the MC5

the MC5, American rock group that was one of the most controversial and ultimately influential bands of the late 1960s, paving the way for such genres as punk and grunge. Formed in suburban Detroit in 1965 as a bar band that played mostly cover versions of other performers’ songs, the MC5 (for Motor City Five) developed a chaotic, heavy, explosive sound that borrowed from avant-garde jazz, rock, and rhythm and blues. The band’s members included...