Wednesday, December 21, 2005

MC5 Kick Out The Jams DVD

DO NOT BUY THIS DVD!!!!!
"Creem present MC5 Kick Out The Jams a film by leni sinclair and cary loren"

This is one of the biggest rip-offs in the MC5 legacy and it is a pity that Creem has associated their name with it.
This DVD consists of maybe 5 minutes total of MC5 footage - none of it synced up to music - repeated over & over & over & over (etc) with some period footage and some special effects thrown in.
I am one of the biggest MC5 fans ever to live, but I would never recommend this DVD to anyone!
Wayne Kramer and his wife, Margaret, are blocking the release of an incredible documentary on the MC5 *(that they cooperated with fully when it was being made) and yet they release this piece of crap! They should be ashamed!

* "A True Testimonial" by David C. Thomas and Laurel Legler of Future/Now Films
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I rec'd a comment in this section from someone using someone else's name. I heard from the person whose name was stolen so I am removing the comments, but here is the transcript:

Hey Rich, This isn't a Kramer release. It's Leni Sinclair's and Cary Loren's you stupid fucking idiot. Legler and Thomas are lying thieves and if you knew what you were talking about you would know that they made a deal with Wayne and then lied that it never existed. They're users. They got what they wanted and then threw the band away. If you were really an MC5 fan, you would know all this, but I suspect you are actually Thomas or legler.

This person's log-on was linked to this blank blog page:
http://www.blogger.com/profile/18898215

My reply:
um, no - if you read the sleeve credits it clearly says that it is released by Wayne and Margaret Kramer's management company.
I suspect that by your comment, you are actually Margaret!

I then looked at the DVD again and corrected a minor point:

actually, I mis-wrote something in my comment. The credits for Margaret Kramer and Muscletone are on the DVD itself, not the sleeve and Margaret is credited as "consultant" and the final screen shot simply says "MuscleTone, Inc" and "MuscleTone Records"
Sounds like they have something to do with it!

And then someone I know who wishes to remain anonymous gave me this to post:
"Just to clear things up from somebody who was actually around.... It's quite simple. Dave and Laurel are fantastic people with a passion for music, film and the MC5, period. Through their efforts, flying around the country, conducting interviews and unearthing amazing, never before seen footage, they created an extraordinary documentary that makes a strong case that the MC5 was the best band of all time. Muscletone, and the folks that run it (who I will not refer to by name due to the gag reflex I have when uttering them) are not concerned about the passion that Legler, Thomas or the MC5 once had, only money. Exploitation of ones own past is not a pretty sight coming from an aging rocker releasing inferior products. A cursery look at public records will reveal the amount of litigation Mustletone's owners have instigated and I can personally attest to the actual hurt, tears and pain they have caused. Hey *, maybe you're the fucking idiot. Actually, there's no maybe about it. Shame on you.

Since the original commentor was too much of a coward to even use their real name - and worse, stealing someone else's name who worked with Fred Smith - I can only imagine that I was correct in assuming that that person is in the Kramer camp.
Truly despicable....