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- Milan1973
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Bloody and Vomit-Filled Behind-The-Scenes Stories Of Iggy Pop, The Godfather Of Punk
The Godfather of Punk, Iggy Pop, is renowned for his musical prowess, magnetic stage presence, outlandish antics, confrontational attitude, predilection for substances, and lust for excess. As a solo artist and as frontman of one of the most legendarily destructive proto-punk acts of all time, The Stooges, Iggy has been involved in crafting some of the most influential albums of all time. Though the term "rock and roll excess" probably conjures images of long-haired, riff-rocking stadium acts, the truth is that many of Iggy and The Stooges escapades most certainly qualify.
For Iggy Pop, born James Newell Osterberg, Jr. on April 21, 1947, substance use was an integral part of being a musician. The Motor City musician tried it all, often right before jumping on stage or giving a well-documented TV interview. Sometimes he couldn't speak or stand after. Other times, as the crazy Iggy Pop stories on this list attest, he defecated on stage, went after bikers, compared himself to Hitler and Jesus in the same interview, and had wild trysts with very young ladies.
Indeed, Iggy and the Stooges were so entwined in the world of anti-social counter culture, they became one of the most infamous bands in the world, terrifying audiences and scandalizing conservative moms and dads in Middle America. Iggy was known to whip his junk out on stage, vomit on the audience, and smash glass on his chest, while other members of the Stooges whipped him.
Iggy Pop has indulged intuition, lust, hedonism, impulse, and artistic whim to such degree his life became a form of art in and of itself.
He Was Lifted Off The Ground By A Gorilla Suit-Clad Elton John
One glorious night in the early 1970s, Iggy Pop had an incident with Elton John, who just so happened to be wearing a gorilla suit. It all began when Pop was using during a show in Atlanta. The night before, he used so much, he passed out in the bushes next to a Days Inn. When he woke up, he couldn't talk.
"The preparation for the gig was just [giving] me with enough things to get me up to where I could open my mouth and form a word, but I still couldn't phrase on a beat," he said in an interview for the book Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk.
During The Stooges' set, Elton John came out wearing a gorilla costume. He picked Iggy up from behind. "I was like, 'Oh my god! What can I do? I couldn't fight him. I could barely stand," Iggy said.
Rock photographer Jim Marshall attended the show, and remembers: "Iggy was so [messed] up...he had no idea what was happening to him. Iggy was really shrinking in terror, like he didn't know that it wasn't a real gorilla."
He Started Dating A Teen When His First Wife Left After A Month Of Marriage
Iggy Pop got married and divorced at 21, in 1968. Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton, who was Iggy's best man, wore a Luftwaffe jacket, Knight's Cross, and an Iron Cross to the ceremony. The bride, Wendy, left Iggy about a month or so after they wed.
"I was free again. I could roam the streets looking like I used to," Iggy reminisces on his wife's departure. During this period, Iggy spent time around high school students, trying to understand what they were interested in and got up to, so he could use it as material for his lyrics. Through this, he met his Betsy.
I never saw anything like that. She was very cute. She was the exact opposite of my wife - blond, white as snow. She was thirteen and she looked at me penetratingly. So I guess you can figure out what happened next.
He Picked A Losing Fight With Angry Bikers At A 1974 Show In New York
As documented in Lester Bangs's now-infamous March 28, 1977, Village Voice article "Iggy Pop: Blowtorch In Bondage," things got extra wild for The Stooges during a show in Warren, Michigan, on February 7, 1974. The crowd was reportedly filled with "hostile" bikers, and Iggy wasn't there to play games.
After a few songs rife with confrontation between the unhinged band, which was coming apart at at the seams, and the agitated bikers, Pop shouted at the crowd “All right, you...wanna hear ‘Louie Louie’? We’ll give you ‘Louie Louie’!” The band proceeded to play Richard Berry's "Louie Louie" for 45 minutes.
Iggy swapped the songs lyrics for vulgar slurs aimed at the bikers. He then jumped off stage and and took on one of the bikers. Bangs hailed the performance a "triumph."
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A Residency At Ungano's In New York City Saw Iggy Vomiting On The Audience
In 1970, The Stooges had a four-day residency at New York City's famed Ungano club, during which the band displayed some of its most outlandish behavior. Recalls Scott Kempner, guitarist for proto punk band The Dictators, who went to a few of these shows: "Iggy put life and limb into every show. I saw him bloody every single show."
Steve Harris, former VP of Elektra records, The Stooges' label (and not to be confused with Iron Maiden's bass player of the same name), recalls: "Iggy took his [junk] out and put it on the speaker. It was just vibrating around. He was very well endowed."
At one show, Iggy spotted superstar model Geri Miller in the audience. He engaged her in the show in a very bizarre way. A year later, while The Stooges were playing at Electric Circus show in NYC, Miller, recalling Iggy's vomiting, egged him on saying, "Let's see you puke." He proceeded to vomit all over Miller.
He And His Fellow Stooges Decorated The Walls Of Their Detroit Home In An Odd Way
In 1969-70, Iggy Pop lived with his band in a Detroit-area home dubbed "Fun House." If that name looks familiar, it's because The Stooges' seminal 1970 album, replete with wailing guitars, screeching saxophones, and extended punk jams, was named after the pad. This house wasn't just where the band wrote and recorded some of their tracks; it was where they loaded up on H.
The members of the Stooges had some concerning habits during this period, one of which involved pushing used syringes of body fluids all over the walls and ceilings of their home. As outlined in the book Everybody Must Get Stoned: Rock Stars On Drugs, the band would use H, then squirt the fluid collected in their syringes around the house.
He Sliced Himself To Ribbons At A Show In 1973
While promoting the release of their third and final (at least for 34 years, until the band reunited) record, Raw Power, in 1973, The Stooges played four nights at Max's Kansas City, a club in New York City. This venue was widely known for being frequented by Andy Warhol and other prominent figures in the New York art scene. One of the performances ended with Iggy Pop spurting blood across the audience.
Nitebob, who worked at the club at the time and is interviewed in Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History Of Punk, recalls: "Iggy was trying to walk on the tables. Max's had tables all the way up at the front, the stage was too small, and sometimes Iggy would go walking on the tables... I was working the stage that night, and Iggy fell off a table..."
The table was loaded with glasses, which shattered as Iggy landed on them. Nitebob explains: "He was 20 minutes into the set and I asked him if he wanted to stop the show, because he was cut pretty bad. He had a pretty good gusher going. But he wanted to finish the show, so he went on playing. I was blown away... Alice Cooper wanted him to go to the hospital."
During the performance, Iggy danced and writhed as normal, spraying all over the audience. Crew tried to seal his wounds with gaffer tape, but failed. The next day, he saw a doctor, and got stiches.
