the stooges Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Iggy Pop & James Williamson “Kill City”

sfilzen — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 17:57:41 +0000

Iggy Pop & James Williamson “Kill City” released 45 years ago today, November 7th, 1977. Bomp! Records. Limited edition green vinyl. Pop and Williamson recorded Kill City in 1975 following the breakup of The Stooges in ’74. Supposedly John Cale was supposed to produce Kill City but after the demos were recorded (Pop’s vocals on the weekends while on leave from treatment for his heroin addiction) and then shelved for a couple of years (Williamson was jailed for heroin possession; they couldn’t find a record company to release the record), Williamson ended up producing it himself. From what I’ve read, it sounds like Iggy wasn’t happy about the release and the final product differs significantly from the original recording (which is not available): a lot of saxophone was added in on the track “Johanna;” there’s actually a lot of sax on the whole record, giving parts of the drug-hazed garage rock record a jazzy, 70’s New York City feel.

I like the non-sax forward hard garage rockers best: the title track “Kill City” is Stooge swagger and growl. “Consolation Prizes” has a killer hook, a sweet Zeppelin-esque blues guitar slide and Iggy’s vocals have his classic sneer. And “Beyond the Law,” though it does have saxophone, is a gritty rocker.

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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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Iggy and the Stooges “Open Up and Bleed!”

sfilzen — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 20:16:29 +0000

Iggy and the Stooges “Open Up and Bleed!” 1973/1995. Bomp! Records, The Iguana Chronicles series. From the liner notes written by Frank Meyer (Stooges historian), “This shiny, shimmering disk is a collection of material written after the monumental Raw Power LP, but never officially released.” The subtitle, “The Great Lost Stooges Album?” refers to the possibility that the tracks that appear on Open Up and Bleed! could have released on a studio LP if the band hadn’t disintegrated; it certainly doesn’t refer to the sound quality on the album which is rough (but fitting for the band’s hard protopunk vibe). The Stooges recorded several of these songs at rehearsal sessions in New York at CBS Studios, the last with keyboardist Bob Sheff, including “Rubber Legs,” “Open Up and Bleed,” “Johanna,” “Cock In My Pocket” (I’m sure that one would have been destined for a hit single, hahaha, though it is really good – rockin’ rhythm and blues with Bill Haley-style piano), “Head On” and “Cry For Me.” “Rich Bitch” and “Wet My Bed,” a “Chuck Berry-inspired rant about the joys of masturbation and urine distribution” (Meyer, liner notes), were recorded at the Latin Casino in Baltimore by an audience member. The last track on the album – more songs appear on the CD version – is “She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills.” It’s the only known rehearsal version of the track, recorded in Detroit.

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The Stooges “1969″

sfilzen — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 21:42:52 +0000

The Stooges “1969″ 1969/2009 reissue for Record Store Day, b/w “Real Cool Time.” The Stooges released the original proto-punk single in ‘69, the lead song on the band’s debut album The Stooges. (They also released “I Wanna Be Your Dog” as a single from the LP, one of my favorite Stooges songs ever.) The album, and “1969,” was produced by John Cale (though the final mix of the album was not Cale’s but Iggy Pop’s and Jac Holzman’s). The song is brutal, frustrated and distorted…and timeless 50 years later. It’s been covered by many others over the years including Sisters of Mercy, Pretenders, Joey Ramone, The Mission and U.K. Subs. The B-side, “Real Cool Time,” was kind of an album afterthought; The Stooges originally only had five tracks for The Stooges when they entered the studio to record. Told that wasn’t enough, they whipped out three more (”Real Cool Time,” “Not Right” and “Little Doll”) and played them for the very first time at the studio. Like “1969,” “Real Cool time” is snarling and distorted with not overly complicated lyrics (“Can I come over tonight? I say we will have a real cool time tonight” and that’s about it).

