It’s a small world.

One day, not too long ago, when talking with our Mayor, he mentioned that his son, Tim, lived in Athens, Georgia and made music there. I asked him which band(s) his son was in and he, I think with some degree of embarrassment, rattled a few off. Col. Knowledge and the Lickity Splits was one. Another, I believe, was Something, Something and the Vomit Zombies. I, in turn, named a few of the bands there that I know people in… Well, it turns out that his son and I know some of the same people in common.

According to the Mayor, his son played for a short while with a band called Casper and the Cookies, which is the band of the guy who recorded the ‘02 Monkey Power Trio record, “Almost Clear.” In fact, at the same time I was talking with the Mayor, his son and this guy that I know, Jason, were negotiating the purchase of a van. (Sadly, I’m told the deal fell through.)

Small world.

I’d actually known, prior to that conversation, that our Mayor’s son had a history when it came to making music. I can’t remember when I figured it out, but it was well before the last election. I think I was doing a Google search on “Ypsi + music,” and it turned up a discussion concerning the origins of the infamous “Booty Don’t Stop” tape made popular by Davey Rothbart and the “Found” magazine gang. According to the official story, the unmarked cassette tape, featuring a number of songs with titles like “Wave Yo’ Booty in the Air” and “Your Booty Don’t Stop,” was found on a street in Ypsi by a guy named Nigel Morgan. Then, one thing led to another, and it eventually fell into the hands of Davey and company, getting copied a million times and sent out all over the world. (You can still get a copy for $10 if you follow that last link.) It would later turn out that the cassette had been recorded by a young man named Tim Schreiber, who, I was quickly able to confirm, was the son of local Democrat, Paul Schreiber. Anyway, it’s one of the few Ypsi exports that’s made a dent in American pop culture over the past decade, and I thought that it was cool that it had its genesis with the spawn of a mayoral candidate.

I didn’t want it to be used against Paul during the election, so I didn’t drop the question into the mix at the big mayoral debate, but the thought did cross my mind that I could play a minute or so of it, and then point accusingly at Paul saying, “Is it true that YOU, Paul Scrieber, are the father of the man responsible for this?” I kept it to myself though.

“Why does the booty not stop!?”

While the links to the booty tracks don’t seem to be working on the “Found” site, you can hear Tim cutting loose with the Lickity Splits on “You Set My Christmas Tree on Fire,” a song which, I just happened to catch on WCBN one day this winter. I thought that it was interesting, so I made a note of it, and then searched for it later. When I did, I found that it was by Tim. Small world again.

As I’ve yet to hear “Booty Don’t Stop,” I’m not going to come out and suggest that our Mayor make it the official song of Ypsilanti, but I do think that perhaps we should put it on the next ballot. I’d love to see “Booty Don’t Stop” go head-to-head with Lee Osler’s “Back to Ypsilanti.” It would be a welcome diversion from all this City Income Tax stuff we’re being asked to choose sides on.

I don’t know that it would generate a lot of revenue for the city, but what if we tried to capitalize on our reputation for booty by renaming the Water Street Project, the Booty Don’t Stop Initiative? At the very least, we could sell some t-shirts.

[A special thanks to the guys at Cousins Vinyl for posting “Back to Ypsilanti” on their site. They’re great guys, and, if you’re looking for something on vinyl, you should check them out… As for Lee Osler, somewhere around here I have an interview I did with him about nine years ago. (I was going to publish it in “Crimewave,” but it never really fit.) If I find it, I’ll post it here.]