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Motor City Five (MC5)


zosodude13

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what can I say about these guys? IMO...

-MC5 were the only band who could compete with the Stooges during the 1960's Detriot Rock Scene

-they are the most energetic/raw live band ever

-Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith are in the top 3 of duel guitarists

-Kick Out the Jams is the loudest, best live album I have ever heard in my life

-are vastly underrated, among their Peers and deserve more credit then they recieve

thats just some things I can say off the top of my head

I only listen to them live, and have "created" some full live concerts from semi-authorized material that was released in the 1990's:

Live at Sturgis Armory

Live at the Saginaw Civic Center

Live and the First Unitarian Church

I also bought Thunder Express and I am currently looking for "Phun City"... if anyone knows a place to find it, please let me know

anyway, lets get tot he point, and talk about MC5!!!!

mc5live.jpg

Kick Out the Jams, MotherF*ckers!!!!

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Well, I enjoy their debut, but I thought Back In The USA was ok. I mean, it had energy but yeah, it's more contained. I do still need to listen to High Time, and I'm going to whether you say "don't bother" or not. :P Nothing wrong with listening to their studio stuff, having raw energy can sometimes have problems...I don't know, but nonetheless, I think they're good. Although others I know disagree.

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wow... I expected more people then this...

I guess its just you and me, bigstick

Count me in. I grew up just outside of Detroit in the late 60's and early 70's. Although I was too young to go to the shows in 67-68, I caught quite a few Five and Stooge shows at places like the Birmingham Palladium, the Eastown Theatre and even the Grande a couple of times. You guys wanna talk about this stuff, i'm there. Just excuse me if my memory is a little fuzzy. Not only was it a very long time ago, I, like most other folks at the time, was a wee bit stoned B)

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I'm a fan of MC5 for sure. Got their three albums and my favourite song is probably the single version of Looking At You. Back In The USA is one of the greatest albums of the 70's IMO.

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which clips did you watch?

I watched Kick Out the Jams, Rambling Rose and Looking at You. They were all excellent.

I also watched a long version of Louie, Louie recorded in Stockholm in the early 70's. It was horrible and according to some of the comments, Wayne Kramer admitted being drunk during the performance.

Did you know Handsome Dick Manitoba from The Dictators is currently touring with them (at least the ones that are left) and singing?

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I watched Kick Out the Jams, Rambling Rose and Looking at You. They were all excellent.

I also watched a long version of Louie, Louie recorded in Stockholm in the early 70's. It was horrible and according to some of the comments, Wayne Kramer admitted being drunk during the performance.

Did you know Handsome Dick Manitoba from The Dictators is currently touring with them (at least the ones that are left) and singing?

I knew they were touring... at one point, Lenny from motorhead was with them... and they call themselves DKT/MC5

Kick Out the Jams w/ Handsome Dick Manitoba the sound is pretty bad, but its isnt much better then most MC5 material

and I found some more old MC5 clips that you should enjoy

Black to Comm (1967)

its more pop and psychedelic then the version from 1970 that I have, its its still amazing

Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)

this is the audio from Kick Out the Jams and probably the best representation of Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith's guitar work

Shakin' Street

again, sub-par audio, but still amazing music

enjoy B)

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  • 9 years later...
  • 8 months later...

https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/2018/03/06/mc-5-mc-50-anniversary-tour-fillmore-detroit/396531002/

 

MC5's Wayne Kramer to lead the MC50 in 'Kick Out the Jams' anniversary tour, Detroit show

Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press Pop Music Critic Published 9:30 a.m. ET March 6, 2018 | Updated 10:18 a.m. ET March 6, 2018
   
636558622085846960-WayneKramer-MikeBarich-MC5.jpg

(Photo: Mike Barich)

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On Halloween week half a century ago, the MC5 stepped onto a Detroit stage and into rock immortality.

This October, just five miles from the Grande Ballroom and the recording of "Kick Out the Jams," surviving guitarist Wayne Kramer will lead a new all-star band — the MC50 — at the Fillmore Detroit as he celebrates the album's 50th anniversary.

Today's announcement comes in tandem with details on a Kramer memoir that's set for publication in August.

The MC50's Oct. 27 Detroit show will cap a North American tour scheduled to start in early September after several European festival appearances. The full itinerary of 35-plus cities is expected to be released later this month.

