Michael Davis - R.I.P

Sad news; Michael Davis MC5 Bassist has died aged 68. Here was a man who believed in the power of music as a force and means for social change.

MUSIC IS REVOLUTION!

MC5 - Live @ Radio Bremen TV Studios 1972 (MP3)

I watched a program on BBC4 the other week, it was about the British invasion of the USA by Rock bands in the late 60’s and early 70’s, bands like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Jethro Tull. At one point it was mentioned that the reason these bands were so successful in the US, was because there was nothing to compare to these bands in America….wait up I thought, yes there was and they were called the MC5, and the majority of kids in America were never really given the chance to appreciate them. Despite releasing three major label albums, it was only after their demise that the MC5 were truly recognised for their greatness, ironically it was the British and European kids that took ‘em to their hearts.
With their reactionary and revolutionary stance the kids of the 60’s underground counter culture couldn’t get enough of their explosive mix of Blues, Soul and Rock’n’Roll. When the announced they wanted to “Kick out the jams mutha fuckers” the last couple of words shook the foundations of Americas music biz, and as for their allegiance to manager John Sinclair’s White Panther party, well that was never gonna win the hearts of the mainstream music moguls and the mass market, neither were songs about fire bombs exploding all around. They’d rather kids were listening to songs about stairways to heaven and other corporate cock sucking rock and southern boogie which filled stadiums and shifted the dollars. Lack of sales saw the band dropped by record labels, hard drug use began to take its toll, and things began to fall apart in the MC5 camp. By 1970 the underground had been buried and turned into commodity, with hippies and freaks for sale in San Francisco, where flowers were replaced by needles in your hair. The powers that be saw the power that could be and killed it. Music was revolution and that’s what scared the man.
By early 1972, when this was recorded, the MC5 had become the MC4, with Steve Moorhouse replacing original Bassist Michael Davis, who left the band because of ‘Drug problems’ the main problem being Michael had got busted at the airport before leaving America, customs found his ’works’ and detained him, which meant he missed the flight and subsequently an important gig in London. By the end of 1972 the 5 had become 2 with just Wayne Kramer and Fred Smith flying the flag.
(See previous MC5 Kick Copenhagen post.) Anyway here’s a blast of the MC5 recorded in Feb/March 1972 at Radio Bremens TV studio in Germany. I dunno if this is a complete recording as unfortunately the final number Black To Comm falls apart and fades out, Kick Out The Jams, Ramblin’ Rose, Motor City Is Burning and Tonite are all complete, as a little bonus I’ve included an alternate version of Kick Out The Jams from the same session.
I watched a bit of MTV the other day, and was struck that after forty years one of the MC5 slogans appeared to have come true as several videos appeared to show that there is “Dope, Guns and fucking in the streets” How times have changed mutha fuckers!

DR MARTINS and NME Promo Download.

This was available last year through NME.Com to mark the 50th Anniversary of Dr Martins shoes/boots. A promotional thang uniting footwear with Rock’n’Roll, for those readers/listeners “aspiring to be the brand”. Readers of this blog should approach this download with extreme caution, cos what you get are ten tracks of cover versions. A definite case of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Noisettes should be put on trial for crimes against music for what they’ve done to The Buzzcocks classic Ever Fallen In Love, the same goes for Verbal and Yoon for their treatment of The Runaways Cherry Bomb. The jury’s out on what the Duke Spirit have done to Sham 69’s If The Kids are United, which is to turn it into a synth/guitar drone akin to Suicide if they were fronted by Siouxsie Sioux on downers. Not that it’s all criminal. Black Rebel Motor Cycle Club put in a haunting version of The Pogues Dirty Old Town, but the highlight of it all, and the only reason I posted this is Michael Davis from the MC5 taking Canadian politico-punkers DOA’s Something Is Not Right With Me and giving it even more balls than it had before, if that’s possible. There’s also a bunch of wannabees, mightbees and will neverbees covering tunes by Human League, Jeff Buckley, Stone Roses and Max Romeo, but I’ve no idea who they are, nor do I want to know. Life’s full of enough shit without adding to it! But hey don’t just take my word for it. Here have a blast for yerself.

MC5 - Kick Copenhagen!

Today’s musical offering comes from the mighty MC5, at a time when they weren’t so mighty and should really have been called the MC2. Michael Davis had left the band in Feb, Dennis Thompson and Rob Tyner followed suite at the beginning of November, leaving Wayne Kramer and Fred Smith to carry on with some stand in session musicians, and share the vocals between them, it was the first time they’d sung some of the songs. not many MC5 classics, the set mainly consists of standard Rock’n’Roll covers Gloria, Louie Louie, but Ramblin’ Rose and Kick Out The Jams are there, and despite this not being a prime cut of MC5, more past the sell by date, for completist consumption only, Kramer and Smith still bring power and passion to their playing, This gig on Nov 23rd 1972 at The Beat Forum in Gladsaxe, Denmark was one of the last dates on what some refer to as the bands ‘Heroin riddled European tour’ the remaining gigs were cancelled by Italian promoters when they found out it wasn’t the complete band they’d booked. By the end of the year the band were no more and it would be another 20 years until they played together again, at a benefit for singer Rob Tyner who’d died suddenly in 1991 Fred’Sonic’Smith passed away in 1994, the remaining members still perform under the name DTK MC5, showing the young pretenders how it’s done. Thanx to stringybob over at the Bob Juice Forum for letting me post this.

WAYNE KRAMER - Acoustic in August 2010

Here’s some Punk Rawk Urban Blues from Brother Wayne Kramer, who recorded these four acoustic tracks for The Daytrotter Sessions. There’s a reworking of the MC5’s "High School," "No Easy Way Out" is from the 1997 solo release The Return of Citizen Wayne, and "Bad Seed" comes from his 1995 album The Hard Stuff and there‘s also a cover of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song." Great stuff! Check it out here!

MC5 - Black To Comm

The MC5 gig at The Sturgis Armoury in June 1968 has been released in parts on various bootlegs and anthologies but this 14 track CD is I believe the only one that captures the whole show, which was recorded on a reel to reel tape player through the P.A. The sound quality is rough to say the least, but the passion and power are pure. When it was released by Receiver Records in 1994 it was the first time that the track Black To Comm had been heard on disc. In the words of John Sinclair it was the bands “ultimate expression which combinined the roughest of riffs, the loudest of power chords with the most spontaneous of improvised lyrics and a plethora of barely controlled feedback, an expression of the bands deepest feelings of rage and rebellion and love and regeneration.” Kick Out The Jams Mutha Fuckers (NEW LINK) If you fancy some future/past reading why not take a trip to Dennis'Machine Gun'Thompson's rather excellent blog.