Iggy Pop
The year is 1990 myself & another friend are in a gym at Buffalo State College in Buffalo, NY. We fight our way to the front of the stage for one of the wildest shows I have ever seen. Iggy Pop was playing here on this day & it was unbelievable…
Jim Osterberg began his music career in the mid 60’s performing as a drummer with the Iguanas & later the more blues sound of the Prime Movers which is where he adopted his famous nickname. The Iguanas played their greasy garage style Rock & Roll in the clubs around Ann Arbor & Harbor Springs, Michigan cranking out tunes such as “California Sun”, “Johnny B Goode”, ”Tequila”, “Twist & Shout” & “Louie Louie”(which even back then Iggy used obscene lyrics”) while opening for acts such as the Shangri-Las. Even back then Iggy had to be in the spotlight so his drum kit was placed on top of a 7ft. scaffold. Iggy left college & Michigan to move to Chicago where he aspired to be a Blues drummer.
…The over crowded gym began to start getting very intense with people violently pushing forward waiting for their Punk icon to take the stage. It was getting so bad that myself, my friend, & local punk band the Pinheads(who were up front near us) decided to link our arms together to hold our ground. A few minutes later as the beginning chords to “Raw Power” struck it was basically every man for himself. Iggy leapt to the front of the stage & everything just froze for me for a second. I could not believe Iggy’s control & stage presence as it was something I’d never experienced before. I had been right up front for one of my all-time heroes Johnny Thunders & also the Ramones but seeing Iggy right before me was so different.
Late 1967 Iggy stepped down from the drum kit after witnessing a Doors show & formed the Psychedelic Stooges with Scott & Ron (The Ashton brothers) & bassist Dave Alexander. They eventually dropped “Psychedelic” & just became known as the Stooges & for the next 5 years terrorized the world of Rock n Roll. Iggy was out of control on the live performances of the Stooges rolling around on a stage of broken glass cutting his body to shreds, diving into the crowd, vomiting onstage, & for some reason he would take out a jar of Peanut Butter & rub it all over his body .The Stooges were signed to Electra Records & their first album ‘The Stooges’ was produced by John Cale & was a wild album that was quite different from anything coming out at that time (especially on the classic “I Wanna Be Your Dog”). In 1970 their sophomore album ‘Funhouse’ was released & was similar to the debut but I feel it had more energy especially on songs like “TV Eye”, ”Loose”, “Down on the Street”, & “1970”.Things were spinning out of control with the bands addictions. Dave Alexander had shown up too drunk to play at an important gig & was fired(he died in ’75 from his alcohol addiction).Roadie Zeke Zettner was now the new bass player but due to his heroin addiction he didn’t last long & by ’73 he had od’d & was dead. Jimmy Recca was the next bass player but by 1971 the Stooges kind of ended due to their addictions plus they were dropped by Electra due to horrible sales as well as their habits. While the band was on hiatus Iggy met up with Bowie who hooked him up with his management & also landed the Stooges a deal with Columbia Records. This time around Recca was gone, Ron Ashton was now the Bass player, & James Williamson was the lone guitarist. 1973 saw the release of the massive influential ‘Raw Power’ which changed the band name to Iggy & the Stooges on the cover. The album was filled with earsplitting guitars especially on “Search & Destroy”. Unfortunately, the album sold bad & they were soon dropped. The addictions were still horrible & in 1974 the Stooges played their final show which is documented on ‘Metallic KO’ in which you can hear how messed up everyone is. Iggy was just antagonizing the audience telling them that they paid their money & they can leave. He was constantly using vulgar language, people were throwing bottles & eggs at him, & this has the ever popular X-rated version of Louie Louie which by the end of the song you hear someone yell ”They threw a Strohs!”. Iggy than responds by saying “Thank you to the person who through that glass bottle that nearly hit my head but you missed again”.You then here beer bottles crashing.
