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Forums that rock  MC5
Facts
Under the "guidance" of John Sinclair (who dubbed his enterprise
"Trans-Love Energies" and refused to be categorized as a traditional
manager), the MC5 were soon involved in left-wing politics. Sinclair
was active with the White
Panther Party and Fifth Estate.
In their early career, the MC5 had a politically provocative stage
show: they would appear onstage toting unloaded rifles, and at the
climax of the performance, an unseen "sniper" would shoot down Tyner.
The band members were also all using the drugs LSD and marijuana,
though not all group members agreed with Sinclair's politics, as
Thompson would later reveal in a 2000 interview for an article
published in Goldmine magazine
 John Sinclair was managing the MC5 at the time of their free concert outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The band was the only group to perform before baton-wielding police broke up the massive anti-Vietnam war rally, calling it a riot. Eventually, the MC5 came to find Sinclair's politics too heavy-handed. He and the band went their separate ways in 1969 but they are still friends and he has spoken at their recent reunion concerts, including Massive Attack's 2008 Meltdown at London's South Bank. In 2006, Sinclair rejoined MC5 bassist Michael Davis to help launch the Music Is Revolution Foundation, serving as a general board member.  MC5 Facts After a series of convictions for possession of marijuana, John Sinclair was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1969 after giving two joints of marijuana to an undercover narcotics officer.This sentence inspired Abbie Hoffman to jump on the stage during The Who's performance at Woodstock to protest. It also sparked the landmark "John Sinclair Freedom Rally" at Ann Arbor's Crisler Arena in December 1971. The event brought together luminaries including pop musicians John Lennon (who recorded the song, "John Sinclair" on his Some Time in New York City album), Yoko Ono, David Peel, Stevie Wonder, Phil Ochs and Pete Seeger, jazz artists Archie Shepp and Roswell Rudd, and speakers Allen Ginsberg, Abbie Hoffman, Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, Jerry Rubin, and Bobby Seale.Three days after the rally, Sinclair was released from prison when the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the state's marijuana statutes were unconstitutional.  |
 MC5, left to right, guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith, drummer Dennis Thompson, vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarist Wayne Kramer, and bassist Michael Davis Band Members
Wayne Kramer and Fred Smith had been friends since their teen
years. They both were members of seperate bands. Smith was with
the"Vibratones" and Kramer was a member of the"Bounty Hunters".
Soon Rob Derminger arrived on the scene, he originally applied for a bass player position, but the band soon realized he was better suited as a singer. He was a little older than the rest of the band members and had more fat on his frame than most band frontmen, but he had a very commanding stage presence, and a booming baritone voice. Derminger soon changed his name to Rob Tyner (after John Coltranes's pianist McCoy Tyner) and he also changed the name of the band to MC5 which somewhat sounded like a car like GTO. Now under the management of John Sinclair they became heavily involved in left-wing politics, as Sinclair was a member of the White Panther Party and Fifth Estate. MC5 would enter the stage carrying unloaded guns and later in the performance an unseen sniper would gun down Tyner. All the band mates were also using a large amount of LSD and pot, which was a contributing factor in their downfall. Their performances in Detroit were very high energy sets, one writer said that fans compared the aftermath of an MC5 performance to the exhaustion experienced after a street rumble or an orgy. 
