The 500 - #185 - Self Titled Debut - The Stooges

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #185
Album Title: Self-titled Debut
Artist: The Stooges

Genre: Proto-Punk, Garage Rock, Rock, Experimental

Recorded: The Hit Factory, New York City, New York

Released: August, 1969
My age at release: 4
How familiar was I with it before this week: A little

Is it on the 2020 list? No
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Be Your Dog

Growing up, I genuinely thought I could do anything with my life. My career aspirations changed regularly. During my adolescence, I wanted, and thought, I could be, a professional hockey player, a writer, an actor, a teacher, a psychologist, a musician, and even an Anglican minister. I have my parents to thank for my ebullient optimism and prodigious confidence. Not once did either balk at the grand designs I had for my adulthood.

Me at age 11, positively brimming
with confidence and epic ambition.

Iggy Pop (born James Newell Osterberg Jr.) had the same good fortune as I did. Raised in Ypsilanti, Michigan, his parents were high school teachers who supported his every passion, particularly his love of music. They saved so that he could purchase a drum kit when he was in the fifth grade. The family was not wealthy and the Osterbergs lived in a mobile home in a trailer park. However, as Iggy put it in a 2007 Rolling Stone Magazine interview, he was rich beyond measure:

"Once I hit junior high in Ann Arbor, I began going to school with the son of the president of Ford Motor Company, with kids of wealth and distinction. But I had a wealth that beat them all. I had the tremendous investment my parents made in me. I got a lot of care. They helped me explore anything I was interested in. This culminated in their evacuation from the master bedroom in the trailer, because that was the only room big enough for my drum kit. They gave me their bedroom."

Osterberg's music career began in high school and he performed with a variety of bands, including one named The Iguanas. It was this connection that earned him the nickname "Iggy". After dropping out of The University of Michigan, Iggy travelled to Chicago to play in more bands and learn about the blues. Upon returning to Michigan, Iggy decided to put his drum sticks down for a microphone. As he put it, "I got tired of looking out from behind a bunch of butts every night." In 1967, he formed The Psychedelic Stooges taking inspiration from the blues and the experimental and garage rock bands of the era, such as The Sonics, MC5, and The Doors (the latter two groups having, collectively, five records on The 500.) The MC5 (Motor City Five) were at The Stooges’ first gig, a Halloween Party in Detroit in 1968. Impressed, MC5 invited the band to open for them the next year in New York City, shortly after the release of this week’s self-titled debut record.

Flyer advertising the
1969 NYC concert featuring
MC5 and The Stooges.

This is the second of three records by The Stooges on The 500 list. I wrote about #191, Fun House, a few weeks ago; their 1973 record, Raw Power, appears at #128. The first line-up of the band comprised Iggy Pop; brothers Dave (guitar) and Scott Asheton (drums); and Dave Alexander (bass). It was the last three musicians who gave Iggy the surname "Pop" after a Detroit local called Dave Popp whom they thought Iggy looked like after Iggy shaved his eyebrows for a gig. However, on the debut record, he is billed by another pseudonym, Iggy Stooge.

Iggy (centre) on stage with The Stooges. (l-r), Alexander, S. Asheton, 
Pop, and D Asheton.

Earlier this week, I was chatting about this Stooges' record with Various Artists, a friend and former guest writer on The 500 Blog. We agreed that it is an enjoyable debut, with some terrific songs and one unlistenable track -- the strange, experimental 10-minute "psychedelic" opus called We Will Fall. Rolling Stone Magazine writer Edmund O. Ward called the piece "a ten-minute exercise in boredom that ruins the first side of the record."

Various Artists let me know that We Will Fall was necessitated because the band only had "about 15 minutes worth of material" when the opportunity to record in New York arrived. Consequently, they wrote three new compositions over the five days they were in The Hit Factory studios. The other two tracks, Real Cool Time and Not Right were also quickly cobbled together through improvisational jam sessions.

The Hit Factory studios when it was located on 54th street. It
has been located in six New York locations over 55 years.

I'll admit, I started skipping We Will Fall after my first two listens to the entire record. However, its presence made me respect Iggy even more. The confidence his parents instilled in him has shone throughout his career. He has been a risk-taker and innovator who dares to try new things. He "swings for the fences" with his artistic endevours and seems unruffled in the face of adversity.  Still performing, shirtless and energetically at the age of 77, Iggy has earned the accolades afforded him and the legendary moniker, "The Godfather of Punk Rock".

Oh, and as for my long ago ambitions – I became a school teacher, act in amateur theatre, noodle about on a few instruments and still play old timers hockey. Oh yea…and I write this weekly blog. So, I got a few of those boxes ticked.

The 500 - #294 - Kick Out The Jams - MC5

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #294

Album Title: Kick Out The Jams

Artist: MC5

Genre: Proto-Punk, Garage Rock, Hard Rock

Recorded: Grande Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan

Released: February, 1969

My age at release: 5

How familiar was I with it before this week: One Song

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #349 (falling back 55 places)

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist:  Motor City Is Burning

Kick Out The Jams is the debut record by the Detroit rock and roll band MC5. It is the second album by the band to appear on The 500. I wrote about their second album, Back In The USA, in February, 2020, which, because of the covid pandemic, feels like a decade ago.

MC5, an abbreviation of Motor City Five, were formed in 1963 by singer Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis and drummer Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson. They are considered one of the most important bands in rock and roll history.

MC5 in 1969

MC5 are known for their "garage rock" sound, best described as loud, ragged and high energy. They have a back-to-basics approach to music that sometimes borders on amateurish. They have also been called proto-punk, a term coined to recognize the groups that foreshadowed the rise of punk rock in the mid-seventies. When one listens to MC5, the influence of their sound is undeniable. So many bands from several genres have identified that the MC5 sound was influential in their development. Punk rock's Ramones and Sex Pistols, hard rock's Motorhead and even the 90s grunge sounds of Nirvana and Soundgarden were all influenced by this Detroit quintet.