…It is now about 4 songs in & Iggy is still out of control onstage. I’ve never seen anyone move around like him. He’s playing “My Baby Wants to Rock & Roll” from his ‘Brick by Brick’ album. All of a sudden I hear a girl screaming & the next thing I know she’s climbing on my friends back trying to get to the stage.All I see is her hands literally scratching my friends face close to his eyes as she frantically climbs his back. My friend had to throw her on the ground which caused a near riot & it’s now getting really violent near us with plenty of pushing & shoving going on. I don’t think Iggy realized what was going on because he was so into his performance jumping up & down rotating in a circle during “China Girl”
The mid 70’s was Bowie’s big involvement & intervention with Iggy’s career. Iggy had somewhat cleaned up & with Bowie’s help(& band) released ‘The Idiot’. ‘The Idiot’ was a completely different style for Iggy & was more like Bowie’s ‘Low’ or ‘Heroes’ albums with electronic overtones & effects. The album had a song called “Dum Dum Boys” which was about his ex Stooges bandmates. I love “Funtime”, ”Sister Midnight” & of course “China Girl”. ‘Lust for Life’ came out in’77 & this time besides using Bowie he used comedian Soupy Sales Kids(Hunt & Tony). The band toured with Bowie playing keyboards.I always loved this whole album from the first time I heard it & it was this album that made become an Iggy Freak. The band released a live album called ‘TV Eye Live ‘77’ which despite the sound quality was a decent record.
In’79 Iggy signed on & did 4 albums for Arista Records(New Values, Soldier, The Party, & Zombie Birdhouse). I enjoy the albums but out of the four I would recommend ‘The Party’ which is a great all around album from the tune “Rock & Roll Party” to “Eggs on the Plate” to “Pumpin’ for Jill” & the perfect ending…a cover f “Sea of Love” done in a great crooning style.
1986 brought Bowie back collaborating with Iggy on his biggest commercial successful release ‘Blah Blah Blah’ which was a very New Wave inspired album. The album featured ex Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones & the album released the old Johnny O’Keefe tune “Real Wild Child” as a single which hit the top 10 in the UK. Iggy kind of took a stripped down metal/punk approach on ‘Instinct’ which was a pretty decent album but the record company was expecting another ‘Blah Blah Blah’ album. What I would recommend is the King Biscuit show from this tour which featured Hanoi Rocks guitarist Andy McCoy in the band.
1990 brought my favorite Iggy solo album ‘Brick by Brick’ to the table. There isn’t any songs on here that I would ever fast forward over. This is a solid Rock album with various styles but stays right in the vein of Rock & Roll. I can’t even recommend a song because I love them all. Since then Iggy has released a bunch of other albums & they’re all pretty decent. 2003’s Skull Ring had Iggy collaborating with various artists such as Green Day ,Sum 41, & a reunion of the remaining Stooges on 4 tracks. This brought forth a reunion which even led to a brand new studio album called ‘The Weirdness’ with his original Stooges. The band was well received while touring but unfortunately this past January Ron Ashton passed away. From what I’ve heard Iggy & Scott Ashton are reuniting with James Williamson & although it’s a mutual feeling that the Stooges died with Ron Ashton but there can still be an Iggy & the Stooges. In May of 2009 Iggy released ‘
Préliminaires’ which is a pretty cool album. Unlike any of his other stuff this album has the feel of New Orleans jazz with a dirty dusty blues feel to it.
…The concert is over half way over & the place is still in chaos but Iggy keeps on going cranking out songs like “Lust For Life”, “Down on the Street”, “Butt Town”, & “Dirt”. Soon he goes into “Real wild Child” & someone’s forearm catches me on the bridge of my nose. “Boom!!!” blood is flying everywhere I swing my arm around to try & catch whoever caught me. My friend grabs me & drags me towards the back where we watch the frenzied crowd having the time of their lives as Iggy closes out with “No Fun”, “I Wanna be Your Dog”, & “Home”.
…”Open Up & Bleed”
Bucky
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