I'm back on the line...
News has reached us of a couple of Iggy Pop things that may interest BowieNetters. First up, the above tome is an attempt to create the most comprehensive Iggy Pop reference book by author Richard Adams. And for those of you thinking it's a long way from rabbits to rock stars...he's not that author!
Apparently, The Complete Iggy Pop was officially published last Friday, March 3rd, through Reynolds and Hearn, though I've not managed to find a copy yet.
I asked Richard about the format of the book:
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It's a straightforward chronological book split into chapters corresponding with each year. Within each chapter are details on all recordings made, songs released, every tour and songs performed. I don't subscribe to the oft-repeated-in-the-press notion that everything the Stooges did was amazing and everything Iggy's done since 1977 is worthless. I've concentrated on the facts and tried to cover all songs and albums objectively and fairly.
Along the way I've unearthed all sorts of snippets of information that I'd never heard / read / seen before. So hopefully most Iggy fans, even the most die-hard, will find something new in the book. It's the most complete portrait of Iggy's life and work that I've ever seen, and, as I had hoped, it has ended up as exactly the sort of book I'd always wanted to read about Iggy.
There are a few pages of pictures in the middle, including one of Bowie with Iggy onstage circa 1985/86 playing an impromptu version of "China Girl" in New York.
(Blam note: It was the China Club in 1986)
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Here are a couple of edited excerpts from the two albums released in that magnificently productive year of 1977...
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Mass Production (The Idiot)
From the factory sounds of the long fade in via the wonky synthesized middle section to the foghorn like blasts at the song's end, this track is unlike any other Iggy song. The song, which was the last to be finished, arose from a dinner conversation during which Iggy recalled that parts of Berlin reminded him of the bleak and nightmarish industrial nature of his home state. The lyrics reflect the despairing music, with the suicidal line 'though I try to die, you put me back on the line' being one of the more disturbing.
This massive slice of Germanic rock is simply one of the best and most under-rated tracks that both Bowie and Pop have ever been involved in. This track, more than any other on The Idiot points the way forward to Joy Division, Gary Numan and the doomy side of the European new wave. The Idiot and Low especially influenced Joy Division. They were originally called Warsaw, taking their name from the Bowie track (Warszawa) on Low rather than directly from the Polish capital. And when Ian Curtis was found hanging, the record still spinning on his turntable was The Idiot.
Tonight (Lust For Life)
The dramatic opening of this song finds Iggy histrionically crying about his girlfriend's overdose - 'she was turning blue' - backed by the massed choir of Bowie and the Sales' brothers. It's rather archly clever, taking it's cue from those 60's songs with spoken interludes such as "Leader Of The Pack" but setting it firmly in the squalor of junkiedom. Then, somewhat at odds with the intro, the main part of the song is one of Bowie's most obvious and straightforward romantic melodies.
Without the OD intro "Tonight" can be seen as a gorgeous love song. This was how Bowie interpreted it on his 1984 cover version.
The original boasts a classy arrangement with Bowie's swirling synths to the fore and some excellent guitar from Ricky Gardiner. But it's Iggy's assured vocal delivery, a passable impression of Bowie's rich "Wild Is The Wind" croon, which really carries the song. There's also David and Hunt's wailing backing vocals and the result is one of the most un-Iggy like tracks recorded so far in his career. But, by going against expectation, and also by going totally straight after the overblown intro, it works beautifully.
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Speaking of Iggy Pop in 1977, I've had a few e-mails asking about the above item, the recently released Lust For Live 1977, and if it's the best available live recording of Iggy Pop and David Bowie's performances together on The Idiot tour. In a word, no.
Here's the tracklisting:
01 Iggy speaks - Jim Morrison
02 Lust For Life - Live 1977
03 Iggy speaks - The Passenger
04 The Passenger - Live 1977
05 Iggy speaks - Mutual Bowie
06 Gloria - Live 1977
07 Iggy speaks - Mohammed Ali
08 Modern Guy- Live 1977
09 Iggy speaks - Record company
10 I've Gotta Right - Live 1977
11 Iggy speaks - I've broke a bottle
12 Fall In Love With Me - Live 1977
13 Neighbourhood Threat - Live 1977
14 Iggy speaks - I want to be something more
15 TV Eye - Live 1977
16 Raw Power - Live 1977
17 Nightclubbing - Live 1977
To be honest, it's a pretty shabby affair. Interspersed with poor quality snippets of interview from around 1979. Apparently the live tracks are taken from both 1977 tours, The Idiot (with DB) and Lust For Life shows at Manchester's Apollo in the UK, though it's hard to spot any Bowie. Best avoided altogether, imho.
If the four live Iggy/Bowie tracks on the official live release from The Idiot tour, TV Eye Live, aren't enough for you, then you may want to check out of the following...
Sister Midnight/Suck On This tracklisting:
01 Raw power
02 1969
03 Turn Blue
04 Sister Midnight
05 I Need Somebody
06 Search 'n' Destroy
07 TV Eye
08 Dirt
09 Funtime
10 Gimme Danger
11 No Fun
12 I Wanna Be Your Dog
This 52 minute set was recorded on March 21,1977 at the Agora Ballroom. Cleveland, Ohio...and it's a cracker. The band personnel at this point was: Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Ricky Gardiner, Hunt Sales and Tony Sales...and what a band!
This set has been released a few times... Suck On This on Revenge and Sister Midnight on Cleopatra. Suck On This was re-issued with the same cover but retitled as Wild Animal, also on Revenge.
Finally, if you want to hear an interview with Iggy just prior to the release of The Idiot, check out Marc Riley's listen again feature for his MINT programme. Fast Forward to around 1 hour 6 mins to hear it, along with two classics from The Idiot, Baby and Sister Midnight.
