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The Stooges

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This article is about the rock band. For the comedy group, see The Three Stooges.
The Stooges

The Stooges are an American rock'n'roll band that was first active from about 1967 to 1974, and then reformed in 2003.

The Stooges sold rather few records in their original existence and often performed for indifferent or hostile audiences. Nevertheless, The Stooges are often regarded as hugely influential both on the nascent heavy metal and punk rock. Singer Iggy Pop and his wild onstage antics were often the focus of attention.

History

Formation

Iggy Pop (born James Newell Osterberg) played in several Ann Arbor, Michigan-area bands as a teenager, including The Prime Movers and The Iguanas.

Osterberg was first inspired to form The Stooges after meeting blues drummer Sam Lay during a visit to Chicago. He returned to Detroit with the idea that simply copying established blues performers wasn't enough — he wanted to create a whole new form of blues music. Brothers Ron (guitar) and Scott Asheton (drums), along with their friend Dave Alexander (bass guitar) rounded out the rest of the band, with Osterberg taking vocal duties. Shortly after witnessing a Doors concert in Ann Arbor, Osterberg began using the stage name Iggy Pop, a name that he has used ever since.

The band's debut was at a Halloween concert at the University of Michigan in 1967. During this early period, The Stooges were originally billed at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan and other venues as the "Psychedelic Stooges", where they played with the MC5 and others.

The group's early sound was very different from their later music; critic Edwin Pouncey writes,

The Stooges' early musical experiments were more avant garde than punk rock, with Iggy incorporating such household objects as a vacuum cleaner and a blender into an intense wall of feedback that one observer described as sounding like "an airplane was landing in the room." Homemade instruments were also incorporated to flesh out the overall sound. The 'Jim-a-phone' involved pushing feedback through a funnel device which was raised and lowered to achieve the best effect. There was also a cheap Hawaiian guitar which Iggy and guitarist Ron Asheton would take turns in plucking to produce a simulated sitar drone, while drummer Scott Asheton pounded away at a set of oil drums with a ball hammer.[1]

Commercial struggles

The Stooges soon gained a reputation for their wild, primitive live performances. Iggy, especially, won fame for acting crazy onstage—smearing his naked chest with hamburger meat and peanut butter, and cutting himself with shards of glass. At one concert, he played a vacuum cleaner like a musical instrument. Iggy is also sometimes credited with the invention or popularization of stage diving.

In 1968, The Stooges were signed by Elektra Records, who had sent a scout named Danny Fields to see the MC5. He wound up signing both acts. (Fields would later go on to discover and manage The Ramones.)

1969 saw the release of their self-titled debut album The Stooges, but it did not sell very well, nor was it well received by critics at the time. Legend has it that half of the album was written the night before the first session, which was produced by former Velvet Underground member John Cale. A second album, Fun House, followed in 1970. Many consider Fun House to be the best representation of The Stooges, as the main goal of the album was to capture the manic energy of their live performances. On June 13 of that year, television captured footage of the band at the Cincinnati Pop Festival. While performing the songs TV Eye and 1970, Iggy leapt into the crowd, where he was hoisted up on people's hands, and proceeded to smear peanut butter all over his chest. It has since become an iconic rock image.

Fun House, much like their debut, was poorly received by both the general public and the critics. The band decided to expand their line-up, adding a second guitar player in James Williamson and a piano player in Bob Scheff. Scheff was only in the band for a short period before being replaced by Scott Thurston. Alexander was soon fired from the band and replaced by a string of new bass players: Zeke Zettner and James Recca. At this point, The Stooges had all become serious drug users, with Iggy being the worst example. Their performances became even more unpredictable, and Iggy often had trouble standing up on stage due to his extreme drug abuse. Elektra soon dropped The Stooges from its lineup, and the band went on hiatus for several months.

Back in action

With the band in limbo, Iggy met David Bowie in 1972 and the pair became good friends. Bowie, then at the height of his Ziggy Stardust-era fame, brought Pop and Williamson to the UK, and got them a deal with Columbia Records. The pair attempted to reconstitute The Stooges with British musicians, but finding nobody suitable, brought the Asheton brothers back into the band (this "second choice" decision rankled with Ron Asheton, as did his demotion from guitar to bass). This line-up, billed as "Iggy & The Stooges", recorded their third album, the massively influential Raw Power (1973), which Bowie mixed. This album would go on to become one of the cornerstones of early punk rock, although the album sold rather poorly, and was regarded as a commercial failure at the time of its release.

The Stooges end again

After several months of touring, The Stooges disbanded in February 1974 as a result of Iggy's ever-present heroin addiction. One of the band's last-ever performances was captured on the classic live album Metallic K.O..

After going through rehab, Pop began a solo career in 1976 (most influentially with the albums The Idiot and Lust for Life). In March of 1977, Pop toured with a backing band consisting of David Bowie (keyboards), Ricky Gardiner (guitar), and brothers Tony Sales (bass) and Hunt Sales (drums), sons of Soupy Sales. The Asheton brothers formed a band named New Order (not to be confused with the English band of the same name), which quickly fell apart. Ron Asheton later joined Destroy All Monsters, while Williamson worked with Iggy as a producer and engineer during his early solo career. Dave Alexander died of inflammation of the pancreas in 1975.

