Kick Out the Jams
Encyclopedia
Kick Out the Jams is the first album by Detroit protopunk
ers MC5
, released in 1969. It was recorded live at Detroit's Grande Ballroom
over two nights, Devil's Night
and Halloween
, 1968. In 2003, the album was ranked number 294 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
. (However, the original Rolling Stone review by Lester Bangs
was unfavorable, calling it "ridiculous, overbearing, [and] pretentious".)
The album contains such songs as the proto-punk classics "Kick Out the Jams" and "Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa", the spaced-out "Starship" (co-credited to Sun Ra
because the lyrics were partly cribbed from one of Ra's poems), and an extended cover of John Lee Hooker
's "Motor City is Burning" wherein Rob Tyner praises the role of Black Panther
snipers during the Detroit Insurrection of 1967
. The album is generally regarded as one of the best live rock and roll
records: critic Mark Deming writes that it "is one of the most powerfully energetic live albums ever made...this is an album that refuses to be played quietly." The album has gained a considerable cult following
in recent years.
The LP peaked at #30 on the Billboard
album charts with the title track peaking at #82 in the Hot 100. The LP entered the charts on March 8, 1969.
Its title track has been covered by various bands, including The Presidents of the United States of America
, who completely reworked the lyrics to an upbeat form on their eponymous debut album
in 1995, post-punkers Volcano Suns
on their 1989 double album Thing of Beauty
, hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult
on their 1978 live album Some Enchanted Evening, Rage Against the Machine
on their album Renegades (2000) with Tom Morello
also performing the song with Street Sweeper Social Club
and Trent Reznor
live, Henry Rollins
with Bad Brains
for the Pump Up the Volume
soundtrack
, Afrika Bambaataa
, Monster Magnet
, Japanese rockers Guitar Wolf
on their debut album Run Wolf Run
, Jeff Buckley
(whose version was released on his posthumous "legacy edition" of Grace on the bonus CD of unreleased songs), Entombed
on the EP Family Favourites
, Silverchair
, and Give Up the Ghost
(formerly American Nightmare) on their Year One
compilation. Poison Idea
also covered the song live, and it appears on their live record Dutch Courage
. Primal Scream
often plays the song live. Pearl Jam
began performing it on the Vote For Change
tour in 2004. It was also used as one of the musical numbers in the Xena: Warrior Princess
episode "Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on Fire
", sung by New Zealand actor/musician Jay Laga'aia
.
In March 2005, Q magazine placed the song "Kick Out the Jams" at number 39 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. The same track was named the 65th-best hard rock song of all time by VH1
.
executives were offended by the line and had preferred to edit it out of the album, while the band and manager John Sinclair
adamantly opposed this. The original release had "KICK OUT THE JAMS, MOTHERFUCKER!" printed on the inside album cover, but was soon pulled from stores. Then, two versions were released, both with censored album covers, with the uncensored audio version sold behind record counters.
Making matters worse, Hudson's department store refused to carry the album. Tensions between the band and the chain got to the point where the department stores refused to carry any album from the Elektra label after the MC5 took out a full-page ad that, according to Danny Fields
, "was just a picture of Rob Tyner, and the only copy was 'Fuck Hudson's.' And it had the Elektra logo." To end the conflict, Elektra dropped the MC5 from their record label. Ironically, band members later alleged that Elektra official Jac Holzman encouraged the use of the epithet on the record itself.
In the end, the album is widely considered a vital step in the evolution towards punk and a variant upon what would later be referred to as garage rock
.
Later the same year, Jefferson Airplane
recorded the song "We Can Be Together" for their Volunteers
album, a song containing the word "motherfucker". Unlike Elektra, however, RCA Records released the album wholly uncensored, following pressure from the band.
from his interview with Caroline Boucher in Disc & Music Echo, 8 August 1970:
Kramer also referred during a 1999 interview that was excerpted for Goldmine magazine (Krause publications) that the phrase was specifically aimed toward British 1960s bands playing at the Grande who the MC5 felt were not putting enough energy into their performances.
The title has also (jokingly) been reinterpreted as an establishment message masquerading as a revolutionary anthem. David Bowie
sings in the song "Cygnet Committee
":
And in Robert Anton Wilson
and Robert Shea's
classic counterculture novel Illuminatus! (a trilogy) the title is said to have been created by the Illuminati
, who control the music industry, as a jibe against a rival sect, the Justified Ancients of Mummu (or JAMs for short). The British band The KLF
(also known as The JAMs), who take their name from the Wilson/Shea novel, use a sample of "Kick Out the Jams" in their songs "All You Need Is Love
" and "What Time Is Love?
