One of the pitfalls of not reading/watching/listening to the news is that you don’t know what’s going on - which 99% of the time is the whole point of not tuning in, but a few days back Wayne Kramer, guitarist and chief whip of the MC5 died. I only found out when a friend sent me a message this morning saying “how come you haven’t written about Wayne Kramer dying?”
I guess the news would tell me how he died but that would mean trawling headlines until I found the story - I could ask Google but even though it’s “just Google” it’s still asking for information about the world outside and I’m really trying not to engage with it.
So, if you ever cared about MC5 - or indeed have never heard (of) them - let’s spare a thought for the man that brought (me) much joy with this song. Ladies and Gentlemen, Kick Out The Jams:
The audience don’t seem to know what’s going on here which makes it an even better clip. I always peg this film as ground zero for the birth of punk. 1970 seems early doesn’t it, but it’s all there to harnessed a short time later by Iggy Pop who held the torch high until some others took over… at least for a little while.
Although MC5 never really did a whole lot due to the usual nonsense that kills bands early, Kramer was always around, working on something right to the end, including co-writes on three great songs for Alice Cooper’s (one before) last album - Detroit Stories.
Thanks for making the world a little bit brighter buddy.
Very polite audience. They look as though they should be at a Beethoven Piano Recital!