The disastrous Jim Morrison performance that inspired Iggy Pop’s stage persona
When punk exploded in the 1970s, with artists from the Sex Pistols to Patti Smith coming to define an era, one man was responsible for igniting the fuse: Iggy Pop. Born James Newell Osterberg Jr, the musician became known for his crazy on-stage antics, like slicing his chest with glass, defecating, and vomiting on the audience. As a member of The Stooges, Pop aided the development of punk music by pairing his outlandish persona with raw garage rock that pushed the limits of the genre.
The Stooges’ influence on music was tremendous, with some of rock’s biggest acts, from the Ramones to Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers citing the Michigan rockers as seminal influences. Moreover, Pop’s unforgiving and confrontational stage performances have influenced countless artists over the years, using his power as a frontman to shock and enrapture audiences.
However, Pop didn’t come up with the idea of being an outrageous frontman himself. In 1967, not long after forming the band, Pop attended the University of Michigan’s homecoming event, which included Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ramsey Lewis, Long Island Sound and The Doors. The bluesy psychedelic rockers had released Strange Days a month prior, and their song ‘Light My Fire’ from their self-titled debut was still incredibly popular. Yet, the night was a disaster, thanks to Jim Morrison’s volatile nature, spurred by excessive drinking and drug taking.
For Pop, witnessing the chaos of The Doors’ performance inspired him to become the star we know today. When the band took to the stage, they launched into ‘Soul Kitchen’, expecting Morrison to appear behind them and begin singing. Yet, the enigmatic singer, who had drank an incredible amount of whiskey on the way to the venue, did not walk on stage. According to one crowd member, Fred LaBour, “After a while, it started to get uncomfortable. There was scattered booing,” he said. “Morrison could barely stand up. He was practically falling on his face every few moments.”
The singer, who died in 1971 from a drug overdose, was not in a fit state to perform, much to the audience’s annoyance. Gary Munce from Long Island Sound claimed that Morrison was “in a foul state of mind”. After much swearing at the audience, even whipping his microphone cord towards one eager concert-goer, “that’s when it got really nasty”. The cops were called, and Morrison left the stage, narrowly avoiding the aggression of the disgruntled football players in the crowd.
As the set continued, keyboardist Ray Manzarek couldn’t believe the state Morrison was in, “It was the first time he’d been that messed up on stage,” he said. Soon, this would become a common occurrence, with the singer receiving multiple arrests on stage over the next few years. Although most of the crowd was angry, Pop was enticed by Morrison’s outrageous presence.
Pop once described the gig’s effect on him, stating: “I attended two concerts by the Doors. The first one I attended was early on, and they had not gotten their shit together yet. That show was a big, big, big influence on me. They had just had their big hit, ‘Light My Fire’ and the album had taken off. So, here’s this guy, out of his head on acid, dressed in leather with his hair all oiled and curled. The stage was tiny, and it was really low. It got confrontational. I found it really interesting.”
He continued: “I loved the performance. Part of me was like, ‘Wow, this is great. He’s really pissing people off, and he’s lurching around, making these guys angry.’ People were rushing the stage, and Morrison’s going, ‘Fuck you. You blank, blank, blank.’ You can fill in your sexual comments yourself. The other half of it was that I thought, ‘If they’ve got a hit record out and they can get away with this, then I have no fucking excuse not to get out on stage with my band.’ It was sort of the case of, ‘Hey, I can do that.’ There really was some of that in there.”
It wouldn’t be long before Pop and his band released their debut album, although it took several years to be considered a classic record. Still, by channelling his inner Morrison, Pop helped to define punk rock, one of the most influential genres of all time.
