Wayne Kramer RIP

Today was going to be a guest post for the Monday long song but I've pushed that back to next week to pay tribute to the great Wayne Kramer who died on Friday aged 75, one of the twin guitarists from the legendary MC5. Back in the late 80s and early 90s The MC5's name was frequently thrown about in music press interviews by rock 'n' rollers and revolutionaries who wanted a slice of the Detroit five piece's reflected glory. At the time actually hearing The MC5 was more difficult. Their records were out of print and difficult to find second hand, CD re- issue culture was not yet a thing, nor was YouTube. I remember eventually finding a copy of the band's 1969 debut, Kick Out The Jams, an album that had its own high octane, high energy reputation, the band recorded live at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit. By this time the only MC5 songs I'd heard were Primal Scream's cover of Ramblin' Rose, that famous sample on those KLF singles and a couple of half remembered slices of late 60s proto- punk/ rock 'n' roll heard at indie nights in various clubs. Kick Out The Jams did not sound entirely like I thought it would and it took a while to get it and to love it. But on placing the stylus on the record there was no denying the power of the title track, (song two on the album, Ramblin' Rose blasting past first), vocalist Rob Tyner introducing the song with the line, 'right now... right now... right now it's time to... kick out the jams motherfuckers!' (Elektra Records had replaced the word 'motherfuckers' with 'brothers and sisters' on early releases- thankfully it's been restored).

Kick Out The Jams (Live at the Grande Ballroom)

Wayne and fellow guitarist Fred 'Sonic' Smith power into a furious two chord riff and Tyner screams his way through the first verse, 'Well I feel pretty good/ And I guess that I could get crazy now baby'. As the band piledrive through the song Tyner sings about his shirt being wet, the feeling of having a mic in his hand, the sound bouncing off the ceiling, 'wailing guitars and the crash of the drums/ make you want to keep rocking/ til the morning comes'. The MC5 were seen a political band- this song sounds like a call to arms and an attempt at starting a revolution in late 60s USA. The band's politics, Kramer later said, didn't always amount to much more than not wanting to get out of bed in the morning and get a proper job. The jams Wayne wanted to kick out weren't political ones but the endless boogie, the musical jams other groups at the Grande Ballroom indulged in. Over time, as a phrase, it became much more. 

Manager John Sinclair was a dedicated revolutionary and the group positioned themselves as such due to his leadership. Kramer's guitar playing is revolutionary, proto- punk riffing, with frantic, manic, distorted, howling lines, Fred Smith doubling up and firing off him. It's also inspired by the free jazz of John Coltrane and Sun Ra. It's hard rock in places and grunge in others. They did first what many others did later. 

Their second and third albums are steps on from the live energy of the debut- Back In The USA is snappy and instant, buzzsaw guitars and short urgent songs, although the compressed production makes it sound small and tinny. 1971's High Time is the one the band had most creative control over, and contains their best work. Sister Anne, Miss X and Over And Over are all uncompromising, the sound of 70s rock before it went soft. And this one is what so many guitar bands since them have wanted to sound like, Kramer and Smith's twin guitars squealing and riffing over pounding drums, as a horn section wails. It flopped. The MC5's career was dogged by crisis and bad luck, drug problems, jail for Sinclair, being tailed and under constant surveillance by the police and increasingly unable to tour or sell records. They split in 1972.

Skunk (Sonically Speaking)

After the band broke up Kramer became in his own words a small time Detroit criminal and ended up in prison. Punk failed to deliver him his dues. He moved to New York and formed a short lived band with Johnny Thunders and spent much of the 80s working as a carpenter. The surviving MC5 re- united in 1991 at a memorial and fundraiser for Rob Tyner and Wayne began to work in music again, recording as a solo artist and producing. The MC5 re- united at various points, once in Belfast after David Holmes got them to play there (he also got Kramer to play on an Unloved song). Kramer's work in the 21st century was as much social work as music, working with drug addiction charities and for the US branch of Billy Bragg's Jail Guitar Doors, a charity teaching prison inmates to play guitar and supporting them with musical equipment on release (The Clash's song that gave the charity its name has Mick Jones breathlessly singing, 'Let me tell you 'bout Wayne and his deals in cocaine/ A little more every day/ Holding for a friend til the band do well/ Then the D.A. locked him away... clang clang go the jail guitar doors'). Wayne Kramer, MC5, lived the life and was an activist and musician in a band who counted for something. That's more than enough I think. 

