446 - MC5 - Back in the USA - Adam Ray
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EPISODE SUMMARY:
Some bands write songs that make you want to cry into your beer. Others write songs that make you want to punch a hole in the wall. Detroit garage rockers MC5 made the kind of music you want to hear while you're high on acid and fucking in the streets as society collapses. Known for leftist politics and wild live performances, the group released its first studio album in 1970. Some of their early fans saw their move to produce a traditional record with a major label as selling out. But Back in the USA is so chock full of youthful exuberance, socially aware lyrics, and lust for life that it's hard to not view this as a major watershed leading to the subversive wave of punk artists that would follow in their wake. The record's indefatigable enthusiasm is what drew comedian Adam Ray as young man navigating the awkwardness of adolescence and again as he has had needed something to guide him through some recent personal darkness. Adam's own playful zeal and boundless creativity have had their own impact too, leading him to appear in the film The Heat, perform on MadTV, produce his own podcast About Last Night, and release an album of comedy music, Songs for the People.
SHOW NOTES:
00:30 – Intro
09:15 – Divorce comedy
11:30 – How to motivate a husky young athlete
14:45 – The people who make comedians laugh
20:45 – Stand-up lessons from Fozzie Bear
27:00 – The fears that never go away
30:30 – The driest of humping
36:30 – Drinking bull piss to win a t-shirt
38:45 – The power to catch a wine glass, midair
46:00 – Partying with Chester Cheeto
50:15 – Austrian stree brawl
55:30 – Facts!
1:02:45 – Your mom’s vagina monologues
1:06:00 – Outro