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To celebrate our 50th Anniversary, we asked 10 artists to record their version of a cult classic track which represents the spirit of the people who’ve worn DM’s over the past 50 years. We also asked 10 directors to make videos for each of the tracks. The latest release is MC5’s Michael Davis + D.O.A who are covering Cold War Kids’ Something Is Not Right With Me
About the Artist: MC5′s Michael Davis + D.O.A.
Bound together by an admiration for each other’s work, punk rock trailblazers Joey Keithley of D.O.A. and Michael Davis of MC5 have, over the past three decades, become the closest of comrades. And for the first time they’ve joined forces to celebrate Dr. Marten’s 50th Anniversary.
Michael Davis of MC5
Boasting the titles of singer, songwriter, guitarist, bassist and music producer, Detroit-born Michael Davis made his name with the seminal and incendiary proto-punk rock act, MC5. Pioneers of the hardcore music revolution of the late 1960s, MC5’s political ties and anti-establishment lyrics saw them firmly installed as innovators of punk and flag-bearers for an alternative generation. After just three albums, MC5 disbanded in the mid-1970s; shortly after, Davis found himself in Lexington Penitentiary – or ‘Narcotics Farm’ as it was commonly known as – chalking up time for his heroin addiction. On release, Davis immediately climbed back into the music arena with Ron Asheton, from the iconic band The Stooges, good friend and member of the punk band Destroy All Monsters. Davis amassed seven successful years with Destroy All Monsters before leaving to join forces with the rock act The Lords Of Altamont. Continuing his musical odyssey Davis then left to sign up for the MC5 spin-off, DKT.
In recent years, education has been a recurring theme in Davis’ life. In 2006 he set-up the non-profit organization, The Music Is Revolution Foundation, to support music education in public schools. Davis has also earmarked 2010 to finish the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree he dropped out from to join MC5.
D.O.A.
Cited as a major influence on the careers of global giants such as The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day and Offspring to name but a few, D.O.A burst onto the scene back in the late 1970s and almost immediately made the term ‘hardcore’ their own – a point underlined through the title of their second album, Hardcore ’81. Building their career on an uncompromising anarchist political stance, their slogan, “TALK – ACTION = 0”, was a way of life and not just a catchy motto. Through the years they’ve stood by those very words, playing benefits for causes like anti-racism, anti-globalization and OXFAM. Founding member Joey ‘Shithead’ Keithley seems reluctant to categorise their sound – and understandably, given that the Canadian born ‘Godfather of Punk’ and only ever-present member of D.O.A. has incorporated genres such as punk, rock, reggae and ska into his musical philosophy.
In the late 1990s, Keithley resurrected Sudden Death Records, the label from which D.O.A. originally released their first 7”. As well as D.O.A. records, the label has also released tracks from all areas of the music spectrum.