- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- Babes in Arms basically serves as a “Best Of” album for MC5 and is somewhat analogous to Living in the Past by Jethro Tull.
MC5 – Babes in Arms (1983): MC5 (“Motor City 5”), one of the most important of the proto–punk-rock bands, was formed in 1964 in Detroit by several high school friends, Rob Tyner (vocalist), Fred “Sonic” Smith (guitar – the future husband of Patti Smith), Wayne Kramer (guitar), Pat Burrows (bass), and Bob Gaspar (drums). The two guitarists began experimenting with feedback and distortion in their concerts in 1965, and a new rhythm section joined in 1966, Michael Davis (bass) and Dennis Thompson (drums). MC5 got a regular gig at the Grande Ballroom, where their debut album Kick out the Jams was recorded live in October 1968. Besides having a thunderous and aggressive sound, MC5 was also one of the few political hard rock bands of that time period; since early on, they were under the spell of their Svengali manager John Sinclair, the radical founder of the White Panther Party.
Two more albums followed, Back in the U.S.A. (1970) and High Time (1971), with a more stripped down sound but no politics. MC5 broke up in 1972 but has only grown in influence over the years. Babes in Arms was carefully assembled by Wayne Kramer and mostly features alternate versions of songs from their three albums, plus several of their early singles and one previously unreleased song. Babes in Arms basically serves as a “Best Of” album for MC5 and is somewhat analogous to Living in the Past by Jethro Tull.