Occupation Drummer for the MC5. Name Dennis Thompson | Role Drummer | |
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Born September 7, 1948 (age 75) ( 1948-09-07 ) Music groups MC5 (Since 1965), New Race Albums Black To Comm, Kick Out the Jams, High Time, Back in the USA, The Big Bang!: Best of the MC5 Similar People Michael Davis, Rob Tyner, Fred "Sonic" Smith, Wayne Kramer, Deniz Tek | ||
Dennis thompson inside grande ballroom
Dennis Thompson (born September 7, 1948) is the drummer with the 1960s/1970s Detroit proto-punk/hard rock group MC5, which had a #82 US single with "Kick Out the Jams" and a #30 US album with the same name.
Thompson was given the nickname "Machine Gun" because of his "assault" style of fast, hard-hitting drumming that sonically resembles the sound of a Thompson machine gun (commonly referred to as a "Tommy Gun"). His drumming pre-figured and influenced punk, metal, and hardcore punk drumming styles.
After MC5 broke up, Thompson was a member of the 1975–1976 Los Angeles based super-group The New Order, the 1981 Australia based super-group New Race, The Motor City Bad Boys, and The Secrets. In 2001, he guested for Asmodeus X on the song, The Tiger (St. Thomas Records).
Thompson is currently in the band DKT/MC5 with the surviving members of MC5. The Dictators singer, Handsome Dick Manitoba, currently fills in for original singer Rob Tyner.