The Stooges

The Stooges
The Stooges performing in Milan, Italy on September 2, 2006.
Background information
Also known as	Iggy and The Stooges Iggy Pop and The Stooges The Psychedelic Stooges
Origin	Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
Genres	Hard rock, garage rock, protopunk, punk rock
Years active	1967–1971 1972–1974 2003–present
Labels	Elektra, Columbia, Virgin
Associated acts	Iggy Pop, The Iguanas, Minutemen, Sonic's Rendezvous Band, Destroy All Monsters
Website	Official Website
Members
Iggy Pop Scott Asheton Steve Mackay James Williamson Mike Watt
Past members
Dave Alexander Ron Asheton Billy Cheatham Jimmy Recca Bob Sheff Scott Thurston Zeke Zettner

The Stooges (also known as Iggy and The Stooges) is an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003. Although they sold few records in their original incarnation and often performed for indifferent or hostile audiences, the Stooges are widely regarded as instrumental in the rise of punk rock, as well as influential to alternative rock, heavy metal and rock music at large.^[1][2]

The Stooges were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2010.^[3]

History

Formation (1967–1968)

Iggy Pop (born James Newell Osterberg) played in several Ann Arbor-area bands as a teenager, including The Iguanas and later The Prime Movers. The Prime Movers nicknamed Osterberg "Iggy" in reference to his earlier band.^[4]

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 was not enough – he wanted to create a whole new form of blues music. Brothers Ron (guitar) and Scott Asheton (drums) and their friend Dave Alexander (bass guitar) rounded out the rest of the band, with Osterberg taking vocal duties. Osterberg was drawn to Ron Asheton after seeing him perform in a covers band, The Chosen Few, believing "I’ve never met a convincing musician that didn’t look kind of ill and kind of dirty, and Ron had those two things covered!"^[5] The three nicknamed Osterberg "Pop" after a local character whom Osterberg resembled.^[6] Shortly after witnessing an MC5 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 their house in State Street in 1967. They did not play live again until January 1968.^[7] During this early period, the Stooges were originally billed as the "Psychedelic Stooges" at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, and other venues, where they played with the MC5 and others. At one of their early Grande Ballroom performances, Asheton's guitar neck separated from the body and forced the band to shut down during the opening song, "I Wanna Be Your Dog".

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

Commercial struggles, the self-titled album and Fun House (1968–1971)

The Stooges soon gained a reputation for their wild, primitive live performances. Pop, especially, won fame for his outrageous onstage behaviour—smearing his bare chest with hamburger meat and peanut butter, cutting himself with shards of glass, and flashing his genitalia to the audience. At one concert, he played a vacuum cleaner like a musical instrument. Pop 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.) The following year, the band released 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 bassist John Cale.

A second album, Fun House, followed in 1970, which featured the addition of saxophonist Steve Mackay. 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 "T.V. Eye" and "1970", Pop leapt into the crowd, where he was hoisted up on people's hands, and proceeded to smear peanut butter all over his chest. In a broadcast interview at WNUR Northwestern University radio station in Evanston, IL in 1984, Stiv Bators of the Lords of the New Church and the Dead Boys confirmed the long-standing rumor that it was he who had provided the peanut butter, having carried a large tub from his home in Youngstown, OH and handing it up to Iggy from the audience. It has since become an iconic rock image.

Fun House, like the debut album, was poorly received by both the general public and the critics. Alexander was fired from the band in August 1970 after showing up at the Goose Lake International Music Festival too drunk to play.^[9] He was replaced by a succession of new bass players: Zeke Zettner^[10] and James Recca. Around this time, the band expanded their line-up by adding a second guitar player, roadie Billy Cheatham,^[4] who was quickly replaced by James Williamson.

