‘Search and Destroy’: The Stooges song that showed punk the way forward
There are many debates surrounding the first punk songs ever written. While many people credit the Sex Pistols as the movement’s pioneers, some disagree, saying there were politically outrageous bands making music long before Johnny Rotten scribbled “I hate” on his Pink Floyd T-shirt.
The debate about who pioneered punk will rage on, as there is more than one answer. The punk movement was the product of multiple minds; it was the culmination of multiple different ideas, branches of protest and controversy merging to create a structure that still stands today. To find the beginning of punk, you need to dig down and discover the roots that gave rise to these branches, and when you do that, you will stumble upon variations of poetry, jazz, noise and performance. There is no patient zero.
While we cannot definitively say who is responsible for the punk movement, we can isolate individuals who played a big part towards the inception of a specific section. Aside from the scathing lyrics that outraged listeners, one of the biggest aspects of punk was the equally outrageous performances that accompanied the sound.
It was one of Sex Pistols’ debut performances, which lamented them as one of the most outrageous bands in London, and that put them on the map as a must-see. The review read, “’HURRY UP, they’re having an orgy on stage’, said the bloke on the door as he tore the tickets up,” it continued, “I waded to the front and straightaway sighted a chair arcing gracefully through the air, skidding across the stage and thudding contentedly into the PA system, to the obvious nonchalance of the bass drums and guitar. Well I didn’t think they sounded that bad on first earful – then I saw it was the singer who’d done the throwing.”
This kind of brash behaviour became standard at punk shows, but it wasn’t the Sex Pistols who invented it. Again, if you want to find the original outrageous performer, you will be digging for roots for the rest of your life, but the majority of people who were involved in the punk movement admit that Iggy Pop and his band The Stooges were major players in showing people how they should perform.
Pop confirmed that his on-stage persona was influenced by a performance of The Doors when Jim Morrison was so out of it he could hardly sing. “The band got onstage first,” recalled Pop, “Without Morrison, and they just sounded like pure shit… It sounded awful… decrepit and disgusting and unbalanced – they were playing the riff to ‘Soul Kitchen’ over and over until the singer was gonna make his entrance.”
When Morrison finally came on stage, he was in all leather and a ruffled shirt, making gestures and comments that were intentionally meant to anger the crowd. Most people in the audience hated it, but Pop found himself drawn to the controversial nature of the performance.
“I was very excited,” he said, “I loved the antagonism; I loved that he was pissing them off. Yes, yes, yes… the gig lasted only 15 or 20 minutes because they had to pull Morrison off-stage and get him out of there fast because the people were gonna attack him. It made a big impression on me… I thought, look how awful they are, and they’ve got the number one single in the country! If this guy can do it, I can do it. And I gotta do it now. I can’t wait any longer.”
Pop carried this attitude with him when The Stooges eventually got together, and the result was some of the most outrageous shows that the people of London had ever seen. Pop would flail around the stage erratically, cover himself in peanut butter and intentionally confront the crowd. As was the case with Morrison, some were appalled, while others, who went on to adapt such a performance style throughout the punk movement, were obsessed.
All of The Stooge’s on-stage performances reflected this kind of attitude; however, one of their most revered tracks was ‘Search and Destroy’. This is still considered a classic by many, as it has a raw sound that perfectly encapsulates everything that people loved about The Stooge’s live performance. The raw energy of the track and the fact it made for the perfect backdrop that Pop could lose his mind to make it a song that everyone was excited to see.
Not only did the song allow for Pop’s outrageous live antics, but it was also deeply rooted in protest, as the title came from a Time article about the Vietnam War. The lyrics contain multiple references to the brutality of war, and the instrumentation of the track also sounds like a warzone in parts.
“Well, I had come up with kind of that ‘bum bum bum bum bum bum bum’ a little bit, but it was more in regard to imitating a machine gun, if you will,” said guitarist James Williamson when discussing the song, “Because this is the era of the Vietnam War. And so we were kind of screwing around with that, and that’s where that figure comes from.”
The energy packed up and injected into this song paved the way for punk performance. Without it, the outrageous stage shows that made bands like the Sex Pistols famous and the antics that can still be seen in shows today likely wouldn’t have happened.
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