Iggy Pop

I wanna be your dog...

I would never accuse James Newell Osterberg, Jr. of having found the fountain of youth, this 62 year old man looks like death warmed over with a side dish of bones and a cup of peroxide to wash him down with. Yet, somehow he continues to contort himself, lizard like, through the dirtiest of sexual fantasies in the minds of teens and Grandmothers alike. Fellow musicians, when in the presence of this man, have to resist the urge to kiss his gnarled pinky, because after all - he is the Godfather of Punk. He's been loathed and worshiped in almost equal measure since the early 60s, under the names Iggy Stooge and Iggy Pop. He's also held the title of the Rock Iguana since forming his first band back in high school in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

After a brief visit to Chicago, Illinois, where Iggy met drummer Sam Lay, who turned him on to blues music, the Stooges were born. Inspired by what he'd heard and with visions of shaking the tree dancing in his head, he teamed up with Ron and Scott Asheton and one of their known accomplices, Dave Alexander. Having latched on to the name Iggy from his early days with the Iguanas, he had no problem adding the new band's name as well, becoming Iggy Stooge. He also accepted the fact that his band mates seemed intent on comparing him to a local Ann Arbor misfit named Pop. It seemed fair enough to adopt this name as well. The band made it's live debut at a Halloween concert that they had inside their own home in 1967. This Halloween marks the 41st anniversary of a man and a band who only wanted to be your dog.

So messed up I want you here...

Iggy was most revered and reviled for his stage performances. Shirtless, almost painfully thin, yet deliciously muscular. Cutting his own flesh to let us watch him bleed, and contorting his frame into positions that appeared both painful and erotic, we were captivated. Iggy sank his teeth into the underbelly of our culture, and spat it back in our faces. His primal screams were our own, and to hear them reverberating over the intense pounding of the Stooges behind him were both frightening and intoxicating. Elektra records knew they had a loose cannon when they signed the band in 1968, but after having survived the Lizard King, Jim Morrison - they thought they could handle the Iguana of Rock. How wrong they were!

Jean genie let yourself go...

By 1970 the only thing that ever had a hold on Iggy was making it's way into his veins. His heroin addiction is the stuff of legends. It's possible, had it not been for David Bowie, the man and his music could have died before they ever really lived. Bowie regrouped the Stooges and helped to produce "Raw Power". They were touring by 1973, and Iggy was once again dominating stages and the dirty minds of teenage girls - and their Mothers.

By late 74 and early 75, Iggy was up to his tight ass cakes in legal disputes, and heroin was once again eating holes in his soul. He admitted himself into a nut house in LA where old friend David Bowie once again came tute sweet! No one knows for sure what Bowie said, or how he said it - but it seemed to have had an impact on Iggy. By 1976 he was on tour with Bowie and living in Berlin. Bowie produced both "The Idiot" and "Lust For Life".

I Need More...

Signing with Arista in the late '70s, Iggy released "New Values", and publishing his autobiography, "I Need More". However, more didn't come his way until the early 80s when he co wrote "China Girl" with Bowie. The albums have kept coming since the early 80s, as well as a cinematic career with 16 movies under his 8 pack abs. Early 2008 found 61 year old Iggy giving his blessing to a biopic of his life entitled "The Passenger", previously scheduled for production in the summer of 08 - now on hold for unknown reasons. Director Nick Gomez is trying to impart Iggy's soul into the body of actor Elijah Wood (visual aid: picture the scene in Chuckie), while Iggy remains decidedly uninvolved. To some, it's a bit of a stretch to imagine Frodo Baggins as the Rock Iguana. The script was written by Eric Schmid of "American Son" fame.

Do my tears of mourning sink beneath the sun...

In March of 2008, Iggy and the Stooges appeared at the induction of Madonna into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This had to have been a sting to even his toughened skin. Iggy and the Stooges have been nominated a total of 6 times - and never accepted. But never one to let nonsuccess stand in his way, Iggy and the Stooges took the stage and ripped one of the most raunchy and sex laden renditions of Madonna's "Burning Up" and "Ray Of Light" that the walls of the Waldorf had ever reverberated. Madonna had asked the group to perform in her place as a way of protesting the fact they had once again been skipped over.