Recorded output

Other than the three albums the only other music released during the original band's line-up was a different single version of "Down On The Street". This was the "Funhouse" version but with an organ overdub. The bulk of the extra material comes from the "Raw Power" era and has been subsequently released by budget labels and comprise live recordings and rehearsals. Although the sound quality is inferior fans consider the songs to be as important a part of the band's history as the three studio albums.

These songs include:

  • Head On
  • I Got A Right
  • Gimme Some Skin
  • Hard To Beat (different title for Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell)
  • Cock In My Pocket
  • Rubber Legs
  • Johanna
  • Pin Point Eyes
  • Open Up & Bleed
  • Till The End Of The Night
  • Scene Of The Crime
  • Wild Love
  • Consolation Prizes
  • I'm Sick Of You
  • Tight Pants
  • My Girl Hates My Heroin
  • Hey Baby
  • Jesus Loves The Stooges (Instrumental)
  • How It Hurts
  • Kill City
  • Night Theme
  • Beyond The Law
  • Delta Blues Shuffle
  • Sell Your Love
  • No Sense Of Crime
  • I Got Nothing
  • What You Gonna Do
  • Heavy Liquid (Aka New Orleans)
  • Rich Bitch
  • She Creatures of Hollywood Hills
  • Born in a Trailer

Reunion

The Stooges reunited in 2003, appearing on the Skull Ring album with Iggy on vocals, Scott Asheton on drums, and Ron Asheton on both guitar and bass. The Stooges have performed a series of live shows in the United States and Europe with Mike Watt of The Minutemen and fIREHOSE on bass completing the lineup, and Fun House saxophonist Steve MacKay rejoining it as well. Their Detroit homecoming show, postponed by the 2003 North America blackout, was immortalized on the DVD Live in Detroit. They have since contributed a cover of Junior Kimbrough's "You Better Run" to a tribute album for the late blues artist, and completed an album of all-new material for 2007 release with Steve Albini producing. [2] On December 11, 2006. the final album title of The Weirdness was announced after the album was mastered at Abbey Road Studios in London, England.

Reissues

On August 16, 2005, Elektra Records and Rhino Records issued newly remastered 2-CD editions of the first two Stooges albums, featuring the original album on disc one and outtakes (including alternate mixes, single versions, etc.) on disc two. Unlike the Raw Power reissue these remasters stayed completely faithful to the original mixes.

Live again

The Stooges played three dates in August 2005. The first of which at Leeds festival, on Friday the 28th. This was followed by a date at Reading Festival on Sunday 29th, to which the crowd shouted "Iggy" repeatedly, even non-fans joining at his wild stage antics. This included pretending to make love to a guitar amplifier and climbing down off stage and shaking audience members hands.

The next date on August 30, 2005, The Stooges played a special one-off show at London's Hammersmith Apollo (their first London performance since 1972, and only their second London show ever) performing their entire Fun House album in chronological order followed by songs from the first album and Skull Ring. The show, which was the first in the All Tomorrow's Parties-organised "Don't Look Back" concert series, sold out well in advance and was rapturously received by the music press and the fans—which incidentally invaded the stage—alike.

In September of that same year, The Stooges were nominated yet again to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Stooges have been nominated six times for the Hall of Fame, but have yet to receive the requisite number of votes to be inducted.[3]

In January 2006, Iggy and the Stooges toured Australia and New Zealand for the Big Day Out music festival. They have also played in festivals through Europe and South America.

On February 3, 2007, they played at the wedding of Bam Margera and Missy Rothstein (now Margera).

Beginning in March 2007, The Stooges are set to play a couple of festivals (incl. Electric Picnic, Ireland) and a ten-city U.S. tour in April. Bassist Mike Watt told Bass Player magazine that he expects most of his 2007 to be dominated by Stooges duties, suggesting that more tour dates in the U.S. and elsewhere are in the planning stages.

In April 2007, The Stooges celebrated Pop's 60th birthday on the stage of San Francisco's Warfield theater .

A biopic entitled The Passenger is currently in the works chronicling both Iggy and The Stooges entire career, Elijah Wood is cast to play Iggy Pop.

