Artist: MC5
Song: Kick Out the Jams
Released: 1969
We start our journey by looking at the influences. Philosophically, perhaps even spiritually, punk has roots that go back centuries, millennia, perhaps as far back as the first australopithecus who said, "fuck it, I'm walking on TWO legs." The root of punk lies in its rejection of traditional norms and ability to (pun intended) stand on its own two legs without anyone's help or support, whether offered or not.
Musically, punk rock developed as a reaction to popular "rock and roll" and imitators of Hendrix who either tried to bring mainstream sensibilities to the genre or, having nothing original to say, focused on masturbatory and meaningless solos. The former became pop rock. The latter became progressive rock.
However, there were some that felt a need to return rock back to its basic roots in spirit, if not form, in the sixties. Amiss all the ground-breaking and popular developments of what would become mainstream (latter classic) rock, there remained a small, but dedicated group of musicians who looked at Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Louis, and Elvis Presley and ignored the sound. Instead, they focused on the rebellion -- what they perceived as the true meaning of rock, and the impetus for what eventually became punk rock.
Lacking any structure or backing, these bands became known as "garage" in that they had nothing funding them other than their own desire to play what they wanted in the cheapest of venues and often only for their friends or without any fans at all. Don't get me wrong -- there were many bands playing in the garage in the sixties that were just trying to be the next Stones, but the term "garage band" in this context simply doesn't apply to them. That title belonged to the bands that had a raw visceral tone separated from anything anyone heard on the radio.
Until one such band managed to release what should have been a pathetic album and sell poorly, only to become an anthem for a new generation of disenfranchised youth -- or at least that small minority that heard them.
Their debut album was a live act, something unheard of at the time, and extremely rare even now in the early 21st century. It got some press. Rolling Stone called it "ridiculous, overbearing, [and] pretentious". About 35 years later, the same magazine would include it in its 500 greatest albums of all time.
The band was MC5 and the album was Kick Out the Jams.
MC5 was originally known as the Motor City Five, having hailed from Detroit, Michigan. Political before The Beatles made it cool and long before REM commoditized it, MC5 briefly, and barely, brought rebellion back into rock a good five years or so before what we now call punk rock took the scene.
It's easy in hindsight to call MC5 a one-hit wonder, but that is a falsity on two fronts: 1) They made some other great songs that still resonate today (such as Tonight, Empty Heart, and Motor City is Burning) and 2) Even Kick Out the Jams was never a true hit in the mainstream.
Nevertheless, MC5's most recognizable hit touched a cord (pun once again intended) with a small, but influential would-be musicians that created a craze that may have not lasted long, but had deep impacts on the sound of music.
KICK OUT THE JAMS MOTHERFUCKERS!!!
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