John Sinclair/MC5/Ann Arbor

A couple weeks ago I stumbled upon a treasure trove-like exhibit being held at the downtown Ann Arbor Public Library, commemorating 40 years since the "Free John Now" rallies, the rallies that helped get that big ape John Sinclair out of prison.

The exhibit included the rarest of the rare involving not just Sinclair and his rather laughable White Panther Party, but the MC5, the beginnings of the Ann Arbor Food Co-Op, lots and lots of photos and posters featuring places that no longer exist; Ann Arbor history, Michigan history, Ann Arbor and Michigan music history, and the history of rock and roll in general.

Here are some highlights:

I'd never even seen a copy of this before. The only reason I'd even heard it was because of the Up Anthology put out 15 or so years ago.

That's the Up in the basement of 1520 Hill Street. I once took a few English literature classes with the vocalist Frank Bach (Diedenbach) at Wayne State University. This was in 2001 or 2002, not 1968, and Frank was wearing a Mackinac Island emboidered sweatshirt with, I think, a collared shirt underneath. He is a very nice, calm man.

There's also a photo of Frank holding his baby next to a tall pot plant. And there are a lot of interesting newspaper articles, notes, even a strange telegram stating: Dear John, Congratulations to you, Bob Tyner and the MC5 for making time. The rest of the country deserves the opportunity to dig the MC5-Zenta-Experience. If in any way I can help you, please count me in. Stand firm of the three pillars. Jerry Campbell

Somewhere I read that Frank is a master chef, the house chef of 1520 Hill Street (post-MC5), a master of microbiotics.

Another rare 45.

From early 1966 posters for some long-gone Ann Arbor club...


...to 1971 Hill Auditorium line-up featuring Pink Floyd, Parliament Funkadelic.

Then there's Leni Sinclair's photo of the Grateful Dead playing in the West Park bandshell, August 13 1967.

I left the library thinking of all the energy it took it create all that stuff, all the funny ideas, the in-your-face ness of it, no matter what it really amounted to. The action, that's what impresses me most.

MC5 Adventure in Ann Arbor!

Ever since I moved to Ann Arbor in November I've been meaning to visit some sites of historical importance/relevance regarding the great MC5. Today I got off my lazy ass and did just that.

I visited West Park, a nice little park where the MC5 (as well as the Rationals, SRC, the Up, etc.) played free Sunday concerts in 1968, before their heads exploded and they decided they were too big for that sort of thing.

This is the band shell. Those splotches are from paintballs, I think--and judging by the stuff growing in front of it, a big paintball target is probably it's only function these days. The stage looks out onto a fat ugly apartment building sitting up on the ridge running along one side of the park.

I can imagine the music reverberating off the apartment building, out of the park, and drenching the surrounding neighborhood with swathes of throbbing sonic nightmare. No wonder the MC5 and other groups were forced to move their Sunday freakouts to Gallup Park, a much less populated area, by August 1968.

Hands numbed by the cold, I made my way out of West Park and back to my car--and along the way I found a little iPod on the sidewalk! After getting home and charging it up, I found it works and is filled with lots and lots of horrible music!

But my adventure wasn't over with this fortuitous iPod discovery. I still had another place to visit. 1510 Hill Street, the MC5 house.

This old place is located right on frat row, next to a dental fraternity. And it's now a co-op. I bet you could find some pretty cool stuff hidden in there somewhere. I mean, John Sinclair ran his commune Trans-Love Energies and his underground rag The Sun from down the basement for christsakes!

On the other side (not the dental frat side) is 1520 Hill, where the Stooges lived. This place is also a co-op owned by the same company that owns 1510 Hill, and they are painted exactly the same. Here's a pic:

I'm thinking of going on another MC5 adventure in Ann Arbor in the upcoming days, maybe when and if it warms up a little. I want to find where the band played in Gallup Park. I've looked before and have come up with nothing (no band shell, though there should be one). Also, I'm interested in finding out if the psychedelic ballroom "The Fifth Dimension" is still erect. Posters I've seen online list its location as 216 W. Huron. Wait, maybe the Bob Seger System and Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes are playing tonight! I mean, it is Friday and I am in Ann Arbor.