U-Matic

Country Hoe Down Festival 5-6-88
WWWW Rodeo, Joe Piece

U-Matic S tape containing footage of the 6th Annual Budweiser Downtown Hoedown in Hart Plaza, shot on May 6, 1988. The tape features general footage around Hart Plaza, a sequence showing the riverfront, carnival games, several people wishing Coleman Young a happy birthday, and a performance by a country band. The tape begins with extremely faint audio, and the crew appears to adjust the microphone or camera settings to correct this as the recording proceeds. The recording is continued on tape 2015.008.214.

The tape opens with shots of people seated in Hart Plaza's amphitheater area. The camera zooms to show the Renaissance Center in the background, and also gets close-ups of WWWW 106.7 W4 Country and Budweiser banners on barricades.

The camera then moves to the riverfront for shots of people on the grass and seated on the wall, the LANSDOWNE tied up off of the riverfront, a Canadian Steamship Lines freighter and speedboat passing with the Ambassador Bridge in the background, the STAR OF DETROIT docked at the riverfront, a WJR helicopter flying overhead, and the Renaissance Center in the distance.

The camera then moves to the western side of Hart Plaza for shots of the People Mover running along the track beside Cobo Hall.

The next series of shots feature carnival games set up at the event. Attendees play a horse racing themed game, and shoot basketballs,

After a shot of the Dodge Fountain and the Renaissance Center, the camera returns to the amphitheater area. Here the camera feature more members of the audience including several groups clad in cowboy hats. In pans across the amphitheater the camera also captures the upper and lower stages, a man selling souvenir programs, and a 106.7 W4 Country disc jockey walking through the crowd and shaking hands while clad in a W4 jacket.

As the camera's audio problems are corrected, the crew asks several attendees to wish Mayor Coleman A. Young a happy birthday. The small groups, including a pair of women who speak Spanish, respond positively, however when the 106.7 disc jockey takes the stage to asks the crowd to sing "Happy Birthday" to the mayor for the camera crew, many members of the audience respond with derisive jeers and gestures.

A country band then takes the stage to and covers Eddie Cochran's Summertime Blues. The camera remains trained on them for much of the song, as well as for a following song. Then it turns to film members of the crowd who are line dancing. The tape wraps up with additional footage of the band and the crowd.

The recording is on a 3M UCA-30s U-Matic S tape with a handwritten 3M label on its top, marked "Country Hoe Down 5-6-88, Happy B-Day CAY, Joe of Wt Radio". The tape is housed within a black plastic latching case with a matching label on its cover, marked "Country Hoe Down Festival 5-6-88, WWWW Rodeo, Joe Piece."