Re: MC5 hip to mention, but are enough people listening?

Any other MC5 fans out there?

Just listened to 'Kick out the Jams' 'Back in the USA' and 'High Time' back to back and realised that yes, they seem to be getting credit for their place in the family tree punk/garage (feel free to comment here) and yes, they are name dropped like crazy by any stove-pipe-jeans-wearing, sunglasses-on-at-night types listening to 'new rock' but have they heard anything except Kick out the Jams? High Time and Back in the USA are fantastic albums that deserve to be revisited - anyone out there got any other recommendations?

I sometimes suspect the only songs a lot of the folks who namedrop the 5 have heard are "Kick Out the Jams" and "Looking At You." Back in the USA and High Time are indeed amazing records - I love the latter in particular.

If you want more 5, I recommend Babes in Arms, the outtakes etc. disk compiled by Wayne Kramer. For that matter, Kramer's solo albums The Hard Stuff, Citizen Wayne and Adult World are also excellent, expanding on the 5's legacy.

I'd also like to recommend Sonic's Rendevous, but I haven't actually heard any of it, just covers of "City Slang." Rumors persist that the Sonic stuff will be reissued on CD soon. I hope so.

As far as modern day practitioners go, the most obvious band carrying on the MC5 legacy (i.e. doing Detroit-style rock & roll but also pushing the boundaries of same) is the BellRays. Every one of their albums is great, though they're at their best onstage. They may very well be the best live rock & roll band on the planet. And I don't say that lightly.

Other recommendations: the Streetwalkin' Cheetahs and the Hellacopters. The latter have really gone in a more radio-friendly, almost Southern rock direction lately (and, oddly, have become a better band for it, maybe because the songs have gotten better as the production's gotten smoother), but their early works are in the MC5 spirit. I'd also argue that Rollins Band's Get Some Go Again is in that vein.

I know I'm forgetting a bunch of folks, so please, everybody, help us out here!

In fact, I forgot Scott Morgan, who was a contemporary of the 5 in the Rationals, the frontman for Sonic's Rendezvous and continues the proud Detroit rock/soul tradition in his current outfit Powertrane.

Oh, and he also put out a couple of CDs in the 90s under the name Scot's Pirates. The first one is a weird pop record with someone else doing most of the singing, but the second is kickass Detroit r 'n' r. Check 'em out if you can find 'em.

Surviving members now perform as DKT-MC5, with various guest vocalists. The Bell-Rays are indeed fantastic live. And Britney Spears should be forced to name at least one MC5 song before she's photographed wearing one of their T-shirts.

And Britney Spears should be forced to name at least one MC5 song before she's photographed wearing one of their T-shirts.

Teenage Lust?




and btw mr toland, my old friend: you NEED sonic's rendevous

I check the Sonic's Rendevous homepage constantly and it's always the same old "coming soon" blurb. Believe me, I'm dyin' to hear it. I've heard Scott Morgan (damn, I knew I forgot someone!) sing the old SRB songs live, and I've heard covers, now I want the real damn thing!

Yep

I’ve always really loved Back In The USA, I really love that clean tight production that I hear so many people refer to as their undoing. A good MC5/Stooges article was in Uncut earlier in the year worth a look. I’m finding High Time sounds better every time I hear it.

Saw MC5-DTK at the Coogee Bay Hotel last year with Deniz Tek, Mark Arm and Evan Dando. This line-up was way better than the UK one I’m told and you could buy a live CD of the show within 10 minutes of it ending. It was a brilliant gig, Young Heart Attack was the support so I heard 2 killer Over and Overs on the one night.

Will deffo check out the Bell-Rays, thanks for that tip

I'm a little baffled by the hipster embrace of the MC5. I dig 'em of course, but I have to say that of all the major proto-punk bands they are probably the most dated in sound. I don't really mean it as a put down - there's nothing wrong with being of your era, and others followed on what they laid down. I'm just not sure that if I was a young kid listening to new music that wanted to go back and listen to something cool for enjoyment rather than a historical perspective, that the MC5 would get on my list before the Dolls, Velvets, and Stooges.

That's interesting, because I think of the Dolls, the Stooges and the 5 as being sort of a triptych. When it comes to pre-punk loud rock & roll, I always recommend all three of them together. I don't think I'd recommend any of them "before" any of the others. (The Velvets inhabit their own distinctive universe in my mind.)

I can see your point about the 5 sounding more "dated" than the others, though, the first album (with its revolutionary rhetoric and gawdawful sound) especially. (Though don't the Dolls records just scream "early 70s"?) But I think to a young kid just digging into the ancestors. all four of those bands are gonna sound dated. I'd hope he or she would get past the period production and trappings and dig on the songs themselves.

Hell, I'd hope it'll be easier to get past the very 70s production style of High Time to get to the rock & roll nuggets within that it would be to slog through the 80s production on nearly everything from that decade to hear the greatness of, say, Prefab Sprout. But that's another discussion.

ask and ye shall get... here's a YouSendIt file of "City Slang" by SRB... downloads are limited and only up for a week. If it runs out, let me know and I'll upload it again

click on this file:

[www.yousendit.com]

Thanks, that's mighty nice of you. I'm diggin' on it right now.

right.
groovy.

Someone (always) mentions the velvet underground. Good for them.

jesus and mary chain is the only band to truly walk in their thrown out spider infested shoes though.

Thanks for joining in everyone - looking forward to hearing the Sonic's Rendezvous stuff and will look into the Bell-Rays for sure...

I was desperate to see the 5 when they were touring last but missed out - I think Mark Arm or Evan Dando doing vocals would be well worth a look. I heard a lot of protests about them doing a tour with guest vocalists, but I have to admit that I think it's the only way to go if they are to tour as MC5.

Interesting that Young Heart Attack supported them - didn't they have a (semi-)hit with a cover of 'Over and Over?'

I saw the DKT/MC5 a couple of years ago, with Dando, Arm and Marshall Crenshaw augmenting the trio. Arm was, as you might guess, nearly perfect for his role, and Crenshaw played shockingly good guitar and did a great job on the couple of songs he sang, as well. Dando, though...he tried, and he obviously loves the music, but his voice just isn't suited to MC5 songs, even the poppier ones like "Let Me Try" and "High School."

It was a great show otherwise. The 5ers looked like they were having a blast.

Wow - just saw this is coming out:

[www.easyaction.co.uk]

And this is from MC5:

[www.easyaction.co.uk]



Post Edited (05-24-06 07:50)

Nice...hope the SRB gets a domestic release.

Here's a surprise. I've just read that Radio Birdman are releasing a (NEW!) album and are launching it at the Metro Theatre here in Sydney and that the support band is The Bell-Rays.

WOW! Makes me wish I lived in Australia. Hopefully this tour will come to Texas someday.

Radio Birdman and The Bel-Rays, fantastic!

I've been loving the SRB track posted above and will be looking into getting those discs at easy action I think.

Anyone know if the Bel-Rays are headed to London?

Looks like the BellRays are in Spain right now, then a month-long American tour (which isn't coming to Austin, dammit), then on to Finland, France and the Netherlands in July. I'm sure they'll be hitting Merry Olde after that. Great Britain is one of their strongholds.

Go see 'em if you can. They're probably the best live rock & roll band in the world. No joke.