Fun House (The Stooges album)

Untitled

Fun House is the second album by the American protopunk rock band The Stooges.

It was recorded in May 1970 and released in July of the same year. Like its predecessor, The Stooges (1969), Fun House did not sell well. In subsequent years, however, it has been cited as very influential on later musicians, notably in punk rock. In 2007, the album was voted Loudest Album Ever by Q Magazine.

Recording sessions

The album was recorded at Elektra Sound Recorders in Los Angeles, California from May,11, 1970 to May,25, 1970. Even though Elektra Records' Jac Holzman believed that the MC5 had more potential than the Stooges, he made a crucial intervention that former Kingsmen keyboardist Don Galluci produce the album. Having seen the group live, Galluci said to Holzman that it was an "Interesting group, but I don't think you can get this feeling on tape". Holzman said it didn't matter anyway because he had already reserved recording time in LA. The Stooges were known at the time more for their cataclysmic live shows than for any established musicality, so "Fun House" being recorded in a pseudo-live fashion made it the Stooges album which most closely captures the essence of their sound.. Iggy Pop indicated that Howlin' Wolf "was really pertinent for me on Fun House. That stuff is Wolfy, at least as I could do it."

The Stooges intended for "Loose" to be the album's first track; Elektra, however, felt that "Down On The Street" would be the stronger opener.

An alternate version of "Down On The Street", featuring Doors-style organ overdubbed by Gallucci, was pulled from the album and released as a single. It was released the same month as Fun House, and fared slightly better on the charts.

Influence

Sydney band Radio Birdman chose their name based on mishearing the line "radio burnin' up above" in the song "1970". They also named their Oxford Street performance venue The Oxford Funhouse and covered "TV Eye" on their 1977 album Radios Appear.

In 1977, The Damned's debut album, Damned Damned Damned, had a cover of "1970" on it, entitled "I Feel Alright".

In 1989 indie rock band Blake Babies covered "Loose" for their album Earwig. They sampled Iggy's voice into the song.

Spacemen 3 adapted "T.V. Eye" into the near-cover "OD Catastrophe" on their debut album Sound of Confusion.

Numerous other musical artists have cited Fun House as their favorite album, including Joey Ramone, Mark E. Smith, Jack White, Nick Cave, Henry Rollins (along with The Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat), Buzz Osborne from the Melvins, Maciej Cieślak from the Polish band Ścianka and musician/engineer Steve Albini. Australian rock band The Birthday Party covered "Loose" on their 1982 live album Drunk on the Pope's Blood.

During the 2006 No Reservations episode in Sweden, host Anthony Bourdain proclaimed that Fun House was his all-time favorite album (his "desert island disc").

In 1999 Rhino Records released a limited edition box set, 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions, featuring every take of every song from every day of the recording sessions, plus the single versions of "Down On The Street" and "1970". On August 16, 2005, the album was reissued by Elektra and Rhino as a two-CD set featuring a newly remastered version of the album on disc one and a variety of outtakes (essentially highlights from the Complete Fun House Sessions box set) on disc two. Jack White contributed a quote to Iggy biographer Paul Trynka's liner notes to the reissue, in which White dubbed Fun House "by proxy the definitive rock album of America."

In 2003, the album was ranked number 191 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

In 1998, the Paris-based music magazine Rock & Folk placed Fun House in the top position of its "discothèque idéale."

Rage Against The Machine recorded a cover of "Down On The Street" on their 2000 covers-album Renegades

In 2005 the album was performed live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties-curated Don't Look Back series.

"Down on the Street" was used in the 2006 film Smokin' Aces and included on the soundtrack.

In 2010 "Fun House" ranked #25 in Gibson's Top 50 Guitar Albums [2]. The last track on side one "Dirt" is ranked #46 on Gibson's Top 50 Guitar Solo's [3]

The video game Condemned: Criminal Origins in an extra, Golden Bird Award, they have a prototype of the game where "Down On the Street" is playing in the background at the area where the killer cut the head off of a victim.

Track listing

All tracks written by the Stooges

Original release

Side one:

1. "Down on the Street" – 3:42
2. "Loose" – 3:33
3. "T.V. Eye" – 4:17
4. "Dirt" – 7:00

Side two:

1. "1970" – 5:14 (also known as "I Feel Alright")
2. "Fun House" – 7:45
3. "L.A. Blues" – 4:52

2005 Reissue

Disc one:

1. "Down on the Street" – 3:43
2. "Loose" – 3:34
3. "T.V. Eye" – 4:17
4. "Dirt" – 7:03
5. "1970" – 5:15 (also known as "I Feel Alright")
6. "Fun House" – 7:47
7. "L.A. Blues" – 4:57

Disc two:

1. "T.V. Eye" [Takes 7 & 8] – 6:01
2. "Loose" [Demo] – 1:16
3. "Loose" [Take 2] – 3:42
4. "Loose" [Take 22] – 3:42
5. "Lost in the Future" [Take 1] – 5:50
6. "Down on the Street" [Take 1] – 2:22
7. "Down on the Street" [Take 8] – 4:10
8. "Dirt" [Take 4] – 7:09
9. "Slide" (Slidin' The Blues) [Take 1] – 4:38
10. "1970" [Take 3] – 7:29
11. "Fun House" [Take 2] – 9:30
12. "Fun House" [Take 3] – 11:29
13. "Down on the Street" (Single mix)  – 2:43
14. "1970" (Single mix)  – 3:21

Personnel

• Iggy Pop - vocals
• Ron Asheton - guitar
• Dave Alexander - bass
• Scott Asheton - drums
• Steve Mackay - saxophone
• Don Gallucci - producer, organ overdubs
• Brian Ross-Myring - remaster producer, engineer

Notes

• Weisbard, Eric (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0679755748. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)