Biography of Wayne Kramer

A member of the legendary MC5, guitarist and proto-punk icon Wayne Kramer returned to prominence during the 1990s as a solo performer. Born April 30, 1948 in Detroit, he co-founded the MC5 in 1965, teaming with the great Fred "Sonic" Smith to create the band's incendiary twin-guitar attack; their first album, 1969's Kick Out the Jams, remains one of the most influential records of the era, its raw, visceral sound laying the groundwork for the rise of punk a decade later. However, after just two more LPs -- the 1970 masterpiece Back in the U.S.A. and the next year's High Time -- the group dissolved; Kramer spent the better part of the years that immediately followed battling a drug problem, even spending two years in prison for dealing cocaine. Upon his release he teamed with Johnny Thunders in the group Gang War, followed by a stint with Was (Not Was); he also spent a good deal of the 1980s living in relative anonymity in Key West, Florida. Kramer resurfaced in 1995 with his solo debut The Hard Stuff, issued on the noted post-punk label Epitaph; in addition to two subsequent efforts, 1996's Dangerous Madness and 1997's Citizen Wayne, he also concurrently teamed with fellow Motor City legends Scott Morgan and Deniz Tek in the band Dodge Main. Several live albums and collections closed the decade out. A various-artists effort presented by Kramer, Beyond Cyberpunk, was issued in early 2001, followed in 2002 by his first solo studio album in years, Adult Life. ~ Jason Ankeny

Biography of Mickey Avalon

With a childhood rough enough to guarantee him rock star success, by the time he was out of his teenage years -- at least according to the few details he's given -- Mickey Avalon had sold pot (with his mother), been addicted to heroin and dope, worked as a graffiti artist in L.A., converted to Orthodox Judaism (his parents were both non-practicing Jews, and his paternal grandparents were survivors of Auschwitz), got married and had a daughter, prostituted himself for drug money, watched his father die, and found his sister's dead body. All of this gave ample material for his rhymes, which he started writing after his pal, the former MTV VJ Simon Rex, encouraged him to compose his own songs. Avalon, Rex (who rapped under the name Dirt Nasty), and Armen Melik (aka Andre Legacy) began recording and releasing their own material as the Dyslexic Speedreaders, an irreverent group that gave a satirical and often lascivious look into the L.A. club and drug culture. Avalon's stage presence, which mixed a kind of hyper- and often ambiguous sexuality akin to the trashy glam rockers of the '70s, gained the attention of DJ and aspiring manager Kev-E-Kev, who was soon helping Avalon hawk his self-titled CD -- wrapped in a newspaper advertising adult services -- on the streets. His music, in particular the song "Jane Fonda," thanks to its appearance in the HBO series Entourage as well its availability on his MySpace site, started gaining an audience, and in 2006 his album was reissued as the first release from MySpace Records in joint collaboration with Interscope. ~ Marisa Brown