". Emo
/pop punk
band My Chemical Romance
incorporated the phrase into the song "Party Poison" off of their 2010 album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys
("Light up the stage and watch me kick out the jams").
Protopunk
Protopunk is a term used retrospectively to describe a number of musicians who were important precursors of punk rock in the late 1960s to mid-1970s, or who have been cited by early punk musicians as influential...
ers MC5
MC5
The MC5 is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan and originally active from 1964 to 1972. The original band line-up consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson...
, released in 1969. It was recorded live at Detroit's Grande Ballroom
Grande Ballroom
The Grande Ballroom is a historic live music venue located at 8952 Grand River Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. The building was designed by Detroit engineer and architect Charles N. Agree in 1928 and originally served as a multi-purpose building, hosting retail business on the first floor and a large...
over two nights, Devil's Night
Devil's Night
Devil's Night or Hell Night ' is a name associated with October 30th, the night before Halloween. It is related to the "Mischief night" practiced in other parts of the United States and the world, but is chiefly associated with the serious vandalism and arson seen in Detroit, Michigan from the...
and Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
, 1968. In 2003, the album was ranked number 294 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
. (However, the original Rolling Stone review by Lester Bangs
Lester Bangs
Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs was an American music journalist, author and musician. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines, and was known for his leading influence in rock 'n' roll criticism....
was unfavorable, calling it "ridiculous, overbearing, [and] pretentious".)
The album contains such songs as the proto-punk classics "Kick Out the Jams" and "Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa", the spaced-out "Starship" (co-credited to Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
because the lyrics were partly cribbed from one of Ra's poems), and an extended cover of John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
's "Motor City is Burning" wherein Rob Tyner praises the role of Black Panther
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
snipers during the Detroit Insurrection of 1967
12th Street riot
The 1967 Detroit riot, also known as the 12th Street riot, was a civil disturbance in Detroit, Michigan, that began in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 23, 1967. The precipitating event was a police raid of an unlicensed, after-hours bar then known as a blind pig, on the corner of 12th and...
. The album is generally regarded as one of the best live rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
records: critic Mark Deming writes that it "is one of the most powerfully energetic live albums ever made...this is an album that refuses to be played quietly." The album has gained a considerable cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
in recent years.
The LP peaked at #30 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
album charts with the title track peaking at #82 in the Hot 100. The LP entered the charts on March 8, 1969.
Its title track has been covered by various bands, including The Presidents of the United States of America
The Presidents of the United States of America (band)
The Presidents of the United States of America, commonly referred to as Pot USA or "PUSA" or The Presidents, are a twice Grammy-nominated American alternative rock band. The band formed in Seattle, USA, in 1993. The three-piece group currently comprises vocalist and "basitarist" Chris Ballew,...
, who completely reworked the lyrics to an upbeat form on their eponymous debut album
The Presidents of the United States of America (album)
Critical reception to The Presidents of the United States of America was mainly positive. The Allmusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine awarded the album 4 out of 5 stars and stated: "It's novelty punk...
in 1995, post-punkers Volcano Suns
Volcano Suns
Volcano Suns was an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts formed by Mission of Burma drummer Peter Prescott in 1984.-History:...
on their 1989 double album Thing of Beauty
Thing of Beauty
Thing of Beauty is a 1989 double album from the band Volcano Suns. It was the first Suns album to feature David Kleiler, Jr. as primary guitarist, with previous guitarist Chuck Hahn having exited the group. This album sees the band functioning more democratically than before...
, hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult, often abbreviated BÖC, is an American rock band, most of whose members first came together in Long Island, NY in 1967 as the band Soft White Underbelly...
on their 1978 live album Some Enchanted Evening, Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
on their album Renegades (2000) with Tom Morello
Tom Morello
Thomas Baptiste "Tom" Morello is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist best known for his tenure with the bands Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, his acoustic solo act The Nightwatchman, and his newest group, Street Sweeper Social Club...
also performing the song with Street Sweeper Social Club
Street Sweeper Social Club
Street Sweeper Social Club is an American Rap Rock supergroup, formed in Los Angeles, California in 2006. The band primarily consists of guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and vocalist/emcee Boots Riley of The Coup. The band has been testing songs out during Tom Morello's...