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The Stooges “I Got a Right”

sfilzen — Wed, 16 Aug 2017 15:20:39 +0000

The Stooges “I Got a Right” b/w “Head On” 1972/1973/1996. Dirter Promotions. Today, August 16th, is Stooges drummer Scott Asheton’s birthday (b. 1949, d. 2014). “I Got a Right” is from The Stooges’ performance at London’s Olympic Studios in July of ‘72: it’s short, brutally fast with angry guitar and cements the band’s status as the godfathers of punk. “Head On” is a live recording from the show at the American Theater in St. Louis in August ‘73. While considerably slower in tempo and longer in length than “I Got a Right,” its dirt and grime tone – set at the song’s outset by a menacing beat and Iggy’s growling lyrical intro, “Motherfuckers try to run my world” – also gives voice to the same anger that continued to fuel punks through and past the 70′s. (I was unable to find a link to the performance that appears on this 45: this one from October ‘73 is similar but not quite as dark as the August show.)

The back cover of the 45 has a great disclaimer: Dirter Promotions would like to point out that this record is not as good as the LP “Funhouse” by the Stooges, which is the best record ever made by anyone.

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The Stooges “No Fun” and The Black Keys “No Fun”

sfilzen — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 20:21:18 +0000

The Stooges “No Fun” and The Black Keys “No Fun” Record Store Day exclusive, limited edition on colored marbled vinyl, 2013. Today is a twofer: It’s Iggy Pop’s 70th birthday (!!!!) and it’s just one day ‘til Record Store Day 2017. “No Fun” was first released by The Stooges on their debut eponymous album in 1969, an album now considered a breakthrough classic and it has been listed on many Best Of’s over the years. The Black Keys covered “No Fun” in 2002 and it appeared first on the vinyl version of their debut The Big Come Up and then again on the CD single for “The Moan” in 2004. (“The Moan” came out on a vinyl 7″ in 2002 with the B-side “Have Love Will Travel” – one of my favorite Black Keys tracks and video I’ve linked here is from a small show at the High Noon Saloon in Madison, WI in 2004). The Black Keys cover of “No Fun” is less gritty but, shockingly, even more lo-fi than the Stooges’ version. The extreme lo-fi quality was probably not entirely planned; Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney recorded The Big Come Up in Carney’s basement on two cheap mics from eBay and an 8-track tape recorder.

No fun my babe
No fun
No fun my babe
No fun
No fun to hang around
Feelin’ that same old way
No fun to hang around
Freaked out for another day
No fun my babe
No fun
No fun my babe
No fun
No fun to be alone
Walking by myself
No fun to be alone
In love with nobody else
Well maybe go out, maybe stay home
Maybe call Mom on the telephone
Well c’mon, well c’mon
C’mon c’mon
Now Ron, I say Ron
C’mon and lemme hear you tell em
Lemme hear you tell em
Now I feel
I say lemme hear you
Tell em how I feel, yeah, my man
No fun to be alone
It’s no fun to be alone
Hang on
Don’t you lemme go
It’s no fun to alone
To be alone

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The New Order “The New Order”

sfilzen — Wed, 07 Oct 2015 15:09:44 +0000

The New Order “The New Order” 1977. Fun Records/Isadora. (Not to be confused with New Order, the British band! This is Ron Asheton’s (Stooges) and Dennis Thompson’s (MC5) band from the mid-70′s). The album, a French import, is a collection of two demo sessions: Side A is from 1975 with Jeff Spry on vocals, Side B was recorded in 1976 with Dave Gilbert singing after Spry quit the band following his incarceration due to a DUI, the result of drinking and quaaludes (ah, the 70′s!). Gilbert had previously performed with Ted Nugent’s Amboy Dukes in the early 70′s.

The LP is not surprisingly very Stooge-esque and lo-fi: it was compiled from Asheton’s cassette recordings of the sessions rather than the original masters. “I Can’t Quet Ya” is classic 70′s rock – I can almost picture a muscle car blaring this track out of its AM radio. “Rock ‘n’ Roll Soldiers” is another great 70′s garage-y song – it was later covered by The Hitmen in 1981.

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