The Stooges

Singing : Iggy Pop Guitar : James Williamson Bass : Ron Asheton Battery : Scott Asheton

1967, James Osterberg, former drummer of The Iguanas, and better known as Iggy Pop, founded The Psychedelic Stooges with the Asheton brothers, Ron on guitar and Scott on drums, as well as Dave Alexander on bass. At the hinge of psychedelic rock and rock'n roll, The Stooges work in the brave garage rock made of simple melodies, but o how catchy, with the sound of distorted guitars accompanying the legendary voice of the frontman. A perpetually angry and ambitious Iggy that pushes the band to move forward without even knowing how to play their instruments properly. The first concerts would have pleased the fans of drone doom, walls of impassable guitars, endless songs, no singing... It's only little by little that Iggy takes the microphone to pour his harp. Making the first part of the MC5 , Detroit's other furious band, The Stooges are signed together with them at Elektra Records (The Doors ). Two albums were released suddenly in 1969 and 1970, the nihilist and precursor of the punk The Stooges and Fun House, the acid pearl. These two discs, which were not sold at the time, nevertheless contain their own lot of invaluable nuggets, such as "1969", "I Wanna Be Your Dog", "Funhouse" or "Down In The Street."
Unfortunately, Iggy the Iguane becomes addicted to heroin, and the band is fired by his record company. Dave Alexander fired and replaced by James Williamson, the band seems to have died in 1971. It's a David Bowie in the middle of the air (the Ziggy Stardust era) who picks up the band and signs them on his label, Mainman. Now, the band is employed by Bowie and is called Iggy & The Stooges , Ron evicted from the composition process, passing to bass, while Williamson holds the guitar. Raw Power was composed in 1972 in England, but Mainman prevented the band from giving any concert and torpedoed the record promotion. Back in 1973 in the USA, California, fired from Mainman, the group plunged back into its intoxicated cross. This does not prevent them from giving Dantec concerts in which Iggy always seems ready to deal with an audience that rejects them. Finally, in 1974, Iggy gave Ron Asheton this fateful phrase by telephone: "I'm wasted. I quit". Metallic KO , recorded live in Detroit that year, still released in 1976. Nanti of David Bowie in production, Iggy Pop has meanwhile engaged in a solo career with The Idiot and Lust For Life, two memorable albums. But this is another story...
So in 2003, when the band reformed to record a few songs for Iggy Pop's Skull Ring, they gave a few very agitated concerts (including one at the Bol d'Or de Nevers Magny Cours, in France in front of 70,000 spectators). A new album by The Stooges is planned for 2006 under the leadership of Rick Rubin.