and Trent Reznor
Trent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer, and leader of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Reznor is also a member of How to Destroy Angels alongside his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and Atticus Ross. He was previously associated with bands Option 30,...
live, Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor, and radio DJ....
with Bad Brains
Bad Brains
Bad Brains is an American hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1977. They are widely regarded as among the pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members objected to this term to describe their music. They are also an adept reggae band, while later recordings featured elements of...
for the Pump Up the Volume
Pump Up the Volume (film)
Pump Up the Volume is a 1990 comedy-drama film written and directed by Allan Moyle and starring Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis.- Plot summary :...
soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
, Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa is an American DJ from the South Bronx, New York who was instrumental in the early development of hip hop throughout the 1980s. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the three originators of break-beat deejaying, and is respectfully known as the "Grandfather" and the Amen Ra of Universal...
, Monster Magnet
Monster Magnet
Monster Magnet is an American stoner rock band. Hailing from Red Bank, New Jersey, the group was founded by Dave Wyndorf , John McBain and Tim Cronin...
, Japanese rockers Guitar Wolf
Guitar Wolf
Guitar Wolf is a Japanese garage punk power trio founded in Nagasaki, Nagasaki in 1987. The band is known for songs with piercing vocals and an extremely loud style of noise-influenced punk which emphasizes heavy distortion and feedback...
on their debut album Run Wolf Run
Run Wolf Run
Run Wolf Run is the debut studio album of the Japanese Rock band Guitar Wolf, released in Japan of April 1994.-Track listing:#"Run Wolf Run"#"Captain Guitar"#"Jett Rock"#"Baby Indian"#"Kouya No Guitar"...
, Jeff Buckley
Jeff Buckley
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...
(whose version was released on his posthumous "legacy edition" of Grace on the bonus CD of unreleased songs), Entombed
Entombed (band)
Entombed is a Swedish death metal band which formed in 1987 under the name of Nihilist. Though Entombed began their career as an early pioneer of Scandinavian death metal which initially differed itself from its American counterpart with its distinct guitar tone, by the early 1990s their sound had...
on the EP Family Favourites
Family Favourites
Successor to the wartime show Forces Favourites, Family Favourites was broadcast at Sunday lunchtimes on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2 and the British Forces Broadcasting Service until 1980...
, Silverchair
Silverchair
Silverchair were an Australian rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Merewether, Newcastle with the line-up of Ben Gillies on drums, Chris Joannou on bass guitar and Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars. The group got their big break in mid-1994 when they won a national demo...
, and Give Up the Ghost
Give Up the Ghost
Give Up the Ghost was a hardcore punk band from Boston, Massachusetts.-History:Give Up the Ghost was formed when Tim Cossar and Wesley Eisold met up with Azy Relph and Jesse Van Diest in 1998...
(formerly American Nightmare) on their Year One
Year One
The term "Year One" in political history usually refers to the institution of radical, revolutionary change. This usage dates from the time of the French Revolution: after the abolition of the French monarchy , the National Convention instituted the new French Revolutionary Calendar, declaring that...
compilation. Poison Idea
Poison Idea
Poison Idea was an American hardcore punk band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1980. The band originally dissolved in 1993, but has been playing intermittently since 1998.-Formation, 1980's and 90's:...
also covered the song live, and it appears on their live record Dutch Courage
Dutch Courage
Dutch Courage is a live album by Poison Idea which was released in 1991 on Blitzcore.- Track listing :# Plastic Bomb# Just to Get Away# Getting the Fear# Painkiller# Hangover Heartattack# Time to Go# Cop an Attitude# Feel the Darkness...
. Primal Scream
Primal Scream
Primal Scream are a Scottish alternative rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie and now based in London. The current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes , Martin Duffy , and Darrin Mooney...
often plays the song live. Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
began performing it on the Vote For Change
Vote for Change
The Vote for Change tour was a politically-motivated American popular music concert tour that took place in October 2004. The tour was presented by MoveOn.org to benefit America Coming Together. The tour was held in swing states and was designed to encourage people to register and vote...
tour in 2004. It was also used as one of the musical numbers in the Xena: Warrior Princess
Xena: Warrior Princess
Xena: Warrior Princess is an American–New Zealand supernatural fantasy adventure series that aired in syndication from September 4, 1995 until June 18, 2001....
episode "Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on Fire
Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on Fire
"Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on Fire" is the tenth episode of the fifth season of the syndicated television series Xena: Warrior Princess. It was written by Adam Armus and Nora Kay Foster, directed by Mark Beesley, and first aired on January 17, 1999....
