December 1968. The MC5 are treating the Fillmore East to a set of the incendiary, agit-prop rock ’n’ roll that has taken them from music-scene bottom-feeders in their native Detroit to an imminent cover feature in Rolling Stone.
Coming out of the venue after the concert, however, they’re met with a sight that is a stark contrast to the wild enthusiasm they usually engender. Local activist group the East Village Motherfuckers have gathered together some giveaway copies of forthcoming single Kick Out The Jams and are symbolically smashing them against the fins of the Cadillac sent by the record company to pick the band up. It’s a sight that brings home to MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer the inescapable dichotomy of an ensemble that tapped into the left ist zeitgeist, while at the same time aimed to be wealthy and famous recording artists.