In 1968 MC5 toured the east coast of the U.S., they often overshadowed
the more famous acts that they opened for. When opening for "Big
Brother and the Holding Company" the audiences regularly demanded
multiple encores of the MC5. Also it was during this tour that Rolling
Stone Magazine made an association between MC5 and a radical group
called "Up Against The Wall Motherfuckers".The live album "Kick out the Jams"was released in 1969 and caused controversy because of the title track's lyrics with a rallying cry "kick out the jams motherfuckers !" this album was very successful and quickly sold over 100,000 copies, it was rare and hard to find and is still rare even with additional pressings. (Do ya wanna buy the original album, or do you have it and want to sell it ? Look HERE.) The single version had the words "kick out the jams, brothers and sisters". The band also created controversy when it played before the violent outbreak at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. While many bands where to appear at this concert only MC5 initially showed up. They played for 8 hours straight. Only Neil Young actually arrived late, but he did not perform because of the chaos at the convention. Another political move that landed MC5 in trouble was when Hudson's, a Detroit department store, refused to stock "Kick Out the Jams" because of obscenity in the album. MC5 responded by taking out a full page ad in Fifth Estate which simply said "FUCK HUDSON'S" and unwisely included MC5's label logo from Elektra Records. Hudson's pulled all Elektra records from their stores, and Elektra dropped the band from their contract. MC5 then signed with Atlantic Records which ironically was now part of the same company as Elektra. Their 2nd album was not so well received as the first. The short fast ,hard edged rock was very different from their first album. Except for Tyner's vocals they were barely recognizable as the same band. Sales of the album were mediocre, and the bands tours were not as well received as earlier tours. Exhaustion from the heavy touring and the bands increasingly heavy drug use were to blame. They also had a falling out with John Sinclair over political views and were conspicuous by their absence from the 1971 "free John Sinclair" concert. In 1972 Michael Davis who had started using heroin was all but forced out of the band. And the remaining members then recorded three more songs for a film called "Gold", that would be MC5's last recording session. Eventually only Smith and Kramer remained with the band and played with local pick-up groups. MC5 reunited for a farewell show on New Years Eve in 1972, only a few dozen fans showed up and after a few songs a distraught Kramer left the stage. Fred "Sonic" Smith formed a new group called Sonic's Rendezvous Band and later married singer Patti Smith. He retired from the music to raise a family and died in 1994. Wayne Kramer was sent to prison in Kentucky for drug charges and while there was unexpectedly reunited with MC5 bassist Michael Davis also serving time for drug charges. After his parole from prison Kramer worked regular jobs for several years and kicked drugs. In the early 90's he returned to music and has released several well received albums. REUNION - 2003 saw the return of the surviving members ,Kramer, Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson performing in London with Fred "Sonic" Smiths place being taken by Nick Royale. And vocals being filled by David Vanian of "The Damed", Lemmy of "Motorhead", and Ian Astbury of the "Cult". In 2004 the band went on world tour with the name "DKT/MC5"and many special guest joined them on tour. Since 2005 "Handsome Dick Manitoba has been lead singer. In 2007 bassist Michael Davis left the group to join "The Lords of Altamont" Our Partner has MC5 !  MC5 Links Find out more about "MC5" here. ♪♫ Dennis Thompson website ♪♫ Dennis Thompson@ FaceBook ♪♫ ♪♫ MC5 webguide ♪♫ MC5 Gateway ♪♫ Punk77/MC5 ♪♫ Wikipedia/MC5 ♪♫ MC5 @George Starostin's Reviews Have a cool MC5 link, man ? Wanna send it to us ? olhippie@baby-boomer-rock-and-roll.com ,or Contact Form Advertisement MC5
Discography
NOTE
: Some or all of these original albums may have been reissued on CDs.
The reissued CDs usually contain bonus tracks.
The BBR&R discography section uses information from various
sources, including the band's own web site (if they have a web site).
Other sources include, Discogs, Answers.com,
Wikipedia, progarchives & sometimes
other sites. Even with all these sources an accurate discography for many bands is hard to put together. We try hard, but the accuracy of this discography section is not guaranteed, sorry man. *mouse-over album title to view album details
Live albums *mouse-over album title to view album details
Compilation albums *mouse-over album title to view album details
Buy MC5
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 Watch MC5   Features "Kick Out The Jams" Live in 1970 Listen to MC5  4 songs...Kick Out The Jams, The American Ruse, Motor City Is Burning, Looking At You.. BBR&R Playlists are powered by  See & Hear all our playlists HERE MC5 Facts Rob Tyner died of a heart attack in late 1991, aged 46. Fred "Sonic" Smith also died of a heart attack, in 1994, also at the age of 46. The band reformed in 2003 with The Dictators' singer Handsome Dick Manitoba as its new vocalist, and this reformed line-up sometimes performs live.  MC5 Facts Their second album, Back in the USA, produced by future Bruce Springsteen mentor Jon Landau, virtually provided a prototype for punk rock with its short, fast, hard-edged angry guitar rock. The band sounded radically different from Kick Out The Jams, and McLeese writes that except for Tyner's vocals, they were "barely recognizable as the same band." The second album also featured very different production from the first — the MC5 now sounded compressed and somewhat limited in their sonic palette compared to their earlier era — band members later said that Landau was overbearing and heavy-handed in production, trying to shape the group to his own liking. MC5 Facts For the Record: I do not support illicit drugs of any kind. I do not support the war in Iraq. I do support the men and women in our armed forces who fight these wars. I still have my MC5 nightmares, because my stand to stay and fight here cost me a lot of pain and misery. I know tens of guys who either died, came home missing a limb, and so many with post traumatic stress disorder, heroin addiction, alcoholism, etc. They got the rawest of deals I can imagine. Millions of Americans and myself included, finally put an end to that war. Of this I am as proud as the vet who fought in it. It took a long time for this nation to heal over that mess. ~ Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson (source : Dennis Thompson website) |
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