GANG WAR - Street Fighting

GANG WAR  Street Fighting  cd  1993

Ramblin' Rose / London Boys / These Boots Are Made For Walking / M.I.A. / The Harder They Come / Endless Party / I'd Much Rather Be With The Boys / I'll Go Crazy / Hey Thanks / The Courageous Cat / Just Because I'm White-Bright Lights Big City / Around & Around / The Harder They Come* / Ten Commandments Of Love* / Like A Rolling Stone* / Endless Party* / Do You Love Me*.
Recorded live in Monreal (Dec. 28, 1979) & Boston* (June 20, 1980).
Gang War: Johnny Thunders: guitar & vocals / Wayne Kramer: guitar & vocals / Bobby Thomas: bass / John Morgan: drums.

"In late 1979 former New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders teamed up with former MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer (right after Wayne was released from jail) in a band called Gang War. Other members included John Morgan, Ron Cooke and Philippe Marcade. They recorded several demos and performed live several times. Gang War disbanded before releasing any actual LP, but there are a few bootleg recordings of their studio demos and live performances circulating; One semi-official live/studio vinyl only LP was released on Zodiac Records, credited to Thunders and Kramer and titled Gang War, it is easily available from specialist retailers."

"Gang War came about shortly after Johnny Thunders released his 'So Alone' album, and Wayne Kramer was not long out of jail after serving two years of a sentence of four for a coke bust. Arriving in Detroit with the Heartbreakers, Johnny met his teenage idol Wayne who jammed with them at the gig. Johnny stayed on, moving his family to Michigan and pledging his future to Gang War. They toured regularly and recorded a couple of demos with a view to getting a deal, but they couldn't get record company interest and after eight or nine months they split. Although Gang War released no records and at the time they got little attention, in retrospect the collaboration is looked on as a 'rock fantasy' supergroup. These live recordings bear testimony to this unique partnership between two renowned rock guitar icons. On the recordings, both contribute lead vocals and guitars on Thunders and Dolls tracks, songs familiar from Kramer and MC5 and fascinating cover versions."

"This cd is a mix of two seperate Gang War shows, and on the first show the band is in pretty good form and the sound is pretty good. It really does sound like a cross between The Heartbreakers and the MC5. Johnny's guitar is there in all it's buzzsaw glory, and every once in a while Wayne lets some wild acid drenched lines fly, and their styles really complement each other pretty well. However, the second show that starts with 'The Harder They Come' (which is the same material as on 'Live at the Channel Club') has Thunders completely out of it. By this point Johnny's wife has just left him, and, true to form, he immedietly started self destructing. So he spends half of these last 5 tracks berating the audience between and during the songs."
Dedicated to Mr D. !
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