Information AboutIggy Pop |
James Newell Osterberg, Jr. (born April 21 , 1947 ), better known by his Stage Name Iggy Pop , is an American Rock Singer , Songwriter , and occasional actor. Although he has had only limited commercial success, Iggy Pop is considered one of the most important innovators of . http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/news/40062-video-teddybears-ft-iggy-pop-punkrocker-cadillac-commercial Iggy Pop was the lead singer of The Stooges , a late 1960s/early 1970s Garage Rock band who were influential in the development of the nascent Heavy Metal and Punk Rock genres. The Stooges became infamous for their live performances, during which it was not uncommon for Iggy Pop to leap off the stage (in fact, he was among the first to " Stage Dive "), smear raw meat (and on one occasion peanut butter) over his chest and/or cut himself with broken bottles. Many subsequent performers have imitated Pop's antics. Although he would never revisit the primal vitality of his days with the Stooges, Iggy Pop has had varying degrees of success in his 25 years as a solo artist. His best-known songs include "". A Film about Iggy Pop's life and career titled '' The Passenger '' is currently in production. EARLY LIFE Iggy Pop was born in . http://www.brooklynrail.org/2007/5/music/limping-with-the-stooges-in-washington-h MUSIC CAREER Early days: 1960 to 1967 Iggy Pop began his music career as a Drummer in different High School Band s in Ann Arbor. One band was The Iguanas , where he acquired the name Iggy. After exploring local Blues -style bands such as The Prime Movers (with brothers Dan and Philip Erlewine), he eventually dropped out of the University Of Michigan and moved to Chicago to learn more about blues. Inspired by Chicago Blues as well as bands like The Sonics and The MC5 , he formed the Psychedelic Stooges and called himself Iggy Pop. He got the name Pop because he once shaved his eyebrows for a show, after which he looked like a friend with the last name Popp who had recently undergone Chemotherapy and was eyebrowless himself. The band was composed of Iggy Pop on Vocals , Ron Asheton on Guitar , Asheton's brother Scott on Drums , and Dave Alexander on Bass . After almost two years they made their debut in Ann Arbor. The Stooges era: 1968 to 1975 The seeds of Pop's stage persona were sown when Pop saw The Doors perform in 1967 at the University of Michigan. Pop was amazed by the stage antics and antagonism displayed by singer Jim Morrison . http://www.brooklynrail.org/2007/5/music/limping-with-the-stooges-in-washington-h Morrison's extreme behavior—while performing in a popular band—inspired the young Pop to push the boundaries of stage performance. Later, while inventing the ''stage-dive'' in Detroit, http://www.brooklynrail.org/2007/5/music/limping-with-the-stooges-in-washington-h rolling around in broken glass, exposing himself to the crowd, and vomiting on stage, among many other exploits, Iggy would himself inspire others. One year after their debut, and now dubbed the Stooges, in 1968 the band were signed to Elektra Records (again following in the footsteps of The Doors, who were arguably Electra Records biggest act at the time). The Stooges' first two albums, '' The Stooges '', (on which Iggy was credited as Iggy Stooge) produced by John Cale , and '' Fun House '', sold poorly. Shortly after the new members joined, the group disbanded because of Iggy Pop's growing Heroin addiction. David Bowie helped to rejuvenate Iggy Pop's career by producing an album with him in England . With James Williamson signed on as guitarist, the search began for a Rhythm Section . However, since neither Pop nor Bowie were satisfied with any players in England, they decided to re-unite The Stooges. It would not be a true reunion, in that Dave Alexander would not play on the album. He had become a full-on Alcoholic , unable to play on the record; he died in 1975. Also, Ron Asheton grudgingly moved from guitar to bass to make way for Williamson to play guitar. The recording sessions produced the punk rock landmark '' Raw Power '', in 1973. After its release Scott Thurston was added to the band on keyboards/electric piano and Bowie continued his support, but Iggy's Drug Problem persisted. The Stooges' last show ended in a fight between the band and a group of Bikers , documented on the album '' Metallic K.O. ''. Drug abuse put his career on hold for a couple of years. Bowie and Berlin: 1976 to 1978 After the second breakup of the Stooges, Iggy Pop made