Love-In at Belle Isle, circa '67

[Stinger4me]

Does anyone here remember the Love-In at Belle Isle, circa '67 and the Hate-In at Rouge Park? Same year I think.

[Former_Detroiter]

No I don't remember the Belle Isle Love-in but I attended many Love-Ins in San Francisco Golden Gate Park between 1970 & 1975...

[Bigb23]

Love In? I always thought they were a place to get hammered and hook up.

OK, with a Nehru jacket.

[Honky Tonk]

Does anyone here remember the Love-In at Belle Isle, circa '67 and the Hate-In at Rouge Park? Same year I think.

I DO remember the Belle Isle Love-In, and the subsequent WABX Kite-Ins. I remember attending an all day concert in Rouge Park back in the 60s, but I don't remember it being billed as a "Hate-In". I can't remember if it was @ Rouge Park or the Grande, I saw Iggy for the first time.

[jcole]

I was at a few of those Kite-ins

[Honky Tonk]

I was at a few of those Kite-ins

Were you the one wearing bell-bottoms and granny-glasses?

[Ray1936]

One year in my life I'd prefer to forget is 1967. And not for the reasons stated in this thread.

[jcole]

Were you the one wearing bell-bottoms and granny-glasses?

No granny glasses, but hip-hugger bell bottoms and a halter top; how DID you know?

[jcole]

One year in my life I'd prefer to forget is 1967. And not for the reasons stated in this thread.

My dad would feel the same way, Ray, if he was still here.

[Honky Tonk]

No granny glasses, but hip-hugger bell bottoms and a halter top; how DID you know?

Were they blue denim? I think I SAW you there! 🙂

[EastsideAl]

I remember the Belle Isle Love-In, even though I was a little kid at the time. I remember it seemed a pretty exotic thing to have a San Francisco style "love-in" right in our neighborhood. No one quite knew what to make of it. 2 of my oldest, female, cousins went together, despite the worries of their parents and grandparents.

My grandfather, who for some reason was fascinated by hippies and was always "driving by to see what the hippes are up to" took some of us other cousins down there [[I suspect really to check up on my other cousins), but it was all jammed up at the bridge. We did find my girl cousins waiting on the Jefferson bus. It was cold, the sound system was screwed up and the bands took too long to start, and too many older guys were hitting on them, so they had left. They missed all the craziness with the cops later on.

Here are some very 1960's style home movies of the event, including some of the trouble, by some of the folks around the MC5.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBxbIulkTZw

[Honky Tonk]

One year in my life I'd prefer to forget is 1967. And not for the reasons stated in this thread.

Yeah, it was a ying-yang year for Detroit, and the start of the real downslide. A lot of good things happened, but mostly bad.

[Meddle]

Hey, maybe Ray was there!



"1967-04-30

Uniformed police officers with riot helmets and batons restrain young man against hood of car during Love-in at Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan."

https://digital.library.wayne.edu/item/wayne:vmc77577

[Meddle]

Fifty years ago this weekend: The Belle Isle Love-In
Posted By Michael Jackman on Fri, Apr 28, 2017 at 6:31 AM



John Sinclair, Joe Mulkey and Billy Reid of the Detroit Artists Workshop after obtaining the license to hold the Love-In from the City of Detroit at Police Headquarters at 1300 Beaubien in the spring of 1967. - PHOTO BY LENI SINCLAIR


As seemingly everybody gears up to mark 50 years since Detroit erupted in what is described as a "riot," and "uprising," and a "rebellion," we risk forgetting one of the signature events in the run-up to that hot week in July: The Belle Isle Love-In.

What's a "Love-In"? For those who don't know, it's a peaceful kind of protest that involves meditation, lovemaking, and a sprinkling of illicit substances. The term was coined by a Los Angeles radio personality, and a wave of Love-Ins quickly swept the country, as hippies sought inventive ways to protest the Vietnam War and have a little fun at the same time.

The prime movers here in Detroit were John Sinclair and his confreres at the Detroit Artists Workshop, who obtained a permit for said event from none other than the Detroit Police Department. And on April 30, 1967, thousands of hippies and fellow travelers arrived on the island for several hours of singing, dancing, and probably a little bit of doobie-smoking as well.



The Detroit Police Department also got into the act as well, bringing it the riot squad and a tactical mobile unit [[precursor to today's SWAT teams) to brandish shotguns and disperse the crowd.

Or as John Sinclair put it saltily in a recent interview with us, "We'd had our maximum hippie event, and the police raided it and drove everybody off the island. So that was our relationship with the police. We hated them."

https://www.metrotimes.com/city-slan...e-isle-love-in

[Honky Tonk]

I remember the Belle Isle Love-In, even though I was a little kid at the time. I remember it seemed a pretty exotic thing to have a San Francisco style "love-in" right in our neighborhood. No one quite knew what to make of it. 2 of my oldest, female, cousins went together, despite the worries of their parents and grandparents.

My grandfather, who for some reason was fascinated by hippies and was always "driving by to see what the hippes are up to" took some of us other cousins down there [[I suspect really to check up on my other cousins), but it was all jammed up at the bridge. We did find my girl cousins waiting on the Jefferson bus. It was cold, the sound system was screwed up and the bands took too long to start, and too many older guys were hitting on them, so they had left. They missed all the craziness with the cops later on.

Here are some very 1960's style home movies of the event, including some of the trouble, by some of the folks around the MC5.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBxbIulkTZw

Great post, Al, Thanx.

[Bobl]

Was there, it was fun for a while. Got on local tv coverage, nodding at the camera doing a pan shot.
Some bikers on Jefferson seemed to be stirring thinks up as we left.
And yes, 1967 was a ying yang year, here and world wide.

[Danny]

Check this out. Love in Detroit at Belle Isle on April 30 1968.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGdCLJXckhM

If you're going to Detroit, MI. Be sure wear some flowers in your hair.

[LongGone06]

My grandfather, who for some reason was fascinated by hippies and was always "driving by to see what the hippies are up to"...

That's hysterical.

[EastsideAl]

That's hysterical.

We must've driven down Plum St. a dozen times. The most memorable was when we spotted one of my cousins there hanging out with some biker guy.

[CassTechGrad]

"Turn on, tune in, drop out". A secret look into the early MC5 at the infamous Belle Isle Love-In!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBxbIulkTZw