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‘1970’: Spectacular, nearly unseen shots of Iggy Pop from an underground magazine called ‘Earth’
04.03.2022
09:22 am
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This is the shot available as a limited edition print
 
Bud Lee (1940-2016) is a great American photographer whose work has somehow been overlooked. A prolific contributor to Esquire, Life, Rolling Stone, and other magazines in the late 1960s and early 1970s, who regularly ran extensive portfolios of his work, he took iconic photos of figures as varied as Warhol’s Factory and its superstars, Tennessee Williams, Al Green, James Brown, ZZ Top and Norman Rockwell. Lee covered the Newark riots, and the funerals of Robert Kennedy Jr and Martin Luther King Jr for Life, trailed transgender performance troupe the Cockettes from San Francisco to New York for their ill-fated off-Broadway debut, and shot production stills on the set of Fellini’s Satyricon, Alice’s Restaurant, and Fiddler on the Roof.

Lee ‘retired’ from magazine work in the early ‘70s and and moved to Iowa, where he founded the Iowa Photographers’ Workshop, as a companion program to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. He later moved to Tampa, Florida, where he married art teacher Peggy Howard and started a family. He became very active in the local arts scene around Tampa, Ybor City and Plant City, helping to stage a number of outrageous happenings, as the Artists and Writers Ball, an annual themed costumed ball that harnessed the same freaky anything-goes energy had had experienced in the company of the Cockettes and on Fellini’s movie sets. An aspiring filmmaker, Lee also shot a no-budget remake of Gone With The Wind with a cast entirely made up of children from local schools.

In August 1970, Lee turned his lens on Iggy Pop while attending one of the Stooges’ legendary shows at Ungano’s in New York, which was recorded by Stooges A&R, Danny Fields, heavily-bootlegged, and reported on extensively by underground rock magazines like Creem. During the show, backstage, and even at Iggy’s digs in the Chelsea Hotel, Lee took a series of incredible, candid photos of the Stooges frontman at the very height of his ‘Ig’-ness. A few were published in a short-lived underground magazine entitled Earth (as seen here). Most have never been seen.

Bud Lee’s estate, which oversees and manages his archive, has begun releasing limited edition, hand-numbered archival prints of Lee’s work as a way of raising funds to preserve his extensive archive of images and help realize special projects, including a planned monograph of his work. The second print in this series—the first was an amazing portrait of Al Green—which is only being made available for one week only, is a spectacular image of Iggy lying prostrate among the audience at Ungano’s. You can purchase a print HERE.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cover of the short-lived Earth magazine.
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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04.03.2022
09:22 am
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‘Metallic KO’: The Stooges’ tumultuous, legendary final show like you’ve never heard it before
12.18.2020
07:50 am
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The Stooges
 
If you’re an Iggy and the Stooges fan, you’ve surely heard their infamous live album, Metallic KO (1976). But did you know that, due to a technical error, the record was issued at the wrong speed and was off pitch? It would be decades before anyone noticed and the blunder was righted, but the tapes of the two shows that were edited down for the LP didn’t receive the same treatment. That’s all changed, and for the first time the full recordings of both gigs, including the Stooges’ tumultuous final show, can be heard in all their speed-corrected glory.

In the spring of 1973, Columbia Records released Raw Power after a long delay. The album justly received critical acclaim, but failed to sell. Also during this period, Iggy and the Stooges were dropped by their management company, Main Man, so things were not looking good. In July, needing money to survive, the guys hit the road, touring heavily, leading to what turned out to be their final show in February. By then, the Stooges’ contract with Columbia had been terminated.
 
Cleveland
Getting near the end: Opening for Slade in Cleveland on January 18th, 1974.

During the February 9th, 1974 gig at the Michigan Palace in Detroit, the crowd threw all sorts of objects at the Stooges, including ice cubes, lit cigarettes, coins, beer bottles, light bulbs, and eggs, all the while egged on by a defiant Iggy. Pop, incidentally, was dressed in a leotard and wearing a shawl fashioned as a skirt. They closed with an X-rated version of “Louie Louie,” leaving the stage as projectiles continued to fly towards them.

A burnt-out Iggy would soon leave the group and the Stooges were no more.

Metallic KO contains two shows that took place at the Michigan Palace. Side A has three songs from an October 6th concert at the venue, with the remaining three on Side B from the riotous February 9th gig. Both were taped on a four-track cassette recorder by Michael Tipton, a fan and friend of bassist Ron Asheton. Ron had a copy of the last show, which guitarist James Williamson borrowed and got to British rock journalist Nick Kent, who in turn put in the hands of Marc Zermati of Skydog Records, a French label. Scott Thurston, who played piano for the Stooges in their waning days, was the source for the October 6th tape. Metallic KO was released by Skydog in September 1976, with Iggy’s nihilistic, taunting banter and the Stooges’ savage songs influencing the burgeoning British punk movement. Lester Bangs famously wrote, “Metallic KO is the only rock album I know where you can actually hear hurled beer bottles breaking against guitar strings.”

Continues after the jump…

READ ON
Posted by Bart Bealmear
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12.18.2020
07:50 am
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An incredible version of “Fun House” from the last gig the original Stooges ever played
07.24.2020
08:00 am
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Album cover
 
As we told you last month, Third Man Records is about to unleash the last show ever played by the original lineup of the Stooges. Live at Goose Lake: August 8th, 1970 will be released on LP and CD on August 8th, 50 years to the day the gig took place. Tapes labeled “Goose Lake” were recently discovered in a Michigan farmhouse, and it turns out they contained the legendary Stooges gig, which was a soundboard recording, to boot. Not only that, Live at Goose Lake shatters a widely held myth surrounding the show.

For years, Stooges frontman Iggy Pop has said that bassist Dave Alexander was fired following the Goose Lake Festival gig after he “froze” on stage and didn’t play a note, an account at least one other band member corroborated. As the story goes, Alexander was so nervous before the Stooges’ set—which would be in front a massive crowd of more than 200,000—that he got drunk, smoked a ton of hash, and snorted an unknown substance, rendering him incapacitated by showtime. Circulating video of a two-minute clip of the band playing “1970 (I Feel Alright),” seems to support this, since no bass can be heard, and there aren’t any clear shots of Alexander, as the footage is edited to largely focus on Iggy. Although Alexander is indeed missing in action for a good chunk of “1970,” he can be heard during the song on the Live at Goose Lake recording, and is audible on every track on the disc. Alexander’s instrument does come and go, though, so it’s possible he did stop playing now and then, and that’s what Iggy—himself out of his mind on drugs—noticed during the show.
 
Iggy 1
Photo: Charlie Auringer

At the time of the Goose Lake appearance, the Stooges’ second album, the indispensable Fun House, was about to come out. The band’s setlist mirrors the order of the LP, except “Down on the Street” and “Loose” are flipped (the record company suits thought the former was a stronger opener).
 
Poster
 
Dangerous Minds is thrilled to present an exclusive preview of Live at Goose Lake: August 8th, 1970, an absolutely incredible, mind-blowing version of “Fun House.” As on the Fun House LP, the group is joined by saxophonist Steve Mackay for the number, which, incidentally, begins with Dave Alexander’s bass line.

Hear the premiere, after the jump…

READ ON
Posted by Bart Bealmear
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07.24.2020
08:00 am
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Open Up and Bleed: WILD footage of Iggy & The Stooges performing ‘1970’ IN 1970!
06.17.2020
11:50 am
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There are many urban legends in rock and roll. One of them is that Stooges bassist Dave Alexander was fired after he showed up totally shitfaced for a gig at the massive Goose Lake rock festival in 1970. Alexander was alleged to have been too fucked up to stand, let alone play his instrument, so Iggy sacked him.

Sidestepping the matter of “wow, this dude was too messed up even for… the Stooges?”—did it really happen like that? Well, maybe not, according to an exciting new find coming to you soon from the heroic Third Man Records label:

The apocryphal tale of the Stooges performance at the Goose Lake festival has been told countless times over the past five decades. Bassist Dave Alexander, due to nerves or overindulgence or whatever you choose to fill in the blank, absolutely spaces in front of 200,000 attendees. He does not play a single note on stage. He is summarily fired by Iggy Pop immediately following the gig. Here starts the beginning of the end of the Stooges.

But what if that simply…wasn’t the case? What if you could prove otherwise? Well, it’d be the proto-punk equivalent of having an immediate, on-the-scene, man on the street report of all those folkies booing Dylan’s electric set at Newport in ‘65. Irrefutable evidence of what ACTUALLY went down.

Found buried in the basement of a Michigan farmhouse amongst other tasty analog artifacts of the same era, the 1/4” stereo two-track tape of the Stooges complete performance at Goose Lake on August 8th, 1970 is the Rosetta Stone for fans of this seminal band.

Not only is this the last ever performance of the original godhead Stooges line-up, but it is the ONLY known soundboard recording of said line-up. Playing the entirety of their canonical 1970 masterpiece Fun House, the sound, the performance, everything about this record is revelatory.

Would you believe that…Alexander actually DID play bass on this occasion? Or that, despite grievous failures on some songs, Alexander is damn solid on others? Especially on the bass-led songs “Dirt” and “Fun House”? Does Iggy provoke the crowd to tear down festival barriers? Did the powers that be pull the plug on the Stooges? So many questions are answered only to have more arise.

Released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the performance, Live at Goose Lake: August 8th, 1970, is the rare release that literally rewrites the history of these Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees.

A heavy drinker, Dave Alexander died at the young age of 27 in 1975. He was name-checked a few years later in Iggy’s spoken-word intro to The Idiot’s “Dum Dum Boys”:

“How ‘bout Dave? OD’d on alcohol.”

 

 
The Stooges: Live at Goose Lake: August 8th 1970 will be released on August 7th. Pre-order here from the Third Man online store.
 

Iggy and The Stooges at their most primal prime, taped at the Goose Lake music festival in Michigan in 1970.

Posted by Richard Metzger
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06.17.2020
11:50 am
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Ivan Kral told us what it was like to write, record and tour with Iggy Pop (R.I.P., Ivan)
02.05.2020
07:13 pm
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Ivan and Iggy, 1979
Ivan and Iggy, 1979 (courtesy of Ivan Kral).

Sunday evening, I was saddened to learn that Ivan Kral had passed away earlier in the day. In 2015, I first made contact with Ivan, hoping he’d be willing to be interviewed about his time working with Iggy Pop. Thankfully, he was, and the result was the article we are re-posting today as a tribute. In 2016, after David Bowie’s death, Ivan got back in touch, wanting to share his memories of a 1979 evening spent hanging out with Bowie and Iggy, which we were, of course, willing to facilitate. Read that piece here.

Condolences to Ivan’s wife, Cindy.

*****

Ivan Kral sure has led an interesting life. The Prague-born songwriter and musician had his first brush with fame at the age of sixteen when a track by his band Saze broke the top ten in Czechoslovakia. But just as the song was breaking, his family relocated to New York City. In the early ‘70s, Ivan played in glam bands and, for a brief period, was part of Shaun Cassidy’s backing group. In 1974, he played guitar with an embryonic version of Blondie before joining the Patti Smith Group. As part of Smith’s unit, Ivan played guitar, bass and keyboards, appearing on all of her early records (including the seminal Horses), and was involved in writing a number of her songs (he co-wrote “Dancing Barefoot” one of Smith’s pivotal tunes). He’s also a documentarian, having had the foresight to capture Iggy and the Stooges on film, as well as the burgeoning punk scene happening at CBGB’s in the mid-‘70s, which became the documentary, The Blank Generation.
 
The Patti Smith Group, 1975
Ivan, center, with the Patti Smith Group, 1975.

The Patti Smith Group ended in 1979 when Smith began her self-imposed retirement, which left Ivan looking for a gig. He hooked up with Iggy Pop in time to play on the Ig’s 1980 album, Soldier, and subsequently became Iggy’s right-hand man, touring and writing a number of songs with the Godfather of Punk. Eight of those co-writes appeared on Party (1981), and while Ivan came up with some catchy and interesting tunes, Iggy’s lyrics often left much to be desired, and the production generally felt lifeless. If you’re in the mood for it, Party has its fair share of goofy charm, but it’s hard to imagine it appealing to fans, critics, or the general public at that time—and it ultimately didn’t. Party was a disappointment both critically and commercially, with Ivan quitting Iggy’s band before the year was out.
 
Party
 
Ivan is a rock star in his native land (there’s even a mid-‘90s Czech TV documentary about him, with another in the works), and has released ten solo records in the Czech Republic; the most recent is called Always. For some time now he has resided in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which is somewhat ironic, as the college town is also the birthplace of the Stooges.

The following interview was conducted via email. A big THANKS to Ivan for letting us use some photos from his personal archive.

