Everyday Creation
Everyday Creation is about purpose, awe and good vibrations. The show's title refers to three types of creation: The ways we express ourselves (for example, with art, music and so many other pursuits fueled by purpose and passion); the parts of life that fill us with awe (birth, death, love, the big picture); and our personal power to create our best possible lives while also making the world a better place. Here, you’ll encounter interviews, essays and some episodes created simply for information and fun. I'm your host Kate Jones, welcoming you to Everyday Creation.
Everyday Creation
Wayne Kramer and Dennis Thompson of the Controversial Band MC5 Knew How to "Kick Out the Jams"
The MC5 (Motor City 5) probably was known best for the controversies it created and for the influence it had on other musicians. The band put out three albums, "Kick Out the Jams" (live 1969), "Back in the USA" (1970) and "High Time" (1971), and had one well-known single, "Kick Out the Jams."
You can hear various versions of "Kick Out the Jams" on YouTube. Here's one of them (listener beware, the group's controversial profanity is at the beginning). And here's a video about the band itself.
Guitarist Wayne Kramer, who spent four years in federal prison for selling drugs, wrote "The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, The MC5, and My Life of Impossibilities," a paperback published in 2021. In the chapters, you'll see an image of the book's cover along with shots of the band's albums. All are available on Amazon.
For this episode, the pictures in the thumbnail of Kramer and drummer Dennis Thompson are from Wikimedia Commons, attributed respectively to Hugh Shirley Candyside, CC BY-SA 2.0 and Retrokimmer, CC BY-SA 4.0.
This tribute is one of 41 stories that Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime journalist, has written about the music notables who passed away in 2024. He's written tributes for other years as well. You can listen to the ones from 2023 on Everyday Creation. We'll have the 2022 tributes available later this year.
Sheldon also is the creator of Song of the Day, a story that he sends by email to a list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.
This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.
Excerpt:
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The MC 5 recorded three albums and had
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one well-known single,
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but their music
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influenced the Clash, the Ramones,
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Rage Against the Machine, and others.
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MC 5 was known as much for their
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controversies as their music.
Kate:
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That's just a snippet
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of Sheldon Zoldan's tribute to Wayne Kramer and
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Dennis Thompson,
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who both died in 2024.
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For
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more, here's the rest of the story.
Sheldon:
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The MC 5 is no more. The final
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two members of the band that influenced punk
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rock died in 2024.
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Founder and guitarist Wayne Kramer died February 2nd
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in Los Angeles of pancreatic cancer.
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He was 75.
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Drummer Dennis Thompson died May 9th after a
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heart attack in Taylor, Michigan.
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He also was 75.
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The Song of the Day is paying tribute
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to the singers, songwriters, and musicians who died
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in 2024.
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The MC 5 recorded three albums and had
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one well-known single,
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but their music
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influenced the Clash, the Ramones,
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Rage Against the Machine, and others.
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MC 5 was known as much for their
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controversies
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as their music.
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The obscenity that leads off "Kick Out the
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Jams,"
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cost them their recording contract with Elektra.
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The radio version was minus the profanity.
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The album released a month later wasn't.
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The band refused Elektra's request to release a
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non-profane
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album version.
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Hudson's department store wouldn't sell the album.
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The MC 5 bought a profane ad in
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an alternative newspaper
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condemning Hudson's.
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Hudson's. Hudson's pulled all of Elektra's albums, and
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Elektra fired the band.
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The band disbanded
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in 1972.
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Kramer's post-MC 5 life
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was far more newsworthy
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than Thompson's.
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Kramer became a petty thief and drug dealer
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to pay for his drug habit.
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He was arrested in 1975
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and spent four years in federal prison after
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selling drugs to an undercover agent.
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Kramer and Thompson played with many bands over
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the decades.
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Kramer wrote scores for television and movies.
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He also created Jail Guitar Doors, a nonprofit
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giving musical instruments to prisoners.
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"Kick Out the Jams" came from what the
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band would yell at groups
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they weren't impressed with who were on the
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same concert bill.
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They would yell, "Kick Out the Jams or
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get off the stage!"
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They like the phrase so much, they decided
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to use it as a song title.
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The song reached number 81 on Billboard's Hot
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100.
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The album reached number 30 on Billboard's
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album chart.
Kate:
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This is Kate Jones. You'll find a lot
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of other tributes on Everyday Creation.
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Please check them out, and thank you for
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listening.