some recordings with James Williamson, but these weren't released until 1977 (as '' Kill City '', credited jointly to Iggy Pop and Williamson). Iggy was unable to control his drug use and checked himself into a Mental Institution to try to clean up. Bowie was one of his few visitors there, and he continued to support his friend and collaborator. In 1976, Bowie took him along as his companion on the '' Station To Station '' tour. This was Iggy Pop's first exposure to large-scale professional touring and he was impressed, particularly with Bowie's work rate. Bowie and Iggy Pop relocated to West Berlin to wean themselves off their addictions. Iggy Pop signed with RCA and Bowie helped write and produce '' The Idiot '' and '' Lust For Life '' (both 1977), Pop's two most acclaimed albums as a solo artist, the latter with another team of brothers, Hunt and Tony Sales . Among songs they wrote together were " China Girl ", " Tonight ", and " Sister Midnight ", all of which Bowie performed on his own albums later on (the last being recorded with different lyrics as " Red Money " on the album '' Lodger ''). Bowie also played Keyboards in Pop's live performances, some of which are featured on the album '' TV Eye '' (1978). In return, Pop contributed backing vocals on Bowie's '' Low ''. The Arista albums: 1979 to 1981 Iggy Pop was unhappy with RCA. He later admitted that he'd made ''TV Eye'' as a quick way of fulfilling his three-album RCA contract and moving on elsewhere. This was Arista Records , for which he released '' New Values '' in 1979. This album was something of a Stooges reunion, with James Williamson producing and latter-day Stooge Scott Thurston playing guitar and keyboards. Not surprisingly, the album's style veered back to the guitar sound of the Stooges. Although highly regarded by many Iggy fans -- some preferring it to the Bowie collaborations -- ''New Values'' was not a commercial success, despite some strong material including "I'm Bored" and "Five Foot One". The album was moderately successful in Australia and New Zealand , however, and this led to Iggy Pop's first visit there to promote it. While in Melbourne, he made a memorable appearance on the ABC 's nationwide pop show '' Countdown ''. During his anarchic performance of "I'm Bored", Pop made no attempt to conceal the fact that he was miming, and he even tried to grab the teenage girls in the audience. He was also interviewed by host Ian "Molly" Meldrum , an exchange which was frequently punctuated by the singer jumping up and down on his chair and making loud exclamations of "G'day mate" in a mock Australian Accent . His ''Countdown'' appearance is generally considered one of the highlights of the show's history and it cemented his popularity with Australian punk fans; since then he has often toured there. While visiting New Zealand, Iggy Pop recorded a Music Video for "I'm Bored", featuring him outside and inside The Beehive , part of the country's Parliament buildings. This was widely aired on New Zealand television. While in Australia Iggy Pop was also the guest on a live late-night commercial TV interview show on the Ten Network . It is not known whether a recording of this interview exists, but the famous ''Countdown'' appearance has often been re-screened in Australia. During the recording of '' Soldier '' (1980), Iggy Pop and Williamson quarrelled over production - the latter apparently wanted a big, Phil Spector -type sound - and Williamson was fired. Bowie appeared on the song "Play it Safe" performing backing vocals with Simple Minds . The album and its follow-up '' Party '' (1981) were both commercial failures, and Iggy Pop was dropped from Arista. His drug habit varied in intensity, but remained. The 1980s In 1982, Iggy Pop released what would be his final album for some time, '' Zombie Birdhouse '', on Chris Stein 's Animal label, with Stein himself producing. Commercially, the album was no improvement on his Arista works. In 1983, Iggy Pop's fortunes changed. David Bowie recorded a cover of the song "China Girl', which had originally appeared on ''The Idiot'', on his blockbuster '' Let's Dance '' album. Bowie's version was a worldwide hit single and as co-writer of the song, Pop received substantial Royalties . On '' Tonight '' in 1984, Bowie recorded two more of their songs, this time from the ''Lust for Life'' album, "Tonight" and "Neighborhood Threat". Pop was for the first time financially secure, at least for the short term. Bowie's intention was to help his friend get out of