From the National Affairs Desk-
Hey all, Metro here. It has been a tornado of a week. I wish I had more of a local music slant to it because that's what most of my readers want, but you pig fucks in the local scene don't give me anything to work with/write about. So I felt obligated to dive deep to give you at least a little bit of content, along with a personal tribute, so let's roll.
I have to start off by saying the personal tribute does not include Wayne Kramer. I almost got a seizure from rolling my eyes at my social media timeline. So first, my take: I am a fan of the MC5, but I am not a fan of Wayne Kramer and John Sinclair. I feel that both of them are cash grabbers and complete phonies, playing a role. John Sinclair is a shitty "poet" (that's being generous), and even worse musician who made his entire life around the fact he was arrested for pot. I do admit the charges were excessive and silly, but on the flip side, Sinclair has made a lot of money based on that incident. Plus, he likes 'em young. His "blues group" (hahaha) completely blows, featuring a hobbled old man wandering around the stage rambling words as the awful band tries to learn their instruments mid-set. Sad.
As for Wayne Kramer, well word is he also liked 'em young. Plus he was a complete hypocrite in that he embraced the persona of being against "the man", but ultimately he embraced it, and profited from it, shamelessly touring as "The MC5" when he was the only member playing. I actually saw the remnants of the MC5 in 2004, but they were under the name DKT/MC5, a much more honest name. A part of me thinks that Wayne wasn't completely on board with that ca$$, sorry call. I may be a little harsh here (more than usual), but you caught me on a bad week. I will say that Kramer did have some killer licks, especially on the first album and the third. The second album sucked. I can separate the art from the artist. Kramer was a good, sometimes great guitarist. As a person...well next.
Back to my social media, I actually was zapped by one of my FB "friends" for giving a similar take on Brother (ugh that's so lame) Wayne, and he replied with a profanity laced rant (the sure sign of losing a discussion) and immediately blocked me (proof that they concede the discussion). What a puss-mist. He plays in that one local band, local geezers Mazinga. We had a fun sparring years and years ago where they got more promotion than anything they could manufacture. They've been around forever and have treaded water the entire time. This dude, still nameless, is a typical stereotype, the aging fake punk that doesn't understand what "punk" means because he is too busy spending most of his time constantly complaining about three year old Trump stories and casually ignoring our current situation, letting most of his opinions be dictated by what other people say on the interweb. Yeah.....totally real hardcore. For the record, I am an independent (look it up) and didn't vote for either. I voted for myself. Are you surprised? His lone redeeming value is not his watered down music but that he seems to be a good father and likes Star Wars, but it wouldn't surprise me if he prefers the recent crap over the old school. There, consider that your receipt.
Speaking of receipts, multiple sources messaged me that a former friend of mine, actually my best friend in high school, and one of the top rated Elvis impersonators in the world, was arrested recently on allegations that he groomed and encouraged a 16 year old runaway to meet him at a Motel 6 in Pennsylvania and filled her with drinks, etc. We are at the point where I have to give the disclaimer: Everything I have said has been true. John Sinclair is a shitty poet, awful musician, and overall leech. Wayne Kramer enjoyed milking the MC5 name for personal financial gain (but did have some killer guitar riffs), and this Elvis guy can easily be searched as everything I said is currently true, although I do believe in "innocent until proven guilty". Had to include that. I'm withholding his real name, but his stage name is Matthew Dalla....oh sorry, wrong Matthew. His stage name is "Matt King". As he was starting out I helped a ton in promotion and booking, but once he got his feet wet on the Elvis circuit (yeah that exists) he cut me loose. I'd like to think this is just some misunderstanding with this recent 16 year old stuff, but we will have to wait and see. And that, Matt....is your receipt.
Whew, this post has been a rant filled downer so far, and for that I am sorry. You caught me on a bad week, but lets keep it going, but with a sprinkle of positivity, and maybe an explanation as to why this is one of my "bad mood posts". My uncle passed away last week. Joe Pilot was a decent man, a veteran who served in Korea. He was also a healthy gambler and professional drinker, and there is no problem with that. He didn't write awful rambling poetry, but was twice the professional that the people I mentioned above were. I have been trying to live up to his standards for a bit (gambling and drinking), but I don't think I can do that. Joe liked to hold court at a few local bars and was always surrounded by fellow gamblers and professional drinkers. I sat in a few times and was overwhelmed. These people were betting on every play. I couldn't keep up. The main point is that there was no negativity and everyone was having fun. One could say Too Much Fun. Joe is one of the few that I've known, including Hunter, that was a charter member of the Too Much Fun Club. And he didn't need a $10,000 GoFundMe like Marcie B. to make it happen. Just a few calls every week to family asking for some money ho ho ho. It puts a smile on my face thinking that him and Hunter are out there in the ether placing live game bets on a meaningless college basketball game.
Well, that's it for now. Sorry for the early bad vibes, but they needed to be vented and said. Stay tuned to the only local blog that is left for my preview of the fake Hamtramck Blowout. Well, that is, if I have anything to preview. It's less than a month away and nothing has been announced. A month away..... Did they hire the retarded cousins of the Hamtramck Music Festival to organize this? I will also have a preview of the Corktown Music Fest which is brilliantly the same month, but unfortunately will bomb because I don't recognize a single act on the Fest. That's actually good though because it'll make it interesting to preview each act because we all know the same old same old will be playing Fake Blowout. Plus for some of these kids, it'll be the best exposure they get. Until next time, Go Lions!
From the Iceman Commeth
The Boy Next Door
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