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May 20, 2007 |
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The Motown Man
FOUND by Ben Schwartz
in Amherst, Massachusetts
The Motown Man is a guy who walks around downtown Amherst with a bucket, sometimes a sequin jumpsuit and cape, singing lines from Motown songs. I found this on the bulletin board at my job.
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We collect FOUND stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids' homework,
to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, telephone bills, doodles -
anything that gives a glimpse into someone
else's life. Anything goes...
sounds like a very colourful person
a very nice one at that
we need more colourful and nice people in this world of ours
Wow, I think I love Motown man. Here in my town, we have a Chewbacca that stands on the sidewalk and plays an electric guitar for some reason.
This makes me smile.
Why does Motown Man carry a bucket?
This reminds me of Shaky Jake, an older gentleman who lived in Ann Arbor and he used to wear suits and a fedora hat.
He would stand on the street corner playing his guitar and singing.
He posed with my sister for a photo once and he charged her two dollars.
Another friend of mine said he blessed her while she was in her mother's womb.
He was known and loved by many.
We have a violin playing Darth Vader.
Here in Logan we have a waving, bike-riding dude. I'm not sure that's his "official" name, but it fits.
My town has an '80s man. He walks around town with completely outdated hair and clothing. In the summer it's super short shorts and a muscle shirt, or no shirt, listening to his walk-man.. that's right walk-man. Or in cooler weather he has some rad parachute type pants that are pretty suave in my opinion.
So story behind him is he was in an accident and hit his head.. he's not all there, and I suspect just couldn't move forward from the '80s... Pretty cool guy though, I've chatted with him on occasion... I never know if he remembers me though.
Motown man has a house? I would have thought that the chewbacca's and motown men of this world did what they did because of lack of a house or other worldly possesions that could not be slung over their various sequinned/hairy shoulders.
(PS, Hooray for run-on sentences and dodgy spelling.)
i know that there should be more motown men. it is amazing how happy our lives could be if we do things for other people and lend a hand. it is hard to do this because life gets in the way, but i think its something everyone could work on, i know im trying :0)
Too cool :) Reminds me of our "King Love". He died several years back, but is a legend here http://www.thetallahasseenews.com/kinglove.html
i totally sat by that guy on the bus today and reading that note warms my heart. i had no idea he was so amazing until i read this. right on mowtown man, right on.
Sounds legit enough.
We have the seasonal 'honk for hemp guy', the guy who wears socks on his hands, the grown man little girl, the guy who got slipped acid and now thinks the govn't is after him, and countless drifters and street kids in my town. Whoot!
wow, i wish there was more interesting people like this in the UK! :)
the beginning bits a nice philosophy :)
Am I the only one to feel absolutely terrified by this poster? The sentences are incoherent and incomplete, and the thoughts are completely garbled. Not to mention the fact that the Motown Man is almost too nice, offering his home and his food 24/7. To me it sounds like a plot for attracting and devouring whole people.
Wow, can I get this man's number? I'd like to make a reservation for 3 please.
in my home town, we had a "Coke Lady" - she walked downtown all day with a 2 liter full bottle of coke on her head. she had amazing balancing talent! I bet she and Motown would have made a great couple!
I couldn't agree more. Every city needs a "Motown Man". Perhaps every city has one.
This makes me smile & renews my faith in humanity a little.
We have a rapping bum who ends all his rhymes by shouting "Help is on the way!" I don't know of him offering to cook anyone dinner, but he has brightened a lot of people's days.
i saw shaky jake on friday...he's still known and loved by many. ...and he wears the best suits!
That motown man is right on ! I love him, I want to send him money .And a sparkly outfit .Where to send ?
Aw, that guy must be the happiest person in town. There was a guy in my old neighbourhood that used wander around telling people how special/beautiful/lovely they were and wishing everyone a wonderful day. Always made me smile, no matter how sucky the day. Glad to hear there are more poeple out there like him!
Here in CH , we used to have CatBaby . He just walked all over town and waved and spoke to everybody . He also went to EVERY funeral in town . He was so cool . There was a local band named after him .
I also saw a beggar on Franklin street dressed up like a missile , with a nametag that said " Timmy the Titan Missile . It was very elaborate and shiny .
All these people sound wonderful!
My favorite part of this note is that it says I can call him to make a reservation, but doesn't tell me where he lives or how to contact him, except going up to him on the streets.
I think I've seen the Motown Man outside of the Old Navy store in Hadley. He plays the bucket like a drum and sings "I heard it through the grapevine."
I don't think that you should take things down from bulletin boards and say you found them.
It was put there for a reason, leave it.
We have a dog man in our town. He drinks beer from Applebee's.
