Who are more cool?

Who would win in a fight?

No , Alice was born in Detroit , but, he moved back and forth from Phoenix , L.A. , and , eventually , Detroit , again. When the band started making money , they relocated to Connecticuit , where Alice was neighbors with Helen Hayes (Whom he starred opposite on "The Snoop Sisters" TV show.) But, now , I'M off -topic , sorry.... I forget how old he was when his family relocated to Phoenix , but , he did live in Detroit , or the Detroit area , first.

Er, slightly off-topic, but isn't Alice from Arizona? Did you mean Deniz Tek?

I don't think so , either. The Five got The Stooges signed to Elektra , of course , as part of a package deal . The Stooges may have resented , somewhat , that The MC5 seemed poised for much bigger things. They had the old school stage show , and their album and single were both racing up the charts , but , it was a three - way shot in the foot - Sinclair's original F-Bomb - soaked liner notes , the "Motherfucker" intro ( Kramer told me they recorded the "Brothers and Sisters" intro for the single  , "Because we were'nt stupid.". But , Tyner told me he was asked to record the new intro for radio ads. Their stories did'nt always match , but , Kramer told me he'd just read an interview with Fred "Sonic" Smith ca. 1970 , where he spoke of a riot that broke out at one of their gigs. He said he remembered the riot , but , not the way Fred described it , and , I said , well , sometimes we just tell things the way we remember them , it does'nt mean we're lying. ) , sorry , got distracted , and , tehn , there was the "Fuck Hudson's " campaign , using Elektra's logo without permission to protest the  Hudson's Department store chain for refusing to carry "Kick Out The Jams".

The Stooges could not be the band to steal the brass ring that was almost The Five's. They did'nt agree on all the "Issues", but , it seems to me they remained friendly when both bands slowly trod down the disintegration trail.....

Axel , Thanks for the thanks. I was lucky enough to have met some of these people (Michael Davis , too. He was a great guy.). I never heard any of them say anything bad about The Stooges (Of course , I never met Dennis Thompson.) . IN REALITY , A RETURNING RESIDENT FROM DETROIT STUDIED BOTH BANDS CAREFULLY , AND FOUND A WAY TO COMBINE THEIR INFLUENCE WITH HIS OWN BUILT - IN WEIRDNESS. HE SPEAKS HIGHLY OF BOTH BANDS , TO THIS DAY , WHILE HE STILL CARRIES THAT BRASS RING IN HIS POCKET.   ALICE COOPER.

My 2 cents: The Stooges mopped-up the floor with the MC5 (whom I like, but come on...). The Stooges were the more experimental group, and they didn't need any cheesy 'Revolutionary' lyrics to hide behind (Not to mention those hippies clothes, ack).

Best songwriting, too. I still listen to all of their stuff today, but the MC5 less so. High Time is prolly their best LP, but all of the Stooges stuff is classic and still kicks ass.

No, I don't think so. At the time, MC5 were the heavies, The Stooges were up-and-maybe-coming. MC5 used to call The Stooges their "little brother band," and get them gigs and make connections for them. As far as I know, there was no "beef" or animosity. 

Axel Björnsson said:

... I guessed there had to be some beef between this groups back in the day in Detroit. 

John Battles said:

 

Thanks for this awesome facts. The idea of this thread comes from a conversation my friend had with Anton Newcombe in Berlin. He was dissing MC5 and hailing The Stooges. So I guessed there had to be some beef between this groups back in the day in Detroit. 

John Battles said:

 

would either of'em remember to turn up? If beiber and Timberlake had a scrap, i'd pay top dollar for that. Wouldn't give a fuck who won, just as long as I saw the two of'em kick the shit outta each other.... We all win, Yay! Go Us!

Yeah, Stooges.

"Their politics were more Oaxacan" , that's pretty funny. I wonder if some people took that to mean "Wow, these guys have studied the Indigenous peoples of Mexico " , or.....

" PFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTT......HEUUHHH ! KOFF ! KOFF ! Up in smoke , that's where my money goes.....in my lungs , and , sometimes up my nose....HEUUGHHH !!!"
 
G. Wood said:

They didn't have any guns or bombs, and as the big Rolling Stone article said back then, their politics were more Oaxacan than...er revolution? Whatever, I don't remember, exactly. 

The Stooges and The MC5 each had three great (Official) albums , but , for very different reasons. Both bands were influenced by Avant Jazz and , probably , the likes of John Cage and Stockhausen , early on , but , it seems like The Stooges kept bending and shaping it into different patterns , but , still in a Rock context. Most of the time. Would you call "L.A. Blues" Rock'n'Roll ? Does it matter ? The Five began to drift from the Free Jazz influence (At least , the blatant influence.) around the time John Sinclair went to jail. It's too easy for people to say "Oh , "Back In The USA" was so overproduced" , which is ironic , as Jon Landau had never produced an album prior to that. But  , I felt the same way , the first time I heard it , but , of course , I realize , and have for 25 + years , that it contains some of their finest original songs , and that it helped pave the way for Pub Rock and Power Pop. "High Time" had it all , great songs , and a much harder  sound , not to mention a smattering of horns that WORKS , and some amphetamized tempos that definitely foresaw Punk ("Gotta Keep Movin'", "Skunk (Sonically Speaking)" , e.g.).....

