Iggy Pop (51 page)

11. PARTY ★

Recorded:
Record Plant, NY, August* 1980;
Released:
Arista, June 1981;
Chart peak:
166 (US), - (UK);
Personnel:
Iggy Pop (v), Ivan Kral (gtr, kbds), Rob Duprey (gtr), Michael Page (bass), Douglas Bowne (drums);
Producers:
Thom Panunzio, Tommy Boyce.

A laughably banal album, deriving from record-company pressure to deliver a crossover hit. Some fans rate the pedestrian, predictable ‘Pumping For Jill’, or ‘Bang Bang’; those two songs certainly sound like classics compared to ‘Happy Man’, a risible attempt at reggae with brain-dead lyrics and an oompah Eurovision brass-band backing courtesy of the Uptown Horns; it’s undoubtedly the worst song ever recorded by Iggy Pop.

12. ZOMBIE BIRDHOUSE ★★

Recorded:
Blank Tapes, NY, May 1982;
Released:
Animal Records, September 1982;
Chart Peak:
- (UK), - (US);
Personnel:
Iggy Pop (v), Rob Duprey (gtr, kbds), Chris Stein (bass), Clem Burke (drums);
Producer:
Chris Stein.

Iggy’s vocals are obviously slurred, his pitching is suspect, much of the material is pretentious and indulgent, bad Kurt Weill knockoffs abound and the arrangements are hit-and-miss. Yet behind the alcohol haze it’s possible to discern the inventive Iggy of
The Idiot
or
Lust For Life
: ‘The Horse Song’ is an off-kilter romp, ‘The Ballad Of Cookie McBride’ a bizarre but catchy downhome cowpoke ditty, ‘Platonic’, despite occasionally erratic singing, is dreamy and meditative, and ‘Ordinary Bummer’ is an almost transcendently beautiful ballad, infused with a thrilling defiance worthy of Judy Garland.

13. BLAH BLAH BLAH ★★★

Recorded:
Mountain Studios, Montreux, May 1986;
Released:
A&M, November 1986;
Chart Peak:
43 (UK), 75 (US);
Personnel:
Iggy Pop (v), David Bowie (kbds, programming), Kevin Armstrong (gtrs), Steve Jones (gtr, ‘Cry for Love’), Erdal Kizilcay (bass, kbds, programming);
Producer:
David Bowie.

‘Not my favourite album,’ says Pop, ‘but it got me some hits, so maybe it should be.’
Blah Blah Blah
was a demonstration of almost stunning efficiency by David Bowie, who extricated his sparring partner from a mire of financial problems and lack of commercial credibility and selflessly donated some of his finest recent songwriting efforts. If you can bear the thought of a happy Iggy Pop, who’s a skilful songwriter (‘Cry For Love’), enjoys sunny vacations (‘Hideaway’) and is the doyenne of office parties (‘The Wild One’), you will love this album.

14. INSTINCT ★

Recorded:
Sorcerer Sound, NYC, BC Studio Brooklyn (vocals), winter 1987;
Released:
A&M, June 1988;
Chart peak:
61 (UK), 110 (US);
Personnel:
Iggy Pop (v), Steve Jones (gtr), Seamus Beaghen (kbds), Leigh Foxx (bass), Paul Garisto (drums);
Producer:
Bill Laswell.

It was hardly a surprise that Iggy would follow up the high-tech sheen of
Blah Blah Blah
with a guitar-led album harking back to the elemental power of the Stooges. What was a surprise was that the results would be far more bland and studio-bound than its predecessor.
Instinct
is an album of dull corporate rock that today sounds like a poor imitation of AC/DC or ZZ Top. The drearily predictable guitar riffs and plodding drums are expertly recorded by producer Bill Laswell, but technical proficiency can’t conceal the utter lack of inspiration in the songwriting. The most memorable song on the album, ‘Cold Metal’, is a workmanlike rehash of ‘Raw Power’, with all that song’s tension and quirkiness surgically excised.

15. BRICK BY BRICK ★★★

Recorded:
Ocean Way and Hollywood Sound, LA, March 1990;
Released:
Virgin, August 1990;
Chart Peak:
50 (UK), 90 (US);
Personnel:
Iggy Pop (v, gtrs), Kate Pierson (v on ‘Candy’), Slash (gtr), Duff McKagan (bass), Kenny Aronoff (drums) and others;
Producer:
Don Was.

Don Was wanted to craft an album that revealed Jim Osterberg as well as Iggy Pop, augmenting dumb aggression with wit and intelligence. The album is dominated by A-grade sessionmen, which gives it a brisk, businesslike air; the sparkly production showcases Iggy’s considerable abilities as a conventional rock singer and songwriter, although, unsurprisingly, this is pleasant rather than thrilling fare. ‘Candy’, his love song to Betsy Mickelsen, is a conventional ballad with a quirky New Wave edge and it became Iggy’s first US hit single.

16. AMERICAN CAESAR ★★★★

Recorded:
Kingsway Studios, New Orleans, October-November 1992, Bearsville Studio NYC, February 1993 (‘Louie Louie’, ‘Sickness’, ‘Beside You’);
Released:
Virgin, September 1993;
Chart Peak:
43 (UK), - (US);
Personnel:
Iggy Pop (v), Eric Schermerhorn (gtr), Hal Cragin (bass), Larry Mullins (drums) plus guests including Henry Rollins and Lisa Germano;
Producer:
Malcolm Burn.

