resting against any piece of furniture in the house. \u201cLyle\u201d read the headstock, his hands strummed a blues riff against the sunburst body. Mike Skill picked up a guitar for the first time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[142],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24989","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-video","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kjag-pod","8":"post_format-post-format-video"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24989"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24990,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24989\/revisions\/24990"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}