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| "Kick Out the Jams" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:MC5_-_Kick_Out_the_Jams_(song).jpg) Side A of the original single | ||||
| Single by MC5 | ||||
| from the album Kick Out the Jams | ||||
| B-side | "Motor City Is Burning" | |||
| Released | March 1969 | |||
| Recorded |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:37 | |||
| Label | Elektra | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | ||||
| MC5 singles chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:MC5_-_Kick_Out_the_Jams_1969_single.jpg) 2009 re-issue cover | ||||
"Kick Out the Jams" is a song by MC5, released as a single in March 1969 by Elektra Records. The album of the same name caused some controversy due to inflammatory liner notes by the band's manager, John Sinclair, and the track's rallying cry of "Kick out the jams, motherfuckers!". According to guitarist Wayne Kramer, the band recorded this as "Kick out the jams, brothers and sisters!" for the single released for radio play; lead vocalist Rob Tyner claimed this was done without group consensus.[3] The edited version also appeared in some LP copies, which also withdrew Sinclair's excitable comments. The album was released in January 1969; reviews were mixed, but the album was relatively successful, quickly selling over 100,000 copies and peaking at #30 on the Billboard album chart in May 1969 during a 23-week stay.
When Hudson's, a Detroit-based department store chain, refused to stock the Kick Out the Jams album due to the obscenity, MC5 responded with a full-page advertisement in the local underground magazine Fifth Estate saying "Stick Alive with the MC5, and Fuck Hudson's!", prominently including the logo of MC5's label, Elektra Records, in the ad. Hudson's pulled all Elektra records from their stores, and in the ensuing controversy, Jac Holzman, the head of Elektra, dropped the band from their contract. MC5 then signed with Atlantic Records.[4]
- ^ Stiernberg, Bonnie. "The 50 Best Garage Rock Songs of All Time". Paste. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ SPIN Media LLC (October 2002). SPIN. SPIN Media LLC. p. 70. ISSN 0886-3032.
- ^ Thompson, James H. (March 10, 2000). "MC5: Kickin' Out The Jams". Goldmine. No. 512. Krause Publications.
- ^ Chris Smith (2009). 101 Albums that Changed Popular Music. Oxford University Press. p. 67. ISBN 9780195373714.