How did you meet Iggy?:

Ivan: There was an unknown blonde guy in a yoga pose—naked in my living room. He gets up, extends a hand and says, “I’m Iggy Pop and I’m producing your next album,” for Luger, my 1973 glam band. I was thinking, “Yeah sure, he’s just another nobody with big plans.” After I saw the Stooges I realized that I was the nobody with big plans.

So, I went to The Stooges show at the Academy of Music in New York City. He owned the crowd. Fans were begging to be humiliated by him. He’d spit and they’d thank him. Never saw anything like it. I was filming with my “movie camera” (no sound) anticipating his next move so I wouldn’t waste film. Every second counted. I’ve posted a few clips on YouTube.

What were the Party sessions like?:

Ivan: Fun! Torture! We were joking a lot, and I can still smell his pot from the Record Plant. At first, Jim [Iggy] didn’t want to be there. So I was in the studio recording the basics thinking, “Oh, this is going to be a great record”. Then he does his vocals and completely changes the lyrics. On one batch of lyrics he kept singing “I hear a sheep bleed.” English isn’t my first language so I asked him what it meant. He got very serious, into teacher mode, sits me down and starts explaining to me that it’s “sheep bleat” not “sheep bleed.” Then he quizzed me on it! I still haven’t heard anyone ever say it. The sessions were mostly a blast, but a few times I got put in my place.
 
Iggy and Ivan on stage
 
“Eggs on Plate” is a really interesting track that is a lot different than the other material on Party. How did that song come to be?:

Ivan: I originally wrote it for Mick Ronson as a completely different kind of song. Just a simple riff, no melody. It wasn’t cool enough so Jim turned it into a launch-pad to get creative. We were singing vocal backgrounds and rolling on the studio floor, hysterical. The producer was mad as hell, yelling “This is enough!”
 

 
Iggy fans seem to have mixed feelings about Party. What do you think of the album, 30-plus years later?:

Ivan: Well, who else can say they wrote Iggy’s worst album? It became his joke album. I didn’t know he had a personal vendetta against the record company and intended on recording a lousy album. I wasted all that time trying to write great songs, but he wanted the opposite. So, I don’t know if that’s a compliment or not. However, “Pumpin’ for Jill” and “Bang Bang” get licensed often, so it can’t be too bad. Most recently “Bang Bang” was on a TV show called State of Affairs.
 
Bang Bang
 
What was it like to get the news that David Bowie had covered “Bang Bang” on his 1987 album, Never Let Me Down?:

Ivan: Unbelievable. I saw Bowie’s Glass Spider gig at the Meadowlands and was blown away when he performed “Bang Bang.” Such a thrill to see choreography and production on some little song I just whipped up out of boredom one night. I needed the income then, so it was a blessing on many levels. Thank you, David.

Years ago, while reading the Iggy biography, The Wild One, I learned you wrote a lot of material with Pop. A couple of outtakes have been released over the years. Is there a chance we will hear more someday?:

Ivan: Oh, I think I remember that book because Jim was mad at me about something in it. Anyway, I have cassettes of some great unreleased stuff we wrote in my apartment between 1979 and 1981. One song is so sentimental. He has a sweet side and it shines through all that blood, guts and cocaine.
 
I'm Not Ivan Kral
Iggy and unidentified in Chicago, 1980 (courtesy of Ivan Kral).
 
One of the unreleased tunes that has seen the light of a day is a punky number called “Puppet World”—such a fun song! It’s a shame it didn’t end up on Party.:

Ivan: Someone just recently told me that she plays “Puppet World” when she wants to get out of a bad mood. You can’t help but love that.
 

 
In 1983, Iggy stepped away from the music business for a couple of years, and the early ‘80s are now seen as a dark period for him. What was it like working with him during that time?:

Ivan: His system was conditioned to handle large amounts of drugs and alcohol. Then he’d sweat it out while performing. It’d just evaporate. That was okay, but then there were times when he got scary and mean. I worried about him and dragged him to the doctor when we returned to New York. I wanted him to clean up, but I think he resented my good intentions.
 
Iggy
 
What are up to currently and what are your future plans?:

Ivan: My new European album has a few tunes that sound like old Stones. Some songs have that Detroit sound and were recorded with Tino Gross at his Funky D studio [in Royal Oak, Michigan]. I’ll be gigging in the fall. Until then, I continue writing with my lyricist for visual media, and even some classical stuff. I like it all.
 
Ivan Kral
 
A live video of Iggy playing one of the unreleased tunes you wrote with him, “Don’t Put the Brakes on Tonight” (which includes the “sheep bleat” lyric), recently appeared on YouTube. Have any memories associated with this song?:

Ivan: The record company “installed” us at the Iroquois Hotel for four weeks and basically said “don’t come out until you have an album of hits.” I think that was one of the first ones.

You can be seen playing guitar in the video of “Brakes,” which was filmed in Oakland on Halloween in 1980. Recall anything special about that night?:

Ivan: If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you.
 

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
A night spent hanging out with David Bowie and Iggy Pop: Ivan Kral tells us what it was like

Posted by Bart Bealmear
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02.05.2020
07:13 pm
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Get down with Iggy Pop’s high school band The Iguanas
10.22.2019
10:42 am
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A vintage business card for The Iguanas.
 
Iggy Pop was only sixteen years old when he became the drummer of teenage band The Iguanas in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Jimmy Osterberg starting playing the drums in his middle school marching band. His pal Jim McLaughlin was also in the marching band and would soon purchase his first guitar, while Jimmy would acquire a small drum kit. Jim’s parents, James Osterberg and Louella Christensen were so supportive of their son’s desire to play music that they vacated the master bedroom in the family’s small trailer home to make room for his kit. Later, Iggy and McLaughlin would form the band Megaton Two, named by Iggy because, in his words, he’s always been into “naming stuff.” Megaton Two would play their first “gig” at Tappan Middle School in Ann Arbor performing two songs, “Let There Be Drums,” a drum and surf guitar duel by Sandy Nelson (1961); and an original guitar jam written by both McLaughlin and Osterberg, which apparently electrified its youthful audience so much that Osterberg and McLaughlin suddenly became much more popular in school, especially with the girls. Which is pretty much why every guy starts a band in the first place, isn’t it?

In high school, Osterberg and McLaughlin would team up with three more aspiring musicians, guitarist Nick Kolokithas, bassist Don Swickerath, and sax player Sam Swisher. In the summer of 1965 the group would soon become one of the house bands at the drug and alcohol-free teen mecca Club Ponytail on Pleasantview Road in Harbor Springs. In its past life, The Ponytail (or as the kids called it “the Tail”), was once a speakeasy and casino inhabited by gangsters during prohibition, filled with fake walls, hidden tunnels and rooms in the event patrons needed to make a quick getaway.

