“We thought political was what you did…”

John sinclair on the battle for positive change

John sinclair was embedded in the history of anti-establishment music, from his days as a folk-digging student to his love of avant-garde jazz. as manager of the mC5, he attempted to channel some of this into a rock’n’ roll band, the fruits of which could be heard, in glimpses, on 1969’s Kick

Out The Jams. “They were serious, but if you listen to their songs, they didn’t talk about overthrowing the government,” says sinclair today. “But we thought political was what you did. It was like spirituality, it was how you lived, not what you talked about.”

It was the avant-garde jazz world that sinclair felt more accurately expressed the sentiments of the ‘68 generation. “It was a movement that reflected what was happening socially and supported those movements for change,” he says. “Titles like ‘Freedom Now’ by max Roach, or ‘Banging On The white house Door’ by the New york art Quartet mentally projected an idea into your head then drove it home with the power of music.” after sinclair was imprisoned for drug offences, he became the subject of a protest song himself. “John lennon wanted to do something,” says sinclair. “he wrote the song, played a rally and a few days later I was free. The song was released several months later on his lp but by then I was rehabilitated into society. But it wasn’t all chaos and violence. we were trying to make a positive change, stop the war and end racism.”