R n R Boot Camp

Blondie drummer Clem Burke, Sex Pistol Glen Matlock, Brother Wayne Kramer and Beach Boy Al Jardine are among the talent lined up to teach at Band Camp in Hawaii in October. Steve Jones is out of a radio gig and has been passed up (at this stage) for Stooges duty so how did he miss out?

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.

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.

More Brother Wayne

"Revolution in Apartment 29" from the "Citizen Wayne" album with David Was. Another live-n-the-studio recording from My Damn Channel.

David Was and Wayne Kramer

Found this and a few other tasty things at My Damn Channel.

The screed reads as follows:

"Wayne Kramer redefined rock 'n roll guitar as a member of the extreme Detroit band, The MC5...David Was is one of the founding brothers behind Was (Not Was) and one of the greatest lyricists on Earth.

"Pat Tillman turned down a $3.2 million offer to re-sign with the Arizona Cardinals in order to enlist in the Army following 9-11. While serving in Afghanistan, he grew critical of the war and Bush's policies. He was scheduled to meet with activist Noam Chomsky upon his return from the middle east but was killed by 'friendly fire' - three shots to the forehead fired from 10 yards away. Military and congressional investigations have yet to establish a credible account of the circumstances surrounding his death."

Line-up:

DAVID WAS
Vocals and Harmonica
WAYNE KRAMER
Guitar and Vocal
ALEX BROWN
Background Vocals
ERIC GARDNER
Drums
DON WAS
Bass

Future Lemonheads, New Christs, The Eastern Dark members caught in short pants

A copy of the first musical outing for members of these bands has gone up at eBay and dates from their schooldays at Sydney's Patrican Brothers Fairfield High. It's said to include gems like "House of the Rising Sun" and "Jesus Christ Superstar". Ex-The Eastern Dark member Bill Gibson furiously denies its right to exist, of course, and claims a former I-94 Bar contributor has a similarly artefact of Nick Cave in a school choir.

What's next? Tapes of the (post-jail) Wayne Kramer Band playing late-'70s cabaret standards? I've never heard them but have it on very good authority (from a jilted band member, no less) that they do exist.

Bootleg DVD shows MC2 at the Finnish line

One piece of MC5 ephemera I won’t be buying is the Japanese bootleg DVD of the band’s Finnish TV appearance in its dying days. If you haven’t seen the brilliant rockumentary “The MC5: A True Testimonial” a segment of this desultory 1972 gig – which was a contract filler with the Five down to a rump of Sonic and Brother Wayne plus a hired engine room – was fairly central to the movie’s second half, which showed a once great band on its last legs.

By his own admission, Wayne Kramer was lost to his smack habit by that stage and if Fred Smith wasn’t also on that path, he was about to join him. Rob Tyner stayed home with his family, Dennis Thompson was out-of-order and Mike Davis too wasted to notice he’d been sacked. The set list was mostly covers and the survivors apparently ran foul of promoters for being the MC2 rather than the expected MC5.

Here’s a taste of the out-of-tune shambles. If you’re still really desperate despite seeing this, let Google be your friend.

A True Testimonial (MC5 movie) update

Is the world's best rockumentary any closer to release? I'm talking "A True Testimonial", the labour of love by two Chicago filmmakers to document the rise and fall of the MC5. Legal action by Wayne Kramer over an alleged soundtrack role pole-axed the movie on the eve of its official release but bootleg copies have been doing the rounds in ever-increasing numbers. Will we ever see it out legitimately? Your guess is as good as mine, and probably there's a degree of heavy spin in one interpretation doing the rounds, but here's some media coverage of the latest court action.