Kick Out The Jams was recorded over two nights in October, 1968, at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit. Sounding like a revival tent preacher, the album opens with singer Tyner shouting:

"Brothers and sisters! I want to see a sea of hands out there. I wanna hear some revolution out there, brothers. The time has come for each and every one of you to decide whether you are going to be the problem or whether you're gonna be the solution! You must choose! Are you ready to testify? I give you a testimonial, the MC5"

The band then launches into a raucous version of Ramblin' Rose, a high-energy song originally recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis in 1962. The performance is raw and scruffy; but, it is also confident, brash and unapologetic. The MC5 sound like so many high school basement band I saw in the eighties. When they play, it makes me believe that with a little skill, some tight pants and a lot of swagger, I could be a rock star too.

Detroit's Grande Ballroom in the 1950s

The second track is Kick Out The Jams from which the album gets its name. The song begins with the now famous shout, "Kick out the jams motherf____ers" from Tyner. Consequently, many record stores refused to stock the album and the record company, Elektra, released a censored version. Eventually, the controversy proved too much for Elektra and they dropped MC5. Atlantic Records signed them and stuck with the quintet for their only two studio records, the aforementioned Back In The USA and 1971's High Time.

"Kick Out The Jams" was popular expression in the late sixties. It was sometimes used as a rallying cry to overcome obstacles and defeat oppression. It was also used to refer to a rock band delivering a high energy performance. In a 2018 interview, guitarist Wayne Kramer explained the decision to make the phrase into a song. 

"We were using the expression for a long time, because we would be critical of other bands that came to Detroit that the MC5 would open for. They'd come into town with this big reputation, and then they'd get up on stage and they weren't very good. So, we used to harass them. We'd yell at them, 'Kick out the jams or get off the stage, motherf--ker!' Finally, one day we said, 'I like that expression. We should use that as the title of a song.' "

The only surviving members of the band are Thompson and Kramer, the latter still touring. Recently, Kramer announced that a new album called Heavy Lifting will be released this year. So, nearly 60 years after forming, the MC5 continue to Kick Out The Jams.

The 500 - #446 - MC5 - Back in the USA

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

My plan (amended). 

• One record per week (ish) and at least two complete listens.
• A blog post for each, highlighting the important details and, when possible, a background story that relates to the record.
• No rating scale - just an effort to expand my appreciation of diverse forms of music.
• Listen to Josh and his guest on The 500 podcast to gather additional information and insights.

Album # 446

Album Title: Back in the USA
Artist: MC5
Released: January, 1970
My age at release: 4
How familiar was I with it before this week: Not at all
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: Shakin' Street (selected by my friend Claudio)
Great Lyric:
"Sixty-nine America in terminal stasis
The air's so thick it's like drowning in molasses
I'm sick and tired of paying these dues
And I'm finally getting hip to the American ruse." 
(The American Ruse)

Around 1981, a school pal Pat Keep and I bonded around our mutual interest of fantasy literature, Dungeons & Dragons and the progressive-rock band Yes. Over the next few months we shared records and cassettes in an attempt to influence each other's tastes. 
Pat took to the sound of the hard-rock band Blue Ӧyster Cult (abbreviated to BӦC). Yes, they rocked the Metal Umlaut (Ӧ) in their name. It was a decorative diacrtic employed by several heavy metal and punk rock bands in the 70s/80s. I've mentioned my humourous relationship with the Metal Umlaut in a previous post about album #488 by Husker Dü.

One weekend, Pat loaned me Blue Ӧyster Cult's 1978 live release Some Enchanted Evening. It was a seven track record which featured five of BӦC's hits and covers of We Gotta Get Out of this Place by The Animals and Kick out the Jams by MC5. This would be my introduction to the high energy sound of MC5 (short for Motor City Five - a nod to their Detroit roots) and I became a fan, albeit a casual one. 

Kick out the Jams appears on the first record by MC5, which we will encounter when I get to Album #294 on the Rolling Stone's list -- in about fours years. I was unfamiliar with Back in the USA but loved it from the opening track, a boisterous, uptempo version of Little Richard's Tutti Frutti.  

There was a time when I pigeonholed this band as a straight-ahead garage band/proto-punk act. Infact, they embraced left-leaning, sometimes radical, politics from the late 60s. This is evident on the tracks The American Ruse in which the band "attacks the hypocritical idea of freedom espoused by the U.S. government" and The Human Being Lawnmower, a not-so-subtle commentary on America's involvement in the Vietnam War.

In 1975, addiction issues resulted in the arrest of guitarist/singer Wayne Kramer who was caught selling cocaine to undercover federal agents. He served two years in a prison in Lexington, KY where he met Jazz trumpeter Red Rodney (of Charlie Parker fame). The two began to perform each Sunday in chapel. Eventually, their musical collaboration contributed significantly to Kramer's recovery. 

In 1978, The Clash released the song Jail Guitar Doors, rooted in Kramer's incarceration. Thirty years later, to honour the life of Clash founder Joe Strummer, musician Billy Bragg began an program to provide musical equipment to help rehabilitate inmates in the U.K. The project was named for the aforementioned song and, in 2009, Wayne Kramer helped found Jail Guitar Doors: USA - completing an interesting musical circle. 

Addendum
I learned about Jail Guitar Doors: USA about seven years ago while listening to Kramer share his story on Episode 186 of Jay Mohr's podcast Mohrstories. If you would like to learn more about MC5, Kramer, or this project, give it a listen.

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