It's funny , I saw an early review of "Raw Power" that compared James Williamson's guitar work to that of "The old MC5 records" (Of course, the Five had just split up , recently , but , music was moving faster than it is , now.). Both bands went through a lot of changes , musically and personally , in a very short time.

I don't like to think of them in a fight , I like to think of them fighting , together. There were too many common enemies at the time. Rob Tyner , by then , a family man , stated that John Sinclair's revolutionary rhetoric was detrimental to the band doing what they did to just make a living. They were being put in the position of feeding all these hangers - on , before they could feed themselves . Now , I've met John Sinclair , and he was a nice man , and , very consequential in the development of Detroit Rock'n'Roll. I was also fortunate enough to have spoken at length with Tyner , and , while he may have renounced Sinclair's politics  , he was always one for giving his peers their due , whether it was The Rationals , The SRC ("They were like us , but , they had class.".) , or The Stooges. Met with an audience that either thought The 60's was the age of peace and love , or thought newer bands like Guns 'n' Roses were keeping The MC5's flame burning , Rob emphatically cried , "NO !!!!" , and told the young'uns they needed to hear "Raw Power" as much as they did "Kick Out The Jams".....Of course , the two bands morphed into groups like The New Order , Destroy All Monsters , and Sonics Rendezvous Band , all of which shared members......even though they did'nt always agree.

"Iggy Pop's a little faggot . WE were the world's forgotton boys!" Dennis Thompson.

Well , who'd win in a fight , based on the info we have , here? There were only Four Stooges , unless you want to count Steven McCay. But , Scott Asheton was known for being the baddest motherfucker on the scene. THAT STORY IN "PLEASE KILL ME" , where he mopped up the floor with some jockboys who were fucking with Wayne Kramer and Fred Smith for looking cool , and this was before he even knew those guys  , beyond the fact that his Sister was dating Smith .

As far as junk was concerned , both bands only had one member , each , at one point , who refused to bow to King Heroin , Ron Asheton and Rob Tyner , respectively.

Both bands are so different in many ways , yet , alike in other ways.

You don't have to like one to like the other , but , the two have always gone hand in hand.

 

They didn't have any guns or bombs, and as the big Rolling Stone article said back then, their politics were more Oaxacan than...er revolution? Whatever, I don't remember, exactly. 

Yeah Stooges where a more important/influencial band musically, and have more musical depth, and more "roll" to their rock,  but MC5 had guns and bombs and were activists.  

That being said Iggy Pop would be able to survive anything, so he might be last one standing! ; )

Ryan Hatt said:

That one goes to the MC5 - there's more of them, they're beefier, and The Stooges were constantly fucked up on heroin.

haha true

Stooges have better studio albums but MC5's Black to Comm kicks it in my opinion ( I need too check out Stooges bonus stuff)

Mc5 would kick Stooges ass even if they were fewer. 

But Stooges are maybe more cool guys and MC5 tough guys...

Honestly? I'm not sure there's a contest here if we're basing the reward off of musical offerings. The Stooges win hands down. The Mc5 have a couple of great songs but the majority of tracks from their first two albums remind me of Van Morrison's later years. They just don't hold up to the ferocity of Kick Out the Jams or Teenage Lust. The Stooges on the other hand have three magical albums and a crazy ammount of amazing bonus tracks floating around in comps and, at least in my encounters, have inspired a great deal more musicians. Fun House as a whole is one of my favorite albums ever and spans a little-traversed gap between hallucinatory dreamscapes and fucking crazed sonic attack. Cool factor? While releasing one of the first popularish rock albums to contain the word Motherfucker is certainly cool, it doesn't beat lacerating yourself with a broken bottle on stage or smearing yourself with peanut butter an audience member happens to give you after you've jumped offstage and fought through bouncers. While I certainly enjoy the MC5 and I have nothing against those who might believe strongly in the opposite side of this argument, in my world there is no contest that the Stooges come out on top. To quote Ty Segall, "The Stooges are fucking mysterious!" As far as a fight goes though? That one goes to the MC5 - there's more of them, they're beefier, and The Stooges were constantly fucked up on heroin.

Stooges are cooler, but in a rumble I'd want MC5 to have my back.

Just sayin'.

-A

THEE DIRTYBEATS 100% maximum vintage garage
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MC5 for me. Much cooler in my book.

MC5's "Kick Out the Jams" is one of my favorite songs ever, and it's infinitely more playable than any one individual The Stooges song.  However, I think The Stooges are a better band, and I'd listen to a whole The Stooges album any day over a whole MC5 album.  Any of the original three The Stooges records are just absolute monsters.  Don't know if I could pick a favorite.

Mc5-Back in the USA is one of my favourite albums of all time.

So for one singular album, I choose Mc5.

 

But if i were to make a best of mix, I think the Stooges have better material spread overall.  "I got a right", "gimmi some skin", "raw power", "You're pretty face is..", "Search and destroy", "Shake appeal", "Loose", "Tv Eye", "No Fun", "1969", "1970"...phew! The list goes on.

 

 

The MC5 are cool, the Stooges are cooler. Who'd win a fight? The Stooges but only cos Scott Asheton would take them all on single handed. Iggy would have beat himself up, Ron Asheton would have hid and Dave Alexander would have been drunk and sniggered in a snide kind of way!