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Saginaw inspired these mid-20th century songs

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Art Garfunkel of Simon & Garfunkel, photographed while performing between 1965-1970. The duo played a small concert at the Saginaw YMCA in 1968. Their visit to Saginaw later inspired the lyrics to "America," a classic tune beloved for the sense of nostalgia it invokes. NPR reports the song's lyrics were painted across city structures by a group of artists in 2010.
Bernard Gotfryd
/
Library of Congress
Art Garfunkel of Simon & Garfunkel, photographed while performing between 1965-1970. The duo played a small concert at the Saginaw YMCA in 1968. Their visit to Saginaw later inspired the lyrics to "America," a classic tune beloved for the sense of nostalgia it invokes. NPR reports the song's lyrics were painted across city structures by a group of artists in 2010.

Saginaw is the best known for its successful manufacturing industries, but the city also has many ties to popular music from the mid-20th century.

As part of our series on how central and northern Michigan have helped shape America in our 250th year, WCMU's Cristin Coppess tells us more about artists who hail from Saginaw and the city's lyrical references.

Also on the show, the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed two more convictions related to the 20-20 plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer; a report from the Citizens Research Council of Michigan suggests the next state budget could be overspending by $600 million to $900 million; FEMA has allocated millions of dollars to help northern Michigan recover from the 2025 ice storm.

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Read stories from WCMU on our website, and while you're there, find out how to listen to your local WCMU radio station.

This podcast is produced in part by the members of NABET Local 412. This episode of Between the Lakes was edited and mixed by Rick Brewer. Our theme music comes from Gabe Schall. Mike Horace is our executive producer.

Tina Sawyer is the local host of Morning Edition on WCMU. She joined WCMU in November, 2022.