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, 1969. Right to left, Iggy Pop, Ron Asheton, Dave Alexander, Scott Asheton.
The Stooges, 1969. Right to left, Iggy Pop, Ron Asheton, Dave Alexander, Scott Asheton.
Background information
Also known as Iggy & The Stooges, Iggy Pop & The Stooges, The Psychedelic Stooges
Origin United States Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Genre(s) Protopunk
Garage Rock
Psychedelic
Glam Rock
Years active 1967—1974;
2003—present
Label(s) Elektra Records
Columbia Records
Virgin Records
Members
Iggy Pop
Ron Asheton
Scott Asheton
Mike Watt
Steve MacKay
Former members
Dave Alexander (deceased)
Bill Chetham
James Recca
Scott Thurston
James Williamson
Zeke Zettner

The Stooges are an American rock 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 then-nascent heavy metal, and later on punk rock (see protopunk). Singer Iggy Pop and his wild onstage antics were often the focus of attention.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Formation

Iggy Pop (born James 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 legendary bluesman Sam Lay during a visit to Chicago. Ron (guitar) and Scott Asheton (drums), two brothers, 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.

[edit] Trouble achieving success

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 keyboard player in 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 are currently recording an album of all-new material for 2007 release with Steve Albini producing. [1] Watt posted an online diary detailing the sessions for the album, which was tenatively titled Secret Plan; 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.

[edit] 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. Iggy Pop himself dedicated a lot of time to cleaning up the recordings and adjusting the mix, going for a more aggressive sound; the re-issues are generally regarded as having superior production, but the bonus tracks are not seen as essential additions to the catalog.

[edit] 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 to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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 trhough Europe and South America.

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.

[edit] Influence

Kurt Cobain consistently listed Raw Power as his #1 favorite album of all time in his "Favorite Albums" lists from his Journals.

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 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".[1]

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."

[edit] Band members

[edit] Current lineup

[edit] Former members

  • Dave Alexander - bass (1967–1970)
  • Bill Chetham - guitar (1970−1971)
  • James Recca - bass (1971−1972)
  • Scott Thurston - keyboards (1973–1974)
  • James Williamson - guitar (1971–1974)
  • Zeke Zettner - bass (1970−1971)
  • Larry Mysilwiecz - drums (1979-198?)

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Studio albums

[edit] Select live albums

[edit] Box set

[edit] Singles

  • "I Wanna Be Your Dog" (Elektra, 1969)
  • "1969" (Elektra, 1969)
  • "Down On The Street" (Elektra, 1970)
  • "I Got A Right" (Bomp! Records, 1972)
  • "Search And Destroy" (Columbia, 1973)
  • "Shake Appeal" (Columbia, 1973)
  • "Search And Destroy" b/w "Penetration" (Sundazed reissue, 2005)

[edit] External links

[edit] References and footnotes

  1. ^ 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.
The Stooges
Iggy Pop | Ron Asheton | Scott Asheton | Mike Watt | Steve MacKay
Former members: | Dave Alexander | James Williamson
Discography
Albums: The Stooges | Fun House | Raw Power | Metallic K.O. | Skull Ring | Telluric Chaos | The Weirdness
Other releases: 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions (box set) | Live In Detroit (DVD)
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