MC5 re-released music short on revolution, strong on defiance

"Thunder Express" 
MC5 Jungle Records, 1999

"Babes in Arms" 
MC5 Reachout International Records, 1998

reviewed by MIM Comrade #5
November 23, 1999

A 1999 release, "Thunder Express" contains music from 1966 to 1972. "Babes in 
Arms" was re-released in 1998. Like other MC5 material, the sound quality and 
preservation from the late 1960s sometimes leaves something to be desired. 
Except where mentioned, the reviews here refer to the songs in "Thunder 
Express."

As a band, the MC5 had its reunions, and guitarist Fred (Sonic) Smith died in 
1994. Lead singer Rob Tyner died in 1991. Nonetheless, it is a good thing to see 
a resurgence of interest in MC5 in the corporate music world and on the Internet 
where tribute web sites abound.

Lead guitarist Wayne Kramer sums up the aspirations of the band at the time as 
follows: "We really wanted to grow up and be John Coltrane or Chairman Mao. We 
related to Eldridge Cleaver and Huey Newton." Promoter John Sinclair has a 
daughter named Celia Sanchez Mao Sinclair.

As we look at the CD sleeve and jacket of "Thunder Express," we see a clenched 
fist and marijuana leaf as the central graphic. "WHITE PANTHER PARTY" is written 
in capital letters and its 10 point platform is included.

MC5 formed the White Panther Party after Huey Newton asked that such an 
organization form. Interviews with the MC5 show them giving tribute to the Black 
Panther Party and Mao. Fred Smith was from hillbilly background, but he had 
supposedly read all of Marx, Lenin and Franz Fanon.

The first converts of the MC5 were Detroit-area anarchists. At the time, rock n' 
roll was still a very divisive thing in U$ society and MC5 played it the loudest 
and fastest, with anger and dissatisfaction.

Upon saying the word "fuck" at a concert, and as pre-arranged by the club owner 
in Michigan that MC5 was playing in, police broke up the show and gave one 
member of the band four days and another six months. Busted for dope, Sinclair 
also got sentenced to 10 years in a previous matter that was pending -- for two 
joints.

There is nothing in the lyrics of most MC5 songs that is revolutionary! Yet, the 
mere fact of cursing on stage, having long hair, being involved in drugs and sex 
was enough. Even fans who merely played their music loud and fast were 
considered tantamount to revolutionaries. The whole idea of "kick out the jams" 
and being high-energy was in line with the revolutionary youth culture of the 
times. If the youth had the drive, the artists believed they would make the 
revolution.

The MC5's lyrics were not particularly notable politically. And the music on 
"Thunder Express" would not be considered extreme today. One song, "I can only 
give you everything" even gets some occasional classic rock airtime today. But 
one exception is the song "Motor City is burning." It talks about troops taking 
over Detroit, people screaming and the political division of the times. This is 
at least one song that is a precursor to what the punk band the Clash would 
later say about London burning.

Since it was mostly not the lyrics that carried the revolutionary burden for the 
MC5, what the MC5 did was talk at shows and in-between shows and they seemed to 
be there at important moments preparing the social scene of the revolution. At 
the famous 1968 Chicago Democratic convention when police rioted and busted 
heads of so many famous radicals -- all on television -- MC5 was there 500 yards 
from the action playing its music, the only band on hand.

Like a lot of the 1960s culture, the MC5 had illusions about drugs and free 
love, as if lifestyle alone could change the structure of society. However, they 
believed (as many did) that the youth had to get in touch with themselves this 
way before they could become revolutionaries. They only shared too many of the 
weaknesses of the Black Panthers themselves -- drugs not being the least -- and 
were aptly described as "lumpen-intelligentsia."

Both albums are fun to listen to. While lead guitarist Wayne Kramer recommends 
"Babes in Arms" as the best of the MC5, "Thunder Express" has a more interesting 
CD jacket sleeve with information about the band. Sleeve information, the White 
Panther Statement and the White Panther 10 point program can be found at MIM's 
Bookstore: http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/bookstore/offbooks.html

Notes: 

http://www.addict.com/issues/1.02/Features/MC5/Kick_Out_The_Jams/page3.html

http://www.lbbs.org/ZMag/articles/nov98carter.htm

http://www.furious.com/perfect/mc5/waynekramer.html

http://www.gvny.com/columns/bartoli/flowers.htm

http://www.pieman.org/page-e.html