If we as a country are in some ways revisiting 1968, it prolly a good time to revisit 1969, by Iggy & The Stooges
This is Iggy Pop’s juvenalia
With plenty of bacchanalia
Like Billy Woods, he’s the son of an English teacher
But his lyrics tend a bit less toward the professorial
He grew up in a trailer park outside Detroit
And like Jacob Miller, Elvis was a formative influence on his showmanship
But he…took it a bit further…
He got into a bit of sex, drugs, and rock n roll at the University of Michigan
Which was a bit less straight-laced in that era
LSD was in all the dorms and at all the parties
His given name was James Osterberg
As a teenager, he formed a band called the Iguanas, which is how he eventually got the nom de guerre he became known by
This is from Iggy & The Stooges first album
On Elektra
YouTube video has some great footage of a show with fellow Detroit rockers MC5
Iggy would of course go on to dial up the on-stage (and off-stage) antics up to 11
Whip his junk out, throw bottles at the audience, spray blood across the stage, defecate on the speakers
He was often so messed up on heron or coke he could barely stand or see
The group did a lot of shows in New York, and built up a following
Who were attracted to their punk-before-its-time aesthetics
Iggy had already married and divorced (1 month later!) his first wife before the debut Stooges LP
You could say the music is a reflection of a nation at war
And in fact, Iggy had avoided conscription into imperialist military service by “acting crazy”
Uncle Sam decided he did NOT want HIM
During the period of this album, he and the band lived together at “The Fun House” outside Detroit
(Hence the title of their second album)
A lot of heron was shot in that house
They would shoot up and then spray blood from the syringes over the walls
Punk wallpaper decoration?
Their music is considered proto-punk, and the lineage is quite tangible
Johnny Rotten and Mick Jones took in a characteristically wild Stooges show as youngsters in London
Iggy has mellowed out a bit in his old age
And is actually still releasing music
He’s now had a lot of fun
