“Shedding our skin”: The song Iggy Pop called a transition point for The Stooges
Iggy Pop is one of the most influential artists to ever take to the stage. This is both because of his music’s aggressive and grimy nature and his flamboyant performance style. All of the artists who would eventually make a name for themselves within the world of punk admit that they owe a lot to Pop, as his style and domination of the Pub Rock scene influenced how a lot of these punk bands acted.
While he had a successful solo career, he was also a member of The Stooges, a band featuring himself, Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton, and Dave Alexander. It took them some time to properly work out their sound, which helped establish a movement. While these kinds of bands are looked back upon fondly, it can take a while for them to work out their sound because no one has done anything like it before.
The band released a few albums during this period, one of which was Fun House in 1970. This was The Stooges’ second studio album and gave people a glimpse into the sound that they would eventually champion. It was a commercial failure like so many innovative pieces of music; however, it has since developed a strong cult following, as those early sounds of punk rock can be heard loud and clear.
In 1973, they managed to strongly develop sounds that reflected punk with their record Raw Power. This album really saw the band come into their own, perfecting the sound that they would eventually make famous and showing people how much an unforgiving and raw sound can impact music. It was riddled with distortion and incredibly fun to listen to throughout.
In between these two albums, The Stooges spent three years working out exactly where they wanted their sound to go. It was tough for the band to definitively come to an agreement on where their sound should go, but there were some songs that helped bridge the gap and provide some form of shining light during this period of indecisiveness. Iggy Pop touched upon one of these tracks during an interview with Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan, where he compared the track ‘I Got a Right’ to the G N’R Lies.
“That was 1972. The Stooges were sort of shedding our skin at that time,” he said, “We were trying to get a step above Fun House but weren’t quite where we would eventually be with Raw Power. It was intermediate. Sort of like you guys with G N’R Lies. There was some strong stuff on there, but it wasn’t formal enough to be the next big release. But it had the fire.”
It’s interesting how many genre-defining bands need to go through a phase like this: they focus on perfecting the sound that will break through the mould and resonate with people worldwide. To have such clear representations of punk present over half a decade before the Sex Pistols would ever utter the words “I am an anarchist” is something very special. There is a reason why Iggy Pop and The Stooges are still celebrated as one of the most important bands and acts to ever take to the stage.
