The Stooges | |
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 The Stooges at theHammersmith Apollo (2010) L-R: Iggy Pop, Mike Watt, Scott Asheton, James Williamson | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Iggy and the Stooges, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, the Psychedelic Stooges |
| Origin | Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active |
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| Labels | |
| Past members | |
| Website | iggyandthestoogesmusic |
The Stooges, originally billed as thePsychedelic Stooges, and also known asIggy and the Stooges, were an Americanrock band formed inAnn Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singerIggy Pop, guitaristRon Asheton, drummerScott Asheton, and bassistDave Alexander. Initially playing a raw, primitive style ofrock and roll, the band sold few records in their original incarnation and gained a reputation for their confrontational performances, which often involved acts ofself-mutilation by Iggy Pop.[5]
After releasing two albums –The Stooges (1969) andFun House (1970) – the group disbanded briefly, and reformed with an altered lineup (with Ron Asheton replacing Dave Alexander on bass andJames Williamson taking up guitar) to release a third album,Raw Power (1973), before breaking up again in 1974. The band reunited in 2003 with Ron Asheton moving back to guitar andMike Watt on bass, and the addition of saxophonistSteve Mackay, who had played saxophone onFun House. Ron Asheton died in 2009 and was replaced by James Williamson, and the band continued to play shows until 2013, when they also released their last album,Ready to Die. The Stooges formally announced their breakup in 2016 due to the deaths of Scott Asheton and saxophonist Steve Mackay.
The Stooges are widely regarded as a seminalproto-punk act.[5][6][7] The band was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.[8] In 2004,Rolling Stone ranked them 78th on theirlist of the 100 greatest artists of all time. In 2007, they were awarded the Mojo Lifetime Achievement Award at theMojo Awards.[9]
Iggy Pop (born James Newell Osterberg) played drums 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.[10]
Osterberg was first inspired to form the Stooges after meetingblues drummerSam Lay during a visit to Chicago. Upon returning toDetroit, Osterberg sought to create a new form of blues music that was not derivative of historical precedents, with influence from garage rock bandsThe Sonics andThe Kinks.Ron Asheton (guitar) andScott Asheton (drums), andDave Alexander (bass guitar) comprised the rest of the band, with Osterberg as the main singer. Osterberg became interested in Ron Asheton after seeing him perform in a cover band called 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!"[11] The three nicknamed Osterberg "Pop" after a local character whom he resembled.[12] Shortly after witnessing anMC5 concert in Ann Arbor, Osterberg began using the stage name Iggy Pop, a name that he has used ever since.
Though the Stooges had formed, Iggy Pop attributes two key motivating influences to move the band forward. The first was seeingthe Doors perform at a homecoming dance for the University of Michigan. The second was seeing an all-girls rock band from Princeton, New Jersey, called the Untouchable perform in the summer of 1967.[13][14] In a 1995 interview withBust Magazine, he relates:
I had the Stooges. And we did not have the balls to get out and do it. There were two things that made us do it; one was seeing that show (the Doors), we saw that show and I just thought, well, this is so brazen, there is no excuse for us not to do it anymore. And the other thing was we went to New York. We had gone to New York a couple of months before that just to check out the scene, and we had never been to a place like New York… we went down around Eighth Street there where all the young tourists hang out, and we met these girls from New Jersey, from Princeton, they had a band called the Untouchable, and we're like, "Oh, you've got a band, sure, ha ha ha," and they said "Well, come to our house and see us play." And we didn't have anywhere to crash, and they played for us, and they completely rocked, and we were really ashamed.