Read more:

The eight-song "Kick Out the Jams" album will be performed in its entirety, followed by an encore featuring a rotating selection of other MC5 material.

Tickets for the Detroit date start at $25 and will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday.

Kramer will be joined by players whose own careers are steeped in MC5 influence — a group of "40-to-70-year-old 'punks on a meth power trip,'" as Kramer calls it — including guitarist Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), drummer Brendan Canty (Fugazi), bassist Doug Pinnick (King's X) and towering, 6-foot-7 singer Marcus Durant (Zen Guerrilla).

Drummer Dennis Thompson, the MC5's only other surviving original, will perform on select tour dates, though specifics have not been announced. Bassist Michael Davis — with whom Kramer and Thompson revived MC5 music in the 2000s as DKT — died in 2012, following the deaths of singer Rob Tyner (1991) and Fred Smith (1994).

“The message of the MC5 has always been the sense of possibilities: a new music, a new politics, a new lifestyle,” Kramer said in a statement. “Today, there is a corrupt regime in power, an endless war thousands of miles away, and uncontrollable violence wracking our country. It’s becoming less and less clear if we’re talking about 1968 or 2018. I’m now compelled to share this music I created with my brothers 50 years ago. My goal is that the audience leaves these concerts fueled by the positive and unifying power of rock music.” 

Today's MC50 announcement comes as Kramer unveils details about his forthcoming autobiography, "The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5, and My Life of Impossibilities," due Aug. 14 from Da Capo Press. The Detroit native will chronicle his 69 years, from his early life as a "teenaged Downriver greaser obsessed with guitars, girls and hot rods," as a news release describes it, through his imprisonment in the 1970s and on to fatherhood in his 60s.

Forged in a cauldron of radical politics and gritty musical influences, the MC5 became one of the defining acts in Detroit rock, releasing three albums before disbanding in disarray in early 1973. Though the group was widely overlooked at the time, its impact roared in the years that followed, helping shape punk in the '70s and grunge rock in the '90s.

Crucial to that legacy was "Kick Out the Jams," recorded on Oct. 30 and 31, 1968, in front of hometown Grande crowds to showcase the band's raucous, high-energy live attack. In 2016, the album's title track clocked in at No. 5 on Detroit's 100 Greatest Songs, a Free Press project based on voting by the public and music professionals.

 

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12 hours ago, Bong-Man said:

https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/2018/03/06/mc-5-mc-50-anniversary-tour-fillmore-detroit/396531002/

 

MC5's Wayne Kramer to lead the MC50 in 'Kick Out the Jams' anniversary tour, Detroit show

Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press Pop Music Critic Published 9:30 a.m. ET March 6, 2018 | Updated 10:18 a.m. ET March 6, 2018

   

636558622085846960-WayneKramer-MikeBarich-MC5.jpg

(Photo: Mike Barich)

CONNECTTWEETLINKEDIN 1 COMMENTEMAILMORE

On Halloween week half a century ago, the MC5 stepped onto a Detroit stage and into rock immortality.

This October, just five miles from the Grande Ballroom and the recording of "Kick Out the Jams," surviving guitarist Wayne Kramer will lead a new all-star band — the MC50 — at the Fillmore Detroit as he celebrates the album's 50th anniversary.

Today's announcement comes in tandem with details on a Kramer memoir that's set for publication in August.

The MC50's Oct. 27 Detroit show will cap a North American tour scheduled to start in early September after several European festival appearances. The full itinerary of 35-plus cities is expected to be released later this month.

Read more:

The eight-song "Kick Out the Jams" album will be performed in its entirety, followed by an encore featuring a rotating selection of other MC5 material.

Tickets for the Detroit date start at $25 and will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday.

Kramer will be joined by players whose own careers are steeped in MC5 influence — a group of "40-to-70-year-old 'punks on a meth power trip,'" as Kramer calls it — including guitarist Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), drummer Brendan Canty (Fugazi), bassist Doug Pinnick (King's X) and towering, 6-foot-7 singer Marcus Durant (Zen Guerrilla).

Drummer Dennis Thompson, the MC5's only other surviving original, will perform on select tour dates, though specifics have not been announced. Bassist Michael Davis — with whom Kramer and Thompson revived MC5 music in the 2000s as DKT — died in 2012, following the deaths of singer Rob Tyner (1991) and Fred Smith (1994).

