History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: MC5

Alongside their Detroit-area brethren the Stooges, MC5 essentially laid the foundations for the emergence of punk; deafeningly loud and uncompromisingly intense, the group's politics were ultimately as crucial as their music, their revolutionary sloganeering and anti-establishment outrage crystallizing the counterculture movement at its most volatile and threatening.

The Motor City Five formed in Lincoln Park, MI, in late 1964 by vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Fred "Sonic" Smith and Wayne Kramer, bassist Pat Burrows, and drummer Bob Gaspar; at the time, its members were still in high school, appearing at local parties and teen hangouts while clad in matching stage uniforms.

In time, however, Smith and Kramer began experimenting with feedback and distortion, a development that hastened the exits of Burrows and Gaspar during the fall of 1965; adding bassist Michael Davis and drummer Dennis Thompson a year later, MC5 landed a regular gig at the famed Detroit venue the Grande Ballroom, building a fanatical local fan base on the strength of their increasingly anarchic live appearances.

Their debut album, the classic Kick Out the Jams, was recorded live at the Grande Ballroom on October 30 and 31, 1968; although the album reached the national Top 30, retailers, including the Hudson's chain, refused to carry copies due to its inclusion of Tyner's trademark battle cry of "Kick out the jams, motherf*ckers!" The controversy spurred MC5 to run advertisements in the underground press reading "F*ck Hudson's!" Against the band's wishes, Elektra also issued a censored version of the album, replacing the offending expletive with "brothers and sisters."

When the dust settled, MC5 was dropped by Elektra; when Sinclair was subsequently jailed for possession of marijuana, the band was left without their manager and without a contract. They signed to Atlantic, where producer Jon Landau was installed to helm their second album, 1970's Back in the U.S.A.

The group released High Times in 1971, but it failed to find an audience and didn't make the charts. The group, facing mounting drug problems and bankruptcy issues - called it quits in 1972.

As the years went by, however, MC5's influence expanded; punk, hard rock, and power pop all clearly reflected the band's impact and by the 1990s, they were the subject of a steady stream of reissues and rarities packages.

Listen to the raw power of "Kick Out the Jams."