An Evening with Hamtramck's Rock 'n' Roll Family

 I cry with my customers. I laugh with them. I cuss with them. I drink with them. This is like a big family. It's happy at times; it's rotten at times. But whatever happens, I try to treat everyone like they were my own children.
~ Lili Karwowski in a 1980 ​Detroit Free Press article

By Melissa Walsh

If love is expressed by showing up and giving, then a whole lotta love filled Hamtramck’s (new) New Dodge Lounge for Mikeypalooza this past Saturday, when hundreds of Detroit rockers, locally and from out of state, arrived to help an old friend, Michael Karwowski, who is battling cancer. Alan Karwowski organized the event to raise support for his younger brother. 

The connection with old friends was exceptional, magical, as is Hamtramck Rock 'n' Roll — compelling rock styles (punk, glam, garage), maybe with hints of polka, or certainly a great appreciation for polka. For decades, the uncommon, memorable sounds of the Hamtramck music scene were nourished by Lili Karwowski and her five sons. Anyone who kicked their feet to rock and polka — not mutually exclusive tastes in Hamtramck (see Polka Floyd and The Polish Muslims) — from the late 1970s through the 1990s spent much of their free time at Lili’s 21, there on Jacob, right off Joseph Campau. (For you younger hipsters, this is The Painted Lady today.)

If you’ve heard the fetching Polish Muslims song “Sophie Is a Polka Rocker,” then you know what kind of vibe I’m talking about. Lili Karwowski was Hamtramck’s most beloved polka rocker.

I wasn't able to catch the action at Lili’s in the late 70s (still in middle school) and early 80s (still in high school, even though I occasionally had a beer at Paycheck's). I missed much of the mid- and late 80s away at college.

I experienced the Lili’s 21 scene of the 90s. Good times.

The venue was walking distance from my flat on Holbrook. I’d stroll over there with girlfriends whom I worked with at Gale Research; they also lived on Holbrook, where the rent was affordable for us newbie editors making under 20K a year.

We were GenXers pursuing the party, wearing our fuzzy sweaters or avant-guarde t-shirts; tight jeans, spandex, or mini-skirts with fishnets or thigh-high black stockings (cool digs found at Tobacco Road or Showtime); and platform shoes or tall boots. We applied heavy eye-liner, not just around our eyes, but also lining our lips coated with a slightly less dark shade of lipstick. We teased out our hair and shellacked it with Aqua Net. For some warmth, we might slip on an over-sized blazer, flannel shirt, or snug leather jacket. Or maybe an animal-print faux-fur jacket or coat.

I remember Lili complimenting the hipster fashionistas on their style while she sat there by the rear-side door collecting cover dollars. She was quite the fashionista herself. And I think we probably discovered our fondness for animal print from knowing Lili.

Sometimes, we arrived early for a show, as the “Ugly Hour” guys were leaving. That was how to get a good seat. This afterwork crowd might have been buzzed, but not ugly. (My partner is a former ugly-hour patron, and I think he’s mighty fine!)

The music at Lili’s, thanks to Lili’s son Art’s industry connections and ear for quality rock, hailed from the best musical talent in and near Detroit. The music was let’s-swipe-the-playlist quality. Outstanding performances. Art was lead vocals with The Mutants. So yeah, the range of music was “So American” awesome.

My Lili’s fun came to an end when, in 1998, I became the mom of three sons — a singleton and twins 13 months apart. In 2003, a year after Lili’s 21 closed, I had my fourth son.

As a mom of four boys, when the topic of Lili’s came up among friends over the years, I thought about Lili as matriarch. Her matriarchy nurtured rockers, punkers, grungers, new-wavers, and glammers for decades.

I remember how gracious she was to us with her smile and kind comments. I remember her stepping onto a chair clapping her hands and yelling in her mom voice “Stop it” to the young men looking like they were about to start moshing. There would be no moshing in Lili’s bar. But there would be generous pours of Jezy, because Lili was fun.

Marie Lidia (Lili) Danielczuk Karwowski was born in Wilno, Poland. She survived a World War II prison camp with her mother; they arrived in Hamtramck in 1952. Lili's father, a Dachau survivor, joined them later. Her parents died in the 1960s.

Lili's son Alan told me that Lili spoke seven languages, and she raised her sons speaking Polish. Many families spoke Polish as a first language in Hamtramck then. Hamtramck still was a community of Polish-speaking shops and parishes when I lived there in the 90s. Dzien dobry. Dziękuję

Saturday's Mickeypalooza was a grand event. Most importantly, it had a high turnout, which amounted to that much assistance for Michael. It also presented a stunning response of love for Michael, his brothers, and for his mom, who died December 22, 1999.

The event attracted hundreds of rockers in their fifties, sixties, and seventies. I showed up in my leopard-print faux-fur coat and my groovy Picasso scarf, which I thought Lili would’ve liked. Most of the ladies donned something in leopard print — a shirt, scarf, jacket, or coat. Sitting at the bar sipping a Valium, I watched the crowd, imagining what these Detroit music lovers — my contemporaries from back in the day — looked like back in the day. I could picture them with younger faces, fuller and less-graying heads of hair, wearing badass leather jackets, MC5 or Iggy and the Stooges t-shirts, heavy eyeliner, dark lipstick, tall shoes, long earrings, and fresher tats and piercings. I imagined them with me three decades ago standing in the pre-show queue in the alley, having a smoke and sharing facts about the band we were about to hear.

It was the happiest reunion I’ve ever witnessed. And the music — holy kick-out-the-jams, it was fantastic, performed by musicians who graced the Lili’s stage long ago — See Dick Run, David Bierman Overdrive, Ricky Rat Pack, and The Polish Muslims. The opening comedy act by Lauren Uchalik was good ole making-fun-of-Hamtramck giggles. And seasoned Detroit DJ Kelly Brown emceeing! Picture perfect.

And it felt as if Lili was there with her beautiful smile, watching her sons and those who love them. Sto lat!

In a 1980 Detroit Free Press article, reporter Mike Duffy captured this from Lili:

"I cry with my customers. I laugh with them. I cuss with them. I drink with them. This is like a big family. It's happy at times; it's rotten at times. But whatever happens, I try to treat everyone like they were my own children."

Sources:
​Detroit Punk Archive: https://detroitpunkarchive.com/ 
"Hamtramck's leopard-clad bar owner dies" by Kelley L. Carter, Detroit Free Press, December 23, 1999.
"Punk and polka at home at Lili's" by Mike Duffy, Detroit Free Press, April 15, 1980.

To send more love Michael's way, follow this link.

© 2023 Melissa Walsh