By Monk
Wayne Kramer, guitarist and co-founder of MC5 – regarded, alongside fellow Detroit natives The Stooges, as the progenitors and godfathers of proto-punk – has died at the age of 75, after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Kramer founded MC5 with fellow guitarist Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith and vocalist Ray Tynan. The band released the live ‘Kick Out The Jams’ and two studio albums before disbanding in 1972. He went on to be a member of funk rockers Was (Not Was) before, following the deaths of Smith and Tynan, rekindling the MC5 brand with a revolving line-up of musicians, including Lemmy and The Cult’s Ian Astbury.
Kramer is understood to have recently finished recording of a third MC5 studio album, which was scheduled for release this coming Spring.