The Passenger - Iggy Pop

The Passenger - Iggy Pop : Manchester Apollo 1977.

PEACHES - Aerobic workout collection. Coming soon.

Electroclash iconoclast PEACHES. Her outfits are hotter than ever, and she rides a bicycle on stage, stage dives, dodge a giant inflatible cock like Mick Jagger did in the 70s and gets carried off stage on a stretcher, wearing a cape. Now that's what I call a rock & roll show. She's the contemporary Iggy Pop. I saw her support Nine Inch Nails and she blew Trent Reznor away. And Trent had expensive lights...but sadly no charisma.

The Peaches Aerobic workout collection.
Peaches for Victoria Secret. Aslo available in beige.

Iggy Pop - L'Uomo Vogue

Theoretically, James Osterberg of Muskegon, Michigan should have already died several times: for the injuries he’s collected on the stage, beating himself with whatever is thrown at him; for the headfirst dives into the audience that sometimes end up on the floor; and for the enormous quantity of drugs consumed during the most turbulent years of his long career as a rock star.
This year, the iguana of punk, aka Iggy Pop, turned 64. He calls for the interview from his home in Miami. The appointment is for noon and the phone rings at 12 on the dot. “This is Iggy, is Nicola there?”. “Ciao Iggy, I’m Nicola”. An awkward pause is interrupted by hearty laughter. “Sorry”, he says, disappointed, “I was expecting a woman”.
The leader of the Stooges, forefathers of the punk rock movement, is a legendary ladies man, a reputation that dates back to when the 18-year-old Iggy seduced Nico, model and muse of Andy Warhol, then grew thanks to his promiscuous attitude, his habit of going a-round half naked and the air of cursed outsider he cultivated with his friend David Bowie, with whom he spent the ‘70s in search of thrills and excess. Their friendship lasted a long while and helped Pop get through the darkest moments of his career, like when he languished for years in a drug-induced haze, forgotten by the public, surviving thanks to the royalties from songs he wrote that were transformed into worldwide hits by Bowie. Today, the times have changed. It’s been seven years since the last time he spoke on the phone with the Thin White Duke.
And from the frenetic pace of New York, where he spent years living on the razor’s edge, he has passed to a more tranquil life in Miami. The anger that once fueled songs like Lust for Life and Raw Power seems to have softened. “I still feel the desire to kick some ass, but I no longer feel like I have to prove anything to anyone”. This must be why Iggy is currently recording, in addition to a reunion album with the Stooges, a solo record of covers that are light years from his signature style – from La vie en rose by Edith Piaf and Sinatra’s Only the Lonely to the ballads of Cole Porter and Serge Gainsbourg. Even his language, though always peppered with streams of cursing, has become more geared toward not offending anyone, for fear of becoming “an easy target for critics and judges”. This, however, does not impede him from speaking frankly about himself. “I need visibility to survive. And not having the talent of a Pavarotti, I have to compensate with my personality.
But being famous is like cooking with lots of oil on a high flame – if you’re not careful, you burn yourself”. Although he has exerted a strong influence on the history of rock, as confirmed by his recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, his music has always alternated between peaks of popularity and valleys of semi-oblivion. A great experimenter, Iggy started from the frantic rhythms of the Stooges, which inspired bands like the Sex Pistols and the Ramones, and ended up composing metal and jazz pieces as a soloist, doing voice-overs for films like Persepolis and participating in reality shows like American Idol. Without renouncing his past, Pop is no longer overly conditioned by the character of the eternal rebel, perhaps to avoid the risk of becoming a caricature of himself.
He lives healthily, getting up early and practicing Tai Chi. He lives in a house near the ocean with a lovely yard and fruit trees. Each month he spends at least a week in the Cayman Islands, where “nobody cares who I am or what I’ve done in my life”. And when he wants to work, he goes to his studio in the Haitian quarter, which he considers to be one of the most authentic and interesting parts of Miami. “I still want to reinvent myself, while maintaining certain old habits”. Like spending as much time without any clothes. “If I really have to, I’ll put on a bathing suit”, he says, pointing out that he’s completely nude while talking to me on the phone. At his concerts, he is still prepared to throw himself into the screaming crowd, he’s just more attentive to the mood and circumstances.
He learned at his own expense that the audience is not always willing to indulge his passion for stage diving. A few years ago, he was invited to participate in a benefit concert for Tibet, organized by Philip Glass at Carnegie Hall, New York’s temple of high-brow music. The orchestra was playing his pieces without energy, so after a couple of songs Iggy decided to rev up the crowd by leaping headlong into the first row. The problem was that everyone diffidently moved out of the way. “Luckily they’re not all like that. There are still audiences ready to welcome me with open arms”, he says, laughing. Beware asking him if he feels tamed by the years, lest one wants to seriously risk him hanging up the phone. “There are some who would respect me more if I had refused to talk to you”, he says when I remind him that he used to be famous for mistreating journalists, while now he seems so cordial. “But at this point it doesn’t matter”, he adds before closing the interview with a farewell worthy of Iggy Pop: “You have a good day and all that shit, ok?”.
L'Uomo Vogue, December 2011 (n. 426)

Photos by Mark Seliger

Fashion editor Rushka Bergman
Nicola Scevola

Published:
12/06/2011

Iggy Pop - I wanna be your dog

Iggy Pop - I wanna be your dog - 1979 - live Old Grey Whistle Test. Glen Matlock on Bass.





I wanna be your dog collar.

Iggy Pop - Lust For Life

Lust For Life.

