Panther, Panther Burning Bright

photo courtesy of Showtime Archives (Toronto)

Re-examining the cultural legacy of the MC5: Gun-toting revolutionaries say the darndest things

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More About

• Wayne Kramer
• MC J.C. Crawford
• Rob Tyner
• John Sinclair
• White Panther Party

"The wheels turn slow in the documentary-film business. Money's always a problem; well, lack of money is the problem. Money is the solution in this case," he says. Ironically Kramer's extensive search for actual MC5 footage ("Remember, the band existed in a time well before videotape, before minicams, before digital," he points out) was greatly assisted by the unlikeliest of sources: those same great skull-crackin' folks from the Chicago riots. "We got it through the Freedom of Information Act, and it'll be included in the documentary," Kramer says. "We had great United States Army Intelligence surveillance film."