The album that confirmed Iggy Pop was “a genius” to Siouxsie Sioux
Iggy Pop is not just a proto-punk pioneer. While the first three Stooges albums laid the foundation of punk and inspired everyone from Sex Pistols to Sonic Youth, after the band broke up in 1974, he went solo. It was in this career that he helped bring the likes of art rock, industrial, and broader electronic music to life. Many cultural legends are avowed fans of his post-Stooges efforts, and one of the most vocal is Siouxsie Sioux.
Siouxsie and the Banshees are a fascinating band, not only for being at the forefront of the first wave of punk—performing at its inception during the 100 Club Punk Special in 1976—but also for being among the first to branch out from it. Their glacial and haunting 1978 debut, The Scream, was profoundly influential for their generation. It was so groundbreaking at the time that Robert Smith of The Cure, who would later play in the band, referred to it as the “forerunner” of Joy Division’s distinctive industrial sound.
There’s no real surprise that Siouxsie and the Banshees were the first to chart a route out of punk, as they always deemed themselves different from it musically. Not only were they open lovers of The Beatles, a group that punks loathed – no matter how formative they were – but they always saw themselves more aligned with the profoundly artful and experimental proclivities of German outfits such as Can, Kraftwerk and Neu, as well as David Bowie and Roxy Music, two British acts who were among the first to utilise the avant-garde.
Bassist Steven Severin explained this state of play in a 2005 Guardian interview. “I’ve come to realise that the Banshees would have happened regardless of the ‘punk’ explosion,” he claimed, saying that most of the punk vanguard looked to the likes of The Stooges and The New York Dolls for inspiration.
He added: “We, perversely, saw ourselves as taking on the baton of glamorous art-rock – Bowie and Roxy Music – while incorporating a love for Can, Kraftwerk and Neu.”
Although the impact of The Stooges on punk cannot be understated on punk, it’s clear that Iggy Pop’s solo work had more of a defining impact on Siouxsie and the Banshees. He released his solo debut, The Idiot, in 1976. Its chilling industrial atmosphere and minimalist flecks were a complete departure from The Stooges’ raucous material and can be regarded as the bridge between the likes of Can and what became British post-punk.
The album was partially recorded in Munich, Germany, and the spirit of the country’s boundary-pushing bands of the era pulses through its core. This influence can, in part, be attributed to the presence of David Bowie, who contributed keyboards, synthesizers, guitars, and other instruments, as well as serving as its producer. Bowie, whose own records—such as 1976’s deeply artistic Station to Station—reflected a keen awareness of avant-garde trends, had his finger firmly on the pulse of these developments.
In 2004’s Gimme Danger: The Story of Iggy Pop, Sioux outlined her love of The Idiot and said it was the album that confirmed Pop as “a genius”. She described it as a “re-affirmation that our suspicions were true – the man was a genius and what a voice! The sound and production is so direct and uncompromised.”
Direct and uncompromised are two words that fittingly describe The Scream. Like The Idiot, it raised the bar and firmly ended the dismal psychodrama that had become the first wave of punk. It was time for music to start thinking outside the box again.
