“The center never holds,” says MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer in a scene from MC5: A True Testimonial, the much-anticipated documentary about the legendary Detroit band. “And that moment where everything was totally together is only for a minute. The one thing you can count on is everything is gonna change.”
The effectiveness of this maneuver won’t be clear for months, but in the meantime it’s really pissed Kramer off. At the beginning of March, he demanded that Future/Now stop using his image and pay him any revenue they’ve generated with it so far. In July he’ll release an MC5 DVD of his own, Sonic Revolution, and he’s getting ready to launch a supporting tour with the band’s old rhythm section and various guest singers and guitarists. (MC5 singer Rob Tyner and guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith both died in the early 90s.)
Yet it seemed like MC5: A True Testimonial might allow for some healing. Kramer, Davis, Thompson, and relatives of Tyner and Smith (with the notable exception of the guitarist’s widow, punk icon Patti Smith) were active participants in the documentary, giving interviews, providing contacts, and digging up band artifacts. Future/Now uncovered unseen performance footage and talked to just about everyone ever associated with the band. Thomas (who, in the interest of disclosure, delivers papers for the Reader) edited for maximum impact, meticulously matching studio recordings to silent performance footage in a way that brings extra spark and power to both. The movie makes a persuasive argument that the MC5 were the most exciting live band in rock history.
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Early last month, Big Hassle, a New York publicity company, sent out about 300 advance copies of the DVD to the media–which no doubt means bootlegs will start circulating even if the DVD does end up DOA–but they were almost immediately followed by an e-mail saying the release was delayed. Then on March 31, Susan Whitall of the Detroit News reported that Warner/Chappell had blocked the release and a string of screenings.
Kramer and Future/Now also butted heads over his publicity release–a standard document that grants a filmmaker the right to use a subject’s likeness. Thomas says he’s been trying to get Kramer to sign one since ’96. “When it got close to the time that we would be releasing the film, we became a little more insistent about getting it because it would affect the cost of our errors and omissions insurance,” he says. (Errors and omissions insurance covers potential litigation due to oversight.)
In his open letter Kramer writes, “Dave told us that they would not be meeting with us to discuss our outstanding business. We considered withdrawing our endorsement. We discussed it with Dennis Thompson and Michael Davis. We called the investors. We reached out to Dave and Laurel and their attorneys–personally and through our attorneys–by telephone, fax, email and by letter and they ignored our attempts to resolve matters.”
