Kicking Out The Last Jam
February 6, 2024 1:18 PM Subscribe
This past Friday, Wayne Kramer, legendary co-founder and guitarist of the incendiary and massively influential MC5, died at the age of 75.
The MC5 roared out of Detroit in the 1960s full of ambition and radical politics and became most known for their iconic Kick Out The Jams both the fiery live album and the song, which was made more notorious by the use of the word motherfucker in the introduction which led to banning and censoring of the album. Two more albums followed, neither having the impact of the first one, before the band self-destructed under a haze of drugs, poverty, and harassment from law.
In a previously unreleased interview from 2018 Kramer goes into detail about the chaos that surrounded the band and his life post band.
Addiction, prison, and a second, third, and fourth act as he described it Kramer eventually got clean, returned to his radical roots, making music, recording a solo album in the 1990s, The Hard Stuff, which had mixed reviews, and getting involved the Jail Guitar Doors USA, the American offshoot of the British charity that brings music to incarcerated people.
In the 2000s Kramer resuscitated the MC5 as the MC50 and hit the road again with a wide range of supporting musicians. Along the way he played numerous concerts for charity.
In 2018 Kramer released a very well received auto biography, also titled The Hard Stuff, that was extremely honest, humble, and self aware.
Tributes have poured in from such people as Tom Morello, of Rage Against The Machine, who described him as 'the best man I’ve ever known.'
The MC5 roared out of Detroit in the 1960s full of ambition and radical politics and became most known for their iconic Kick Out The Jams both the fiery live album and the song, which was made more notorious by the use of the word motherfucker in the introduction which led to banning and censoring of the album. Two more albums followed, neither having the impact of the first one, before the band self-destructed under a haze of drugs, poverty, and harassment from law.
In a previously unreleased interview from 2018 Kramer goes into detail about the chaos that surrounded the band and his life post band.
Addiction, prison, and a second, third, and fourth act as he described it Kramer eventually got clean, returned to his radical roots, making music, recording a solo album in the 1990s, The Hard Stuff, which had mixed reviews, and getting involved the Jail Guitar Doors USA, the American offshoot of the British charity that brings music to incarcerated people.
In the 2000s Kramer resuscitated the MC5 as the MC50 and hit the road again with a wide range of supporting musicians. Along the way he played numerous concerts for charity.
In 2018 Kramer released a very well received auto biography, also titled The Hard Stuff, that was extremely honest, humble, and self aware.
Tributes have poured in from such people as Tom Morello, of Rage Against The Machine, who described him as 'the best man I’ve ever known.'
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Thanks for posting this
Brother Wayne will be missed.
posted by SystematicAbuse at 1:21 PM on February 6 [1 favorite]
Thanks for posting this
Brother Wayne will be missed.
posted by SystematicAbuse at 1:21 PM on February 6 [1 favorite]
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posted by schyler523 at 1:30 PM on February 6
posted by schyler523 at 1:30 PM on February 6
♪ + Ω
posted by Smart Dalek at 1:34 PM on February 6
posted by Smart Dalek at 1:34 PM on February 6
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posted by joseph_elmhurst at 1:35 PM on February 6
posted by joseph_elmhurst at 1:35 PM on February 6
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posted by Saxon Kane at 1:43 PM on February 6
posted by Saxon Kane at 1:43 PM on February 6
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posted by kensington314 at 2:08 PM on February 6
posted by kensington314 at 2:08 PM on February 6
They were the best band in the world, and they had a profound influence on me when I tracked down KOTJ as a teenager in the early '80s. Rest in power, Wayne, and thanks for the music.
posted by AJaffe at 2:14 PM on February 6 [4 favorites]
posted by AJaffe at 2:14 PM on February 6 [4 favorites]
For anyone interested, I posted the nearly-impossible-to-see* 2002 documentary "MC5: A True Testimonial" to the Internet Archive recently: part 1, part 2.
It makes a strong case for their being one of the most incendiary US major label signs of the 60s live, and includes some very interesting interview footage with Wayne Kramer.
He did some work with a friend as part of Jail Guitar Doors about 5 years ago and was, by all reports, a lovely guy, still massively enthusiastic and open-hearted about music in his later years.
