You should care about the MC5’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nomination
By: Emily Ridener
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominations have become a yearly list of heated debate around the musical water cooler. From first-time nominees to repeat hopefuls, the top five artists to receive votes are inducted each year. One of the possible “Class of 2019” should stand out to Detroiters; 1960’s rock band, the MC5
If you haven’t heard of them, don’t feel too bad. They burned hot and fast, were hated by authority and were a gritty rock band in an era of Motown soul. Hailing from Lincoln Park and cutting their teeth in the Grande Ballroom, a now derelict relic of musical past which once hosted The Who, October marked the 50-year anniversary of the live recording of their first album, “Kick Out The Jams.” Guitarist Wayne Kramer’s two-month North American MC50 tour ended at The Fillmore on Oct. 27.
So what’s special about these guys other than being from the Detroit area? They are considered a proto-punk band, or punk before punk was a known genre, and if not for them we wouldn’t have had Iggy Pop and The Stooges…literally. The, at the time named, Psychedelic Stooges were the “little brother” band to the MC5 and Kramer put in a good word to Danny Fields, a publicist for Elecktra Records. Kramer wrote in his 2018 book, “The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, The MC5 and My Life of Impossibilities,” he passed along the band’s name when prompted if there were any other bands like theirs.
Initially housed at the corner of Warren Avenue and the John C. Lodge Freeway, they weren’t just some rock group living in the middle of a politically and socially tense Cass Corridor.
They got involved.
During the heat of the Civil Rights Movement the band, and their manager, John Sinclair, formed the White Panther Party which stood in solidarity with the Black Panther Party. Due to their activism, they were monitored by local and state police, even the FBI.
In a 2008 BBC documentary, “Motor City’s Burning: Detroit from Motown to The Stooges,” Sinclair said, “On the one hand, we were serious political revolutionaries and wanted to overthrow the government. On the other hand, we were on acid.”
After three albums, the MC5 disbanded in 1972. There are only two surviving members: Kramer and drummer Dennis “Machinegun” Thompson. Lead singer Rob Tyner, guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith and bassist Michael Davis died in 1991, 1994, and 2012, respectively.
There is something poetic about a forgotten underdog band getting a posthumous honor but now is the time to strike. As of Tuesday, the MC5 is dead last with 59,605 votes. Def Leppard is number one with 390,899 votes.
To qualify for a nomination, an artist’s first commercial album must be 25 years-old and, according the to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, “Besides demonstrating unquestionable musical excellence and talent, inductees will have had a significant impact on the development, evolution and preservation of rock & roll.”
Voting can be done here and ends Dec. 9.
