“I love the way it’s played”: The Stooges song Iggy Pop was proudest of
When the world talks about Iggy Pop, more often than not, the subject surrounds his wild on-stage antics and punk persona. We share the countless tales of his frantic escapades or his shocking stunts during his live shows. We talk about him as a performer or a frontman, but we rarely talk about him as a songwriter. However, there’s one song that the musician was especially proud of, believing it showed his skills in songcraft at their best.
That’s always the way, though, isn’t it? When an artist is such a great and gripping performer, the actual mechanics of their talent can end up getting lost or underappreciated. It’s easy to forget that making a catchy song or having the material good enough to put on a good show takes talent because it looks so effortless. But effortlessness takes a lot of work. Not everyone can write a song capable of hooking a crowd in and getting them to eat out of the palm of their hand. Not everyone can create music that whips people up into a frenzy, making songs with the power to cause chaos.
While obviously so much of Iggy Pop’s legacy comes down to his showmanship and crazy life stories, none of that would have happened without his music. Underneath the performance, there is real talent there and real skill when it comes to crafting and composing a great punk tune.
In particular, he thought ‘1970’ showed that well. Sitting on The Stooges’ second album, Fun House, the track came about when the musician was still in the infancy of his music career. He was still new to it all, still learning and honing his craft. After their debut album and their earliest performances had made them stars, the follow-up record felt like they had broken through in terms of writing and creating music. Part of that is because the band had finally figured out how to balance their drug intake during a day in the studio. Pop said, “I was taking more LSD than I had when we recorded the first one, and I think that had something to do with it, too – taking acid and singing.”
But he’d figured out the golden formula, adding, “The way I would do it was, I would just make sure I didn’t take the acid too early. You’d have to take it just before you were going to work and then start working just before you felt it coming on.” That was his key to productivity.
But part of it was also just confidence and maturity as his songwriting naturally moved forward and got better. He hears that most on ‘1970’ as he told Uncut, “That’s the one of which I’m most proud, as I put that together and handed it to the group.” Written almost solely by Pop before the band came in to help with details, it was a moment when he seemed to realise and suddenly see his ability.
Both then and now, the track feels like a testament to his talent as a songwriter and remains a song he holds dear as he added, “I like the way it’s written and I love the way it’s played, and I like the way it progresses from this kind of a rock blues, and then it goes into the sax so beautifully played, and the groove changes.”