The band's 1967 debut was at their communal State Street house onHalloween night, followed by their next live gig in January 1968.[15] During this early period, the Stooges were originally billed as the "Psychedelic Stooges" at theGrande Ballroom inDetroit, Michigan, and other venues, where they played with the bandMC5 and others. At one of their early Grande Ballroom performances, Asheton's guitar neck separated from the body forcing the band to stop playing during the opening song, "I Wanna Be Your Dog". The first major commercial show for the Psychedelic Stooges was on March 3, 1968, at theGrande Ballroom in Detroit, opening forBlood, Sweat & Tears. According toJohn Sinclair, who booked the show, the Psychedelic Stooges were substitutes for theMC5, who had a formidable Detroit reputation that made Blood, Sweat & Tears reluctant to follow them. A fan who saw several of their performances at that time said, "What they achieved was an almost orchestral drone or trance-like sound which was totally unique, valid and impressive."[16]
The group's early sound differed from their later music, wrote critic Edwin Pouncey:
The Stooges' early musical experiments were more avant garde than punk rock, with Pop incorporating such household objects as avacuum cleaner and ablender into an intense wall of feedback that one observer described as sounding like "an airplane was landing in the room." Homemade instruments were also incorporated to flesh out the overall sound. The 'Jim-a-phone' involved pushing feedback through a funnel device which was raised and lowered to achieve the best effect. There was also a cheapHawaiian guitar which Pop and guitarist Ron Asheton would take turns in plucking to produce a simulatedsitar drone, while drummer Scott Asheton pounded away at a set of oil drums with a ball hammer.[17]
The Stooges soon gained a reputation for their wild, primitive live performances. Pop, especially, became known for his outrageous onstage behavior: smearing his bare chest with hamburger meat and peanut butter, cutting himself with shards of glass, and flashing his genitalia to the audience. Pop is sometimes credited with the invention or popularization ofstage diving.[citation needed]
In 1968,Elektra Records sent DJ/publicistDanny Fields to scout the MC5, resulting in contracts for both that band and the Stooges. The contracts were at different pay rates: MC5 $20,000, the Stooges $5,000, as revealed in the 2016Jim Jarmusch film,Gimme Danger. In 1969, the band released theirself-titled debut album; sales were low and it was not well received by critics at the time.
In 1970, their second album,Fun House, was released, featuring the addition of saxophonistSteve Mackay. On June 13 of that year, television recorded the band at theCincinnati Pop Festival. While performing the songs "T.V. Eye" and "1970", Pop leaped 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 atWNURNorthwestern University radio station in Evanston, Illinois, in 1984,Stiv Bators ofthe Lords of the New Church andthe 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, Ohio, and handing it up to Iggy from the audience.
Fun House was also poorly received by critics and the general public. Alexander was dismissed in August 1970 after arriving at theGoose Lake International Music Festival too drunk to play.[18] He was replaced by a succession of new bass players, including former roadieZeke Zettner[19] andJames Recca. Around this time, the band expanded their lineup by adding a second guitar player, roadieBill Cheatham,[10] who was eventually replaced byJames Williamson, a childhood friend of the Ashetons and Alexander.
By this time, the Stooges, with the notable exception of Ron Asheton,[10][20] had all become seriousheroin users. The drug was introduced to the band by new manager John Adams.[10] Their performances became even more unpredictable, and Pop often had trouble standing up on stage due to his extreme drug abuse. Elektra soon eliminated the Stooges from its roster, and the band had a hiatus for several months. The final lineup was Pop, the Asheton brothers, Recca and Williamson.[10]
The breakup of the Stooges was formally announced on July 9, 1971.[21]
With the band having broken up, Pop metDavid Bowie on September 7, 1971, atMax's Kansas City,[20][21] and the pair quickly became good friends. The next day, on the advice of Bowie, Pop signed a recording contract with pop music managerTony DeFries' company, MainMan. A few months later, Tony DeFries and Pop metClive Davis from CBS/Columbia Records and got a two-album recording deal.[21] In March 1972, DeFries brought Pop and Williamson to the UK,[21] and the pair attempted to reconstitute the Stooges with British musicians, but after finding no suitable additions, they brought the Asheton brothers back into the band. (This "second choice" decision rankled Ron Asheton, as did his change from guitar to bass.) This lineup, billed as Iggy & the Stooges, recorded their third album, the influentialRaw Power, which was released in 1973.
At the time, the album faced the criticism that Bowie had mixed it poorly.[22] (In subsequent years, various unofficial fan recordings were assembled and released as the albumRough Power;[22] in 1997, the album was re-mixed by Iggy Pop and re-released.[22]) Although the album sold rather poorly and was regarded as a commercial failure at the time of its release,Raw Power would go on to gain recognition from earlypunk rockers.[23]
With the addition of a piano player (brieflyBob Sheff and thenScott Thurston[10]), the Stooges toured for several months, starting in February 1973. Around this time they also made a number of recordings that became known as theDetroit 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 soon after the release ofRaw Power. In 1973, James Williamson was briefly dismissed due to criticism from the band's management company (likely pertaining to his tempestuous relationship withCyrinda Foxe, a close friend of road managerLeee Black Childers); guitaristTornado Turner replaced him for a single gig (on June 15, 1973, at the Aragon Ballroom inChicago[24]), but Williamson soon returned to the group.[15]
The Stooges disbanded in February 1974 as a result of dwindling professional opportunities; this factor was compounded by Pop's ever-present heroin addiction and erratic off-stage behavior.[15] The last half of the band's last performance of this era on February 9, 1974, in Detroit, Michigan, was captured and was released in 1976 as the live albumMetallic K.O., along with the first half of an earlier show on October 6, 1973, at the same venue. A 1988 expanded release of the album with the titleMetallic 2X K.O. included the two halves of each show. In 1998, the album was re-released under the original title with the order of the shows reversed, (mostly) expanded tracks and more complete set lists.