* Held up by a long-running dispute over music rights with Kramer, who legitimately did need the money.
posted by ryanshepard at 2:15 PM on February 6 [10 favorites]
It makes a strong case for their being one of the most incendiary US major label signs of the 60s live, and includes some very interesting interview footage with Wayne Kramer.
He did some work with a friend as part of Jail Guitar Doors about 5 years ago and was, by all reports, a lovely guy, still massively enthusiastic and open-hearted about music in his later years.
* Held up by a long-running dispute over music rights with Kramer, who legitimately did need the money.
posted by ryanshepard at 2:15 PM on February 6 [10 favorites]
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posted by The_Auditor at 2:18 PM on February 6
posted by The_Auditor at 2:18 PM on February 6
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posted by miles per flower at 2:20 PM on February 6
posted by miles per flower at 2:20 PM on February 6
Tributes have poured in from such people as Tom Morello, of Rage Against The Machine, who described him as 'the best man I’ve ever known.'
This is Street Sweeper Social Club - Tom Morello and Boots Riley of The Coup - with a guest appearance by Trent Reznor, playing Kick Out The Jams.
posted by mhoye at 2:47 PM on February 6 [5 favorites]
This is Street Sweeper Social Club - Tom Morello and Boots Riley of The Coup - with a guest appearance by Trent Reznor, playing Kick Out The Jams.
posted by mhoye at 2:47 PM on February 6 [5 favorites]
Saw him in Phila. sometime in the 80's. I'd love to tell you he was amazing but I was too fucked up to tell. Sorry, the MC-5 were never my cuppa. Yes, I know this makes me a horrible person. Still, sad to see him go.
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posted by evilDoug at 2:48 PM on February 6
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posted by evilDoug at 2:48 PM on February 6
I graduated HS in '86 and loved their first album. I still listen to it on the reg.
posted by AJScease at 3:33 PM on February 6 [1 favorite]
posted by AJScease at 3:33 PM on February 6 [1 favorite]
A mutual friend of ours reached out to me probably 15 years ago saying "I know a guy who has a big Mac rig setup and a bunch of complex audio gear and he needs some help - you're the only Mac guy I know... can you take a look?"
I had no idea who he was at the time, only knew him as "Wayne". But I helped him over the years with various tech issues - not always easy to keep everything running clean and smooth from one generation of Powermac to the next, to say nothing of the mountain of audio gear connected to some rack-mounted Macs - and we'd hang out in his studio and just talk. Man, the stories that guy told. He was so kind and generous with his time, always took me to lunch at Canter's after I fixed whatever was misbehaving, and we became real friends over the years.
I won't link it here, but he was kind enough to agree to come on my podcast at the time and we had a good 2 hour conversation - mostly led by my fanboy co-host (who, for the record, did a WAY better job of interviewing him than I would have, he was practically an MC-5 scholar) and we both agree that was the high water mark of our 100+ episode run.
I remember shortly after he and Margaret (also a delightful person!) adopted Francis, he was just such a happy guy. When I said once "I might be too old for kids", they both laughed at me in that "you're a child, my boy" way that someone in their 60s laughs at someone in their 30s.
Anyway, beyond being a fucking legend, he was also just a fantastic person to be around - inquisitive, full of stories, really really kind, practically always smiling, and everything else Tom Morello said.
posted by revmitcz at 3:36 PM on February 6 [29 favorites]
I had no idea who he was at the time, only knew him as "Wayne". But I helped him over the years with various tech issues - not always easy to keep everything running clean and smooth from one generation of Powermac to the next, to say nothing of the mountain of audio gear connected to some rack-mounted Macs - and we'd hang out in his studio and just talk. Man, the stories that guy told. He was so kind and generous with his time, always took me to lunch at Canter's after I fixed whatever was misbehaving, and we became real friends over the years.
I won't link it here, but he was kind enough to agree to come on my podcast at the time and we had a good 2 hour conversation - mostly led by my fanboy co-host (who, for the record, did a WAY better job of interviewing him than I would have, he was practically an MC-5 scholar) and we both agree that was the high water mark of our 100+ episode run.
I remember shortly after he and Margaret (also a delightful person!) adopted Francis, he was just such a happy guy. When I said once "I might be too old for kids", they both laughed at me in that "you're a child, my boy" way that someone in their 60s laughs at someone in their 30s.