“The message of the MC5 has always been the sense of possibilities: a new music, a new politics, a new lifestyle,” Kramer said in a statement. “Today, there is a corrupt regime in power, an endless war thousands of miles away, and uncontrollable violence wracking our country. It’s becoming less and less clear if we’re talking about 1968 or 2018. I’m now compelled to share this music I created with my brothers 50 years ago. My goal is that the audience leaves these concerts fueled by the positive and unifying power of rock music.” 

Today's MC50 announcement comes as Kramer unveils details about his forthcoming autobiography, "The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5, and My Life of Impossibilities," due Aug. 14 from Da Capo Press. The Detroit native will chronicle his 69 years, from his early life as a "teenaged Downriver greaser obsessed with guitars, girls and hot rods," as a news release describes it, through his imprisonment in the 1970s and on to fatherhood in his 60s.

Forged in a cauldron of radical politics and gritty musical influences, the MC5 became one of the defining acts in Detroit rock, releasing three albums before disbanding in disarray in early 1973. Though the group was widely overlooked at the time, its impact roared in the years that followed, helping shape punk in the '70s and grunge rock in the '90s.

Crucial to that legacy was "Kick Out the Jams," recorded on Oct. 30 and 31, 1968, in front of hometown Grande crowds to showcase the band's raucous, high-energy live attack. In 2016, the album's title track clocked in at No. 5 on Detroit's 100 Greatest Songs, a Free Press project based on voting by the public and music professionals.

 

I was always a Stooges guy more than an MC5 guy. One reason being that I got to see the Stooges live while the MC5 broke up before I had the chance. 

I subsequently saw Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith in concert over the years. But this looks too good to miss. It is the 50th anniversary after all. And the guys in that band ain't too bad, either.

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https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/2018/03/06/mc-5-true-testimonial-documentary-release/401591002/

 

Is long-shelved MC5 documentary 'A True Testimonial' finally being released?

Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press Pop Music Critic Published 8:17 p.m. ET March 6, 2018 | Updated 9:23 p.m. ET March 6, 2018
   
636559633422597395-MC5-1.jpg

(Photo: Stephen Paley, Stephen Paley)

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After years in legal and financial limbo, one of the most acclaimed Detroit music films appears ready to see the light of day.

"MC5: A True Testimonial," which started production in the '90s and made a brief run on the festival circuit in 2003, was held back from wider release amid licensing and copyright disputes.

But is the documentary at last on the way? The evidence is piling up: Today, a Facebook account tied to the film posted a tantalizing message — "Stay tuned" — accompanied by an old Chicago Reader headline about the stymied project: "The MC5 Movie You May Never See."

It follows a post in January from a Twitter account in the film's name, simply displaying a bundle of wrapped movie posters.

And at January's Art House Convergence, an industry event, movie distributor Submarine Entertainment was disseminating placards touting the film.

A placard celebrating "MC5: A True Testimonial" wasBuy Photo

A placard celebrating "MC5: A True Testimonial" was disseminated in January by film distributor Submarine Entertainment. (Photo: Detroit Free Press)

The latest tease comes on a busy day of MC5 news, with the announcement of an upcoming tour by guitarist Wayne Kramer and a band billed as MC50, who will celebrate "Kick Out the Jams" and close with an Oct. 27 show at the Fillmore Detroit. Kramer also revealed a memoir, "The Hard Stuff," to be published Aug. 14.

More: MC5's Wayne Kramer to lead the MC50 in 'Kick Out the Jams' anniversary tour, Detroit show

"True Testimonial" is the handiwork of Chicago directors Dave Thomas and Laurel Legler, who received rave reviews for their colorful chronicling of the MC5's loud and controversial time on the rock scene.

In 2003, the film screened a single night in Detroit and at several prestige festivals, but a planned DVD deal with Sony fell through because of a song-licensing dispute: Kramer sued Thomas and Legler over the inclusion of the 1971 song "Poison" in the film. He lost the suit in 2007 — theoretically clearing a path for the film's release — but funds to pay the song-licensing fees then became the holdup.

"A True Testimonial" isn't the only Detroit-music film that's been delayed because of legal spats: The Sydney Pollack-directed "Amazing Grace," which captures Aretha Franklin's recording of the same-named gospel album in 1972, has been stymied in court for several years by the Queen of Soul.

Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.

 

 
 
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