R.I.P. Wayne Kramer

Forty Minutes of World Of Twist

World Of Twist have come up in my internet world a couple of times recently and it seemed too good an opportunity to resist to sling some of their best moments together into a single forty minute mix, one side of a C90 tape in old money. The group's back catalogue is fairly slim- a 1991 album, Quality Street, a handful of singles and remixes and a pair of BBC radio sessions, one for John Peel and one for Mark Goodier. My first encounter with them was on a Manchester compilation album, the swirling song The Storm already getting mentions in the music press. After that I bought everything they released, seeing them live twice, once in Liverpool and once in Manchester. 

World Of Twist formed in Sheffield in 1985, disintegrated, and then reformed in Manchester in 1989, many of the members living in the Withington/ Didsbury area where I grew up. The line up of singer Tony Ogden, guitarist Gordon King, Andrew Hobson on synths, Alan Frost (FX, visuals, synths), MC Shells aka Julia on 'swirls and sea noises', Angela Reilly (visuals) and drummer Nick Sanderson found press and a record contract quickly, caught up in the feeding frenzy of late 80s Manchester. They took the driving rhythms of northern soul, 80s indie rock and late 60s psychedelia, the end of the pier, faded glamour of seaside towns like Blackpool and fused it all together. Their live shows had slide shows and projections, trippy effects, glitter curtains and rotating signs with the words Rock And Roll on them. Tony Ogden, floppy hair centre parted and black leather jacket, had a stage stance that was like a young Elvis (if Elvis had been from Stockport rather than Tupelo). They finished their live gigs with a cover of The MC5's Kick Out The Jams. If Pulp (who travelled a similar road to much greater success) had covered Kick Out The Jams it would have been draped in knowing irony, Jarvis giving it high leg kicks and an arched eyebrow. World Of Twist, after an ascending Blackpool Ballroom organ intro, attack Kick Out The Jams in deadly seriousness. I really liked them. 

There was a feeling that Quality Street missed the boat. By 1991 the Manchester tide was going out and the album, largely produced by Richard Norris and Dave Ball of The Grid with Martin Moscrop of A Certain Ratio and Cliff Brigden also at the desk, never seemed to be loud enough, no matter how much you turned your volume knob. The press went from full blooded praise to very lukewarm in months.  They called it a day in 1992 when, having begun work on a second album, Tony decided he didn't want to sing any more. Gordon King and Nick Sanderson went on to Earl Brutus. Sadly two members are no longer with us- Tony Ogden died in 2006 and Nick Sanderson in 2008. 

Forty Minutes Of World Of Twist

• The Storm
• Lose My Way
• Blackpool Tower (John Peel Session 1991)
• She's A Rainbow (12" Version)
• This Too Shall Pass Away (Chat)
• Sweets (Barratt 200 Mix)
• I'm A Teardrop
• Sons Of The Stage (12" Version)
• On The Scene
• Kick Out The Jams (Live at St. Andrew's University 1991)

The Storm was on the demo tape that got them a deal. It came out several times as a single with their cover of She's A Rainbow on the B-side, variously with Martin Hannett and/ or The Grid on production duties and Hugo Nicolson and Spencer Birtwistle from Intastella engineering. It starts with thunder and sound effects, then the swirly organ and rapid fire drums kick in. Indie night floor filler. 

Lose My Way opened Quality Street, a strong start to the album with its trumpet part, hammering four four drums and Tony's full throttle vocal and lyrics about love and lust. On The Scene is from the album too, an album track that is the closest they came to the Manchester sound, swirly indie- dance from 1991. 

Blackpool Tower is from a John Peel session, 25th June 1991 along with versions of Lose My Way, St Bruno (otherwise unreleased) and Kick Out The Jams. Blackpool Tower became part of a ten minute song called Blackpool Tower Suite, released on 12" in late 1990 with The Storm and She's Rainbow.

She's A Rainbow was one of their signature tunes and the record company threw it out multiple times looking for a hit. It's a cover of a 1967 Rolling Stones song, one of highlights of the Their Satanic Majesty's Request album, and one of Martin Hannett's last production jobs. The 12" version opens with some lovely, gnarly distorted guitar before the famous piano line comes in. 

