The Stooges
 This
Detroit rock & roll band was formed in 1967 as The Psychedelic
Stooges with lead singer Iggy Pop (born
James Newell Osterberg in 1947). The Iggy appellation came
from his drumming tenure with local teen band The Iguanas.
If local favourites The MC5 struck fear
into the hearts of Motor City parents with their manifesto of sex,
drugs, rock & roll and politics, they looked normal in
comparison to the stage antics of Iggy & The Stooges.
Violent interaction with members of the audience (both verbal
and physical), vomiting and self-mutilation with beer bottles were
some of the more predictable aspects of their live presentation,
while the music itself was simplistic and angry one- to
three-chord grunge-rock, with lyrics ranging from teenage
disorientation to animal lust.
Two excellent albums for Elektra followed (they were signed the
same night as The MC5), but the drug lifestyle of the band caused
its break-up in the early '70s after the release of Fun House.
They re-formed with James Williamson on guitar and Asheton
moving over to bass for the next album (Raw Power) in
1973, but disbanded again a year later with two chaotic hometown
shows in Detroit, at which they were pelted with missiles by a
hostile biker gang.
Working with David Bowie, Iggy cut
two good solo albums in the mid '70s, when bands like The
Sex Pistols defined him as "The Godfather of Punk."
He has kept recording and touring to his hardcore cult following
ever since, with small acting roles in a number of movies as well.
Iggy reformed The Stooges in 2003 (with Ron Asheton back on
guitar). In 2006 the band recorded their first album since 1973's Raw
Power. In seven days, Iggy, Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton and
bassist Mike Watt (replacing Dave Alexander, who died in 1975) cut
fifteen songs live in the studio for their new LP, The
Weirdness
Ron Asheton died in 2009 at the age of 60 in the home in Ann
Arbor, Michigan, that he'd first moved into with his parents in
1963.
The band continue to play and tour sporadically with James
Williamson on guitar.
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