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Dennis Thompson | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Dennis Andrew Tomich |
Also known as |
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Born | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | September 7, 1948
Died | May 9, 2024 Taylor, Michigan, U.S. | (aged 75)
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instrument(s) | Drums |
Years active | 1965–2022 |
Formerly of |
Dennis Thompson (born Dennis Andrew Tomich; [1] September 7, 1948 – May 9, 2024) was an American drummer known for playing with the 1960s–70s Detroit proto-punk/ hard rock group MC5, [2] which had a No. 82 US single with " Kick Out the Jams" and a No. 30 US album with the same name.
Thompson was born Dennis Andrew Tomich in Detroit in 1948. [3] He began playing drums by the time he was nine years old. [4] Joining the MC5 by 1965, [5] Thompson was later given the nickname "Machine Gun" because of his "assault" style of fast, hard-hitting drumming that sonically resembles the sound of his namesake Thompson machine gun (commonly referred to as a "Tommy Gun"). His drumming pre-figured and influenced punk, metal, and hardcore punk drumming styles.[ citation needed]
After MC5 broke up in the early 1970s, Thompson was a member of the 1975–1976 Los Angeles–based supergroup The New Order, the 1981 Australia-based supergroup New Race, The Motor City Bad Boys, and The Secrets. In 2001, he guested for Asmodeus X on the song "The Tiger" (St. Thomas Records). [6]
His influences include Elvin Jones, Keith Moon and Mitch Mitchell, and Motown. [7] In 2015, he described how his drumming technique had changed considerably over time, playing with "much less force and tucked in elbows, more wrist action and less arm action". [8]
Thompson was in the band DKT/MC5 with the surviving members of MC5, from 2003–2012. Later, he recorded two tracks for a new MC5 album scheduled for October 2022 release, although as of February 2023 the album has not yet been released. [9]
Thompson suffered a heart attack in April 2024, and died in Taylor, Michigan, on May 9, 2024, at the age of 75. [3] [10] He was the final surviving member of the MC5. [11]