Iggy Pop and The Stooges’ ludicrous 28-page rider
Garage rock acted as an essential precursor to the punk explosion of the 1970s. However, the decade prior saw bands such as MC5, The Sonics and Iggy and the Stooges set the tone with music that featured abrasive instrumentals and distorted guitars. The latter have since become one of the most iconic bands of their ilk, with lead vocalist Iggy Pop’s shocking stage presence allowing the band to stand out from their contemporaries.
Pop, who helped form the band in 1967, was known for performing with reckless abandon, often harming himself with shards of glass, carving an X into his chest, or getting his genitals out… the list is endless. Alan Vega recalled in Please Kill Me, “[Pop] went to sing, and he just pukes all over.”
The singer – who eventually found great success as a solo artist, penning hits such as ‘Lust for Life’ and ‘The Passenger’ – built up quite a reputation as one of rock and roll’s craziest performers. Inspiring a legion of shock rock artists, as well as the stage presence of many punk artists and even David Bowie, Pop has well and truly cemented himself as one of music’s most controversial yet celebrated figures.
The Stooges broke up in 1971 but have reunited several times since, with their 2007 album The Weirdness, coming 34 years after their previous album, Raw Power. The early 2000s marked the band’s first reunion since 1974, and they subsequently embarked on a tour that allowed many fans to see The Stooges perform for the first time.
Naturally, when asked to write down any rider requests, Pop acted in line with his raucous reputation, delivering a mixture of bizarre, outrageous and complex asks. All were written very tongue-in-cheek, beginning with the line, “First of all, can I say what a pleasure it will be to work with you all. Probably.”
He also added, “I get paid enough to buy my own drugs and dinner. So I would like you to donate, say, 50 US Dollars to a local homeless charity in lieu of the stuff I could possibly have consumed.”
From there, Pop described his requests for himself and his bandmates. He joked, “You know what would be really nice? If you could make this room look less like a typical rock & roll dressing room and more sort of… Interesting? Are you with me? Just let someone loose with a little bit of artistic flair… Er, do you know any homosexuals? And am I allowed to say that? Probably not.”
One of Pop’s strangest requests was a Bob Hope impersonator who could tell “those hilarious Bob Hope jokes about golf and Hollywood and Bing Crosby.” If a Hope stand-in wasn’t possible, he was okay with “Seven dwarves, dressed up as those dwarves out of that marvellous Walt Disney film about the woman who goes to sleep for a hundred years after biting a poisoned dwarf, or maybe after pricking her finger on a rather sharp apple… or something.”
When it came to food and drink requests, Pop used the space to share his disgust for a few popular American staples. “1 case of coke in cans. Well I think it’s disgusting stuff. Like McDonalds predigested sandwiches. Do you know, if I had to choose between a Mcdonalds with coke, and having my tongue ripped out and placed inside my own colon, I’d probably be licking my own arse right now…”
Finally, Pop tried his luck with one sizable request. “I think that’s about it,” he wrote, before adding, “Oh yes. A Yamaha MT03 motorcycle for me would be nice. To keep. With a full tank, and a helmet. Well, you can’t blame me for trying.”
