The Amboy Dukes

Detroit rock band Amboy Dukes is probably remembered best for their 1968 acid-rock song "Journey to the Center of the Mind". The band was formed by Ted Nugent, who was born in Detroit and had been playing in local rock bands since age 12. In 1962 he was playing with a band called The Lourds. They won a "battle of the bands" contest, and soon they were opening for such well-known acts as The Beau Brummels and The Supremes. In 1965 his parents moved the family to Chicago, and Nugent began a new band, taking the name of a Detroit band that had just disbanded: The Amboy Dukes. In 1967 he returned to Michigan and reformed the band, although keeping the name. They soon became one of the premier bands in the Detroit area. In 1968 they recorded an album, "Journey to the Center of the Mind", for the Detroit label Mainstream Records. The title song--with music written by Nugent and lyrics written by band member Steve Farmer--was released as a single and soon reached #16 on the national pop charts. Unfortunately, their follow-up albums, "Migration" and "Marriage on the Rocks", were nowhere as big as their debut album. After the failure of their last album in 1971, "Survival of the Fittest", Nugent disbanded the group.