Iggy Pop
Born in 1947 - James Osterburg started out on his most rock'n'roll
of careers as a drummer in blues bands in Detroit in the sixties
- as well as the Prime Movers, in a band called the Iguanas. And
that's how the Iggy Pop persona was born, as a completely different
character moved centre stage to do vocals, and indeed offstage
into the audience - his live act is legendary now and hasn't changed
much in nearly 40 years - as Iggy will be covered in scratches
and bruises at the end of any gig. He formed the Psychedelic Stooges
whose first gig was on Halloween 1967, and they were quickly signed
to Elektra Records by Danny Fields, who later managed the Ramones.
Their eponymous debut, produced by the Velvet Underground's John
Cale, and its followup, Funhouse, are now acclaimed as classics,
but at the time poor sales and various excesses saw them dropped
by the label.
David Bowie was a fan of the band and tracked them down, took
them to England, and produced Raw Power, released under the name
Iggy and the Stooges. However, drugs and disappointing sales again
led to the band splitting and they returned to New York. Iggy
himself moved to Berlin with Bowie, and recorded Lust for Life,
co-wrote Bowie's number one single China Girl and became a punk
icon - the Sex Pistols covered No Fun and he later worked with
guitarist Steve Jones. The much-rumoured Stooges reunion never
materialised, but Raw Power was eventually remastered nearly 30
years after its release. Iggy had a major solo revival cropping
up everywhere from the Trainspotting soundtrack to the recent
Commonwealth Games coverage and can be found, most summers, at
a rock festival near you.