Motor City Five (MC5): The Sad History Of the Band, Story of Kick Out The Jams & More!

Today we take a look at the legendary band Motor City Five, otherwise known as MC5. -----GET A SECRET VIDEO PLAYLIST----- Sign up for email news and get a link to my secret playlist with 10 of my best stories. https://bit.ly/3emyloM -----CONNECT ON SOCIAL----- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rocknrolltruestories Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RNRTrueStories Twitter: https://twitter.com/rocktruestories Blog: www.rockandrolltruestories.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RNRTrueStories #mc5 #waynekramer #motorcityfive What's going on my fellow rock n' rollers. Don't forget to hit the bell notification icon to be notified every time i put out a new video on my channel. The Motor City 5 also known as MC5was a garage punk band from Lincoln Park, Michigan who easily secured their place in Rock N’ Roll history with their debut album and also their most famous called “KIck Out the Jams.” They were one of the groups who set up the musical foundations for later punk bands like The Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Misfits. And they’ve been nominated for the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame 5 times but never admitted. Not that the rock n' roll hall of fame matters anyways. The original MC5 lineup put out 3 albums together over a 3 year span from 1969-1971. The band formed during a very tumultuous time in American history. The Vietnam war was still raging, and racial tension was intensifying across the country, with Detroit being one of the hotspots of the conflict. MC5 consisted of band members Rob Tyner on vocals, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, as well as bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson. The band officially formed in 1964, the same year that the civil rights act was signed. The name MC5 was made up by Tyner and chosen because it sounds like a car part, which was fitting given the band was from Detroit, which is known for their car industry .It would be 5 grueling years of playing local venues before they put out their first album “Kick Out The Jams.” In 1966, the band met activist, jazz poet and counter-culture icon John Sinclair who would become their manager. He would prove to be the creative anchor of the group, while at the same time exposing them to different types of music and artists like John Coltrane. They became well-known for their electrifying live shows and playing venues like the Grande Ballroom regularly. The band also opened for some pretty big artists at the venue including Cream and Blood, Sweat and Tears During an interview with NME in 1977, guitarist Wayne Kramer reflected on the influence of Sinclair telling the publication Being the young hustlers we were, the MC5 started to see that this hippie thing was gonna go, man...So we figured the way to get the hippies to like us was to get the chief hippie to like us, who was John Sinclair. Wayne Kramer 'Please Kill Me' In 1968 John Sinclair took our experience and articulated and defined it so it became something political. He know where our interest in the music movement stopped, we were primarily interested in rock 'n' roll music he'd say. In 1967 the Detroit race riots broke out. It lasted 8 days and 43 people died. And another 467 were injured and 72,000 arrested in addition to a 2000 buildings being burned down. This changed the band’s outlook on society forever, and cemented their anti-establishment sentiments. In 1968, the MC5 and John Sinclair joined the White Panthers, which was an anti-capitalist, anti-racist group. The group was firmly against flower power and believed that armed conflict was inevitable and competed with folk groups using their aggressive sound. It was the same year that the band signed with Elektra Records. In a 2018 interview with NPR online, surviving band member Wayne Kramer claimed that “"It certainly was a radicalizing experience. I had misgivings about the older generation and the establishment before the rebellion of '67, but that just pushed me into militancy, in terms of my frustration, and my anger with the way adults were running the country" he'd say. It was also around this time the group posted for a series of promo shots posing topless with guitars as well as guns And this was a bold and dangerous move displaying themselves as hardened revolutionaries. It was the perfect way to attract the attention of the authorities and that they did. The group’s phones were tapped, their van was firebombed and their house was raided by marines based on reports of sniper fire. At the end the members of MC5 weren’t violent revolutionaries, but they had balls. And the band would be political during their time together In 1968, they played a at a Vietnam anti-war protest in Chicago during the Democratic convention. It was a violent day as none of th\ A

Added 5 Apr 2026