The Stooges

Not to be confused with The Three Stooges.

The Stooges is an American rock band that was first active from about 1967 to 1974, and then reformed in 2003.

The Stooges—like their contemporaries The Velvet Underground—sold rather few records in their original existence and often performed for indifferent or hostile audiences. And again as has been said about The Velvet Underground, the rather small numbers of people who first bought The Stooges' records were often inspired to form bands of their own.

Nevertheless, The Stooges are often regarded as hugely influential both on the then-nascent heavy metal music and on later punk rock (see protopunk). Singer Iggy Pop and his wild onstage antics were often the focus of attention.

History

Iggy Pop (b. James Osterberg) played in several Ann Arbor, Michigan-area bands as a teenager, including The Prime Movers and The Iguanas. Iggy was inspired to form The Stooges after witnessing a Doors concert in Ann Arbor. Ron (guitar) and Scott Asheton (drums), two brothers, joined up along with their friend Dave Alexander (bass guitar). The band's debut was at a Halloween concert at the University of Michigan in 1967. The Stooges were originally billed at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, MI as the "Psychedelic Stooges" when they played with the MC5 and others and at this time Iggy did, in fact, dive into the crowd and was punched for it at least once by an audience member.

The Stooges soon gained a reputation for their wild, primitive live performances. Iggy especially won fame for acting crazy onstage, smearing his naked chest with steak and peanut butter, and cutting himself with shards of glass. At one concert, he played a vacuum cleaner like a musical instrument. Iggy is also sometimes credited with the invention or popularization of stage diving.

In 1968, The Stooges were signed by Elektra Records, who had sent a scout, named Danny Fields, to see MC5 and wound up signing both acts. (Fields would later go on to discover and manage The Ramones.)

1969 saw the release of their self-titled debut album The Stooges, but it did not sell very well. Legend has it that half the album was written the night before the first session, which was produced by former Velvet Underground member John Cale. By the time Fun House (1970) was released, The Stooges had begun to disintegrate, primarily due to hard drug abuse by most of the band. It was during this year that television captured footage of the band, on June 13 at the Cincinnati Pop Festival. Performing TV Eye and 1970, Iggy leapt into crowd where he was hoisted up on people's hands and smeared peanut butter over his chest. It became an iconic rock image.

Back in action

With the band in limbo, Iggy met David Bowie in 1971 and the pair became good friends. Bowie, then at the height of his Ziggy Stardust-era fame, helped the reconstituted Stooges (with new lead guitarist James Williamson) attain a record deal with Columbia Records and then produced their third album, the massively influential Raw Power (1973). This album would go on to become one of the cornerstones of early punk rock, although the album sold rather poorly and was regarded as a commercial failure.

Stooges end again

After several months of touring, The Stooges disbanded in February 1974, partially as a result of Iggy's ever-present heroin addiction. After going through rehab, Iggy Pop began a solo career in 1976 (most influentially with The Idiot and Lust for Life). The Asheton brothers formed a band named New Order (not to be confused with the English band of the same name), which quickly fell apart. Ron Asheton later joined Destroy All Monsters, while James Williamson worked with Iggy Pop during his early solo career.

Influence

Iconic punk writer Lester Bangs was especially fond of Iggy and The Stooges, and championed them in many of his magazine columns.

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

The late 1990s saw two significant Stooges record releases. In 1997 a version of Raw Power remixed by Iggy was released to widespread acclaim. The result was far more aggressive than the original release, which had been mixed by David Bowie. Two years later, re-issue label Rhino Handmade released the seven disc box set The Complete Fun House Sessions. Just 3,000 copies were pressed and the box set is now a collectors item, although selections featured on the Funhouse 2CD reissue in 2005 and the entire box set was released as a digital download on the iTunes Music Store.

In 2001 Scott Asheton recorded two CDs with the local Detroit punk band "The Farleys" the 1st titled "The Farleys Meet the Stooges" the 2nd titled "Youth in Asia".^*

Reunion

The Stooges reunited in 2003, appearing on the Skull Ring album with Iggy on vocals, Scott Asheton on drums, and Ron Asheton on both guitar and bass. The Stooges have performed a series of live shows in the United States and Europe with Mike Watt of The Minutemen and fIREHOSE on bass completing the lineup, and Fun House saxophonist Steve MacKay rejoining it as well. Their Detroit homecoming show, postponed by the 2003 North America blackout, was immortalized on the DVD Live in Detroit. They have since contributed a cover of Junior Kimbrough's "You Better Run" to a tribute album for the late blues artist, and are also planning to record an album of all-new material for 2006 release with Steve Albini producing (Rick Rubin was initially rumored to be the helmsman for the album until Iggy dropped Albini's name in a January 2006 Australian newspaper interview.^*)

Reissues

On August 16, 2005, Elektra Records and Rhino Records issued newly remastered 2-CD editions of the first two Stooges albums, featuring the original album on disc one and outtakes (including alternate mixes, single versions, etc.) on disc two. Iggy Pop himself dedicated a lot of time to cleaning up the recordings and adjusting the mix, going for a more aggressive sound; the re-issues are generally regarded as having superior production, but the bonus tracks are not seen as essential additions to the catalog.

Live again

On August 30th, 2005, The Stooges played a special one-off show at London's Hammersmith Apollo (their first London performance since 1972, and only their second London show ever) performing their entire Fun House album in chronological order followed by songs from the first album and Skull Ring. The show, which was the first in the All Tomorrow's Parties-organised "Don't Look Back" concert series, sold out well in advance and was rapturously received by the music press and the fans - which incidentally invaded the stage - alike.

In September of that same year, The Stooges were nominated to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

A Bio-pic entitled, "The Passenger" is currently in the works chronicling both Iggy and The Stooges entire career, Elijah Wood is cast to play Iggy Pop.

Band members

Current Lineup

Iggy Pop - vocals (1967–1974, 2003–present)
Ron Asheton - guitar (1967–1972, 2003–present); bass (1972–1974)
Mike Watt - bass (2003–present)
Scott Asheton - drums (1967–1974, 2003–present)
Steve MacKay - saxophone (1970–1971, 2003–present)

Former members

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

Discography

Albums

Studio Albums

The Stooges (Elektra, August 1969, remastered, expanded, and reissued by Rhino/Elektra, 2005)
Fun House (Elektra, July 1970, remastered, expanded, and reissued by Rhino/Elektra, 2005)
Raw Power (Columbia, February 1973, remixed by Iggy Pop and reissued by Legacy/Columbia, 1998)
Skull Ring (Virgin, 2003)

Select Live Albums

Metallic K.O. (Skydog, 1976)
Telluric Chaos (Skydog, 2005)

Box Set

The Complete Fun House Sessions (Rhino Handmade, 1999)
Heavy Liquid (Easy Action Records, 2005)

Singles

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

External links

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