Influence

  • In 1993, Guns N' Roses included a cover of Raw Power on their The Spaghetti Incident? album.
  • Iconic punk writer Lester Bangs was especially fond of Iggy and The Stooges, and championed them in many of his magazine columns.
  • In August 1995, all three Stooges albums were included in British music magazine Mojo's influential "100 Greatest Albums of All Time" feature. Funhouse was placed the highest, at 16.
  • The late 1990s saw two significant Stooges record releases. In 1997 a version of Raw Power remixed by Iggy was released to widespread acclaim. The result was far more aggressive than the original release, which had been mixed in one day by David Bowie. Two years later, re-issue label Rhino Handmade released the seven disc box set 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions. Just 3,000 copies were pressed and the box set is now a collectors item, although selections featured on the Funhouse 2CD reissue in 2005 and the entire box set was released as a digital download on the iTunes Music Store.
  • In 2001 Scott Asheton recorded two CDs with the local Detroit punk band "The Farleys" the 1st titled "The Farleys Meet the Stooges" the 2nd titled "Youth in Asia".[4]
  • Lead singer of Gypsy Punk band Gogol Bordello, Eugene Hutz, says this about Funhouse: "the usual, you know,the best rock album ever made."
  • Jello Biafra says he bothered his whole neighborhood as a kid by blasting Stooges records on his stereo. He also says he bought the first Ramones album because "they looked like they played music in the style of the Stooges."
  • Most recently, they got a boost of notoriety with their single "Search and Destroy" being featured in RedOctane's Guitar Hero II for the Playstation 2.
  • In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked them #78 on their list of 100 of the most influential artists of the past 50 years.[5]
  • Skateboarding team S.A.D. (skate and destroy) got their name for the stooges single "Search and Destroy"
  • The first album by a British punk band, The Damned's "Damned Damned Damned" concludes with "I Feel Alright", an adaptation of The Stooges' "1970".

Band members

Current lineup

  • Iggy Pop - vocals (1967–1974, 2003–present)
  • Ron Asheton - guitar (only player 1967–1970, along with James Williamson 1970-71, 2003–present); bass (1972–1973); again guitar with Williamson (1973-74)
  • Mike Watt - bass (2003–present)
  • Scott Asheton - drums (1967–1974, 2003–present)
  • Steve MacKay - saxophone (1970–1971, 2003–present)

Former members

Discography

Albums

Official studio albums

Half official live and rawly mixed studio albums

Box set

Official and half officials singles in the US and worldwide

  • "I Wanna Be Your Dog" mono version b/w "I wanna Be Your Dog" stereo version (Elektra, 1969), for promotional use only
  • "I Wanna Be Your Dog" b/w "1969" (Elektra, 1969), US
  • "1969" b/w "Real Cool Time" (Elektra, 1969)), France
  • "I Wanna Be Your Dog" b/w "Ann" (Vedette, 1969), France
  • "Down On the Street" b/w "I Feel Allright", (Elektra, 1970), US, France and Japan
  • "Search And Destroy" mono version b/w "Search and Destroy" stereo version (Sony, 1973), for promotional use only
  • "Shake Appeal" b/w "Search and Destroy" (Sony, 1973), both in playback versions coming with Jesse Ed Davis' tracks "She's a Pain" b/w "Keep me coming"
  • "Raw Power" b/w "Search and Destroy" (Sony, 1973), Japan
  • "I got a right" b/w "Gimme some skin" (Siamese, 1977), US
  • "I'm sick of you" b/w "Tight Pants" b/w "Scene of the Crime" (Bomp, 1977), US
  • "Johanna" b/w "Purple Haze" (Revenge, 1988), France
  • "My Girl Hates my Heroin" b/w "How it hurts" (Revenge, 1989), France
  • "She creatures of Hollywood Hills" b/w "Untitled Scratch 5 UK" (sold with the paper "Spiral Scratch", 1989), UK
  • "TV Eye" live version b/w "What you gonna do" (Revenge, 1990), France
  • "Till the end of the night" b/w "I'm sick of you" (Revenge, 1990), France
  • "She Creatures of Hollywood Hills" b/w "Tight Pants" b/w "Jesus loves the Stooges" (Revenge, 1990), France
  • "Open up and bleed" studio version b/w "I got a right" b/w "Gimme some skin" (Revenge, 1990), France
  • "Nowhere" b/w "Consolation Prizes" b/w "Johanna" (Revenge, 1990), France
  • "I'm sick of you" b/w "Tight pants" b/w "She creatures of Hollywood Hills" (Melodia, Soviet Union), 1990
  • "I got a right" b/w "Gimme some skin" (Bomp, 1990), US
  • "I got nothing" b/w "Cock in my pocket" (Jungle, 1998), UK
  • "Gimme Danger" b/w "Heavy Liquid" (Munster, 1999), Spain
  • "Search And Destroy" b/w "Penetration" (Sundazed reissue, 2005)

References and footnotes

  1. ^ Pouncey, Edwin, "Motown City Burning: MC5 meets Sun Ra, from The Wire Issue 136, June 1995, URL accessed February 3, 2007
  2. ^ News.com.au interview with Iggy Pop, accessed January 2006. Rick Rubin was initially rumored to be the helmsman for the album until Iggy dropped Albini's name in this newspaper interview.
  3. ^ "http://www.futurerockhall.com/artist.php?artist_id=The_Stooges". {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  4. ^ "http://www.myspace.com/thefarleys". {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  5. ^ "The Immortals: The First Fifty". Rolling Stone Issue 946. Rolling Stone.
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