Celebrity Stoner John Sinclair

Where else would ex-MC5 manager and spiritual adviser John Sinclair be blogging than for something called Celebrity Stoner?

It looks like an online version of the old High Times mag. You'd be showing your age if you remembered that. Interestingly, the big fella's having his collected works published sometime this year.

Most people who've met John Sinclair tell stories about toking up with him. I was planning to catch him live while in Ann Arbor a few years back. He was in town for the annual Hemp Fest and was playing the Blind Pig.

I arrived in the Eight Ball Saloon (downstairs from the Pig) quite early and got caught up drinking with some people, who will remain nameless. Someone messed up the times and we missed the Sinclair show completely. By the time I got to meet him I doubt he could understand a word. It was down to my Australian accent and nothing to do with the 15 Pabst Blue Ribbons I'd thrown down.

Sonically Speakin', Everyone Has The Right To Bare Arms

If you have no idea who that is, you're probably in the wrong place.

More John Sinclair + More Up

This Thirsty Media blog runs some choice rock and roll stuff. Latest is an interview with john Sinclair that manages to say something about the rogueish old rabble rouser that we hadn't heard.


And while we're in the neighbourhood, another fine Michigan product will have another day in the sun. UK label Easy Action is issuing a collection of music by former Grande Ballroom house band The Up. Details here.

Cock Rock

The Internet is alive with rocking dongs. This guy in Houston is writing about cocks in rock. Who would have credited Gordon Lightfoot with a song about his schlong? Meanwhile, back in the Motor City, Dennis Machine Gun Thompson has posted a funny account of his encounter with the infamous Cynthia Plaster Caster (who is apparently in the throes of writing a book.)

Danny Fields tells tales (2)

Part two of Thirsty magazine's excellent danny Fields interview is here. In case you missed part one of the talk with the guy who discovered the Ramones, the MC5 and the Stooges, it's here.

And just think about the fact that the guy has 2000 taped interviews with various people in his sock drawer.

Goose Lake one of rock's forgotten gatherings

A 1970 Michigan festival that pulled 200,000 to 300,000 fans to see the likes of the MC5, the Stooges, Mitch Ryder and blow-ins Rod Stewart and Joe Cocker? It happened although there's little about it in the history books, save David A. Carson's excellent Detroit rock retrospective "Grit, Noise and Revolution".

Goose Lake was a wild gathering by all accounts, with acid and harder stuff openly on sale and nobody seeming to remember WTF occurred. We do know a wasted Dave Alexander played his last show with the Stooges, Iggy firing him for being too out of it. You read that last sentence correctly.

A three-day festival that drew 300,000? That's big by any measure. These days they'd claims the same turn-out for a vigil for Michael jackson. The Metro Times has redressed the lack of coverage 38 years later with an excellent piece on the three-day extravaganza. Read it here.

Make Mine Japanese - Destroy All Monsters

Here's a special YouTube treat: A rare studio film clip interspersed with live footage from the latter day Destroy All Monsters fronted by Niagara and including Ron Asheton and Mike Davis. This dates from 1983 according to Dan Boyd (aka The Wizard of Livonia).

Wayne Kramer back in prison

Only for a visit, mind you. More on his day at Sing Sing and Brother Wayne's long-held view about the war on drugs here.

Machine Gun Thompson and the draft

Dennis Thompson's blog of his back pages in bands like the MC5, The New Order and (upcoming) New Race are a treasure trove if you're into the good stuff. This post on how he ducked the draft is a pearler.

The New Order

No, not that New Order but the L.A. band Ron Asheton put together with Dennis Thompson and Jimmy Recca, post-Stooges and MC5. Machine Gun Thompson tells the whole story on his blog.

MC5 drummer Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson

...has a blog here and it's a damn fine read.

This montage clip emanates from there:

So is it finally coming out?

The MC5 movie "A True Testimonial". The Metro Times seems to think so but there's been so much misinformation (most likely from the same person who seems to be tipping off the Times) that's it hard to know who to believe.

Vale Sonic Smith

Fred "Sonic" Smith died 14 years ago yesterday (my time) or today (US time.) Thanks "bamesjaker" for the heads-up. Wayne Kramer remembers meeting Sonic and the formation of the MC5 in this clip from "A True Testimonial":

KOTJ gig spawns CD

That Detroit area concert celebrating the 40th anniversary of the recording of "Kick Out The Jams" is becoming a bigger deal, with a double CD of MC5 material by new bands. Read more here.

Anyone got a spare air ticket?

It's Only Rock and Roll - Rob Tyner

Warning: Cheesy and excessive guitar lick content. From Rob's 1990 album "Blood Brothers."

Kick Out the Guitar Hero 3, Motherfuckers

Now Brother Wayne's joined Motorhead and the Pistols in selling a re-recorded song to the makers of the Guitar Hero computer game. "Kick Out the Jams" is coming to a games store near you. While the usual low-level comments about selling-out will no doubt come from predictable sources, I'd just settle to hear his latest solo album which is said to be a return to his jazzy/spoken word stylings.

And in word just in, there's a good interview with Kramer here that throws more light on the forthcoming album.

So what's with the Grande Ballroom movie trailer?

I suppose I should be grateful that this is available as a teaser on YouTube, but the spelling mistakes in the superimposed graphics and the apparent absence of interviews with the members of Grande notables like the Stooges, the Rationals and The Up doesn’t fill me with too much positivism.

No details on how, when or if it’s coming out. We live in hope.

How the jams very nearly weren't kicked out

Engineer Bruce Botnick reveals that the historic recording of the MC5's "Kick Out The Jams" very nearly didn't happen thanks to an accident with the the tape machine on the eve of the gigs:

"All of a sudden, we felt the truck bounce and then we heard a crunch. The 8-track fell over backward, six feet down and hit the ground. It was the only machine we had. Wally and I got down from the truck, stood the machine up, turned it on and it worked perfectly. It was a 3M 8-track — one of the great M-79s. They don't make machines like that anymore.”

Read more in Mix magazine online here.

MC5 contract for the UK show that never was can be yours

Australian collectables store Vicious Sloth is touting a genuine MC5 contract for a cancelled 1972 UK show on eBay, under the letterhead of one of their former booking agencies Gemini. Notable for Australian rock trivia buffs is the naming of Barry Earl as one of the principals of Gemini. Click to enlarge.
Interestingly, he's billed as a "former convict and exponent of the didgeridoo" in what's undoubtedly an attempt at humour by his English colleagues. With friends calling you an ex-con, who needs enemies?
Anyway, back on our shores, the late Barry Earl was the svengali behind the infamous "Lethal Weapons" compilation that attempted to catch a ride on the back of Australian punk rock by including the likes of Teenage Radio Stars, The Boys Next Door (later the Birthday Party), JAB and The Survivors. Aztec Music recently re-issued it and TJ Honeysuckle wrote a background interview piece for the I-94 Bar here.

It was attracting no bids at $49.99 last time I looked tonight so it'll be interesting to see if it goes off or is re-listed. If the link at the top of this post stops working, use the search feature on eBay.