THE STOOGES
John Tamarri / Inside Beat Staff Writer
Issue date: 2/22/07 Section: ib on Band Reunions
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Before London was burning, America had a small but pivotal fire in Michigan during the late sixties and early seventies. Two of the most important bands behind the flames were MC5 and The Stooges. Loud, revolting, angry, without any care for their audience except which fan would provide a bed for the members to sleep in, these bands helped set the attitude and aesthetic for the punk movement while taking from the past to reshape rock n' roll to what it should be: something that confuses parents, entices the youth to indulge, and scares the hell out of political and religious leaders.
It's futile to argue over which of the two bands was the most important, but The Stooges most certainly let loose more sex, anger, and were the more gritty and creative of the two bands. One of the reasons for this is because of what Iggy Pop brought to the group. A living legend and testament to what stage presence should be and what it means to be a front-man, Iggy Pop (then called Iggy Stooge) walked on the audience like Jesus on the water (and you thought crowd-surfing was exciting), cut himself by rolling around over broken bottles and, er… rubbed peanutbutter over himself.
It's a shame that Pop has become the focus of the group because Ron Ashton's guitar created walls of sound that perfectly evoked the sexual, aggressive, and flirtatious tone of Pop's voice while his brother drumming, along with Dave Alexander's bass work, created a great rhythm section for the guitar to work from (which would later influence some of the No-Wave bands of the 80's).
And now, anyone that didn't have a chance to see The Stooges perform with their original line up will be able to see them with replacement bassist Mike Watt (Minutemen) as they begin their tour March 8 at the Caprices Festival in Montana to support their first new album in over three decades, The Weirdness.
- John Tamarri
It's futile to argue over which of the two bands was the most important, but The Stooges most certainly let loose more sex, anger, and were the more gritty and creative of the two bands. One of the reasons for this is because of what Iggy Pop brought to the group. A living legend and testament to what stage presence should be and what it means to be a front-man, Iggy Pop (then called Iggy Stooge) walked on the audience like Jesus on the water (and you thought crowd-surfing was exciting), cut himself by rolling around over broken bottles and, er… rubbed peanutbutter over himself.
It's a shame that Pop has become the focus of the group because Ron Ashton's guitar created walls of sound that perfectly evoked the sexual, aggressive, and flirtatious tone of Pop's voice while his brother drumming, along with Dave Alexander's bass work, created a great rhythm section for the guitar to work from (which would later influence some of the No-Wave bands of the 80's).
And now, anyone that didn't have a chance to see The Stooges perform with their original line up will be able to see them with replacement bassist Mike Watt (Minutemen) as they begin their tour March 8 at the Caprices Festival in Montana to support their first new album in over three decades, The Weirdness.
- John Tamarri