After his first attempt at drug rehabilitation, Pop began a volatile yet ultimately successful solo career in 1977, commencing with the Bowie-produced albumsThe Idiot (1977) andLust for Life (1977). Relocated toLos Angeles,California, Ron Asheton formed the short-lived bandthe New Order (not to be confused with the UK bandNew Order) with Stooges alumni Recca and Thurston before performing with the Ann Arbor–based "anti-rock" groupDestroy All Monsters from 1977 to 1985. Until the Stooges' reformation, he supported himself as a working musician in various ensembles, includingNew Race, Dark Carnival and the Empty Set. Williamson worked with Pop as a producer and engineer during his early solo career – theKill City andNew Values albums are a product of this collaboration – but began a long break from the music industry in favor of a career inelectronics engineering beginning in 1980. He received his degree fromCalifornia State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 1982 and retired fromSony as vice president of technical standards in 2009. Scott Asheton performed withSonic's Rendezvous Band and the Scott Morgan Group while pursuing various day jobs. Dave Alexander died ofpulmonary edema related to his alcohol-inducedpancreatitis in 1975.
In 1997, a reissue ofRaw Power remixed by Pop was released. In 1999, reissue labelRhino Handmade released the seven-disc box set1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions, composed of the entire recording sessions associated with theFun House album. 3,000 copies were pressed, selling out in less than a year.
In 2000, indie rock music veteransJ Mascis (ofDinosaur Jr) andMike Watt (of theMinutemen andFirehose) teamed up with Ron Asheton and drummer George Berz to perform Stooges covers (and other material) live. Billed asJ. Mascis and the Fog, the band performed sporadically before Pop became aware of them in 2003.
Pop and the Ashetons first reunited that year, sharing four songs on theSkull Ring album with Pop on vocals, Scott Asheton on drums, and Ron Asheton on both guitar and bass. Soon afterward, the Stooges reunited officially, performing a series of live shows in the United States and Europe, with Watt on bass at Ron Asheton's request,[25] andFun House–era saxophonist Steve Mackay. Their Detroit homecoming show, postponed by the2003 North America blackout, was released as the DVDLive in Detroit.
On August 16, 2005,Elektra Records andRhino Records issued newly remastered two-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 1997Raw Power reissue, which was a total remix from the original multitracks, these remasters are faithful to the original mixes.
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In 2007, the band released an album of all-new material,The Weirdness, withSteve Albini recording, and mastering done atAbbey Road Studios inLondon, England.[26] The album received mixed to negative reviews from the press. The band also contributed a cover ofJunior Kimbrough's "You Better Run" to a tribute album for the late blues artist.
The Stooges were voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2008.[27]
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 theAll Tomorrow's Parties concert series, Pop's 60th birthday on the stage ofSan Francisco's Warfield Theater,[28] touring with theLollapalooza festival, and a performance of twoMadonna 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 August 2008 when the band's equipment was stolen inMontreal,Quebec.[29] Initially, the reunited band's sets consisted solely of material fromThe Stooges,Fun House,Skull Ring andThe Weirdness. By 2008, they had added "Search and Destroy", "I Got a Right" and "Raw Power" to its set lists. The band's final show with Ron Asheton was on September 29, 2008, inLjubljana, Slovenia.
