The song Henry Rollins called the sexiest ever written: “It makes you want to fight and fuck all at the same time”
There are many adjectives to describe Iggy Pop. Chaotic, charismatic and in his pomp, unhinged. But sexy? I’m not sure.
I completely understand the sort of sexuality a performer like him would have for certain fans, the sort of dangerous obscurity that many people would find alluring, but is it strong enough to penetrate the unbridled sense of chaos that is otherwise at the surface of his persona?
When he burst onto the scene with The Stooges in 1969, there were plenty of other heartthrobs for fans to fall in love with, and each of them had a catalogue of songs to go with it. Marvin Gaye was midway through his transition from pop sensation to sultry soul king and had ultimate bedroom tracks like ‘Let’s Get It On’ up his sleeve, while Mick Jagger and Robert Plant happily dominated the landscape of obscure rock heartthrobs.
Iggy was less preoccupied with following their lead. Instead, he wholeheartedly committed himself to becoming the prince of chaos, pushing the boundaries of on-stage performance to a point of sheer lunacy. Be it threatening to kill himself on stage or throwing watermelons at the crowd, none of his behaviour was rooted in a desire to be sexualised.
Nevertheless, there was something in the music of The Stooges that triggered a more primal reaction and made Iggy’s onstage unpredictability make a little more sense. Because if you take a closer look, there is undoubtedly a fine line between chaos and sexuality. A space where inhibition completely takes over and your mind is, in many ways, at the mercy of something more physical, which for Iggy on stage was whatever he felt like that night.
Beneath the punky melodies sat a deep rhythm section that prowled through the air, and when paired with a brooding and provocative vocal take, made for an alternative take on music sexuality. A sound audience members were immediately confronted with on Funhouse, and its opening track ‘Down on the Street’ which Henry Rollins described as “One of the sexiest, most violent, genius records ever.”
He added, that “You can’t resist that song”, explaining that it “makes you want to fight and fuck all at the same time.”
While The Stooges played to a primarily punk gallery, there was something about that opening track that felt more conventional to the ideals of rock and roll. In fact, it almost sounds like a darker, more animalistic version of The Rolling Stones, who, by the time Funhouse was released, were transitioning from adolescent sweethearts to rock gods of love. It was a track Jagger would have been proud to release and play in the dark and fiendish corners of a backstage party.
Iggy was a mere 22-year-old when he wrote it, and despite showing an unbridled sense of confidence in the track, proved that behind the madness was a master frontman and belting vocal melody writer. There was tenderness and madness in equal measures, skill and instinct in unison with another to create a masterfully primal punk track.