The Iguanas made $55 a night opening shows for The Four Tops, The Guess Who, and the Shangri-Las. Not too shabby for a bunch of high school kids who were now the talk of the town in Harbor Springs, as was Iggy’s hand-made towering drum riser. The Iguanas would record a cover of Bo Diddley’s 1957 single “Mona,” releasing it on their own label, Forte Records. During their time together, they also recorded an original song written by Osterberg called “Again and Again.” Around this time, Iggy would get a job at Discount Records managed by Hugh “Jeep” Holland, the founder of the A-Square Record label in Ann Arbor. Holland was also the manager of The Iguanas’ high school rivals, The Rationals. It would be Holland who would first start calling Jimmy Osterberg “Iguana” while the two were working together at the store. Not so coincidentally, Discount Records was the frequent haunt of Ron and Scott Asheton, who both got to know Iggy while they were loitering outside the store. Here’s more from Iggy on his time at Discount Records:

“I got my name, my musical education, and my personality, all from working at a record store during my tender years. In the ’50s and ’60s, the teen kids used to gather after school at these places to listen free to the latest singles and see if they liked the beat.”

Not long after that magical summer in Harbor Springs, Iggy would start to push boundaries with his appearance. He let his hair grow long and then colored it platinum blonde. He got into trouble with the law and was no longer welcome at Club Ponytail. As 1965 came to an end, so did Osterberg’s timekeeping with The Iguanas, and he got with the Prime Movers where he would officially drop his original first name and adopt a new one—Iggy.

Continues after the jump…

READ ON
Posted by Cherrybomb
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10.22.2019
10:42 am
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Footage of Iggy Pop, Grace Jones, & a yodeling Brian Eno on Dutch television in the 70s & 80s


An ad for Dutch music television show ‘TopPop.’
 
After launching in September of 1970, the music television show TopPop, the Dutch response to Top of the Pops, would give the British show a run for their money by providing bands, musicians, and performers a venue to creatively mime for their lives every week. During its eighteen-year run, the show hosted pretty much every band and musician known to man and a fair share of Nederpop (a word coined to describe the pop scene in the Netherlands). Loads of them such as Slade, David Bowie, Queen, Debbie Harry and Blondie appeared on the show multiple times. Many acts also filmed exclusive video content for the program, especially during the 1970s as promotional video material was not yet a regular industry practice. If for some reason a musical act wasn’t able to make it to the Netherlands, the show had a secret weapon—Dutch ballerina and choreographer Penny de Jager. The gorgeous de Jager and her ballet troupe went all out when the opportunity presented itself, such as her Aladdin-themed dance-off to Queen’s “Someone to Love,” or turning the TopPop studio into the Dutch version of Soul Train for the Commodores soul standard, “Brick House.” There are a few instances of TopPop traveling to film their guests like heartthrob David Cassidy, who the show shot on the grass at the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. Then, in 1974, TopPop packed their bags and flew to Los Angeles to film Barry White at his home.
 

A photo of Brian Eno from his appearance on ‘TopPop’ in 1977.
 
TopPop stands out in the vast sea of music-oriented television programming thanks to their creative presentation of their guests’ performances. This included various mind-enhancing stage designs, optical effects, or perhaps mini-narratives in a vein that would later become the norm on MTV. I can personally tell you that your life is not complete unless you have seen Brian Eno yodeling while he falls through a backdrop of trippy 70s-style effects. And, since I’m a special kind of Black Sabbath geek, one of their more infamous TV performances was filmed for TopPop, a fantastic black and white video of the band grinding out “Paranoid” while some sort of bizarre motorized art project spins behind them. Sure the bands were lipsynching, but that didn’t have to mean it had to look dull. 

Iggy Pop was another of TopPop‘s regulars, and you’ve probably heard about him trashing TopPop‘s studio during what was supposed to be his lipsynched performance of “Lust for Life.” This would be one of many times Iggy would appear on TopPop seemingly with no other goal but to fuck everybody’s mind up. Following Iggy’s unhinged destruction of the studio, Dutch journalist and TopPop contributor Mick Boskamp interviewed Iggy, perhaps for damage control purposes, asking him if he rehearses his “acts” or do they come to him “spontaneously”? Iggy replied that trashing a European television studio wasn’t something he would rehearse because it was just not something he “does.” “I just come in and do it.” Which accurately sums up his unhinged ambush of TopPop‘s defenseless studio. 

There are over 3000 videos from TopPop on their YouTube channel, so feel free to use the rest of your lifetime digging through the Dutch treats it contains. A few of my personal favorites are posted below.  
 

Brian Eno doing “Seven Deadly Finns” on ‘TopPop.’
 

One of Iggy Pop’s gonzo performances of “Lust for Life” taped for ‘TopPop’ during which he destroys a chair in 1977.
 
Much more after the jump…

READ ON
Posted by Cherrybomb
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08.13.2019
02:32 pm
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Iggy Pop and David Bowie: Their final times on stage together
06.05.2019
11:02 am
Topics:
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China Club 1
 
In 2017, we told you about the time when David Bowie was in Iggy Pop’s band, specifically the final concert of The Idiot tour. But that’s not the last time Bowie and Pop performed together in public—there would be two additional times. Both moments had the element of surprise.

During the 1979 recording sessions for Iggy Pop’s album Soldier, David Bowie dropped by the studio. Initially there just to offer his moral support, he ended up co-writing the song “Play It Safe,” and singing backing vocals on the track. Iggy’s spring 1980 European tour in support of Soldier included an April 27 club show at the Metropol in Berlin. The city had been the stomping grounds of Iggy and Bowie for a couple of years; the two shared a Berlin apartment, and embraced the city’s culture, frequently attending area bars and nightclubs, as well as art shows and museums. It was an intense period of creativity for them, with Pop’s The Idiot and Lust For Life (both with significant contributions from Bowie), and DB’s Low and “Heroes”, all coming out in a single calendar year (1977).
 
Berlin 1976
David Bowie and Iggy Pop in Berlin, 1976.

In April 1980, Bowie traveled to London to finish up Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps). Knowing Iggy was in Berlin, Bowie then made his way to visit his friend and colleague. During Iggy’s set at the Metropol, Bowie stunned everyone by jumping on stage to play keyboards, sitting in for two songs.
 