On January 6, 2009, Ron Asheton was found dead in his home, having reportedly suffered a heart attack several days earlier.[30][31] He was 60 years old. In their official statement, the group called Asheton "irreplaceable".[32]
On October 1, 2009,The Stooges: The Authorized and Illustrated Story by Robert Matheu andJeffrey Morgan (authorized biographer ofAlice Cooper) was published in hardcover byAbrams.[33]
In a May 2009 interview, Pop announced the band's plans to continue performing with James Williamson returning as guitarist.[34][35] Pop stated that "although 'the Stooges' died with Ron Asheton, there was still 'Iggy and the Stooges'".[36] Their first concert occurred on November 7, 2009, inSão Paulo, Brazil. The band added material fromRaw Power and several of Pop's early solo albums to its repertoire.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the band in its Class of 2010, with Williamson, Pop, Alexander, Scott Asheton, and Ron Asheton as the inducted members.[37] The band had previously been nominated for election seven times, each unsuccessful. Their performance for the event included a guest appearance by former keyboardist Scott Thurston. Performances with Williamson continued, including the 2010 All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Monticello, New York, where they performedRaw Power in its entirety. A re-release ofRaw Power was released on April 10, 2010, including the first remastering of the David Bowie mix and a live 1973 performance. The following year, Detroit authorBrett Callwood publishedThe Stooges – Head On: A Journey Through The Michigan Underground, a book that focuses heavily on the Asheton brothers' activities after the initial decline of the Stooges.[38]
On February 25, 2013, the band released what would become their last album,Ready to Die. The album was released on April 30 onFat Possum.[39] Iggy and the Stooges played the final date of their 25-city 2013 world tour with a performance at the C2SV Festival in San Jose on September 28, 2013.[40]
On March 15, 2014,Scott Asheton died of a heart attack, aged 64.[41][42] SaxophonistSteve Mackay died in October 2015 at the age of 66.[43]
In 2016,Jim Jarmusch directedGimme Danger, a documentary film about the band.[44]
On June 22, 2016, guitarist Williamson made an official statement for the band saying that the Stooges are no more: "The Stooges is over. Basically, everybody's dead except Iggy and I. So it would be sort of ludicrous to try and tour as Iggy and the Stooges when there's only one Stooge in the band and then you have side guys. That doesn't make any sense to me." Williamson also expressed a desire to stop touring.[45]
The Stooges are widely regarded as a seminalproto-punk act[5][6][7] and as instrumental in the development ofpunk rock,alternative rock,heavy metal androck music at large.[46][47] In the years beforenoise rock was named as a musical genre, the Stooges were combining noise with punk rock in the same vein.[48]
Music journalist Lester Bangs was one of the first writers to champion the Stooges in a national publication. His piece "Of Pop and Pies and Fun" forCreem Magazine was published about the time of the Stooges' second album,Fun House. Another music journalist,Legs McNeil, was especially fond of Iggy and the Stooges and championed them in many of his writings.
FormerTyrannosaurus Rex percussionistSteve Peregrin Took, interviewed byCharles Shaar Murray for theNME in 1972, cited Pop's stage act as an inspiration for his own chaotic onstage behavior during the band's late 1969 US tour (after which he was replaced byMickey Finn).[49]
The Stooges' brand of rabid proto-punk laid the foundation for countless punk rock bands over the decades. TheSex Pistols recorded the first high-profile Stooges cover, "No Fun", in 1976.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 included both on hisSid Sings album. According toDee Dee Ramone, the members of theRamones felt alienated from their community growing up and started hanging out with each other due to a common love of Stooges, a band everyone else they knew greatly disliked. A typical social experience was listening to the Stooges together while miming/imitating a performance by Iggy Pop.[50]Joey Ramone's cover of the song "1969" appeared on his posthumous debut solo album,Don't Worry About Me. The Stooges were also a key early influence onSiouxsie and the Banshees frontwomanSiouxsie Sioux.[51]
Several punk bands took their names from Stooges songs or lyrics, includingRadio Birdman,Penetration,Raw Power,Shake Appeal and The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs. Australian band Radio Birdman which included fellowAnn Arbor nativeDeniz Tek, named an early venue "The Oxford Funhouse", while on their 1977 albumRadios Appear, they covered the Stooges song "TV Eye" and name-checked the Stooges in the Deniz Tek song "Do the Pop". The band's name was itself taken, although incorrectly, from the lyrics of the Stooges song "1970".[52]
Numerous other bands and artists spanning multiple genres have cited the Stooges as an influence, includingMisfits,[53]Sonic Youth,[54]Dinosaur Jr. frontmanJ Mascis,[55]the Jesus and Mary Chain,[56]Mudhoney,[57]Ride,[58]Pere Ubu,[59] andCrime.[60]
Kurt Cobain consistently listedRaw Power as his favorite album of all time in the "Favorite Albums" lists that featured in hisJournals.[61]
Joan Jett covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog" for her platinum 1988 album,Up Your Alley. The first album by British punk bandthe Damned,Damned Damned Damned, concluded with "I Feel Alright", a cover of the Stooges' "1970" under its accepted alternate title. In 1982,the Birthday Party releasedDrunk on the Pope's Blood, a live EP with a version of "Loose". On multiple occasions, the Birthday Party performed entire sets of Stooges covers. Their live version of "Fun House" can be found on their live album,Live 1981–82.Sonic Youth covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on 1983'sConfusion Is Sex. English space rock groupSpacemen 3 covered "Little Doll" on their 1986 albumSound of Confusion.Uncle Tupelo covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog", although they did not release it while they were active.[citation needed] In 1993,Guns N' Roses covered the song "Raw Power" on their albumThe Spaghetti Incident? TheRed Hot Chili Peppers recorded a cover of "Search and Destroy" during the sessions forBlood Sugar Sex Magik; the song appeared on the B-side of the "Give It Away" single, and later on the Iggy Pop tribute albumWe Will Fall, the compilation albumsUnder the Covers andThe Beavis and Butt-Head Experience, and the compilation EPRock & Roll Hall of Fame Covers EP. They also played "I Wanna Be Your Dog" live.Soundgarden covered "Search and Destroy" on their live albumLive on I-5.Thrash metal bandSlayer cover "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on their 1996 cover albumUndisputed Attitude (naming it "I'm Gonna Be Your God").Rage Against the Machine covered the song "Down on the Street" on their 2000 album,Renegades. In 2007,R.E.M. performed "I Wanna Be Your Dog" withPatti Smith in their induction to theRock and Roll Hall of Fame.[62]
In August 1995, all three Stooges albums were included in British music magazineMojo's influential "100 Greatest Albums of All Time" feature.[63]Fun House was placed the highest, at 16.
