Rock's Most Revolutionary Band

MC5 -An oral Biography of Rock’s Most Revolutionary Band
Brad Tolinski, Jaan Uhelszki & Ben Edmonds 
Omnibus Press

Hype has followed the MC5 into their graves. Billed here as ‘rock’s most revolutionary band’, a description that depends on whether by ‘revolutionary’ you mean politically, culturally or musically and then, again depending, on whether you want to discount a whole host of other bands that had more impact in all three areas. The book is essentially a collection of memories compiled by Ben Edmonds who died before managing to put the book together. Which might be why some of the context given by the other two writers occasionally veers from reality and into the realms of over-excitement. It comes across as enthusiastically hack-ish in places. But the quotes themselves make the book worth reading. Essentially a 1960s group that failed to achieve significant financial success but who, nevertheless, built a fearsome reputation that was way too hard to live up to, who’s short existence made a recognisable narrative: youthful enthusiasm, internecine gossiping and back-stabbing, clumsy attempts at injecting deeper political meaning into songs and performances, a crowd of hangers-on, an ego-driven manager (or two) and economic mismanagement ending in a small maelstrom of heroin addiction. Could be the story of many bands. Although this one took place during a turbulent time in American history, particularly in Detroit where they came from. White flight, riots, racism and hysterical patriotism during the Vietnam war era surrounded and defined their existence. 

The MC5 were the only band that braved appearing at the protest against the Democrats Convention in Chicago in 1968, which degenerated into a ‘police riot’ (IE: the cops attacked, wounded, arrested and probably killed the protestors). Reading the book, the band’s ‘revolutionary’ credentials were, it transpires, a calling card of hip authenticity, purposely created by both their manager, White Panther guru John Sinclair and the musicians themselves, until the band got fed up with the reality of ‘the revolution and Sinclair was jailed for giving two undercover cops a couple of joints. This calling card worked very well when the revolution seemed possible, even inevitable, but as the sixties ended along with hippy/yippy dreams, this stance became almost embarrassing. Out of the three albums The MC5 managed, two of them became a sonic blueprint for the punk and new wave bands in the late 1970s. As with The Velvet Underground their musical and cultural influence was far greater than their sales predicted and, everyone around the band acknowledges this, the band, especially, with some bitterness. 

 If you are a fan of the group (and I am, from the age of fifteen after hearing the unbelievable aural pyrotechnics of their first album, Kick Out The Jams) then this book answers questions and fills in gaps but, most of all, shows that, it’s that golden period when a group are just starting out that really matters. That’s when the art is made, even if it’s only experienced by a few thousand people in the state of Michigan. “Rock’n’roll can be political, but it’s best when it’s culturally motivated. When you’re politically motivated, it isn’t art any more, it’s propaganda… The MC5 often disappointed the political elements that surrounded us because we did not and would not turn our music into propaganda.” - Rob Tyner, singer, The MC5.

Read an alternative view of the book on Outsideleft here