I know Cat Baby in Chapel Hill. He had a wife Mrs. Catbaby. They used to hang out at the softball games where my parents played. Once when I was a baby, Mrs. Cat Baby was holding me and she tried to run off with me. My parents had to run her down to get me back.
he reminds me of burbing ron from winchester, adn old man who walked around with a pram full of stuffed animals a a framed photo of himself...and he would burb VERY loudly
Meet Motown Bennie:
http://media.www.dailycollegian.com/media/stor
We have a man here known as "Glenn the can man"
He rides around on an old bike with a huge basket on the back. He collects cans. At first glance, you think he's homeless, but he has a house and just enjoys collecting cans. He has a long Santa beard as well.
I hadn't thought about the Motown Bucket Man in years -- thanks for the post. He plays the bucket like a drum and sings Motown songs. My friends and I used to sing along with him sometimes... he liked that.
Motown man sounds so sweet! Here in Atlanta there's always this cross-dressing drag queen guy hanging out downtown, usually decked out in some sparkly, glamourous, skimpy little outfit making appearances at all hours of the day. He'll pose and simper and toodle and wave at everyone, pose for pictures, give autographs... he's great, everyone treats him like a celebrity- I think he has a website somewhere too.
The Motown Man will cook anyone! Yay!
I too love the Motown Men of the world and am always in awe of--maybe even a bit envious of--their abilities to live freely and openly and just be. Gosh, and the Motown Man is so helpful. Hey everyone, I'm here and what can I do for you? What a beautiful spirit.
sounds like someone that would fit right in in berkeley.
we have a guy in our neighborhood who is convinced one of his hands is a claw.
(but I wouldn't want to make "resorvations" with him...)
we have a lady named "dirt di" or "black eyed dee" and she walks around town sweeping up cigarette butts outside of the bar, and hides out in a gas station convenience store rearranging shelves preteneding that she works there.. my brother bought her a bag of chip to take a picture with her, because she freaks out if you take one.
we also have "Homi Mike" the local 80s man that wears the tightest acid washed jeans and, leather jacket, and 80s hair style.
OH and we have "dale the harmonica playing taxi driver" he just busts out his harmonica whilst driving and rolls some beats.. if you tell him your name he will even incorporate it into a song!
Anne maybe motowm man means actually call him like "HEY MOTOWN MAN I'D LIKE A TABLE FOR TWO AROUND EIGHT PLEASE!" thus making his eaterie very exclusive i.e. you gotta be in Amherst to shout your reservation to him
In Mesa, AZ they also have a waving, bike riding dude, who also listens to a walkman or whatever, he rides with his arms waving all the time, and he tells people Jesus Loves them If I remember right. he also rides in the street when the traffic is light doing loops and such, he is quite a skilled rider, giving the peace sign too. any trip to Mesa is not complete unless you see him.
We had a "Nature Boy" in our town. He was messed up in the head because of the war. He had really long hair he wore in dreads, and he smelled pretty ripe. He would go to all the high school ball games and suh. We thought he was harmless until he made a bomb and blew up the town judge's house. :-(
Wow - I kinda figured The Miracles, Temptations, Four Tops, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder had restorative powers... Motown Man proves it!
Here in Charlotte, he'd probably be arrested... sigh...
When you eat at his house, do you get dinner music? Perhaps some Marvin Gaye, or Four Tops?
Hey, I've seen the mesa bike guy! He rides with his arms straight up in the air.
We also had a crazy bike guy who rode around my college campus. He would sing along very loudly to his walkman and do really lame tricks around the quad, like popping tiny wheelies or jumping one stair. There was also a guy who walked around barefoot and wore a quiver on his back for arrows, but it was empty.
How funny is that?
I've never been to this site(although I have a "Found!" book?), but randomly, I decided to visit it today.
I see Motown Man whenever he's on the street, and he seems like a really nice guy, although I am usually too shy to say anything to him.
He is a sort of local legend.
I love the Motown Man! His name is Bennie and he's sometimes called "Bucket Man" and he donated a dollar to me when I was fundraising for a trip.
We have a Superman. The guy is about 40, and slightly retarded. He wears a Superman cape EVERYWHERE he goes, and I recently learned he likes to get pedicures. I was getting my toes doen and another woman mentioned that she had seen him. The lady doing my toes said he comes in all the time. Loves to get them painted red. To match that cape, of course. He's always very friendly, though not really a man of steel, nor can he fly. But hey, just being friendly makes him pretty super!
In Victoria where I grew up there was God. He was a creepy looking man. Very dirty, and always wearing a white members only jacket. He has long stringy hair, and if you say "hi god" to him he says "bless you my child". If you said "Hi Satan" he would reply "Burn, burn" I don't remember much of the story.. something about him falling into some money.. he drives some fancy sports car, and just goes downtown and walks around. One of the many characters out there.