The Stooges' "Search and Destroy" was featured inHarmonix'sGuitar Hero II for the PlayStation 2.
In 2004,Rolling Stone ranked the Stooges No. 78 on their list of 100 of the most influential artists of the past 50 years.[64]
Layne Staley, ofAlice in Chains, said that he was a big fan of The Stooges.[65]
Emanuel covered "Search and Destroy" on theTony Hawk's American Wasteland soundtrack.
In 2009,Cage the Elephant gave away a free cover version of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on their website if users registered with their mailing list service.[citation needed]
Slash, ofGuns N' Roses, included their self-titled debut amongst his favorite studio albums.[66]
Peter Hook included their live albumMetallic K.O. amongst his favorite albums.[67]
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Iggy Pop |
|
| all releases |
.jpg) | James Williamson |
|
|
|
 | Mike Watt | 2003–2016 | bass guitar | all releases fromLive in Detroit (2003) onwards, exceptYou Don't Want My Name... You Want My Action (2009),Have Some Fun: Live at Unganos (2010),Live at Goose Lake, August 8th, 1970 (2020) |
 | Toby Dammit(Larry Mullins) | 2011–2016 |
| Ready to Die (2013) |
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Scott Asheton |
|
| all releases |
.jpg) | Ron Asheton |
|
| all releases fromThe Stooges (1969) toHave Some Fun: Live at Ungano's (2010) |
| Dave Alexander | 1967–1970(died 1975) |
|
| |
_(cropped).jpg) | Steve Mackay |
| saxophone |
|
| Bill Cheatham | 1970(died 1990s) | rhythm guitar | Have Some Fun: Live at Unganos (2010) | |
| Zeke Zettner | 1970(died 1973) | bass guitar | ||
| Jimmy Recca | 1971 | You Don't Want My Name... You Want My Action (2009) | ||
| Bob Sheff | 1973(died 2020) | keyboards | none | |
 | Tornado Turner | 1973 | lead and rhythm guitar | |
 | Scott Thurston | 1973–1974(2010, 2013 as guest) |
|
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The influence on our sound was DNA from the original Rock & Roll of the 1950's, and I would say we were also influenced by Iggy and the Stooges; who were really the predecessor to punk rock. Aggressive, atomic, hard rock 'n' roll.
Even when Sonic Youth started, we all were inspired by all kinds of things we were listening to. Early influences would have to includeThe Velvets and The Stooges and all this quite aggressive music.
I actually think thatFun House is the best Stooges album. (...) It's just that the guitar sounded worse. I don't know why – maybe it was the recording, but it seemed further away, almost. It just didn't have the impact of the first record. But they're still one of the most important bands to me, and were definitely one of the biggest influences.
It still has all of the usual influences, like 60s garage,proto-punk, the Stooges, obviously, '77 punk, hardcore, and then that weird 80spost-hardcore scene with SST, Homestead, and Touch & Go.
Early on in Ride, it wasSpacemen 3, House of Love, My Bloody Valentine, Loop,Sonic Youth,Dinosaur Jr.,The Fall,Pixies, andStone Roses," says Bell. "As well as older stuff likeThe Beatles, Stones, the Velvets, and the Stooges."
You have to remember we grew up listening to all that stuff on the radio. That was what was on the radio. All that stuff was hits. Very big influence on Pere Ubu along with Velvets, Stooges and MC5.
There was no scene as far as we were concerned. Influences were: rock'n roll likeEddie Cochran,blues likeHowling Wolf, country likeHank Williams, garage likeThe Misunderstood, beat groups like the Stones, Glam, likeRoxy Music, and trashy rock 'n roll like the Stooges.
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