MC5

Over and Over

1971 · Atlantic SD 8285 · New York City, New York

Artist
MC5
Title
Over and Over
Release
High Time
Year
1971
Label
Atlantic # SD 8285
Format
LP · Album
Language
English
Country
New York City, New York, USA
Genre
Rock · Pop Rock
Primary theme
Peace, Protest & Anti-War

Annotation

MC5 (Motor City Five) took their name from Detroit, Michigan. They formed in the city in 1963. The line-up for this album featured Wayne Kramer (from Detroit - guitar, vocals), Michael Davis (from Detroit - bass, vocals), Dennis Thompson (from Detroit - drums, vocals), and Fred "Sonic" Smith (from West Virginia - guitar, vocals - he married the garage rock singer Patti Smith in 1980). Their 1969 live album Kick Out the Jams included the song "Motor City Is Burning" which referenced Vietnam. Their 1970 album Back in the USA contained the anti-war track "The Human Being Lawnmower". They split up after the release of High Time in 1972. Their far left, anti-establishment lyrics became a prototype for the later punk movement. Early on they took political inspiration from Marxism and the Black Panther Party. The group famously performed for hours at the protest outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago along with Phil Ochs and Country Joe & The Fish. Neil Young also turned up but did not perform. Political organisations, such as National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (MOBE), Youth International Party (Yippie), and the Students for a Democratic Society…

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

About the artist

American rock band formed in the mid-1960s in Lincoln Park, Michigan (Detroit area); disbanded 1972. [Source: Wikipedia]

Themes

Anti-War

In collections

Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs