Cool Pics: Delano Smith and Ken Collieer, 1982

This picture shows Detroit beatdown star, Delano Smith playing at the Downstairs Pub in Detroit in 1982. Directly to his left stands the late, great Ken Collier.

Even though Ken may not be the household name that some of the other detroit stars are he may well be the most important of Detroit DJs, as he inspired the techno generation to hit the decks. As Delano Smith told Bleep 43, "...all of us, Norm [Talley], Mike [Huckaby], Derrick [May], Kevin [Saunderson], Theo [Parrish], Kenny[Dixon Jnr], Darryl Shannon, all the Detroit legends, Dwayne Montgomery, Duane Bradley, all those guys, Stacy Hale, Al Ester, all those guys were inspired by Ken Collier. I don’t care what nobody tells you, this music, if it hadn’t been for Ken Collier it would be totally different scene than it is now."

You can check that whole Bleep 43 Beatdown interview >>here<<