Sometime in the early 70s I saw Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band in Denver, Colorado. It was badass. Seger laid on some Detroit rock that was as primal and intense as The MC5 or The Stooges - no frills, in your face and loud. Sadly, Seger faded over time into someone who rarely connected with me again. There were a few tunes but overall what had once been stripped-down and ferocious rock and roll became adult-contemporary bloat—songs about rock and roll that weren’t particularly rock and roll. Seger distanced himself from his earlier, punkier work and focused on anthems for the beer cozy crowd.

But, as you can see in these newly unearthed videos, Seger and his band, The System, killed it back in 1970. The group consisted of Seger on guitar and vocals, Don Honaker on bass, Pep Perrine on drums (lots of ‘em) and Dan Watson on organ. These clips come from a live performance on a Washington, DC TV show called Turn On which broadcast on UHF Channel 20. Hosted by Barry Richards - “The Greaser that Saw the Light” - Turn On was a proto-MTV show that focused on cutting edge acts, many of whom Richards went on to manage or produce.

Two of the songs performed here are from Seger’s seriously underrated and hard to find out-of-print album Mongrel. “Lucifer” is indisputably a garage/psych rock classic.

So kick back and get into The System.