Huh. Where the hell have I been, and why have I been eaing ramen noodles every night when I can have a be-sequined gentleman preparing my food for me? Good thing it's summer and I can get out more...
Raleigh I didn't think anybody would remember catbaby . Eventually , Miss catbaby was backed up over by a delivery truck at the happy store , which resulted in mandatory backup beepers here . Rest her soul no joke .
where I live, we have a "Beatle Bob", that's what he calls himself. There are free concerts in the summer at a downtown place and he shows up to every single one, and even other places (my parents have seen him everywhere), and he gets up front and dances a weird jerky kind of dance. He snaps, and lets his shaggy black beatle-cut hair shake all over, and he kicks one leg behind the other. And he always wears colorful leisure suits. He's awesome.
Where I live we have an old man with a walker who dances on the side of the road and we all love him
I don't get this... everybody seems really keen but I think he sounds absolutely freaky and utterly unsafe. Complete nutter, keep-your-children-away material.
I think Brittany is the on the right track.
He definitely wants to roast our internal organs.
There used to be a guy with a big shaggy beard that would hang around the Melbourne CBD, playing a drum kit he made out of plastic buckets and a milk crate. Im not sure if hes still around, I havent seen him for a while. The last time I did though, he made up a song off the cuff about me walking my dog (which I was doing at the time). Brought a smile to my face, thats for sure.
We need more shaggy-bearded drumming dudes, catladies, supermen, mesa bike guys and motown men etc. in this world.
Richmond KY has a fellow named 'Big World' he rides his bike all over town all day. Some of the local businesses have even bought up advertising space on his bike if I remember correctly.
Pashaw!!!! Everyone's town has crap for creepy people! No one can beat Tulsa's own "Biker Fox". www.bikerfox.com. Seriously, you won't be disappointed.
WE HAD A GUY THAT USED TO DRESS UP LIKE SUPERMAN AND WAVE AN AMERICAN FLAG ON THE CORNER IN MY COLLEGE TOWN....HOWEVER, COME TO FIND OUT LATER, HE HAD PREVIOUSLY HAD ASSAULT CHARGES...I WOULD RATHER HAVE MOTOWN MAN!
My home town has "Todd." He's african-american, pushes a shopping cart, & wears women's aerobics clothing (late 80's style leotards, etc.). Sometimes he'll do a little dance for everyone at one of the major intersections.
Here where I live we have Citizen Guy. He lives in a house with his wife and children and goes to work every weekday morning. I heard sometimes when he's not at work he goes bowling and on Sundays he can often be found in a local church!
That guy's totally off the hook!
Jo , what an ass you are . I'm not even gonna check out your bikerfox . Your comments usually annoy me , and I'm sure many people who have to see or hear you each day feel the same way .
I like everybody's town crazy stories.
Jo rocks! Quit dissin' him/her.
we have dizzy, a man that walks or rides his bike around one intersection on main street. he preaches about god and jesus and blesses everyone that crosses his path.
there was a guy that walked around town with a basket full of cans. he taught me how to read rocks.
In Riverside we have large flag bike dude. He has been here for years and looks like he is protesting something, but we can never figure out what. He usually has bags of stuff attached all over his bike, is in his early 50s, based on his clothes, looks like a vietnam vet, has a pole with a massive american flag and strange signs like "we need more flowers". Never had the nerve to talk to him. He is usually downtown but also lived under a tree for a while, not far from my house.
When I lived in Milwaukee we had the Pepperoni Canoli guy. He was an old Italian guy that would go around to every bar on the popular street every Friday and Saturday night. He'd have a cooler full of the aforementioned product and shout "PEPperoni, Canoli!" at the top of his lungs. We always bought some.
Here in Austin we have Leslie, a thong wearing cross dresser who used to hang out on 6th and Congress by the Starbucks. He actually ran for mayor once, on a very coherent platform, but didn't win. He also house-sat for some rich people in Westlake for a year.
Here in Milwaukee, there's this crazy guy who does these weird surveys all night (or on sunny afternoons). Sometimes he'll dress up in a three peice suit and drag this other crazy guy around by a noose and make him dance for money. he's a real nut-job, but i kinda suspect that he's not actually crazy, just pretending, as a publicity stunt for Insurgent Theatre.
I also kinda suspect, that, well, it's me.
We have a lady who rides her bike shirtless in the summer
http://www.vancourier.com/issues07/025107/news
And changes her shirts in value village without a changeroom. PARTY!
indeed, the most insane are truely the most sane, yes?
There is this Pink Fairy Lady in Boulder Colorado, and she wears a pink tutu and wings... sometimes she takes pics with people, but mostly she just shows up for the festivals and stuff. Also there's the busker that folds himself in half, but that's not that unusual.
