Cuppy's Music Curios S2 E4: R.I.P. Wayne Kramer

On February 4, 2024 A.D. founding member of the rock n' roll band The MC5 Wayne Kramer died at the age of 75. Kramer was an influential guitarist and was considered one of the first proto-punk axe men of the sixties. He and his band mates record three studio albums before imploding from heavy drug use and the financial support of a record label. A few years after the MC5 collapsed, Kramer would spend for years in prison after being convicted of selling drugs to an undercover federal agent.

After his release from prison, Wayne Kramer would become a studio musician, a carpenter and briefly form a band with former New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders called "Gang War." During the 90's he would become a solo artist and release several records before reforming the MC5 with former members drummer Dennis Thompson and bassist Michael Davis. This new version of the band would tour off and on over the next twenty years with a cavalcade a members. Before Kramer's death, he talked about the MC5 now known as the MC50 releasing a fourth studio album that was produced by Bob Ezrin called "Heavy Lifting" sometime in the spring of 2024.