Berlin 1980 1
 
Berlin 1980 2
 
More after the jump…

READ ON
Posted by Bart Bealmear
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06.05.2019
11:02 am
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Leper Messiah: Dig this new sculpture of Iggy Pop’s most iconic pose
03.29.2019
11:03 am
Topics:
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“Iggy Pop 1970”
 
A new company called Wax Face Toys is launching with a remarkable figurine of Iggy Pop. Wax Face make licensed figures in resin and vinyl featuring cult heroes from the world of music and film. The Iggy figurine was sculpted in London by former Madame Tussauds artists and measures 15.7 inches (40 centimeters). It is based on the well-known photograph taken by Thomas Copi of the Stooges performing at the Cincinnati Summer Pop Festival of 1970. There was a previous Iggy sculpt that was sold via the now defunct Toys ‘R Us website, and although it was done well, it depicted Iggy in his 60s, not his youthful, out-of-his-mind prime. The Iggy depicted here is 23 and obviously full of piss, vinegar and other assorted psychoactive snacks.

There’s an interesting history behind Iggy’s iconic pose:

The Cincinnati music festival—which also included Alice Cooper, Traffic, Mountain, Grand Funk Railroad, Mott the Hoople, Ten Years After, Bob Seger, Tommy Bolin’s band Zephyr and several other acts—took place on June 13th, 1970 at Crosley Field the soon-to-be former home of the Cincinnati Reds. (The Reds would play just a few more games there before moving on to Riverfront Stadium, probably the only reason why the promoters were allowed to hold the event there.)

The leaflet for the event read:

‘Bring blankets, pillows, watermelon, incense, ozone rice, your old lady, babies, and other assorted goodies and do your own thing’

Hippie-flippy and trippy, my finger-poppin’ daddio, but unfortunately a small number of the audience decided to get drunk and break shit, causing over $6000 of damages to the baseball diamond. It was Cincinnati after all!

The festival was shot with three video cameras and cut live like a sporting event with play-by-play commentary. It was later edited down to a 90-minute program titled Midsummer Rock that was broadcast on local television station WLWT and syndicated elsewhere. The producers felt they could tap into the same sort of counterculture youth market as the Woodstock film (which was actually playing in Cincinnati movie theaters the week of the festival) except for television, so they brought in 58-year-old Jack Lescoulie, a square announcer from The Today Show, to make it all seem a little less scary for TV audiences.
 

 
I’m not altogether sure how successful they were with that. Iggy—in what is perhaps the only extant sync-sound footage of the original Stooges—was clearly pumped full of drugs. LOTS of drugs. He paces the stage shirtless, seething, frantic, with silver gloves and a leather collar, like a big cat on meth. He jumps into the audience several times before convincing audience members to hold him aloft as he walks across their hands like he’s Jesus Christ walking on water. You can actually see the moment when Copi got his shot when a bright flash goes off precisely at the right moment. Then all of a sudden Iggy has a large tub of peanut butter that he smears all over himself and gleefully throws into the audience. It’s one of the great rock and roll moments.

Years later Stiv Bators of the Dead Boys took credit for bringing the tub of peanut butter from his parents’ house in nearby Dayton and putting it directly into the Iggster’s hands, knowing fully well what he would do with it. You can hear Jack Lescoulie’s startled reaction to what’s going: “That’s… peanut butter!” he says.

The black resin Iggy figure will be available to purchase from 11AM EST on Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019 online at www.waxface.com. The price is $199 + postage and handling. Orders will ship in June.
 

 
More after the jump…

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Posted by Richard Metzger
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03.29.2019
11:03 am
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That time Elton John crashed a Stooges show wearing a gorilla outfit
03.06.2019
08:19 am
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You don’t normally think of Elton John and Iggy Pop together, but the two highly expressive musicians do know each other and did enjoy at least one noteworthy incident, when Elton pranked the Stooges by dressing up as a gorilla and interrupting a gig halfway through, without any prior notice. Remarkably, the prank came about as part of what seems to have been a serious bid to sign the Stooges to Elton’s Rocket label, which ultimately proved unsuccessful.

The year was 1973. The venue, Richard’s Club, in Atlanta, Georgia. According to diehard Stooges fans Per Nilsen and Jim Lahde, in mid-October 1973 the Stooges played Richard’s on several dates over the course of about a week—it’s worth noting that the energetic Stooges were playing two shows a day during this stretch! Elton was in the middle of his own rather more remunerative U.S. tour at the same time. On October 19 Elton John played the Georgia Coliseum in Athens, Georgia, but that show actually occurred a few days after the Stooges were done in Atlanta. It seems likely that Elton flew in on a free day expressly to prank the Stooges.

The legendary Detroit-based magazine Creem seems to have been involved with the prank on some level, and the whole thing appears to have been at least partly motivated by a desire on the part of Elton to sign the Stooges to his label, the Rocket Record Company, the lineup of which featured Cliff Richard, Neil Sedaka, Colin Blunstone of the Zombies, and the Dutch band Solution.

There’s been plenty written about this so I’ll turn the topic over to the more accredited chroniclers.

Let’s start with Paul Trynka, whose Iggy Pop: Open Up and Bleed tells the story as follows:
 

Several of the band’s fans, including Ben Edmonds of Creem, conspired to raise their morale with endorsement by Elton John. Elton was sweeping across United States on a hugely successful stadium tour that significantly outgrossed the performances by his friend and rival David Bowie, with whom Elton was engaged in semi-friendly sniping. Elton decided to signal his support for the Stooges, plus his own general zaniness, by renting a gorilla suit and planning a one-ape stage invasion during the Stooges’ stint.

Creem had prepared a photographer for the stunt. Unfortunately no one had prepared Iggy. Indeed, the previous night he had disappeared off with the usual local “Rich Bitch,” to use the Stooges’ term of endearment. Early in the morning she brought him back to the band’s hotel unconscious; she’d gobbled down her entire supply of Quaaludes. Scott Asheton and a friend of the band, Doug Currie, were called to lift his dead weight out of her Corvette; carrying him into the hotel, they dropped him and were overcome with a giggling fit, seeing him peacefully sleeping, sprawled over a spiky Mediterranean bush.

Jim was still hardly conscious that evening when Doug and Scotty carried him into the club (“God knows what the poor club owner thought!” laughs Currie), and after a quick discussion of what to do, Doug announced that he had some speed. James Williamson managed to find a syringe, and they duly shot their singer full of methamphetamine sulphate in order to get him onto his feet.

