Last weekend we reported on the sad passing of Wayne Kramer, guitarist with legendary proto-punks the MC5.
He was highly revered in the industry as a key cog in one of the more influential bands to come out of the late 60s - and there were a few up there in Detroit alone! They mentored Iggy and the Stooges, and their distorted garage band mixed with experimental edges effectively paved the way for the anything goes punk era.
So who better to start an episode of Six Degrees of Kevin Shields, than Wayne Kramer.
Wayne Kramer was born in Detroit, and as alluded to above, was an integral part of the MC5 (Motor City), which he formed with Fred 'Sonic' Smith. Their run came to an end in December 1972, and Kramer would go on to have decidedly mixed fortunes.
He descended into petty criminality and was arrested for selling drugs to an undercover cop. While in a Kentucky prison, he would make music with fellow inmate Red Rodney, who played trumpet with Charlie Parker. On his release in the late 70s he joined Was (Not Was) and also briefly formed a band, Gang War, with New York Doll, Johnny Thunders.
MC5: Kick Out The Jams - here
(Audio only)
Much of the 1980s saw him mixing it up as a carpenter and musician. There were several brief reunions of the MC5, although Smith passed away in 1994. In 2018, to celebrate 50 years of seminal first album, Kick Out The Jams, Kramer formed MC50 and went out on tour. The line up included Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), Matt Cameron (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam), Don Was, Brendan Canty (Fugazi) and Billy Gould (Faith No More).
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Billy Gould had moved from Los Angeles to San Francisco in the early 1980s, eventually forming Faith No Man with Mike Burdin (drums), Mike Morris (guitar and vocals) and old high school buddy, Roddy Bottum (keyboards). When Morris left, they changed the name to Faith No More.
1983 debut Quiet In Heaven was followed by success with 1985s We Care A Lot, before Mike Patton entered the scene in 89 to replace Chucky Mosley on vocals. Faith No More plied an interesting blend of thrash, synth pop, funk, country and pretty much any other genre you care to mention. Krist Novoselic admitted that they were the band that "paved the way for Nirvana". 1990's The Real Thing spawned their biggest hit, Epic.
Faith No More: Epic - here
(Live at Rock In Rio, 1991)
Gould and his wife formed Koolarrow Records in 1999, providing a home for an eclectic mix of international and experimental artists, including the band Hog Molly (formed by Tad Doyle after Tad disbanded) and Alexander Hacke of German industrial pioneers, Einstürzende Neubauten.
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Alexander Hacke joined Einstürzende Neubauten in 1980, aged just 15, as a guitarist, but also did the sound for the band too. He would later switch to bass in the 1990s. Their heavy duty mix of punk and industrial noise was starting to mellow slightly by 1985s Halber Mensch, with shouted vocals being replaced by something with a little more melody.
Einstürzende Neubauten: Yü-Gung - here
(Live on Rockpalast, 1990 - not for the faint hearted)
The classic band line up consisted of Hacke, N.U. Unruh, F.M. Einhert, Mark Chung and frontman, Blixa Bargeld.
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As well as fronting Einstürzende Neubauten, Blixa Bargeld also joined Nick Cave and Rowland Howard in The Birthday Party in 1983, but when that adventure soon came to a close (Cave and Howard were going in different directions musically), Bargeld stuck around (and played in both bands until 2003). He and Cave were joined by Mick Harvey, Hugo Race and Barry Adamson (formerly of Magazine), initially to be Nick Cave and the Cavemen. That lasted six months, until fortunately, they changed their name - getting inspiration from the last Birthday Party EP, Mutiny / The Bad Seed.
In May 1984, they were in Trident Studios in London laying down their debut album, From Her To Eternity. The middle of the decade saw quite a few comings and goings, with Adamson leaving in 1986, Kid Congo Powers (ex Gun Club and The Cramps) joining in 1988, and Thomas Wylder joining in 1986, although he soon on hiatus following an arm injury.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: From Her To Eternity - here
(Live at Werchter Festival, 1989)
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds got a cameo in Wim Wenders well received 1987 film Wings Of Desire, about a host of immortal angels in Berlin. They were living in Berlin at the time, and Wenders said, "it was inconceivable for me to make a film in Berlin without showing one of his [Cave's] concerts." Two Bad Seeds tracks also appeared on the soundtrack - From Her To Eternity and The Carny.
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Also on that soundtrack was Angel Fragments by Laurie Anderson. Anderson, an avant-garde artist, musician and filmmaker had been born in Illinois, gone to college in California, before moving to New York City in 1966. Her first musical work was a symphony for car horns, which was performed in 1969.
She would spend much of the 1970s as an art instructor and illustrator of children's books, although she also made several recordings that either were never released or just released privately. Her single from those was the interesting sounding It's Not The Bullets That Kill You (It's The Hole), before she had a surprise hit in 1981 with O Superman, followed by her debut album Big Science.
Laurie Anderson: O Superman - here
(Official music video)
She met Lou Reed in 1992, and would eventually marry him in 2008, until his passing in 2013. In 2003, she became the first ever NASA artist in residence and then helped create the opening ceremony for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. A run of small, work in progress shows in NYC in 2007 ended with two nights at the Highline Ballroom, where the lighting and visuals were done by Willie Williams and Mark Coniglia.
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Willie Williams is an English show director, stage and lighting designer, as well as a video concert director. He has worked with the likes of David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, REM and Self Esteem, but is probably best known for his work with U2. He has designed every tour for them since 1983, including the infamous 1992-93 Zoo TV tour and their current Vegas spectacular, Achtung Baby: Live At Sphere.
U2: Even Better Than The Real Thing - here
(Live at The Sphere, January 2024)
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Bono, of U2, once said of the Hothouse Flowers, that they were "the best unsigned band on the planet". He'd seen them perform in Irish TV in 1986 and offered to help them out if he could. Their first single, Love Don't Work This Way was released on U2s Mother Records, which ultimately led to them signing with Polydor for their debut album, People, in 1988. Their big break came when Don't Go was played in the interval of the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest - pushing it up to number 11 on the UK chart.
Hothouse Flowers: Love Don't Work This Way - here
(Original video - a different version of the song appeared on the debut album)
Lead singer and songwriter with the Hothouse Flowers, Liam Ó Maonlaí, was in a band called The Complex, when he was younger - leaving in 1984 to form the aforementioned Flowers. The Complex included drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig, who would go on to be a founder of legendary shoegaze band, My Bloody Valentine. Also in the band was his childhood friend, and another MBV founder - KEVIN SHIELDS.
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