At this point, the Stooges, with the notable exception of Ron Asheton,^[4][11] had all become serious heroin users. The drug was introduced to the band by new manager John Adams.^[4] Their performances became even more unpredictable, and Pop often had trouble standing up on stage due to his extreme drug abuse. Elektra soon dropped the Stooges from its roster, and the band went on hiatus for several months. The final line-up was Pop, the Asheton brothers, Recca and Williamson.^[4]

Raw Power and breakup (1972–1974)

With the band in limbo, Pop met David Bowie in September 1971,^[11] and the pair became good friends. Bowie, then at the height of his Ziggy Stardust-era fame, brought Pop and Williamson to the U.K. and got them a deal with Columbia Records. The pair attempted to reconstitute the Stooges with British musicians, but finding no suitable additions, brought the Asheton brothers back into the band (this "second choice" decision rankled Ron Asheton, as did his change 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 in a somewhat controversial manner (in 1997, Raw Power was re-mixed by Iggy Pop and re-released). Raw Power 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.

With the addition of a piano player (briefly Bob Sheff and then Scott Thurston^[4]), the Stooges toured for several months, starting in February 1973. Around this time they also made a number of recordings that became known as the Detroit Rehearsal Tapes, including a number of new songs that might have been included on a fourth studio album had the band not been dropped by Columbia shortly after the release of Raw Power. The Stooges disbanded in February 1974 as a result of Pop's ever-present heroin addiction and erratic behavior (at least off stage, as many people around the band acknowledged that while performing or rehearsing, Iggy had more focus).^[7] The band's last performance of this era was captured on the live album Metallic K.O..

Post-breakup (1975–2003)

Iggy on October 25, 1977; at the State Theatre, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Photo: Michael Markos

After going through rehab, Pop embarked upon a successful solo career in 1976, beginning with the albums The Idiot and Lust for Life. Relocated to Los Angeles, California, Ron Asheton formed the short-lived band The New Order (not to be confused with the U.K. band New Order), with Stooges alumni Recca and Thurston. Ron Asheton later joined Destroy All Monsters. Williamson worked with Pop as a producer and engineer during his early solo career – the Kill City and New Values albums are a product of this collaboration – but began a long break from the music industry in 1980. Scott Asheton performed with Sonic's Rendezvous Band and the Scott Morgan Group. Dave Alexander died of pulmonary edema related to his pancreatitis in 1975.

In 1997 a reissue of Raw Power remixed by Pop was released, with a far more aggressive mix than the original release. In 1999, re-issue label Rhino Handmade released the seven disc box set 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions, composed of the entire recording sessions surrounding the Fun House album. 3,000 copies were pressed, selling out in less than a year.

In 2000, indie rock veterans J Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr) and Mike Watt (of the Minutemen and fIREHOSE) teamed up with the Asheton brothers to perform Stooges covers (and other material) live. Billed as Asheton, Asheton, Mascis and Watt, the band performed sporadically before catching Pop's attention in 2003.

Reunion, The Weirdness and Ron Asheton's death (2003–2009)

Pop and the Ashetons first reunited that year, appearing on four songs on the Skull Ring album with Pop on vocals, Scott Asheton on drums, and Ron Asheton on both guitar and bass. Shortly thereafter, the Stooges officially reunited, performing a series of live shows in the United States and Europe, with Watt on bass at Ron Asheton's request,^[12] and Fun House-era saxophonist Steve Mackay. Their Detroit homecoming show, postponed by the 2003 North America blackout, was released as the DVD Live in Detroit.

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 more faithful to the original mixes.

In 2007, the band released an album of all-new material, The Weirdness, with Steve Albini recording, and mastering done at Abbey Road Studios in London, England.^[13] The album received mixed reviews from the press. The band also contributed a cover of Junior Kimbrough's "You Better Run" to a tribute album for the late blues artist.

The Stooges spent the years between 2003 and 2008 touring extensively, playing shows on five different continents. Highlights included performances at several events involved with the All Tomorrow's Parties concert series, Pop's 60th birthday on the stage of San Francisco's Warfield Theater,^[14] touring with the Lollapalooza festival, and a performance of two Madonna covers at the Michigan-born singer's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in protest of the Stooges' failure to receive an induction into said institution despite six nominations. (Two years later, the band was successfully inducted.) A low of this touring era occurred in the August 2008 when the band's equipment was stolen in Montreal, Quebec.^[15] Initially, the reunited band's sets consisted solely of material from The Stooges, Fun House, Skull Ring, and The Weirdness. By 2008, the band had added "Search and Destroy", "I Got a Right" and "Raw Power" to their set lists. The band's final show with Ron Asheton occurred on September 29, 2008 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Later in the year, the band was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.

