The MC5

The Motor City Five (MC5) lived as renegades from the cops in their own hippie commune, toting mean psychedelicized R&B and an ethos of dope, guns and sex in the streets. They rode to fame on a wave of revolutionary hysteria and their first album, Kick Out The Jams, was an extremely powerful and totally uncompromising live recording. Recorded at their regular haunt, the Grande Hotel Ballroom in Detroit, Kick Out The Jams ran through their set-list with clumsy abandon; guitars sprinted out of tune, ragged vocals overlapped, songs collapsed into feedback - it was a glorious chaos which took them into the Top 30. "Kick out the jams, motherfuckers!".

Legendary rock hack Lester Bangs slated the album as being "ridiculous, overbearing and pretentious", and almost convinced guitarist Wayne Kramer of this at a party. And when Hudson's record store chain refused to stock the album because it was "obscene", the band ran ads reading "Fuck Hudson's!". Elektra released an edited version of the album and soon dropped the band.

Their follow-up LP, the critically acclaimed Back In The USA, sold poorly and they were soon back in the bars of Detroit.

Revolutionary both politically (their association with the White Panther organization meant their gigs were regularly filmed by the FBI) and musically, it's not surprising that The MC5's reputation has continued to snowball since their unlamented demise in 1972. Not only did their furious guitar sound -along with The Stooges - pave the way for punk and the eventual Detroit garage-rock revival, but their flamboyant dress sense was a massive influence on Glam Rock.