Dennis Thompson, the drummer whose booming, hard-hitting fashion drove the proto-punk sound of the loud, outspoken and extremely influential Detroit rock band MC5, died Thursday in Taylor, Michigan.
He died in a rehabilitation facility whereas recovering from a latest coronary heart assault, stated his son, Chris McNulty.
Thompson was the final surviving member of MC5, a band that was politically outspoken and aligned with the countercultural left, supporting the anti-Vietnam Battle motion and anti-racism protests. The band might be launched in Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in October.
Musically, MC5 was generally known as one of many forefathers of punk rock, starting with the 1969 dwell album “Kick Out the Jams.” The group’s tune of the identical identify was the very best recognized, lined by Henry Rollins and bad brains, The presidents of the United States of America It’s Anger against the machine.
When Thompson joined the MC5, brief for Motor Metropolis 5, in 1966 at age 17, his intense fashion of taking part in earned him the nickname “Machine Gun” from his bandmates for the ferocity with which he performed the drums. He performed this manner as a result of the group could not afford to attach a microphone to his drum package within the early days.
“The amps have been maxed out at 10, so he mainly simply needed to play the drums as arduous as he may to be heard,” McNulty stated.
Born Dennis Tomich in Detroit on September 7, 1948, Mr. Thompson grew up in a musical household. His dad and mom, John Tomich and Leona Hicov, have been musicians, as was his older brother, who sang and performed guitar, McNulty stated. He started taking part in drums at age 4, becoming a member of his brother’s band and performing in native bars as a teen.
When he joined the MC5, Thompson changed the unique drummer for the band, which had been fashioned in 1965 in Lincoln Park, a suburb of Detroit. He graduated from Lincoln Park Excessive College in 1966 and started attending Wayne State College to review mechanical engineering, however by no means accomplished the diploma, McNulty stated.
Though he loved engineering, which he thought of secure, he cherished music, regardless that it was “dangerous,” Thompson stated in an announcement. Interview 2020. “I selected enjoyable.”
“I cherished the band, I cherished the music,” he stated. “I didn’t do math once I was 4, proper? I used to be taking part in the drums.”
McNulty with Kathleen Casey, to whom he was married for about 5 years.
He joined the band together with two guitarists, Wayne Kramer and Fred (Sonic) Smiththe singer Rob Tyner and bassist Michael Davis. John Sinclairan activist who based a company allied with the Black Panthers known as the White Panther Social gathering managed the band.
The band started taking part in VFW halls, sock hops and commencement events, then signed with Elektra Information in 1968. After “Kick Out the Jams,” recorded dwell at Detroit’s Grande Ballroom in 1968, MC5 launched two subsequent albums : “Again within the USA” and “Excessive Time.”
Using profanity in MC5’s lyrics brought on issues all through their tenure. The band’s battle with a serious division retailer that refused to inventory their first album led to Elektra abandoning the group in 1969.
As Thompson went by the lifetime of the MC5, he grew uneasy concerning the incendiary picture the band took on, he advised the Detroit Free Press in 2003.
“I see it was useful due to the notoriety. It was a strong factor, and the media notoriety helped make us a family phrase,” he stated. “However on the similar time it was ending our profession. It was killing us.”
Though not a serious business success earlier than disbanding in 1972, the group left a legacy that grew over time and was revered by later bands. Dave Grohl, Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters vocalist, as soon as joined Pearl Jam on stage just to play the tambourine to “Kick out the Jams.”
“Dennis would say they’re not essentially the most commercially profitable band, however they’re one of the crucial influential bands,” McNulty stated. “All of them, particularly Dennis, have been very happy with it.”
Thompson performed with short-lived bands like The New Order and Motor Metropolis Dangerous Boys within the Nineteen Seventies earlier than leaving the music trade to work as a device and die maker till his retirement, McNulty stated. However he returned to the surviving MC5 members for reunion excursions and performances within the 2000s below the identify DKT/MC5.
His dying adopted that of the guitarist Wayne Kramer, in February. Thompson was recovering from a coronary heart assault in April when plans for the band’s Corridor of Fame induction have been introduced. McNulty stated getting his father nicely sufficient after his coronary heart assault to attend his induction was his final aim.
In his later years, Thompson fashioned an surprising father-son relationship with McNulty, 55, who stated he used ancestral analysis to hint his organic dad and mom after being adopted at start. McNulty met Thompson, her organic father, in late 2022.
Along with his son, Thompson is survived by his sister, Donna, McNulty stated.
