Ted Nugent Wanted to Induct the MC5 Into the Rock Hall

Ted Nugent has long been aware that it will probably be a cold day in Hell before he’s inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. But he wishes that he’d gotten the call to give the speech for the MC5’s 2024 induction.

The Detroit band had been nominated for the Rock Hall six times before they were finally honored with the Musical Excellence award, sadly after all of the members of the group had passed away. “Tom Morello [gave the speech] and that’s so unfortunate, because he never saw them,” Nugent tells UCR. “I was the only clean and sober guy there to truly grasp the fire and the dynamic musical authority of the MC5. They set a bar for tightness — and their musical dynamic, when they played ‘It’s a Man’s World’ by James Brown and Rob Tyner slammed to his knees as Fred [“Sonic” Smith] and Wayne [Kramer] played the violin parts. I’m sorry, I love Tom Morello, but he has no idea. He has no f–kin’ idea! I guess he’s guessing, because he wasn’t there. I saw it a hundred times and I stood there slack-jawed going, ‘Holy f–k! These guys are James Brown-ing high volume musical virtuosity with scary passion!'”

“The authority [of what the MC5 did] only lasted two years until the drugs loosened them up and turned that definitive tightness and groove into slop,” he continues. “I don’t mean to be mean-spirited about it. Nobody has showered love on the MC5 more than I have. Not because they were punk. Because they weren’t punk. They were rhythm and blues, soul music sons of James Brown and Chuck Berry. I wish the world could have witnessed it, because the records they recorded, it wasn’t them. That wasn’t them. It wasn’t close. Not only was it not close, it wasn’t it. It had no resemblance to the power.”

READ MORE: How MC5 Started a Revolution With ‘Kick Out the Jams’

The Michigan Music Scene Was Potent

Nugent also name checks Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels — known as Billy Lee and the Rivieras in their early days. “They established a tightness with Johnny Badanjek and Earl Elliott as the rhythm section,” he details. “Jim McCarty and Joe Kubert [on guitars] and Billy Levise [Ryder’s original name] on the lead vocals, holy f–k! I wish you could have seen it. The earth moved. They established that you had to practice and be tight. Without being mean, that’s why I never understood the celebration of Iggy [Pop] and the Stooges. They weren’t tight, they didn’t have dynamics. They didn’t play good. There was no groove. It was the same with the Up and some of the [other Michigan-area bands]. Now, the Brownsville Station, they were tight. They were outrageous, but they were still tight, because [guitarist and vocalist] Cub Koda was the son of Howlin’ Wolf and Chuck Berry for all practical purposes.”

“Grand Funk Railroad, when you talk about setting the bar for tightness, between Mel Schacher and Don Brewer and then Mark Farner, with maybe the greatest voice ever,” he continues. “I don’t think I would have ever said, ‘Well, there’s a lot of competition here!’ I would have never used the word competition. I never thought about that, because we were all coming from [being inspired by] Chuck, Bo [Diddley], Little Richard, Motown and James Brown…as much as I was moved by the MC5, Grand Funk, Brownsville, Bob Seger and the SRC. Dick Wagner and the Frost — and the Scott Richardson Case, oh my God! Pink Floyd and Procol Harum, it’s what those bands aspired to, but the Scott Richardson Case playing ‘Hall of the Mountain King,’ I’m sorry, there’s nothing else like it. I mean, obviously, the [Rolling] Stones, Beatles, Kinks, the Who, the Yardbirds, but they were all derivative across the water from what our Detroit bands were doing. And then guys like ZZ Top and eventually, Styx and REO Speedwagon, we were all sons of [or a] direct link to Chuck. Probably nobody has paid more of an honest tribute to Chuck Berry than Keith Richards, but I was there before the Stones and the Beatles discovered Little Richard and Chuck.”

Why Ted Nugent Isn’t in the Rock Hall

Though the veteran rocker has been eligible for induction since 2000, he’s never been nominated for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It’s been a frequent topic over the years. In 2017, he cited “political correctness” as a major factor keeping him from being enshrined, a comment on his controversial political stances. In 2011, he was even more direct, calling it “an embarrassing denial of historical and current truth and evidence.”

Presently, it seems unlikely in his view that there will ever be a reversal in his favor. “Certain elements of the industry developed such disdain for me,” he tells UCR. “They don’t give some of these killer songs the time of day that they deserve.” But he’s not dwelling on it. “I’m too busy playing my guitar and making great music with my amazing musicians,” he mused in 2023. “[We’re] playing for the greatest music-loving audience in my life.”

The guitarist recently launched the Nuge Vault, a comprehensive online portal for fans to access a wealth of previously unavailable audio and video content from his archives. He’ll also return to the road this summer for a series of concerts in Michigan and Texas.