The five singers that changed Iggy Pop’s life
When looking at the evolution of rock music, Iggy Pop seemed to come right out of nowhere. Whereas most of the rock scene was still in ‘Flower Power’ mode, The Stooges were pulling from deranged acid-fueled nightmares with their first handful of albums. Although Pop might have innovated left and right, he owes a lot to the singers that he grew up listening to.
Despite his label as the king of punks, Pop has been upfront about the musicians that inspired him to pick up a microphone in the first place. While some of the names he cites as influences are among the best in rock history, not all of them had the impact that fans might expect.
Pop was a creature of the stage, and some of his favourite singers were all about making the performance about more than just someone on stage singing a song. The rock and roll show might have been fun back in the day, but to Pop, that wasn’t quite enough, and he found the common thread between each of these artists and found a way to rock anarchy.
When talking about some of his favourite acts, Pop speaks with great reverence for his idols but also with a certain amount of disdain. As much as he has a love for all of these artists, by no means was he trying to copy any of their acts verbatim. The frontman of any group might have the opportunity to wow the crowd, but these artists helped Pop bring musical warfare into the seedy clubs of Detroit.
Five singers that changed Iggy Pop’s life:
Jim Morrison
Pop could easily lay claim as the first true wild man in rock. Back when the wildest thing in the headlines was The Rolling Stones, The Stooges were misfits that were pulled from the depths of Hell. While the city of Detroit spat them out in the early ‘60s, Jim Morrison was already lighting fires in fans’ hearts as far back as 1967.
When The Doors’ debut arrived in the summer of 1967, Pop talked about Morrison’s stage demeanour having a huge impact on the way he sulked across the stage. During an interview with Rolling Stone, Pop recalled: “It was the way to stand at the mic — the stance and the grab. He hung on the stand. Nobody else did that. The other thing was he might do anything — and he doesn’t respect you. You don’t get respect for ten bucks — sorry!”.
Even with The Stooges getting bigger and bigger, Pop hadn’t even begun to respect his audience as valued customers, starting to walk on people’s hands during the show and trying to get as much of a rise out of them as possible. Rock and roll was as much about art as it was about music, and Pop wasn’t looking to keep the kids at his show happy with just a few mindless songs.
Mick Jagger
Every great rock singer has modelled themselves on Mick Jagger at some point in their life. From his heartfelt songs to the attitude dripping from his voice, Jagger was the archetype of what the ideal rock star frontman was supposed to be. As far as Pop was concerned, it was more about the look of Jagger than it was about the words coming out of his mouth.
As Pop saw Jagger tear up songs like ‘Satisfaction’ back in the day, he was entranced by the way he conducted himself onstage, telling Rolling Stone: “From Mick Jagger, it would be his moving around while he performs the song. Also, the voice as an irritant. When he sang, it was the opposite of nice”.
Pop may have seen the crowd’s reactions at the time, but he learned an important lesson from Jagger that most rock stars learn far too late. It’s not about having a Freddie Mercury-style voice. It’s about how to use the voice as an instrument to disrupt the nice aspects of society.
James Brown
The Stooges were never known as the funkiest band in the world. Upon listening to their first handful of records, fans are going to be in for a lot of discord and songs that teeter on the edge of chaos most of the time. Pop knew exactly what he was doing amid the chaos, and his biggest command of the stage came from the king of show business.
When talking about the best entertainers he knew, Pop singled out James Brown before any other rock star, saying:, “Easily the most amazing person that has ever lived, that was James Brown. I can die peacefully knowing that I was several times in the general physical presence of him”.
While Pop has never been the most vocal about his love for funk, he had called Brown’s Star Time one of his personal favourites, remarking how tight the band sounds when playing songs like ‘Please Please Please’. When listening to some of Pop’s off-the-wall tracks like ‘Shake Appeal’, though, it’s not that hard for listeners to draw a line between his disembodied scream and Brown’s signature hollers.
Elvis Presley
For any good rock showman, Elvis Presley is ground zero that should be studied by entertainers. Though Chuck Berry may have been the first songwriter in rock, Presley was the one who took those songs and made them larger-than-life experiences, as he gyrated his hips up and down the stage. As Presley began breaking new ground in the 1950s, a young Iggy Pop was mesmerised by what he saw.
When talking about his roots, Pop discussed being enamoured with the way Presley took from all kinds of mediums. Speaking to The New Yorker, Pop talked about using the bits and pieces from Presley’s act and using them in his own show, saying: “I started listening and watching, especially the stuff he took from minstrel shows. The footwork, the tongue-in-cheek humour”.
There was always a bit of clown-ish absurdity to some of Presley’s greatest songs, but Pop wasn’t falling for the flashy Elvis that he saw in the movies. He was looking to take the outrageous moves from Presley’s act and make it as in-your-face as possible with his own band.
David Bowie
The careers of Iggy Pop and David Bowie had been intertwined for decades. In their ‘70s prime, both men had been each other’s creative confidantes, working ideas off each other and Bowie producing an early version of The Stooges’ classic Raw Power. As for Pop, the mutual respect for each other’s art goes beyond just friends.
When Pop started to fade into obscurity and reach a personal low, he credits Bowie with saving his life, telling Rolling Stone: “He resurrected me. He was more of a benefactor than a friend in a way most people think of friendship. He went a bit out of his way to bestow some good karma on me”.
Up until his death in 2016, Pop mentioned that Bowie was unlike any other creative relationship he’s ever had: “This guy salvaged me from certain professional and maybe personal annihilation — simple as that,” he explained. “A lot of people were curious about me, but only he was the one who had enough truly in common with me, and who actually really liked what I did and could get on board with it, and who also had decent enough intentions to help me out”.
They might not have had any connection outside of music, but this is about as close to blood brothers as rock and roll gets.