This Too Shall Pass Away was the B-side to the single Sweets (and in its 'proper' form appears on Quality Street). The song is a cover of a 1964 Honeycombs single. On the Chat version Tony's vocals have been replaced by samples of people talking about Norman Wisdom, gardening, artichokes and potatoes and other everyday matters. 

Sweets was a sugary pop song, lovely stuff. The Barratt 200 Mix  came out on the 12" and CD single.

I'm A Teardrop is a great little song, recorded for a Mark Goodier session in September 1990, two and a half minutes of indie- guitar pop. 

Sons Of The Stage was on the album and a single and if it was all they had ever released, it would be more than enough. Like Hawkwind streamlined and rebooted for the early 90s, the song is a rush of indie dance, northern soul and early 70s sci fi psychedelia. It's a magnificent achievement. Tony's lyrics describe the sensation of being the singer on stage, with the band powering away around him and the crowd a seething mass in front of him. 'The beat breaks down so we pick it up/ The floor shakes down but it's not enough/ The beam is up and kids are high/ I see them move and it blows my mind/ The floor's an ocean and this wave is breaking/ The head is gone and your body's shaking/ There's nothing you can do 'cos there is no solution/ You gotta get down to the noise and confusion...Out of our minds on the stage...'

Kick Out The Jams is a cover of The MC5's famous high octane 1969 song. This recording is live, from a gig at St. Andrew's University in 1991, World Of Twist marrying their devotion to music with the rundown pleasures of British seaside resorts, utter conviction. Kick 'em out. 

Right Now, Right Now, It's Time To...

The MC5, possibly somewhat refreshed, with a jam kicking motherfucker session live on TV for a full eight minutes and thirty eight seconds.



The MC5's debut album gained mythical status when I was younger, much mentioned but never heard. No re-issues back then, no Youtube. Just hunting for a second hand copy. Eventually I found one. It was all very rockist- maybe that's stating the obvious- but over time it's power and energy became clear and never less so than on the title track which comes across like a call to arms for an entire generation. The lyrics to the title track are pretty loose, not really about anything political other than the power of electric guitars and loud drums and the feeling that they provoke, but they feel revolutionary. More than enough in 1969.

Two decades later, in 1991, Manchester's World Of Twist recorded a version for a John Peel session which shows what a ferocious live band they could be too.

Kick Out The Jams (Peel Session)

Kick Out The Jams

In the late 80s there was no easy way to hear music by bands you read about in the music press other than to hunt in record shops. No internet. No classic rock music magazines. No reissue industry repressing classic albums on 180 gram vinyl, cd reissues were in their infancy (and I refused to buy a cd player anyway. Take that music industry). No youtube, no mp3s, no blogs, no Hype Machine. Nothing. Today you can get on the internet and read a biography, interviews, reviews, watch videos and live perfomances, and download music in minutes. Easy.

From about 1988 I remember reading references to The MC5. They sounded great (in my imagination). The way the music, image and politics were raved about by indie rock stars and NME journos they became this huge band in my head. If only I could find the album. It took years but eventually I found a vinyl copy of Kick Out The Jams and rushed home to play it. Side 1 starts off with crowd noise and then Rob Tyner's famous introduction and then... noisy, sludgy hard rock. Lots of it. Then noisy, sludgy hard rock with a saxophone. If Rob Tyner wanted to see 'a sea of hands' I didn't feel like holding mine up. A massive disappointment.

They're very of their time, very late 60s/early 70s USA, and their political stance seems oddly quaint now- 'dope, guns and fucking in the street'- what's that going to do house prices? Dope, well maybe the odd weekend, guns no thank you very much, and the rest? I don't want to see my neighbours at it on the tarmac.

In the end I got into them. I still think KOTJ is over-rated but parts of it have grown on me, not least the title track. Years later again I bought a cd player and then a cd compilation, and then reissues of their other two albums and it makes more sense. The second album Back In The USA is much better with it's streamlined Ramones style punk and the third, High Time, is my favourite- they remembered to write songs with tunes and dynamics. I suppose it's also their most conventional. This track Over And Over is a good 'un, from High Time, 1971. Listening to this I get what the fuss is about.

19 Over and Over.wma