John Sinclair C/D?

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I've seen this former MC5 associate do his schtick a number of times, and he strikes me as a talentless, egocentric blowhard trading in on dubious past glory. What say you?

― shookout (shookout), Monday, 26 September 2005 22:44 (twenty years ago)

Proof positive that if you smoke enough weed any music... Wait, no it sucks when you're high too.

― matt carlson, Monday, 26 September 2005 22:57 (twenty years ago)

I've never seen him "do his schtick," but I've met him. Nice enough guy. I own three records on Total Energy - two by Sun Ra and the MC5's Teen Age Lust. All are worth the money (and yeah, I paid full retail price for each).

― pdf (Phil Freeman), Monday, 26 September 2005 23:06 (twenty years ago)

by schtick I mean kind of like a bad beat poetry reading

― shookout (shookout), Monday, 26 September 2005 23:11 (twenty years ago)

Yeah-but it's bad beat poetry reading with endless jazz-rock noodling underneath.

― matt carlson, Monday, 26 September 2005 23:17 (twenty years ago)

He sort've comes across as a bit of a moron in Don Letts' new documentary, Punk:Attitude, whereas "Brother" Wayne Kramer seems more well-spoken, erudite and well-read than most of my college professors.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 26 September 2005 23:28 (twenty years ago)

I love Wayne Kramer, but the man is a sell-out of the highest degree: I saw him open for Cheap Trick (!!!) and he kept all the heavy (political) songs in the middle, opting to end the set with a paean to the sharkskin suit. I think it was called "Sharkskin Suit."

― owen moorhead (i heart daniel miller), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 03:43 (twenty years ago)

I saw some shitty Wayne Kramer band do a cover of Mmmmm Bop at Rhino records once. Why did the talented members of the MC5 have to die young?

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 04:18 (twenty years ago)

He sort've comes across as a bit of a moron in Don Letts' new documentary, Punk:Attitude

that documentary is pretty horrible, isn't it? it's only redeeming virtue is that it gives a few minutes of screen time to the screamers, and acknowledges (for like half a second) that the media didn't pay any attention to contemporary punk between, say, repo man and nevermind. but, er, there WERE other bands besides sonic youth and fugazi in those intervening years...

― faith popcorn (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 04:25 (twenty years ago)

it's

its

― faith popcorn (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 04:26 (twenty years ago)

His interview in MC5: A True Testimonial is hilarious when he finally gets around to admitting that the whole White Panther schtick was a ruse to get drugs and girls.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 05:38 (twenty years ago)

10 Point Program of the White Panther arm of Y.I.P. (Youth International Party)

1. Full endorsement and support of the Black Panther Party's Ten-Point Program

2. Total assault on the culture by any means necessary, including rock and roll, dope and fucking in the streets.

3. Free exchange of energy and materials -- we demand the end of money!

4. Free food, clothes, housing, dope, music, bodies, medical care -- everything free for everybody.

5. Free access to information media -- free the technology from the greed creeps!

6. Free time and space for all humans -- dissolve all unnatural boundaries.

7. Free all schools and all structures from corporate rule -- turn the buildings over to the people at once!

8. Free all prisoners everywhere -- they are our brothers.

9. Free all the soldiers at once -- no more conscripted armies.

10. Free all the people from their "leaders" -- leaders suck. All power to the people -- freedome means free everyone!

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 09:49 (twenty years ago)

Post-prison, Sinclair hosted a jazz & blues radio show when I lived in Ann Arbor in the mid/late 70s. He had good taste if nothing else, and an instantly distinctive radio voice: deep and smokey projecting total intensity. The recording quality on the archival Total Energy CDs that I own is truly abysmal though, even by bootleg standards.

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 10:05 (twenty years ago)

I met him in New Orleans a few years ago, and he signed a copy of his book "Guitar Army" for me. He was really interesting to talk to and I think he was doing a show on WWOZ there, a blues show. We talked about delta blues, mainly. And what restaurants were good.

In that recent Creem MC5 DVD, he mainly eats a hamburger and smokes a cigarette, not too interesting. But heck, he's had a full life...

― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 19:23 (twenty years ago)

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