Project 1001: The Stooges by The Stooges
Well, it's 1969, okay? / All across the USA / It's another year for me and you / Another year with nothin' to do
The Stooges are a band I never got into. I think that’s probably because I never embraced punk at the time it was coming to the fore. At the time, to me it sounded noisy and dissonant. I remember reading about The Stooges stage antics, which I found disgusting and a major turnoff; especially reports of Iggy’s acts of self-mutilation. Consequently, I never listened to any of their stuff even while becoming aware of the band’s importance in the formation of punk and their influence later on lots of bands in the 90s and beyond.
Today is the first time I have ever taken the time to sit and listen to them (kind of the whole point of this project!). Other than the ridiculous ten-minute long exercise in…whatever that was “We Will Fall” (supposedly built around a simple “om” chant), I found a lot to like about this record. I love the raw guitar, almost abrasive in sound, and the ferocity of Iggy’s voice. And it’s quite obvious how influential this band has been on pretty much any band associated, even tangentially, with punk music.
They originally called themselves The Psychedelic Stooges. When deciding to drop psychedelic they called Mo Howard to see if he would be ok with them calling themselves The Stooges. Howard’s response: “I don’t give a fuck”.1 Classic punk attitude!
“Iggy Pop and The Stooges were the trigger for the punk explosion of the 1970s – a rock and roll equivalent to the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.”2
“The provocative nature of the band’s music, and their experimentation with tempo, texture, and genre-blending, as well as a lack of inhibition, came to define punk, which would subsequently affect generations of musicians, through the alternative boom of the ‘80s and ‘90s to the post punk revival of the 21st Century.”3
I think it is safe to say that The Stooges are one of the five most important bands in rock history. My Rating:
In 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Seth Jacobson wrote:
“A town with a proud musical heritage, by the late 1960’s Detroit was synonymous with the sweet soul pioneered by Berry Gordy’s Motown label. This all changed in 1969 with The Stooges’ eponymous debut album, a corrosive swell of skirling guitars and primeval howls from frontman Iggy Stooge (as he was then known).4
Charts
• Peak on Billboard 200 album chart: n/a
• Singles on Billboard Hot 100 chart: n/a
• RIAA certification: n/a
Released on August 5, 1969. Here’s what else was happening:
Pop Culture
• Number one song: “In the Year 2525” by Zager and Evans5
• Number one album: Blood, Sweat & Tears by Blood, Sweat & Tears6
• Number one movie: Midnight Cowboy by John Schlesinger7
• Most watched TV programs: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Gunsmoke, Bonanza8
• NYT bestseller, fiction: The Love Machine by Jaqueline Susann9
• NYT bestseller, non-fiction: The Peter Principle by Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull10
Other albums released that month
• As Safe as Yesterday Is by Humble Pie
• Stand Up by Jethro Tull
• Green River by Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Barabajagal by Donovan
• The Brothers: Isley by The Isley Brothers
• Fathers and Sons by Muddy Waters
• Santana by Santana
• On Time by Grand Funk Railroad
• Boz Scaggs by Boz Scaggs
• My Cherie Amour by Stevie Wonder
• The Association by The Association
• Give It Away by The Chi-Lites
• Harry by Harry Nilsson
• It's a Mother by James Brown
• The Popcorn by James Brown
• Ssssh by Ten Years After11
Sport
• Aug 5 Pirates outfielder Willie Stargell smashes first and longest home run ever hit out of Dodger Stadium; the incomparable shot off Alan Foster, measures 506 feet.
• Aug 11 Future Baseball HOF'er Don Drysdale, the last LA Dodger to play in Brooklyn, retires because of damage to his right pitching shoulder.
• Aug 12 Boston Celtics sold for an NBA record $6 million.
• Aug 13 Temp Commissioner Bowie Kuhn elected for 7-year term by unanimous vote.
• Aug 17 PGA Championship Men's Golf, NCR CC: Ray Floyd wins first of his 4 major titles by 1 stroke from South African Gary Player.12
Notable Births
• Aug 2 Jan Axel Blomberg, Norwegian heavy metal drummer (Dimmu Borgir; Winds; Mayhem), born in Trysil Municipality, Norway.
• Aug 4 Max Cavalera, Brazilian heavy metal guitarist and singer (Sepultura), born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
• Aug 6 Elliott [Steven] Smith, American Oscar nominated singer-songwriter (Good Will Hunting - "Miss Misery"), born in Omaha, Nebraska (d. 2003).
• Aug 6 Mike Budenholzer, American basketball head coach (Bucks, Hawks, Suns; NBA Coach of the Year 2015, 19, NBA Champion, 2021), born in Holbrook, Arizona.
• Aug 9 Divine Brown [Estelle Marie Thompson], American prostitute (Hugh Grant), born in Oakland, California.
• Aug 10 Cate Shortland, Australian film director and screenwriter (Somersault; Lore; Black Widow), born in Temora, New South Wales, Australia.13
Historical Events
• Aug 2 US President Richard Nixon visits Romania.
• Aug 9 Manson family commits Tate-LaBianca murders.
• Aug 14 British Army deploys on the streets of Northern Ireland, marking the beginning of Operation Banner.
• Aug 15 Woodstock Festival opens in Bethel, New York.
• Aug 17 Hurricane Camille strikes US coastline and kills 259 people (mainly in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana).
• Aug 18 Mick Jagger accidentally shot while filming "Ned Kelly" in Australia; he survives.
• Aug 21 First Gap clothing store opens in Ocean Avenue, San Francisco.14
Notable Deaths
• Aug 9 Abigail Folger, American coffee magnate (Folgers), murdered by the Manson family at 25.
• Aug 9 American actress (Valley of the Dolls), murdered by Manson's gang at 26.
• Aug 9 Cecil Frank Powell, English physicist who discovered pion (pi-meson), a subatomic particle (Nobel 1950), dies at 65.
• Aug 9 Steven Parent, American student, murdered by the Manson family at 18
• Aug 9 Voyteck Freykowski, Polish writer, murdered by the Manson family at 32
• Aug 10 Leno LaBianca, American businessman (murdered) (b. 1925)
• Aug 10 Rosemary LaBianca, American housewife (murdered) (b. 1930)
• Aug 9 George Preston Marshall, American Pro Football HOF team owner (Washington Redskins 1933-69), dies at 72.
• Aug 17 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, German-American architect (November Group), dies at 83.15
Enjoy and listen without prejudice. Cheers!
Prime: 133. The Stooges by The Stooges
All the videos: You're Welcome: The Stooges by The Stooges
Jacobson, Seth; 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, ed by Robert Dimery, p. 189.
Ibid.
Good review! I’ve never heard that album but I bet I’m all in. Will dig it up.