Post by pieter on Feb 3, 2024 18:47:55 GMT -7
NOS News
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Today, 01:13
MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer (75), founder of punk, has passed away
American guitarist Wayne Kramer has died at the age of 75. He was a founding member of the band MC5. According to music magazine Rolling Stone, Kramer is one of the 250 best guitarists of all time and was the founder of punk music.
In the early 1960s, Kramer founded the band with schoolmate Fred Smith, which was named MC5 in 1965. The name is a reference to Detroit, where the band was founded. A few years later the group broke through with Kick out the Jams. The record was censored on the radio because of the line "Kick out the jams, motherfuckers!". The song was later frequently covered by Jeff Buckley and Pearl Jam, among others.
Activism
The band was clearly left-wing, contrarian and activist. The musicians joined the White Panther Party, a left-wing radical political collective. One of the collective's founders, John Sinclair, was also the manager of MC5.
After discussions about views and drug use, MC5 split up in 1972. Guitarist Kramer continued as a solo artist and performed with the tribute band MC50 from 2018.
Wayne Kramer died on Friday from complications of pancreatic cancer.
Translated from this Dutch source by Pieter: nos.nl/artikel/2507458-mc5-gitarist-wayne-kramer-75-overleden-grondlegger-van-de-punk