Wayne Kramer

Wayne Kramer is a legend both on the stage and behind the soundboard. His pivotal punk songwriting in the 60s spawned multiple genres of hard rock, and his film and TV scores have graced screens from art houses to multiplexes.

In 1969, Kramer's boisterous band MC5, which is widely considered the prototype for punk rock and heavy metal, released Kick Out the Jams, a controversial hit record. As MC5 moved up from Geffen Records to Atlantic and toured the world, Kramer began composing scores for films such as Gold and Paradise Now. The band would go on to release two more hit records, Back in the USA, produced by Bruce Springsteen's manager Jon Landau, and the critically hailed High Time.

Wayne briefly collaborated with the infamous Johnny Thunders for a short foray with their punk project Gang War, before joining acid funk outfit Was (Not Was) with David and Don Was.

After leaving New York for Los Angeles in 1994, Kramer released four solo records and oversaw the release of The Big Bang, Best of the MC5.

Kramer composed songs for films as varied as Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous, The Ramones' Rock 'n' Roll High School, the Will Ferrell comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and the HBO documentary Hacking Democracy. His songs have also been heard on television from MTV's Jackass to NFL, NBA and MLB Playoff Events.

Wayne is currently scoring the ITVS/PBS feature length documentary The Narcotic Farm, about America's decades-long failed drug war as well as its narration and accompanying soundtrack album Lexington. In 2008, he will score Let It Blurt!, the biopic of legendary gonzo writer Lester Bangs, and the indie rave thriller Hooking Up.