I love people. This makes me love people even more. I am so exoribitantly happy. (shit, I spelled that wrong.)
In Cambridge (England) we had Snowy, a former council dustman who rode a cycle cart thing and put white mice in his mouth. I always found him a bit creepy though. Oh, I see he has died recently: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cambridgeshire/content/article
This made me so happy that I incorporated it into art, I hope I am allowed to, the link is here... http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/55841631/
and there is also a link on that page to here. This made me so happy, to hear of this wonderful guy.
In my town we have "The Dancing Lady"... her name is Michelle and she dances all over the town listening to excersize tapes saying things like "oh yeah, one and two and up and YEAH!" i love her.
In my town there is only one little convenience store and there is a bench outside of the store that has been upholstered with carpeting. Its fondly called the "liars bench". There is a group of men - old and young - who sit on it and drink coffee all day long! One in particular is a guy who dyes his hair black and has a perm and looks as if he sleeps in a tanning bed, he's that TAN. Anyway, we all call him Tan Man!
Sarahbear, I know EXACTLY who you are talking about! I haven't seen him around in a while, but he's usually down on the corner by the Dairy Queen when the weather is nice. He is getting too hefty to wear that tight-fitting outfit IMHO.
haha you do know Jo was just playing around, talking trash, about how her town crazy is better than everyone else's, right? And plus that, Jo rocks my world!! :)
Anyway, I wanna share my town crazy man story too! In Norman, Oklahoma, we have Calvin. He wears a football helmet all the time and has a lot of OU spirit. He usually rides a bike, but occasionally walks, and he always sells newspapers. I know people who don't subscribe to the paper just so they can buy it from him every day to be nice and support him. He is usually pretty nice, even if incoherent, and I've only ever seen him get angry/mean if you touch his helmet. That really freaks him out.
Wow, I'm surprised I'm the first Portlander to represent! We have more than our share of eccentric characters in P-town -- there's a guy who wears sequin tux jackets and Mickey Mouse ears and plays the trumpet on various corners around the city; the guy at the Saturday Market who wears a white Elvis suit many sizes too small and "plays" a guitar with no strings; the silver man who stands like a statue in front of Pioneer Place dressed entirely in silver from head to toe (face included), and will move to shake your hand if you put money in his bucket; the balloon man who sells balloon animals on SW 6th and Yamhill and will creepily giggle, "Tickle me Elmo, hehehehe!" as you walk by... I could go on and on. God I love Portland. Except for the balloon man -- he's just a little too creepy for me.
Haha that's so funny Laura i was just going to respond with those when i read your comment. I absolutely adore Elvis, and the Mickey Mouse guy, they're so cool. The balloon guy creeps me out too, though, I always have to walk by him to get home. The statue guy kind of freaks me out too. Me and my friends like to get drunk and harass him.
In St. Louis we've got Beatle Bob (already represented) and Jesus. Jesus has long hair and a white robe and a staff, and his name is actually Neil. One time he crossed to street to talk to me and told me about his philosophy on life.
I would love to go to a party with all of these characters.
The Motown Bucket Man of Amherst was one of my favorite characters to see on the street while I was at Umass. He once told me and a friend that he would play at our wedding if we ever got married.
We have a wizard who walks around in long colorful robes, with a carved and decorated staff, and long white beard. His neam is "The Wizard of Asheville".
Yep, I know the Motown Man (Though I used to just call him Bucket Man, now I stand corrected). When I lived in Milwaukee, there was one guy I saw all the time on and around the UWM campus who wore a long brown coat, big brown hat and had long brown hair. He had two sticks and a baton that he juggled with NONSTOP. Very impressive actually; I never saw him drop the baton.
Actually he's offering to cook people and feed them to someone or something.
i don't much care for beatle bob. his jery dancing is aggravating. he seems like a freeloader to me as well. baton bob on the other hand is great. he did move to atlanta from st. louis i think because mayor slay would not grant him the title of city ambassador or something. i love how he twirls batons. i have some greeting cards with his image on them.
I go to Umass, I see him down by Ben and Jerry's alot. Seems like a nice guy.
If you want to find out the storY behind the bucket man (Bennie Johnson), I've made a page for him: http://lehua.m.gray.googlepages.com/bucketman
I bet we have one of each of the afore-mentioned in New York City... hahaha.
In Weslaco,we have Noe. He's not homeless but likes to wander the town,which leads people to believe that he is homeless. He's college educated and has an awesome memory. If you tell him something once,he'll remember it and ask you about it the next time he sees you. One time I saw him greet a lady by name that he hadn't seen in 20 years!
He had a job and family once,but I guess he had a mental breakdown. He's friendly and harmless at any rate.
Will cook anyone? Whoa, stay clear of Motown man!!