", sung by New Zealand actor/musician Jay Laga'aia
Jay Laga'aia
Jay Laga'aia is an actor and singer. He is best known internationally for his role as Captain Typho in the films Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.-Career:...
.
In March 2005, Q magazine placed the song "Kick Out the Jams" at number 39 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. The same track was named the 65th-best hard rock song of all time by VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
.
Controversy
While "Ramblin' Rose" and "Motor City is Burning" open with inflammatory rhetoric, it was the opening line to the title track that stirred up the most controversy. Vocalist Rob Tyner shouted, "And right now... right now... right now it's time to... KICK OUT THE JAMS, MOTHERFUCKER!" before the opening riffs. Elektra RecordsElektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
executives were offended by the line and had preferred to edit it out of the album, while the band and manager John Sinclair
John Sinclair (poet)
John Sinclair is a Detroit poet, one-time manager of the band MC5, and leader of the White Panther Party — a militantly anti-racist countercultural group of white socialists seeking to assist the Black Panthers in the Civil Rights movement — from November 1968 to July 1969...
adamantly opposed this. The original release had "KICK OUT THE JAMS, MOTHERFUCKER!" printed on the inside album cover, but was soon pulled from stores. Then, two versions were released, both with censored album covers, with the uncensored audio version sold behind record counters.
Making matters worse, Hudson's department store refused to carry the album. Tensions between the band and the chain got to the point where the department stores refused to carry any album from the Elektra label after the MC5 took out a full-page ad that, according to Danny Fields
Danny Fields
Danny Fields is an American journalist and author. As a music-industry executive in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, he was one of the most influential figures in the underground and punk rock scenes.- Early life :...
, "was just a picture of Rob Tyner, and the only copy was 'Fuck Hudson's.' And it had the Elektra logo." To end the conflict, Elektra dropped the MC5 from their record label. Ironically, band members later alleged that Elektra official Jac Holzman encouraged the use of the epithet on the record itself.
In the end, the album is widely considered a vital step in the evolution towards punk and a variant upon what would later be referred to as garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
.
Later the same year, Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
recorded the song "We Can Be Together" for their Volunteers
Volunteers (Jefferson Airplane album)
-Personnel:*Grace Slick – vocals, piano on "The Farm", "Hey Fredrick", "Eskimo Blue Day", and "Volunteers", organ on "Meadowlands", recorder on "Eskimo Blue Day"*Paul Kantner – vocals, rhythm guitar*Marty Balin – vocals, percussion...
album, a song containing the word "motherfucker". Unlike Elektra, however, RCA Records released the album wholly uncensored, following pressure from the band.
Meaning of "Kick out the jams"
Kick Out the Jams has also been taken to be a slogan of the 1960s ethos of revolution and liberation, an incitement to "kick out" restrictions in various forms. This is myth and fiction, however; the truth is more prosaic. To quote MC5 guitarist Wayne KramerWayne Kramer (guitarist)
Wayne Kramer is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and film and television scorer....
from his interview with Caroline Boucher in Disc & Music Echo, 8 August 1970:
- "People said 'oh wow, kick out the jams means break down restrictions' etc., and it made good copy, but when we wrote it we didn't have that in mind. We first used the phrase when we were the house band at a ballroom in Detroit, and we played there every week with another band from the area.
- "We got in the habit, being the sort of punks we are, of screaming at them to get off the stage, to kick out the jams, meaning stop jamming. We were saying it all the time and it became a sort of esoteric phrase. Now, I think people can get what they like out of it; that's one of the good things about rock and roll."
Kramer also referred during a 1999 interview that was excerpted for Goldmine magazine (Krause publications) that the phrase was specifically aimed toward British 1960s bands playing at the Grande who the MC5 felt were not putting enough energy into their performances.
The title has also (jokingly) been reinterpreted as an establishment message masquerading as a revolutionary anthem. David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
sings in the song "Cygnet Committee
Cygnet Committee
"Cygnet Committee" is a song written by David Bowie in 1969 for his second eponymous album...
