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.

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