Ike Turner Day in St. Louis: September 2, at Big Muddy Blues Festival

• I gotta say...it's a damn shame that our city does nothing to give a nod to its rich musical heritage... and folks wonder why the local music scene struggles. Why bands often pass over us, stopping in KC or chicago instead... perhaps because the city just doesn't give a damn...though I'm sure someday there will be a Nelly day. I read somewhere that grand's not allowed to have proper music venues because of politics...I want to say Kopper wrote about it... we name a highway after a steroid popper, but do nothing to commemorate the great musicians from our city... our city is nothing but baseball and casinos, or at least, that's how it feels sometimes... at least there's a handful of bands, venues, writers and promoters dedicated to it.

• from rolling stone magazine: Ike Turner Day Cancelled in Advance September 2nd will not be Ike Turner Day in St. Louis. Today the mayor of the Gateway City turned down a request by the organizers of the Big Muddy Blues Festival - at which the 75-year-old singer will be performing � to honor Ike with a citywide day in his name. Said festival organizers, �We were only looking to celebrate his contributions to the music industry. Many entertainers have checkered past.� Photo: AFP/Bouys/Getty -- Zachary Weiss

• I could see how it came off that way. Again, I knew people would react negatively to an Ike Turner Day. I'm not the biggest Ike Turner fan but I am a huge Adam Ant fan and - trust me - most people (at least in Europe any way) can't hear Adam Ant and not think "crazy bloke who threw a car altenator through a window".

• Hey AP- No hard feelings, but it did look like you were just taking the easy wife-beater joke road. Good to know you weren't. Me, I've been closing my DJ set with "Getting Nasty" from Ike's A Black Man's Soul album for going on a year now & haven't gotten sick of it yet.

• Sadly, the people against this have more "pull" than the people in support of it. That's why I found the whole thing hilarious in the first place: it's obvious there would be very vocal (and $$$) people against this. It's another politician doing what is politically "safe" instead of what's right. Honestly, that's what a politician *shouldn't* be but that's the way it goes..blah blah blah. This Slay character confuses the fuck out of me.

• I'd like to copy a very pissed off letter to the editor that my friend sent the Post today. I think she captured the stupidity of this pretty well. I'm disappointed that a feature film tarnished the man's whole life and contributions to American music. "I think that it is absolutely ridiculous that Mayor Slay would cave into calls to rescind his declaration of "Ike Turner Day" on September 2. The man is a musical genius and we in Saint Louis need to honor him as such instead of allowing a bunch of housewives to condemn him forever for mistakes made forty years ago. Are we to pretend as if Chuck Berry didn't exist because children's advocacy groups object to him based on his 1959 prison sentence for a liaison with a fourteen year old? Are we to disown Tennessee William's because family groups object to his being a homosexual? What about President's Day? Jefferson was a slave owner, and the rest of our leaders are all guilty of quite a few indiscretions. It goes without saying that we all make mistakes in life. To let a great man's mistakes overshadow his great accomplishments simply because it's easy is terrible, and those who slapped Turner down by appealing to the Mayor should be ashamed of themselves."

• Mark McGwire has a freeway named for him.

• I'd bet the farm/the store/& the vinyl collection there are notable members of the RCGA, Missouri Atheletic Club, or the Cardinal organization who did the same or worse than Turner, but one biopic has branded him forever, and even though he's clean and performing great music today(after having been a very major foundation architect of American music in the 20th century), he won't receive any pass from our city fathers. Let's call this 'The Chuck Berry Syndrome'.

• Noted. And yes, there are idiots everywhere. Chris Kattan.

• I have no doubt you're a friendly chap...you've just gotta beware the broad generalizations of this world, some folks don't much like being lumped together merely by virtue of location. morbidly obese stupid people live out on the coasts, too...and everywhere in between-- and beyond. no grudges here, though. mango-fango-dango

• I wish the RFT had picked a more recent blog entry of mine :-) Especially the one where I give a contrived apology for breaking the Golden Rule of Missouri. I'm really a nice guy, I swear. :-P

• y'all are using too many syllables...I just can't keep up, what with my upbringing here in the ole' gateway to the west...hell I used a few words that I don't even understand... up-bring-ing? dang that one has three.

• Anyone who really knows music knows Ike Turner - not from some crap film. I actually think that he contributed and paved the way for lots of things..I just know that other people wouldn't see it that way and would verbally protest an Ike proclamation. I'm sure there have been days named for people with numerous faults. It's just..if you ask the average person on the street who Ike Turner is...nothing musical will be mentioned in their reply. Sad but true. It's a shame he can't be recognized for his contributions. So - that's why I found it funny. There's no humor in optimism. P.S. Considering your spelling/grammar is correct (a lot better than mine!) and you're reading/posting on this blog, you're from Missouri, not Mizzourah.

• Well, if I had to guess, I'd say it's because all you know about Ike Turner was learned from "What's Love Got To Do With It". Obviously the man had his faults, but surely someone as "LA" and sophisticated as Aaron Proctor would know that there may be more to his story. Course I'm from Mizzourah, what do I know?

• Why did I find it humorous then? :-)

• matt's right -- um, yes, this is completely serious and not some joke, nor is it really something intended to be a joke/to be taken as humorous. it's a moot point for the moment, however, as i received an email from dawne massey saying the following: **Just received a phone call from Mayor Francis Slay's office -- the proclamation for Ike Turner has been cancelled. *** i'll see what i can find out about this, and let everyone know.

• Yes. Seriously. The man invented Rock-n-Roll. "Rocket '88", look it up.

• Ike Turner Day? Seriously?

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