the clutches of the IRS . This enabled Pop to take a three-year break, during which he overcame his heroin addiction, took acting classes and got married. In 1985, Pop recorded some demos with guitarist -influenced '' Blah Blah Blah '', featuring the Single "Real Wild Child", a cover of "Wild One (Real Wild Child)", originally made popular by Australian rock'n'roll pioneer Johnny O'Keefe in 1959. The single was a Top 10 hit in the UK and was also successful around the world, especially in Australia, where for the last twenty years it has been used as the theme music for the ABC 's late-night music video show '' Rage ''. It remains Pop's solitary brush with major commercial success. ''Blah Blah Blah'' was Pop's highest-charting album in the U.S. since ''The Idiot'' in 1977, peaking at #75 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart. Also in 1985, the movie '' Rock & Rule '' was released featuring performances by Iggy Pop and Lou Reed for the character Mok. Pop's song in the film was ''Pain & Suffering'' from the final sequence of the film.1 In 1987, Pop appeared (along with Bootsy Collins ) on a mostly instrumental album by Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto . The follow-up to ''Blah Blah Blah'', '' Instinct '' (1988), was a turnaround in musical direction. Its stripped-back, guitar-based sound leaned further towards the sound of the Stooges than any his solo albums to date. His record label, which had most likely been expecting another ''Blah Blah Blah'', dropped him. The 1990s In 1990 Pop recorded '' Brick By Brick '', produced by Don Was , with members of Guns N' Roses and The B-52s as guests, as well as backup vocals by many local Hollywood groups, some of whom would be recruited for his band to tour and perform on his "Kiss My Blood" video (1991), directed by world-famous director Tim Pope and filmed at the Olympia in Paris. The album was his first Gold-certified album in the U.S. (denoting sales of over 500,000 copies) and featured his first Top 40 U.S. hit, "Candy," a duet with B-52s singer Kate Pierson . Note that the year of release is also contained in lyrics of this song ("It's rainy afternoon in 1990"). Also in 1990, Pop starred in the controversial opera ''The Manson Family'' by composer John Moran , released on Point Music/Phillip Classics, where he sang the role of prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi . That year he was also involved in the Red Hot + Blue project, singing a version of ''Well Did You Evah'' in a duet with Deborah Harry . In 1991, Pop contributed the song "Why Was I Born (Freddy's Dead)" to the soundtrack of the film ''''. The song also plays over the end credits of the film, with a compilation of clips from the '' A Nightmare On Elm Street '' series running alongside the end credits. In 1992, he collaborated with Goran Bregović on the Soundtrack for the movie '' Arizona Dream '' by Emir Kusturica . Pop sang four of the songs: "In the Deathcar", "TV Screen", "Get the Money", and "This is a Film". Also in 1992, he collaborated with the NYC band ''. In 1995, Pop again found mainstream fame when his 1977 song " Lust For Life " was featured prominently in the film '' Trainspotting ''. A new video was recorded for the song, with clips from the film and studio footage of Iggy dancing with one of its stars, Ewen Bremner ; an Iggy Pop concert was an important plot point, as it dissolved the relationship between Tommy and Lizzie. The song has also been used in TV commercials for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (with many music critics denouncing the usage of the song to promote peppy cruises) and as the theme music to '' The Jim Rome Show '', a nationally-syndicated American sports Talk Show . Also in 1995, Pop released '' Naughty Little Doggie '', with Whitey Kirst returning on guitar, and the single "I Wanna Live". He co-produced 1999's '' Avenue B '' with Don Was, releasing the single "Corruption", and produced 2001's '' Beat 'Em Up '', which gave birth to The Trolls , releasing the single "Football" featuring Trolls alumni Whitey Kirst and brother Alex. In 1997 he Remix ed ''Raw Power'' to give it a rougher, more hard-edged sound; fans had complained for years that Bowie's official 'rescue effort' mix was muddy and lacking in bass. Pop testified in the reissue's liner notes that on the new mix, "everything's still in the red." In the early to middle 1990s Iggy Pop would make several guest appearances on the '' episode "The Magnificent Ferengi". Recent career |
|
|