Ted Nugent - Why the Motor City Madman is My Hero - Great Gonzo Guards Liberty

Long before I ever knew of his politics, Ted Nugent rocked my world. As a teenager, I wanted so badly to get to see him. It didn't happen until I was in my twenties.

I've seen him a few times since and never miss an opportunity to jam when Ted is in town.

Come along to check out some stellar rock and roll spanning decades. We'll skip along memory lane just a tad and also take a serious look at a few reasons on top of the rock and roll obvious that make Ted my hero.

What's a hero really? It's been the subject of many a poem, musing, song and movie. Too many times they are portrayed as beyond human.

Heroes walk among us every day. They don't get the play they deserve. Let's crank up some tunes and scope on why Ted really is a hero. You never know. You just might be one too.

I heard it on the radio.

I really liked the sound but the radio in backwoods Mississippi didn't do a lot of Ted Nugent, so I was somewhat Ted deprived, until I moved to Texas that is.

Texas radio loved Ted with a passion and soon so did I. It was the early 80's and Ted was hot. Being a little older, I splurged with some of my own money. I was so not disappointed. I found out the radio almost never played the really good stuff.

Great White Buffalo literally blew out my speakers more than once I loved it so much. To my car speakers, record player speakers and my Dad's stereo speakers, I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself. Have you heard it?

At 14, that song fascinated me.

It still does. The lyrics are so simple, so straightforward and honest. The beats pound, the guitar screams and through it all history is exposed. Many a book speaks of the atrocities of the early white man upon this land. They span legions of pages. I've liked several but the song drives the message home fast.

The short version is Great White Buffalo speaks of how the Native Americans and the buffalo existed side by side in a harmonious and sustainable way. Enter the conquering European white man lusting for a dollar and it all comes crashing down.

Native American issues interested me greatly at the time. My great grandmother came off the reservation not too far from where I was born. I was overjoyed to hear of the injustice immortalized in rock and roll, not just at the shear head banging fun of the song, but so much more so with the fact that a famous rocker cared enough to make a song about it. It wasn't like the radio was burning it up either. They leaned towards the more marketable. I have to give Ted hero props for going out on a limb to make such a song.

And then he had to go and open his big mouth.

That's the other main reason, to me, this brave American really is a hero. I don't think it was a conscious choice at the time it started for him, it's just his nature to speak his mind. Making it as a rock superstar requires a big ego which I highly suspect keeps him going when all odds are against him.

But really, it's always been that way. Making it in rock and roll in the 70's was a long shot at best, especially for a working class kid from Detroit. To me, the fact that he succeeded in his chosen profession isn't what does it. It's that he risked that success for his principles. Who still does that? He did and still does every day.

Ted's always been in your face but this one went above and beyond the tell it like it is scale.

Stormtroopers is a true commentary on what happened in World War Two but that's not all it is by far. It calls for justice, preparation against repeats and constant vigilance.

I find it so ironic that back in the day when everyone was jamming on this song no one was dissing the call for an armed populace. He says flat out in the song "with a gun in your hand." Now, a big bunch of those same folks that were jamming it up back in the day are all all grown up. In the current PC climate, they condemn what they once so obviously were cool with.

Current critics berate him as using the Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms as a platform for further fame. It might be worth considering except that the song was written long before Ted became a political name. To me, it blows a hole in the argument bigger than Texas.

The video aired on The Midnight Special in 1978.

Ted always does it at his concerts and it's always jamming. One thing about Ted, he's always better live than on TV and he's still got it.

Be it by himself or with the band Damn Yankees formed by he and Tommy Shaw, this man always goes full tilt.

It's easy to run your mouth when your with the bigger group.

In modern America, PC is the new black and bigger than any fad one can mention. While loads of folks declare they oppose it, the engines of popular culture such as television, print media, radio, movies and the entire Hollywood scene are governed by the principles of politically correct ideology.

Ted was way established before he began being so vocal a champion of things such as gun rights and paying off the debt. The man really does believe in Constitutional freedoms. It's costing him plenty if one but thinks about it.

Sure he has his own shows now but mostly takes heat for them. Think about the bank this man would get if he but spoke on occasion for the political opposition. How many celebrity figures have profited from giving a political cause a plug only to turn around a few years later and come out for the other side? They get paid then too, usually.

Ted donates so much of his time playing even small venues for the cause. For me, it's a lot more about the courage of speaking up than about what he's saying though personally, I agree with a lot of it.

Ted is always getting slapped for what he says.

People that are truly passionate about a cause tend to get worked up. While current codes of civility frown upon such displays of emotion, Ted is known for them. Personally, I love it.

Society has conditioned us to think the best approaches are always those that calmly and logically lay out the reasonable course of action. When speaking to learned adults, that should be the case. However, many tune out, young and not so young. We have become a sound byte nation getting our information in short bursts often scratching only the surface.

Ted tends to communicate well in that venue backing up his often biting comments with a fervor and conviction too lacking in our apathetic and increasingly fearful world. Just as fast, he can step into the fact flinging and history referencing. Kudos for brain power from me to thee, Ted.

Your courage, loyalty, conviction and dedication get you a major Vix Pick American Hero Award.

Four times I've stood among the tens of thousands applauding your music, loud and live. Each time it was awesome!

The second time we even walked over two miles from where we parked in the Texas heat just to get in and never regretted a second of it. Mr. Vix did something at that concert in the Woodlands you might appreciate though it embarrassed me to no end. When getting to the gate, security pulled Mr. Vix over insisting it looked like he had a weapon in his shorts. When they grabbed his arm telling him they were taking him for a search, he dropped trousers saying loudly "It's hanging. Now, get off." He was commando that day. I thought I would die!

The show rocked and I couldn't help but think the attitude displayed was very similar to one I've seen you display in countless interviews.

Obviously, we agree with your die hard commitment to the Constitution and the rights guaranteed Americans in the Bill of Rights but that's not the main reason you get a Vix Pick Hero Award. It's your courage to stand for what you believe in and never say die attitude. Rock on!

No warranties express or implied, means nothing other than we think you're great. God bless you and long may you rock.

Ted's all about freedom, gun toting, Glory to God, pay the debt, bring back good old common sense type of politics.

Exercise your freedom of speech while you still have it, Americans. Sound off.