the mc5: a true testimonial
Somehow, astoundingly, Seattle managed to rate a screening of what’s turned into an incredibly controversial documentary about the MC5. The fur has been flying in the media and online to such a degree that I turned up at the theater fully expecting to find it had been cancelled. I have been waiting years to see this, and as a fan, it did not disappoint.
I wish I could remember the exact moment I discovered the MC5, or how it even happened; probably some random comment somewhere in a rock magazine or book, and it was authoritative enough to make me dutifully go off and try to find out more about them.
So I’ve been listening to them for years, and I’ve even heard bootlegs, I had but I had never SEEN them, you know? It wasn’t anything I ever tracked down, never struck me as that elusive IT that you must see, unlike the Dolls or the Stooges, video footage of those two you could find if you wanted to, easily enough, hell, that footage of Iggy smearing peanut butter on his chest got broadcast on ABC prime time in the 70s… So this was the first time I ever really SAW the MC5.
It was astounding. And astonishing. And it broke my heart because I was not old enough to have been there, to have SEEN that, because it was so truly huge and wonderful and perfect in its rawness and fuck-you-ness. Very few of us can appreciate how truly dangerous it was to get up on a stage in the MIDWEST in the 60s and scream the word “Motherfucker”. And there is no way that any of us can know the liberation and danger that Rob Tyner likely felt every time he got to call on the audience to “Kick out the jams, motherfucker!” I mean, talk about the shot heard round the world. It really, truly was a CALL TO ARMS.
When I was younger I always felt left out. I missed the Who with Keith Moon. Missed the Stones when they were “good” (75 and earlier). Should have been a Warhol superstar getting my 15 minutes hanging out at the Factory in the 60’s. Should have been at Woodstock. But as I got older and I found my own bands to love in real time, that lessened to an extent.
Saturday afternoon, watching this documentary, that feeling of having missed out was back with a vengance. “Oh my god. I MISSED that!” And yeah, I know, I’m not idealizing anything, I’ve read about how women were treated in the 60s and John Sinclair especially, it’s not like the Trans-Love Energies house was exactly a hotbed of feminism. I didn’t even care, I wanted the rock and roll.
So, jesus.. Fuck! I missed that. I missed it. I missed it and it is gone, gone forever, and the DTK/MC5 tribute tour going out with Wayne and Dennis and Michael - I can’t see the 5 without Rob Tyner’s spirit, or without Fred Sonic Smith. (Although I would go just to see Mark Arm and Mark Lanegan having the time of their lives…)
I don’t understand 1/10th of what all the infighting is between the surviving members of the MC5, the surviving spouses of the deceased members, and the documentary filmmakers. I’ve even had a friend who is an expert at bankruptcy proceedings go through some of this crap in his copious free time and while I am slightly smarter, I am certainly no wiser as to what the real problem is. After seeing the documentary, I came to the realization that I do not care.
I don’t care, because at the end of the day, I’m just a fan. I am a fan of this band. And without a doubt, they influenced me profoundly. And as a fan, this documentary is important. It’s not perfect, there are moments that are needlessly hokey, while I feel there are some gaping holes (Where were the interviews with the fans? Or even Dave Marsh and the Creem gang from detroit?) But as a fan, this film moved me. It moved me not because of the actual filmmaking necessarily (I know fuck all about cinema and I won’t start to pretend I do now), but because of the story, and of the music, and the energy. That is what moved me.
I loved the story about how the 5, once they became the house band at the Grande Ballroom, and once the Grande Ballroom became part of the circuit and attracted name bands from England and elsewhere, how the 5 would taunt them. “We’re the MC5 and we are going to wipe the floor with you, just so you know.” How fucking PERFECT that is. (Why doesn’t anyone do that any more? Are there any opening bands these days that come out to fucking search and destroy? Anyone who gets an opening band gig and goes out there with the sole intent to blow the headliner off the stage?)
What else did I get out of this movie?
Finally, I came away with a rekindled appreciation for the MC5, a greater love and understanding, a broader comprehension of who they were and what they were and what they were and weren’t trying to do. I know Dennis Thompson thinks he came across badly and is embarassed by his appearance in it. As a fan, as an outsider, that wasn’t how I saw it. Sometimes we don’t see ourselves as we really are, sometimes we need an outsider to cut through the bullshit and portray the truth. Sometimes there is no truth, all you have is what’s in the moment.
Maybe the parties involved are too close to it. Because the end was painful. The end of the band was painful, and the end of the movie is painful because it shows the truth. And the truth is not grand or pretty or triumphant. The end is sad. The end is about drugs and desperation and falling apart.
But it is what happened. And there is a certain dignity in letting the truth be what it is and telling the past simply, without embellishment.
While watching the movie, I thought to myself: no matter where any of you guys are now, you can look at yourself in the mirror every single day and say, “I was in the MC5. I made history. I changed rock and roll.” End of story. No matter what you wanted to have happened, no matter if the band crashed and burned before its time, no matter if you didn’t achieve what you thought the band had the potential of achieving. You were still the fucking MC5 and YOU CHANGED THE WORLD. I realize that doesn’t solve arguments or doesn’t pay the bills, but I wish it could provide them with some kind of inner peace or tranquility or resolve or at least smug satisfaction.
Links:
Future Now Films
DTK-MC5 Official Site
3 Comments
Dave Marsh on May 9th, 2004
Caryn–
You nailed this.
I *was* there and although this is but the shadow of its greatness, it comes through all right.
You got the feeling about the new “breakup” right too. Unfortunatley, the people in the midst of it don’t have the luxury of just responding to fan feelings.
BTW, there’s two simple reasons why local bands don’t taunt headliners anymore:
a) local bands aren’t on the same bill with headliners;
b) they ain’t that good to be sure they can kick superstar ass.
My brothers were.
t on September 10th, 2005
great post…..well written….I WAS there and it captured it all well…..particularily the Tarter Field footage…..during Looking At You….as the five break back into the song and Wayne does that spin and drop kick…..NO EVER CAME CLOSE to what the MC5 did….and frankly….never will…..and Dave….you are so right….no one is good enough to do it to it Like That Again
rlv on April 30th, 2004
thanks for this - makes my having missed it a bit easier!