The Motor City Madman

Ted Nugent is a force of nature. He wrote some classic rock songs in the mid-70s and was the top touring act in the world between 1977 and 1979. He has also written for more than 20 publications, and is the author of The New York Times best-seller "God, Guns and Rock 'n' Roll" (July 2000), and "Kill It and Grill It" (2002), a cookbook co-authored with his wife. In 2003-2004, he hosted a reaity TV series on VH1 entitled Surviving Nugent, in which city dwellers moved to his Michigan ranch where they learned to build an outhouse and skin a boar, among other things.

Currently, Uncle Ted is co-starring with several other rock stars (Scott Ian of Anthrax on guitar, Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard on bass, Sebastian Bach of Skid Row on vocals, and Jason Bonham of Bonham UFO, and Foreigner on drums) in the new VH1 reality show Supergroup. AdmitTEDly (sorry, couldn't pass it up), I'm a sucker for these kinds of shows and I was hooked after the first episode. Any show about aging rock stars with huge egos coming together to create a new band that has to write enough songs to play a gig in 12 days is bound to be good television. The highlight of the show is Nugent--hands down.

He is quick-witted, politically incorrect, and hilarious. He's definately made some big-time gaffes in his lifetime, but that serves to make him more colorful. I just find the guy fascinating. This interview in the online edition of The Independant is a classic. Here's a sample (strong language warning is in effect):

INTERVIEWER:

"What do these deer think when they see you coming?" I ask him. "Here comes the nice guy who puts out our dinner? Or, there's the man that shot my brother?"

NUGENT:

"I don't think they're capable of either of those thoughts, you Limey asshole. They're only interested in three things: the best place to eat, having sex and how quickly they can run away. Much like the French."

Ahhh. Refreshing. The whole thing is great.