An overlooked album that failed to match the chart success of
Brick By Brick
,
American Caesar
is a far superior work, the most vital of Iggy’s tenure on Virgin Records. The title track is powered by a weighty guitar riff; it’s skewed and unpredictable, far closer to the spirit of the Stooges than anything on albums like
Instinct
or
Naughty Little Doggie
; elsewhere, there’s intriguing experimentation, with ethereal ballads like ‘Jealousy’ and the angry, self-pitying ‘Fuckin’ Alone’. ‘Beside You’, an anthemic ballad dating from
Blah Blah Blah
demos, and ‘Louie Louie’ were added at the behest of Virgin, and they gave a variety and historical sweep to this album, which, aside from being a couple of songs too long, is generally intriguing and vital.

17. NAUGHTY LITTLE DOGGIE ★

Recorded:
Track Record, N. Hollywood, LA, 20 June to 1 July 1995;
Released:
Virgin, March 1996;
Chart Peak:
- (UK), - (US);
Personnel:
as
American Caesar
, plus Whitey Kirst (gtr);
Producer:
Thom Wilson.

The rehearsal sessions for
Naughty Little Doggie
were full of experimentation and invention, all of which was apparently abandoned on the recording proper, to make for a dull, meat-and-potatoes rock album. ‘I Wanna Live’ comes closest to being memorable; it’s based on a similar three-chord trick on ‘Real Cool Time’, with none of the latter’s menace or originality.

18. AVENUE B ★★★

Recorded:
262 Mott Street, The Theatre, and Hal Cragin’s Studio 12A, New York, May-June 1998;
Released:
Virgin, September 1999;
Chart Peak:
- (UK), - (US);
Personnel:
Iggy Pop (v), Whitey Kirst and Pete Marshall (gtrs), Hal Cragin (bass), Larry Mullins (drums) plus guests including Martin, Medeski, Wood (on drums, Hammond organ and bass);
Producer:
Don Was.

An occasionally gripping, brave album depicting the wreckage of Iggy Pop’s emotional life and rocky relationship with his then girlfriend, Alejandra,
Avenue B
was intended to evoke masterful autumnal releases like Frank Sinatra’s
September Of My Years
. Sadly, the tasteful jazz backings occasionally veer into MOR blandness, and hardcore fans stayed well away.

19. BEAT ’EM UP ★★

Recorded:
Hit Factory Criteria, Miami, December 2000;
Released:
Virgin, July 2001;
Chart Peak:
- (UK), - (US);
Personnel:
Iggy Pop (v), plus the Trolls: Whitey Kirst & Pete Marshall (gtrs), Lloyd ‘Mooseman’ Roberts (bass), Alex Kirst (drums);
Producer:
Iggy Pop.

Rather like
Instinct
,
Beat ’Em Up
was a transparently predictable retreat to the bonehead rock that Iggy Pop now regarded as his USP. But
Beat ’Em Up
at least features high-energy performances, a sense of anger and, on the best songs - ‘Mask’, ‘VIP’ - Iggy’s tirades are entertainingly tasteless, like a wino spouting conspiracy theories. Ultimately, though, the endless sub-metal clichés, with riffs recycled from Led Zep’s ‘Kashmir’ or Iron Butterfly’s ‘In A Gadda Da Vida’ seem mind-numbingly repetitive.

20. SKULL RING ★★

Recorded:
Hit Factory Criteria, Miami, January-February 2003;
Released:
Virgin, November 2003;
Chart Peak:
- (UK), - (US);
Personnel:
Iggy Pop (v) plus guests including the Stooges (Ron and Scott Asheton), the Trolls, Blink 182, Green Day and Peaches.

Skull Ring
was celebrated for Iggy’s long-awaited reunion with Ron and Scott Asheton; their first four songs together in thirty years are competent but lack the tight sonic focus of their classic work (a fault corrected on ‘You Better Run’, their raucous contribution to the 2005 Jr Kimbrough tribute
Sunday Nights
). Six songs with the Trolls surpass their work on
Beat ’Em Up
, while ‘Little Know It All’, a formulaic collaboration with theme-park punks Sum 41, resulted in Iggy’s first appearance in the US rock charts in a decade, peaking at number 35.

21. THE WEIRDNESS ★★★

Recorded:
Electrical Audio, Chicago, October 2006;
Mixed:
Abbey Road, London, December 2006;
Released:
Virgin, March 2007;
Chart Peak:
n/a (UK), (US);
Personnel:
Iggy Pop (v), Ron Asheton (gtr), Scott Asheton (drums), Mike Watt (bass), Steve Mackay (tenor sax);
Producer:
Steve Albini.

Occasionally workmanlike, intermittently deranged, the reunited Stooges’ first full studio album sparkles with energy and commitment. It fails to capture the monumentality and brutishness of their early work - but then, what album today does? Songs like ‘Trollin’ and ‘Free And Freaky’ are bouncy but predictable, while ‘Greedy Awful People’ evokes, of all people, ’50s rocker Eddie Cochran. Incredibly, though, on the very best songs, in particular the defiantly numbskull ‘Idea Of Fun’, the years simply melt away - its relentless driving powerchords and cynical misanthropy, given the Stooges’ picaresque history, seem bizarrely poignant.

Recording dates or details with * are estimated. Recording dates come from
Popped
newsletter (
The Stooges
), Elektra Records (
Fun House
), MainMan itinerary (
Raw Power
), Ben Edmonds (
Kill City
), Laurent Thibault and Edu Meyer (
The Idiot
), Edu Meyer (
Lust For Life
), Julie Hooker (
Soldier
), Kris Needs/
Creem
(
Blah Blah Blah
), JO to PT (
Brick By Brick
), Larry Mullins (
American Caesar, Naughty Little Doggie, Avenue B
), Virgin Records (
Beat ’Em Up
) and
Creem
(
Skull Ring
).