The Motor City 5 Here they are the first and best radical punk band in history! THE MC5! When I was 14 and living in the deep south, I came up to Ypsilanti, MI for a visit. My cousin grabbed me shut the door to her family room so her Mom and Dad wouldn't hear...Kick out the Jams! The first song to effectively fling that cuss word at ya! Radical! I remember everything about the first moment I heard these guys play. I used to talk my way in the Grande Ballroom where they used to play alot. They hung out in Ann Arbor at the Yip house and I ran into them there a few times but being so young I kept a really low profile. This group was high energy especially Dennis Machine Gun Thompson the drummer. My personal favorite. He hasn't changed one bit either in the passing decades. But he didn't come off so bad in the movie like he thinks.
Dennis was the best part of that movie if you ask me. Well I know there is a ton of past political problems this group encountered and still is.. I will put this link to their history and you can read ALL about it HERE Here is a nice piece from Wiki: The MC5 (Motor City Five) was an American hard rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan in 1964 and active until 1972. Their music also included blues-rock, psychedelic rock, rock & roll and garage rock. "Crystallizing the counterculture movement at its most volatile and threatening,"[1] their far left political ties and anti-establishment lyrics and music would serve as a prototype for later punk rock musicians. The band consisted of Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitars) Michael Davis (bass), Rob Tyner (vocals), and Dennis Thompson (drums).
MC5 had a promising beginning which earned them a cover appearance on Rolling Stone magazine in 1968 even before their debut album was recorded. They developed a reputation for energetic live performances, one of which was recorded as the critically acclaimed Kick Out The Jams. Their career was ultimately short-lived, though within just a few years of their dissolution, the MC5 were often cited as one of the most important American hard rock groups of their era[2]: their three albums are regarded as classics. Their song "Kick Out the Jams" is widely covered. Fast forward to 2003. I took my kid and her little buddies to the lake for a relaxing day at the beach. While floating around with my hot pink noodle a lovely blonde lady floated up on a raft. She had never seen a "noodle" before so I gladly demonstrated all the cool things you can do with this cool beach invention.
We began chatting about who we were and what we did for a living. I mentioned that I used to be a show promoter and worked at Cobo Hall in Detroit a lot. She brightened up and said hey you need to meet my husband! Ok who is your husband?? Machine Gun Thompson from the MC5! Cool! Where is he? She said he's right up there on the beach under that tree! So I went up and met Denny as a grownup! Den and I hit off as we are both ADD and kinda out there. HYPER yeah! Denny told me about the film that had just been filmed about the MC5 and told me how great this film (The MC5: A True Testimonial) was going to be.
It was being screened at the Toronto Film Festival at the time. I asked him to please let me know when it might come to Detroit! I wanted to go see that movie! A few months later Denny emailed me to invite me to the screening at the Detroit Film Theater. It was being screened on Devil's night October 30, 2003 with an after party at the Magic Stick bar on Woodward Ave. Grabbed a room at the Ramada on Bagley the hotel that looks just like "The Shining" Took my boyfriend Danny and off we went to see the MC5 movie! Unless you grew up around the Motor City during the 60's you just wouldn't understand what this movie was like. But here is some info on the Movie This blog is created with much love for MGT
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