© 2024 KSUT Public Radio
NPR News and Music Discovery for the Four Corners
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Wayne Kramer On World Cafe

Wayne Kramer.
Courtesy of the artist
Wayne Kramer.

This segment, from Oct. 22, is part of our Best Of 2013 series, in which we revisit some of our most memorable interviews and performances of the year.

For the whys and whos of Detroit's Sense of Place in rock history, World Cafe host David Dye talks with Motor City music icon Wayne Kramer. In the 1960s, Kramer co-founded the MC5, the loud, passionate, radical rock band that served as the foundation of much of the Detroit rock that came later.

In this session, Kramer provides insight into how the economic woes of the city — and the consequent rise in crime — affected the music scene. He also describes the scene at the Grande Ballroom when shouts of "Kick out the jams!" led to the MC5's best-known song.

The rock veteran also takes time to discuss his charity Jail Guitar Doors USA, which he founded with musician Billy Bragg to provide instruments for incarcerated musicians.

Copyright 2013 XPN