Anyway, beyond being a fucking legend, he was also just a fantastic person to be around - inquisitive, full of stories, really really kind, practically always smiling, and everything else Tom Morello said.
posted by revmitcz at 3:36 PM on February 6 [29 favorites]
Wayne Kramer on WTF with Marc Maron from 2014 makes for a wry, funny, and honest interview.
posted by recklessbrother at 4:05 PM on February 6 [5 favorites]
posted by recklessbrother at 4:05 PM on February 6 [5 favorites]
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posted by JoeXIII007 at 4:10 PM on February 6
posted by JoeXIII007 at 4:10 PM on February 6
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posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 4:34 PM on February 6
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 4:34 PM on February 6
When I heard about this last Friday, it wasn't long before I came here to Mefi to see what awesome stuff people were posting. Seeing no such post, even after a few days, made me think oh damn do I need to do it? Thank you Phlegmco(tm) for saving me from that.
There is a long story behind that documentary and it getting pulled. I thought "aw naw that's totally going to be on Youtube" but nope I couldn't find it.
So thank you ryanshepard for archiving it. I have downloaded it, transferred to media server, and will watch!
R. I. P. Brother Wayne.
posted by intermod at 7:20 PM on February 6 [3 favorites]
There is a long story behind that documentary and it getting pulled. I thought "aw naw that's totally going to be on Youtube" but nope I couldn't find it.
So thank you ryanshepard for archiving it. I have downloaded it, transferred to media server, and will watch!
R. I. P. Brother Wayne.
posted by intermod at 7:20 PM on February 6 [3 favorites]
this simple jpeg rather says it all ...
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posted by philip-random at 8:20 PM on February 6 [4 favorites]
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posted by philip-random at 8:20 PM on February 6 [4 favorites]
I own a copy of the doc, and I hope everyone who wants to see it can do so. It's great. I just wish there was more MC5 footage out there...
posted by AJaffe at 8:57 AM on February 7 [1 favorite]
posted by AJaffe at 8:57 AM on February 7 [1 favorite]
this one hurt. thanks for posting phlegmco(tm). I didn't have it in me.
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posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 11:10 AM on February 7 [1 favorite]
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posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 11:10 AM on February 7 [1 favorite]
“MC5: A Brief History｜Vinyl Monday” [2:40:30]—Abigail Devoe, 30 October 2023
posted by ob1quixote at 11:23 AM on February 7 [1 favorite]
posted by ob1quixote at 11:23 AM on February 7 [1 favorite]
If you haven't seen this footage from 1970, you should check it out.
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posted by talking leaf at 3:39 PM on February 7 [2 favorites]
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posted by talking leaf at 3:39 PM on February 7 [2 favorites]
Thank you ryanshepard for posting that documentary, that was great (albeit a little depressing at the end)
posted by SystematicAbuse at 12:45 PM on February 8
posted by SystematicAbuse at 12:45 PM on February 8
I saw Pere Ubu last fall in an ersatz, one-night-only lineup featuring Wayne Kramer and Mayo Thompson on guitars playing an entirely improvised set that included a completely deconstructed "Kick Out the Jams". As a show it was wildly uneven but Wayne was awesome. He held it compeltely together and showed off serious "out" and improv chops, and it was just one of those things where, even without the volume and pomp of the MC5, just playing a guitar through small amp with no theatricality, he still had that instantly recognizable sound and voice. I was like, damn, it really is all in the fingers.
I'm sure the man wasn't a saint, but he swam against some nasty currents his whole life, worked for truth and justice whereever he could even when he didn't have a lot of material gain to show for it, and he articulated a radical and inclusive vision of what american freedom could have been. May we all do the same
This footage is still heart-stoppingly majestic (featured in the doc linked above). I hope I can look back and say that I went this hard for even one second in my life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74jS3dW0DtE
posted by anazgnos at 5:39 AM on February 9 [3 favorites]
I'm sure the man wasn't a saint, but he swam against some nasty currents his whole life, worked for truth and justice whereever he could even when he didn't have a lot of material gain to show for it, and he articulated a radical and inclusive vision of what american freedom could have been. May we all do the same
This footage is still heart-stoppingly majestic (featured in the doc linked above). I hope I can look back and say that I went this hard for even one second in my life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74jS3dW0DtE
posted by anazgnos at 5:39 AM on February 9 [3 favorites]
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