Unsurprisingly, during the performance for which Elton had planned his jolly jape, Iggy was “unusually stoned to the point of being barely ambulatory, so it scared the hell out of me,” he says. For a couple of seconds, as Elton emerged from the wings in his gorilla suit, Iggy thought he was hallucinating, or else a real gorilla was raiding the stage. The Creem photograph documenting the event is hilarious, showing James Williamson transfixing the uppity ape with a malevolent glare that signals, he says, his intent to “take him out. He lucked out, because he was smart enough to take his head off to let people know who he was, just in time.”

Once Elton had discarded the ape mask and revealed his cheery face, Iggy realized what was happening, and he danced around with the fur-clad Elton for a song or so. The event was duly plugged in Creem, with Iggy telling the magazine “Elton’s a swell guy.” (Off the record, he would tell people that Elton only pulled the stunt because he wanted to get in tough-guy guitarist James Williamson’s pants.) Yet, although there would be ongoing discussions with Elton’s manager John Reid, and his record imprint, Rocket, the encounter failed to lift the Stooges’ spirits, and soon the band was becoming more obviously frazzled.

 
Here’s the picture of the moment, as it appeared in Creem just a few weeks later:

 

 

This next bit comes from Gimme Danger: The Story of Iggy Pop, by Joe Ambrose:

 

At a Stooges show in Atlanta, Elton John showed up with his pop star retinue, commandeered The Stooges dressing room, and walked on stage wearing a gorilla suit. Iggy was in pretty bad shape when Elton chose to join him. He’d spent the previous night taking a mountain of downers and sleeping in the shrubbery. When he woke up in the bushes he couldn’t speak a word. “A doctor had to shoot me full of methedrine just so I could talk,” he said. “I was seeing triple and had to hold on to the microphone stand to support myself. Suddenly this gorilla walks out from backstage and holds me up in the air while I’m still singing. I was out of my mind with fear. I thought it was a real gorilla.”

Chris Ehring: “I went back to the dressing room when someone tried to physically stop me. I said, ‘This is our dressing room!’ Someone from the club said, ‘Elton John is in there.’ ‘Big fucking deal! What’s he doing in there?’ I go in and there’s Elton John getting into a gorilla outfit. ‘He’s going to go up on stage and sing with Iggy.’ I just laughed. ‘Fine. Maybe I should warn the boys?’ ‘Oh, no, she wants it to be a surprise. He wants to come out during ‘Search and Destroy’. He was supposed to scare Iggy! Scare Iggy in this gorilla suit? ‘You don’t seem to understand what these guys are about. They are from Detroit. They’re not going to let you up on the stage!’ Moments later, out of the dressing room comes Elton dressed as a gorilla, and he goes up on the stage. The band all look at him. ‘Who is this?’ James looks at me and shrugs his shoulders. Iggy looks over and walks away. The gorilla starts chasing him, pushing him away. It’s really bad.”

“Elton’s a swell guy,” gushed Iggy after the incident. “Be nice to see this mutual admiration turn into something more concrete,” said Creem.

After the performance out and told Creem: “I simply can’t understand why he’s not a huge star.”

Continues after the jump…

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Posted by Martin Schneider
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03.06.2019
08:19 am
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Why Iggy Pop’s guest role on ‘Miami Vice’ never aired
01.18.2019
09:29 am
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Iggy and dominatrix 1
 
Mid-1983 through 1985 are considered Iggy Pop’s “quiet years,” but he was still active and looking for ways to challenge himself. Acting was one such endeavor, with Pop taking classes and auditioning for various roles. This included a 1984 tryout for a part on a new NBC program, Miami Vice. During a 1986 newspaper interview, casting director Bonnie Timmermann talked about Iggy’s audition for the show.

He came in with his big eyes and black hair and sat and stared at me. Despite his reputation as a wild man, he was gentle. I immediately liked him. Iggy came in for a biker role, but we ended up giving him another part.

The Ig was slated to play opposite fellow Michigander Glenn Frey in a February 1st, 1985 episode named after Frey’s song, “Smuggler’s Blues.” But Pop didn’t turn up on set, and his absence was widely reported in the press. “He was supposed to be in the show. We announced it,” said an NBC spokesperson in January 1985. “But when it came time to make the arrangements, we couldn’t find him.” It seemed Iggy had simply flaked.
 
Iggy clipping 1
 
But that wasn’t the case. When Iggy saw a February 1985 article in the San Francisco Examiner about his “no show,” he was stunned. He never knew he had been given the part.
 
Iggy clipping 2
 
Miami Vice must have accepted this explanation, as Iggy was cast in another season one episode, entitled “Evan.” Pop’s part was that of a police informant named Thumper, a proprietor of a S&M-themed club. A scene was shot in the club’s setting, and Iggy’s guest role was noted in newspapers, but when the episode aired on May 3rd, 1985, the Ig was nowhere to be seen.
 
Iggy and Don
A publicity photo of Iggy Pop and ‘Miami Vice’ star, Don Johnson.

So, what happened with Iggy and the show this time?

This scene was cut by NBC Censors (Broadcast Standards Division) due to its S&M content. Camille Sands, an actress who had the small part of a dominatrix called Velvet, remembered later that the scene contained a customer of the S&M studio being molested on a torture rack while Don Johnson talked to Iggy Pop. The urge of NBC to cut this out led to the first serious argument with the Miami Vice producers, who refused to alter the episode. Subsequently, NBC used its contractual right of final cut, and cut the whole scene. (from the Unofficial ‘Miami Vice’ Episode Guide)

What would have been Iggy Pop’s dramatic television debut remains unseen to this day. All we have are a handful of publicity photos and snapshots taken on set.
 
Iggy as Thumper
 
Iggy and dominatrix 2
 
Continues after the jump…

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Posted by Bart Bealmear
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01.18.2019
09:29 am
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The crazy night Iggy Pop, Blue Öyster Cult, & KISS shared the same stage on New Year’s Eve in 1973


Iggy Pop making sure the stage doesn’t go anywhere at the Academy of Music on New Year’s Eve, 1973.
 
Before we delve too deep into what went down on Monday, December 31st, 1973 at the Academy of Music in New York City, there are a few essential things you should know about the show which almost didn’t include KISS. If you’re now shaking your head because the idea the audience in attendance that night would have been better off without seeing KISS, well, you’re entitled to that opinion. However, the fact of the matter is the show at the Academy of Music would mark KISS’s official “industry debut” and the first time they had played for a big crowd. It would also be the first of many times Gene Simmons would accidentally light his hair on fire while spitting fire on stage.

