The Stooges “Fun House”

sfilzen — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 16:11:33 +0000

The Stooges “Fun House” released 50 years ago today, July 7th, 1970. Elektra Records, original pressing, gatefold. (Note: as I was writing this, Wiki was literally editing itself to change the release date to August 18th 🤷‍♀️ but every other source says July 7th) The Stooges second LP, Fun House – like their debut The Stooges – is, in retrospect, considered a massively influential release and influencer of punk and alternative rock but at the time of its release was not well-received commercially or critically (“inaccessible,” “a muddy load of sluggish…rubbish” and “exquisitely horrible” – though that last review quote makes Fun House sound somehow more appealing). It definitely wasn’t accessible for most ears in 1970; Fun House was far ahead of its time for sound: The Stooges, for all intents and purposes, recorded live, setting up as if on stage with Iggy singing through a hand-held mic which allowed for improvisation musically but no sense of pristine-ness sonically. It’s bluesy, dirty…scuzzy: a glimpse into the feel of the urban 70′s decade. I love “T.V. Eye” and “1970″ is a great follow-up to “1969″ (side-note: punks Radio Birdman got their band name from “1970″ with a great misheard lyrics accident) and “Down on the Street” (which I guess was released as a single, but with a different take and extra organ), plus the title track “Fun House.”

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The Stooges “The Stooges”

sfilzen — Mon, 05 Aug 2019 16:36:43 +0000

The Stooges “The Stooges” released 50 years ago today, August 5th, 1969. The Stooges’ debut album is, in retrospect, one of the best and most important records released during its era. At the time of its release it was criticized as dumb (well, yes, it is: the lyrics to “No Fun” and “Real Cool Time” should wipe away any doubt about that), musically simple (“stripped-down” is the polite term I think), brutally loud (nothing wrong with that) but it helped usher in punk a few years later as a widespread musical and cultural movement. The Stooges sold moderately well, hitting #106 on the US charts, with two released singles: “1969” and “I Wanna Be Your Dog.” I don’t think either charted but the former has been recognized as one of the greatest guitar songs ever and the latter is one of my personal all-time favorite tracks and many mainstream music publications agree, listing it as one of the best rock songs ever made – it is certainly the best non-holiday song to feature sleigh bells (played by John Cale, who also plays viola on the epic dirge “We Will Fall” and mixed the first iteration of the album but Elektra rejected his mix and Iggy Pop and Elektra exec Jac Holzman mixed the final release).

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The Stooges “Fun House”

The Stooges “The Stooges”