On January 6, 2009, Ron Asheton was found dead in his home, having reportedly suffered a heart attack several days earlier.^[16][17] He was 60 years old. In their official statement, the group called Asheton "irreplaceable".^[18]

Return of James Williamson (2009–present)

In a May 2009 interview, Pop announced the band's plans to continue performing with James Williamson returning as guitarist.^[19][20] Pop stated that "although 'the Stooges' died with Ron Asheton, there is still 'Iggy and the Stooges'".^[21] Their first concert occurred on November 7, 2009, in São Paulo, Brazil. The band added material from Raw Power and several of Pop's early solo albums to its repertoire.

On December 15, 2009, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced their induction of the Stooges via their Class of 2010.^[22] The band had previously been nominated for election seven times, each unsuccessful.

The group are confirmed to play the 2010 All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Monticello, New York, where they will perform Raw Power in its entirety. A re-release of Raw Power was released on April 10, 2010, including the first remastering of the David Bowie mix and a live 1973 performance.

Influence

• Iconic punk writer Legs McNeil was especially fond of Iggy and the Stooges, and championed them in many of his writings.

• The Sex Pistols recorded the first high profile Stooges cover, "No Fun", in 1976, introducing the Stooges to a new generation of audiences, particularly in England, where Pop was then based. Sid Vicious also regularly performed "I Wanna Be Your Dog", "Search and Destroy" and "Shake Appeal (Tight Pants)" in his post-Pistols solo shows, and the first two feature on his Sid Sings album.

• 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."

• In 1983, Sonic Youth recorded a cover of the song "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on Confusion Is Sex. Thurston Moore has said when he was starting to play guitar, he would play Stooges songs when he got frustrated.

• Henry Rollins devoted much of a 1985 Spin magazine article to Fun House (the rest was about The Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat—Rollins considered these to be the two best rock records ever made); in his 1994 book Get In The Van: On The Road With Black Flag, he would also declare of Fun House, "Everybody should own a copy of that album."

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

• Jack White of The White Stripes has said Fun House is the best rock and roll album ever made.

• In August 1995, all three Stooges albums were included in British music magazine Mojo's influential "100 Greatest Albums of All Time" feature. Fun House was placed the highest, at 16.

• Lead singer of Gypsy Punk band Gogol Bordello, Eugene Hutz, says this about Fun House: "the usual, you know, the best rock album ever made."

• The Stooges' "Search and Destroy" was featured in RedOctane's Guitar Hero II for the PlayStation 2.

• During the Californication support tour, Red Hot Chili Peppers would often play "Search and Destroy" during their encore, as is found on the Off The Map home video. A version recorded during the same sessions as Blood Sugar Sex Magik appeared on the Live Rare Remix Box.

• In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the Stooges #78 on their list of 100 of the most influential artists of the past 50 years.^[23]

• The Norwegian punk band Wannskrækk recorded a tribute to the song "I Wanna Be Your Dog" called "Doggen" ("The Dog" in English).

• The Stooges were one of the albums that the Dharma Initiative brought to the island in the television series Lost, a reference perhaps to the fact that the Dharma Initiative had its headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Band members

Discography

• The Stooges (1969)
• Fun House (1970)
• Raw Power (1973)
• The Weirdness (2007)

References and footnotes

External links

• Iggy & The Stooges Official Website
• Iggy Pop The Rock Iguana
• Iggy Pop fansite
• Bomp's Stooges Iguana Chronicles CDs
• Official James Williamson website
• Iggy Pop on His "Emotional Reaction" to the Stooges' Hall of Fame Induction Rolling Stone Magazine December 15, 2009
• Iggy & The Stooges, "Raw Power (Legacy and Deluxe Edition)" by Billboard