Until the day of the show, none of the other bands knew KISS would be playing with them that night. Initially, when ads for the show started popping up in the Village Voice, Iggy Pop & The Stooges were billed as the “special guest stars” of Blue Öyster Cult. This would change a few weeks later when New York all-girl band Isis was added to the roster, only to be dropped shortly after and replaced with another New York band, Teenage Lust. Still, there was no mention of KISS being a part of the fast-selling show, though their management team was busy creating the early image of KISS which would open the gig that night. In the book, KISS: Behind the Mask—Official Authorized Biography, KISS co-manager at the time Joyce Bogart and her then-husband, Neil Bogart (Bogart had just signed the band to his new label, Casablanca Records) were out raiding stores in the West Village such as sex shop the Pleasure Chest to find spiked dog collars for the band to wear onstage. They also hired a fashion designer to help create the leather clothing KISS would wear as conceived by the band, the Bogarts and KISS’s manager Bill Aucoin.

Now, let’s get to how things went down the night of the gig, starting with Iggy and The Stooges.

The Stooges had been touring non-stop in support of Raw Power since the end of March, almost always kicking off their set with the defiant song named for the album. As it was New Year’s Eve, people were dressed to impress—and for Iggy, this meant a pair of colorful hot pants and black knee-high boots.

Guitarist Ron Asheton hit the stage decked out in a questionable looking uniform. He opened the show by greeting the crowd in German—wishing them a Happy New Year. (Asheton, a fan of WWII collectibles, wore a Nazi Luftwaffe fighter pilot’s jacket (as the best man) to Iggy’s wedding to Wendy Weissberg, daughter of The Stooges’ Jewish manager). In their review of the show, Variety magazine had this to say:

“Iggy entered clad only in pink tie-dyed trunks and black boots. He gyrated, insinuated and sang up a storm.”

Other reports from the show note Iggy seemed to be especially slurry, and Melody Maker’s review of the night shaded Iggy calling his vocals “unintelligible.” At one point during the show, while introducing the band, Iggy rambled about having spent a week in San Francisco with a Transylvanian masseuse. Perhaps this is why, about half-way through the gig, Iggy ended up roaming around the crowd in front, thrusting his microphone in fans faces so they could sing the lyrics for him. According to one fan who was there that night, Iggy ended up getting thrown back onstage because he couldn’t figure out any other way to get back on it. If this wasn’t bad enough, rumors were circulating before the show that Iggy was going to off himself on stage at Madison Square Garden for a million dollars which had been offered to him by a local NY promoter. The notion of Iggy’s upcoming suicide-on-stage was disputed by Andy Warhol, but only because Andy was sure Iggy was going to do it at the Academy show on New Year’s Eve (noted in the 2009 book Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell: The Dangerous Glitter of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Lou Reed). We all know Iggy didn’t off himself at the Academy of Music in 1973, but as far as the band’s record label Columbia was concerned, Iggy’s “performance” did kill their relationship with the band because the recording of the show was so off the rails they were not able to release it as a live album.

Very little footage of The Stooges antics from that night exists except for footage shot by Pop’s pal and future member of Patti Smith’s band (among many other things), Ivan Kral who was there with his Super 8 camera. Unfortunately, according to Kral, when the band kicked into “Raw Power” the crowd rushed the stage, and he and his camera ended up on the floor (which was covered in broken glass), trampled by unphased Stooges fans. After all this madness, it was finally time for BÖC, the headliners for this nutty night of New Year’s Eve rock and roll revelry, to take over.
 

A print ad for the New Year’s Eve show at the Academy of Music in 1973. The addition of a second 11:30 p.m. late show was short-lived and never happened.
 
Like The Stooges, Blue Öyster Cult had released a new album in February—their second, the rather mysterious Tyranny and Mutation, with a little lyrical help from Patti Smith who was in a romantic relationship with BÖC co-founder Allen Lanier. Guitarist Buck Dharma was excited to play the venue saying that when you got to play the Academy, you realized you had a “certain draw of power there.” As you might imagine, by the time BÖC was ready to play, the crowd had seen a lot of crazy shit go down. Show supporters Teenage Lust didn’t even want to go on after KISS after seeing their set open with pyrotechnics and a massive Las Vegas-style sign displaying their name. According to Harold C. Black of Teenage Lust, the first words out of his mouth were, “OH FUCK,” after coming to terms with what he had just seen. But, BÖC had some wild plans of their own for their set and weren’t about to give the night up to KISS.

Presumably, after dining at Lüchow’s, a popular German restaurant near the Academy, BÖC asked the oom-pah band at the joint to join them onstage that night, which they did. Next, vocalist Eric Bloom rode a motorcycle out on stage and proceeded to make good on a promise to shave his beard in front of the audience. Lastly, a guy named Karl Burke, who happened to be working the backstage for the Academy that night, ended up standing by Buck Dharma when KISS came off the stage. As they passed by, Burke “chuckled” to which Dharma responded that he shouldn’t laugh because BÖC would probably be “opening for them soon.” Two years later to the date, Dharma’s vision of the future would turn out to be correct as BÖC opened for KISS at the Nassau County Veteran’s Coliseum in New York during the Alive! Tour. So what about the crowd’s reception to KISS, a band nobody in the venue had necessarily come to see that night?

KISS was added to the bill at the urging of Bill Aucoin and management types at Warner Brothers. However, for the show, the WB suits asked Aucoin to have KISS “take off their makeup” because they “didn’t believe in it.” Aucoin and the band told Warner Brothers to suck it and the makeup stayed on. After seeing KISS’s candle-lit set, Stooge James Williamson said he “didn’t really care” about them. His bandmate Scott Asheton disagreed, calling the band “pure entertainers who took no prisoners.” Melody Maker would refer to KISS as a “local glitter band” in their review, which appeared to be “cashing in” on the popularity of glam rock. The review in Melody Maker also reveals more details of Simmons’ accidental hair fire, sending a member of the audience to the hospital with burns on his head and face. To be fair to Simmons, he hadn’t really wanted to be the one to learn how to breathe/spit fire on stage and had volunteered by mistake. To help Simmons, Bill Aucoin, along with Neil and Joyce Bogart, brought in a local magician named Presto to teach Gene how to breathe fire (also noted in the KISS: Behind the Mask bio). His first attempt took place in Joyce’s office during which Simmons’ enthusiastic fire-spitting/breathing scorched her newly painted walls. 

In their review of the show, Variety called KISS “ghoulish” giving them a rating of four out of ten. Though Variety wasn’t impressed by KISS, pretty much everyone one else at the show was, many of whom had no fucking idea who KISS was before that night. KISS brought something very different to the Academy during their historic 30-minute set, and it wouldn’t be long, as Buck Dharma predicted, before KISS would take over the world.

