Jimi Hendrix Stamp Unveiled in Royal Oak

The following article was written by Jackie Dick.

The new Forever stamp in the Music Icons series is the Jimi Hendrix stamp, unveiled on Friday, March 14 at the Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music in Royal Oak.

The program began with a rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" by Gary Quackenbusch, former lead guitarist of Detroit-based 60s band, SRC. Quackenbusch was joined by two more musicians to rock out the Jimi Hendrix version of the National Anthem.

The MC of the morning was Dan Lesperance, Retail Manager of the Detroit District of the USPS. Jason Gittinger, the Executive Producer of the DSRPM gave a brief biography of the guitarist, songwriter, and singer Jimi Hendrix, who was one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.

The appearance of WCSX 94.7 radio personalities, Trudi Daniels and Jim O'Brien, added to the excitement.WCSX, with the United States Postal Service, hosted the event.

USPS District Manager,  Lee Thompson, unveiled the brilliant stamp that depicts Hendrix playing a right-handed Fender Stratocaster left-handed. He did this because he liked the volume and tone control knobs on top, rather than on the bottom. The original art for the stamp and stamp pane were designed by Rudy Guittierez.  Art director, Greg Breedingwas the designer. The stamp pane was designed to resemble a vintage 45 rpm record sleeve.

The program closed with another performance of the "Star Spangled Banner."