The song's lyrics contain a number of references to William S. Burroughs' experimental novel The Ticket That Exploded, most notably mentions of "Johnny Yen" (described by Burroughs as "The Boy-Girl Other Half strip tease God of sexual frustration") and "hypnotizing chickens".

Co-written by Iggy Pop and David Bowie, Bowie providing the music (written on a ukulele), and Pop the lyrics, the song is known for its opening drumbeat (played by Hunt Sales). Sales's use of the drumbeat was not original, as it was itself derived from "You Can't Hurry Love", released in July 1966 by The Supremes, and "I'm Ready For Love", released in October 1966 by Martha and the Vandellas.

In 1977, the song reached number 3 in the Dutch Top 40. Its success was ignited by a legendary performance in the Dutch pop TV show Toppop, where Iggy Pop, shirtless, wrecked part of the stage set (which consisted of a couple of potted plants and some cardboard scenery).Although many viewers and newspapers complained about the apparent damage, the director of Toppop later admitted that they knew beforehand what Iggy was going to do and that the damage was minimal.

Here comes Johnny Yen again
With the liquor and drugs
And the flesh machine
He's gonna do another strip tease.
Hey man, where'd ya get that lotion?
I've been hurting since I've bought the gimmick
about something called love
Yeah, something called love.
Well, that's like hypnotizing chickens.
Well, I'm just a modern guy
Of course, I've had it in the ear before.
I have a lust for life
'Cause of a lust for life.
I'm worth a million in prizes
With my torture film
Drive a GTO
Wear a uniform all on a government loan.
I'm worth a million in prizes
Yeah, I'm through with sleeping on the sidewalk
No more beating my brains
No more beating my brains
With liquor and drugs
With liquor and drugs.
Well, I'm just a modern guy
Of course, I've had it in my ear before
Well, I've a lust for life (lust for life)
'Cause of a lust for life (lust for life, oooo)
I got a lust for life (oooo)
Got a lust for life (oooo)
Oh, a lust for life (oooo)
Oh, a lust for life (oooo)
A lust for life (oooo)
I got a lust for life (oooo)
Got a lust for life.
Well, I'm just a modern guy Of course,
I've had it in my ear before
Well, I've a lust for life
'Cause I've a lust for life.
Here comes Johnny Yen again
With the liquor and drugs
And the flesh machine I know He's gonna do another strip tease.
Hey man, where'd ya get that lotion?
Your skin starts itching once you buy the gimmick about something called love
Love, love, love
Well, that's like hypnotizing chickens.
Well, I'm just a modern guy
Of course, I've had it in the ear before
And I've a lust for life (lust for life)
'Cause I've a lust for life (lust for life)
Got a lust for life Yeah,
a lust for life
I got a lust for life
A lust for life
Got a lust for life
Yeah a lust for life
I got a lust for life
Lust for life
Lust for life
Lust for life
Lust for life
Lust for life

5 Minutes With Clem Burke of Blondie

Clem Burke is an original member of Blondie, a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and, although Clem is too modest to say it, he is undoubtedly one of rock's drumming greats alongside Keith Moon, Ginger Baker, Charlie Watts, John Bonham and Ringo Starr.

Photo: Mick Rock

Q1. What was the first record you bought and what effect did it have on you?

It was probably "I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND / I SAW HERE STANDING THERE" by THE BEATLES. Like everyone else of my generation, seeing the Beatles on the ED SULLIVAN T.V. SHOW , Feb. 1964, was a life changing experience and would go on to have a profound affect on my life. Anytime I Recieve an award, Like being inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, I always make sure to thank John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Today's pop culture role models just do not stand up to what the Beatles represented and stood for.

Q2. When did you start playing drums and what influenced you to do that?

I started playing around the same time I saw the Beatles on T.V. I'm left handed so although I wanted to play guitar I had a difficult time learning to play right handed. I do play a right handed drum kit and coincidently I've come to find out that Ringo Starr is also left handed and plays a right handed kit. The British musical invasion of the 60's really inspired me, groups like the WHO,the Kinks, the Yardbirds, the Rolling Stones,the Dave Clark Five are my rocknroll roots.

Q3. How has down town New York changed for creative people since the 70's? I think the energy in NYC is just unbelievable, you can feel it everywhere.

A. The city has changed, in many ways for the better. When I lived on the Bowery it was obviously a very downtrodden place, now it's one of the chicest neighborhoods in NYC. Artists and musicians will always be attracted to the inspiration the city gives, it will always be a muse for us.

Q4. Do you think that file sharing via the Internet means that music can't develop away from the public eye anymore?

A. Life is more immediate now, things seem to happen alot quicker, that has do do with the internet. Everyone is famous for 15 minutes ,as someone once said. There will always be creativity and creative outlets.File sharing is part of the new media.

Q5. Give me a really 'off the wall' anecdote. Something that not many people will know about. It could be about the early days of Blondie or even before that.

A. I'll never forget the time I was touring with Iggy Pop around 1980. We were opening for the Rolling Stones at the Siver Dome in Detroit, Iggy's home town. 72,000 people indoors, no soundcheck. The arena felt like something out of the Gladiator movie. Right before we go onstage Iggy decides he's gonna where a pair of panty hose for trousers, as soon as he walks on stage, the lights hit him and he looks like he's naked from the waist down.The crowd just went nuts throwing anything and everything at us, THIS WAS BEFORE THE DAYS OF METAL DETECTORS and security checks at concerts. The promoter, Bill Graham thought it was so funny that he made the roadies go out after we played to collect everything that was thrown and before the Stones played Bill came out with a list and read everything that was thrown at us then ladies and gentlemen, THE ROLLING STONES!!