Below are loads of photos taken at the show, as well as some footage of The Stooges set shot by Ivan Kral, who, along with his camera, survived the night with only a few cuts and bloody footprints on his jacket.
 

An image of the all-girl New York band, Isis from the back of their 1974 debut album, nude, covered in metallic body paint on the front and back cover. Isis were originally on the bill, but suddenly taken off for unknown reasons.
 

New York band Teenage Lust which had the misfortune of following KISS.
 

The Academy of Music’s marquee advertising the show, before the last-minute addition of KISS the day of the show.
 
More after the jump…

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Posted by Cherrybomb
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12.31.2018
01:25 pm
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‘I fucking hate you!’: Iggy Pop goes apeshit during combative (and amazing) 2003 Stooges show
10.11.2018
08:49 am
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Handbill
 
On April 27th, 2003, a reunited Stooges played at Coachella, marking the first time in nearly 30 years Iggy Pop had performed with the Asheton brothers. It went so well that what was supposed to be a one-off gig turned out to be just the beginning. For the next five-plus years, the Stooges toured the world over, playing in front of adoring crowds—for the most part. Six months after the Coachella date, the band had another festival appearance, but instead of encountering their usual audience—fans thrilled to be seeing the Stooges—the group was met with indifference and hostility. This REALLY pissed off Iggy, and brought out the fighting spirit in him. The Stooges’ set that evening recalled the confrontational shows of the past, and turned out to be one of the most memorable gigs this version of the band ever did.

In 2003, the annual Voodoo Music Experience festival was held at City Park in New Orleans from October 31st-November 2nd. The lineup was a mix of jam bands, rap acts, and groups that were popular on mainstream rock radio at the time. Plus, the Stooges.
 
Stooges
 
The Stooges’ November 1st performance was scheduled between nu metal band Staind and the headlining act, Marilyn Manson. At the conclusion of Staind’s set, a good chunk of the young crowd—who we have to presume had never heard of the Stooges—left to check out another one of the fest’s stages, while most of those that remained were there to hold their ground for Marilyn Manson. When an MC came out and hyped the upcoming Stooges set, there was faint applause, but the kids went crazy when he mentioned Marilyn Manson.

The Stooges hit the stage at 8:15 pm.
 
Stooges 1
A photo taken by one of the few Stooges fans in attendance.

The first song is their usual set opener, “Loose,” from the second Stooges album, Fun House—one of the greatest records EVER MADE—and the crowd just stands and stares. Iggy immediately recognizes that the audience doesn’t care, and he becomes combative. Throughout the show, Pop hurls a range of insults at the apathetic kids—including a guy he can clearly see is yawning. The best put-down of the night: “You suck like the bands you like.” But there are moments when Iggy’s doing his best to stay positive; at one point, he invites the audience to come on stage, though just one dude takes him up on it. Other times, as he unleashes on the dum dums in attendance, the Ig’s rage is palpable.
 
Stooges 2
 
It turned out to be a fantastic performance, despite—no, scratch that—*because* of the aloof crowd, which spurred the band on. It’s the closest a reunited Stooges would ever get to the days of Metallic KO.
 
Continues after the jump…

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Posted by Bart Bealmear
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10.11.2018
08:49 am
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A merry Iggy Pop talks drugs, blood, and Bowie in obscure 1980s TV profile
07.31.2018
08:08 am
Topics:
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Poster
 
The other day I came across an entertaining Iggy TV segment from the ‘80s that I had never seen before. The clip had recently been uploaded to YouTube, and as I couldn’t find an instance of it streaming anywhere else on the web, I think it’s fair to say that it’s a rarity.

This Iggy profile aired on the French music program Les Enfants du Rock (The Children of Rock). It includes interview footage with Iggy that was shot in New York City during the time he was living there. This comes at the end of a period that, thanks to royalties earned from David Bowie’s hit version of one of their collaborations, “China Girl” (from Bowie’s hugely successful album Let’s Dance), Iggy was able to take a break from the album/tour cycle and reassess his life. He subsequently got sober, moved to Manhattan, and got married. The Ig was happy and healthy—and it shows in the interview.

Les Enfants du Rock aired this piece in 1988, though the interview footage was taped well before that. I would guess it was recorded in the fall of 1986, as there is talk of Iggy’s upcoming tour for Blah-Blah-Blah—his first album in four years—which would begin in late October.
 
45
German picture sleeve for a ‘Blah-Blah-Blah’ era single, 1987.

Iggy is his usual charming self here, totally comfortable in front of the camera. The questions are presented in French, but I don’t think it will matter to non-French speakers (and that includes me). Subjects covered include coming to the realization that he was turning into a rock star phony—thanks to drugs and other vices—and what helped change all of that; writing with David Bowie and how he thinks Bowie views him; and whether or not we’ll see him vomiting and bleeding on stage this time around.

The non-interview bits might be the best parts, as they include shots of Pop merrily frolicking through the streets of New York, mocking the staged b-roll shot for TV pieces like this.

That’s our Iggy!
 

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Screaming Bloody Murder: Iggy Pop’s most ferocious vocal performances EVER
When David Bowie was in Iggy Pop’s band: Their final concert

Posted by Bart Bealmear
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07.31.2018
08:08 am
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Exercise with Iggy Pop and Nash the Slash on cable TV, 1982
07.19.2018
08:46 am
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All these years listening to Iggy Pop’s 2 Record Set—the brilliant New Values LP plus bits of Soldier and Party—I just assumed Iggy was singing about Nash the Slash because he thought it would be neat to mention the bandaged Canadian multi-instrumentalist and Murph the Surf in the same song. But I shortchanged the relationship. Nash the Slash was Iggy’s opening act on a 1982 tour, and the two lunatics visited the set of Calgary’s music video show, FM Moving Pictures, for a frank, candid, no-holds-barred discussion of farting through bandages and assembling Mansonoid dune-buggy armies to rule the deserts. Let’s not rule out the possibility that Nash and Iggy enjoyed an aperitif in the green room beforehand.

The sound is glitchy, but this version of the video, courtesy of the FM Moving Pictures YouTube channel, is like way better than any previously uploaded copy. Longer, too.

A little past the seven-minute mark, they rise from their seats to demonstrate some of the exercises that comprise “the Osterberg method” of physical fitness. This workout is 100 percent about giving you a solid core and toning your whole body. NSFW, except it be a fuckword-friendly workplace.
 

 
More after the jump…

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Posted by Oliver Hall
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07.19.2018
08:46 am
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