":
- [We] stoned the poor on slogans such as
- Wish You Could Hear
- Love Is All We Need
- Kick Out The Jams
- Kick Out Your Mother
And in Robert Anton Wilson
Robert Anton Wilson
Robert Anton Wilson , known to friends as "Bob", was an American author and polymath who became at various times a novelist, philosopher, psychologist, essayist, editor, playwright, poet, futurist, civil libertarian and self-described agnostic mystic...
and Robert Shea's
Robert Shea
Robert Joseph Shea was an American novelist and former journalist best known as co-author with Robert Anton Wilson of the science fantasy trilogy Illuminatus!. It became a cult success and was later turned into a marathon-length stage show put on at the British National Theatre and elsewhere. In...
classic counterculture novel Illuminatus! (a trilogy) the title is said to have been created by the Illuminati
Illuminati
The Illuminati is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically the name refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776...
, who control the music industry, as a jibe against a rival sect, the Justified Ancients of Mummu (or JAMs for short). The British band The KLF
The KLF
The KLF were one of the seminal bands of the British acid house movement during the late 1980s and early 1990s....
(also known as The JAMs), who take their name from the Wilson/Shea novel, use a sample of "Kick Out the Jams" in their songs "All You Need Is Love
All You Need Is Love (The JAMs song)
"All You Need Is Love" is a song by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, independently released as their debut single on 9 March 1987. A politically topical song concerning the UK media's AIDS furore, the track was initially given a 12" white label release because of its sampling of other records.The...
" and "What Time Is Love?
What Time Is Love?
"What Time Is Love?" is a song released, in different mixes, as a series of singles by the band The KLF. It featured prominently and repeatedly in their output from 1988 to 1992 and, under the moniker of 2K, in 1997...
". Emo
Emo
Emo is a style of rock music and its associated subcultureEmo may also refer to:- Businesses :* Emo , an Irish oil company and filling station chain* Emo Speedway, a racetrack in Emo, Ontario...
/pop punk
Pop punk
Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...
band My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance is an American alternative rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way and have a diverse sound incorporating elements of punk, emo, glam metal, and progressive rock...
incorporated the phrase into the song "Party Poison" off of their 2010 album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys
Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys
Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band My Chemical Romance. The album was produced by Rob Cavallo and was released by Warner Music and Reprise Records on 19 November 2010...
("Light up the stage and watch me kick out the jams").
Reception
Track listing
All tracks composed by MC5; except where indicated- "Ramblin' Rose" (Fred Burch, Marijohn WilkinMarijohn WilkinMarijohn Wilkin , née Melson, was an American songwriter, famous in the country music genre for writing a number of hits. Wilkin won numerous awards over the years and was referred to as "The Den Mother of Music Row," as chronicled in her 1978 biography from Word Books--Lord, Let Me Leave a Song...
) – 4:15 - "Kick Out the Jams" – 2:52
- "Come Together" – 4:29
- "Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)" – 5:41
- "Borderline" – 2:45
- "Motor City Is Burning" (Fred "Sonic" Smith credited with writing the song although it was written by Al Smith) – 6:04
- "I Want You Right Now" (Colin FrechterColin FrechterColin Frechter has a long tenure in the music business primarily as a musical director, arranger, keyboard player, and vocalist.Colin has worked with The Four Tops, The Bay City Rollers Colin Frechter has a long tenure in the music business primarily as a musical director, arranger, keyboard...
, Larry PageLarry Page (British singer and manager)Larry Page is an English former pop singer and record producer of the late 1950s and 1960s.-Biography:...
) – 5:31 - "Starship" (MC5, Sun RaSun RaSun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
) – 8:15
Personnel
- Rob Tyner - Lead vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
- Wayne KramerWayne Kramer (guitarist)Wayne Kramer is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and film and television scorer....
- Lead GuitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, Backing vocals, Lead vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
on Ramblin' Rose - Fred "Sonic" Smith - Rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, Lead GuitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, Backing Vocals - Michael DavisMichael Davis (bassist)Michael Davis is a bass guitarist, singer, songwriter and music producer.- MC5 :He replaced original MC5 bassist Pat Burrows when singer Rob Tyner and guitarist Wayne Kramer decided that they liked Davis' style and wanted him in the band.MC5 comprises:*Michael Davis, bass,*Wayne Kramer,...
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Dennis ThompsonDennis Thompson (drummer)Dennis Thompson is the drummer with the 1960s/1970s Detroit proto-punk/hard rock group MC5, which had a #82 US single with "Kick Out The Jams" and a #30 US album with the same name....
- drums - Brother J. C. Crawford - spiritual advisor