Chris Stein
Iggy Pop
Godfather of Punk, Iggy Pop first joined bands as a drummer. He picked up the nickname Iggy while with the Iguanas(1964). In 1965 he joined Prime Movers, changing his name to Iggy Stooge. Inspired by seeing the “Doors”, he formed the Psychedelic Stooges with Ron Asheton. Iggy was vocalist and guitarist, Asheton played bass with Asheton’s brother Scott later joining on drums. They debuted in Michigan, October 1967. Dave Alexander joined on bass, and Psychedelic was dropped from their name.
Ron switched to guitar, leaving Iggy free to concentrate on singing and showmanship. The Stooges signed to Elektra Records in 1968 for two albums, The Stooges and Fun House, but the band broke up in the early 70s. Stooges fan David Bowie helped Iggy record “Raw Power” in 1972. When no suitable British musicians could be found, Williamson, Scott Thurston and the Ashetons were flown in. The resultant album included Search and Destroy. Bowie involvement continued as Iggy sailed through stormy seas. His live performances were legendary: self-mutilation, sex acts and an invitation to a local gang to kill him onstage.
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In the late 70s, Iggy signed to Arista Records, releasing rather average albums with occasional assistance from Glen Matlock and Ivan Kral. He went into vinyl exile after 1982s autobiography and the Chris Stein-produced Zombie Birdhouse. During his time out of the studio he cleaned up his drug problems and married. He also developed his acting career, appearing in Sid And Nancy, The Colour Of Money, Hardware and on television in Miami Vice. His big return came in 1986 with the Bowie-produced Blah Blah Blah and his first ever UK hit single, a cover of Johnny O’Keefe’s Real Wild Child. American Ceasar from its jokingly self-aggrandizing title onwards, revealed and continued creative growth. Avenue Bwas a stylistic oddity, a reflective, semi-acoustic set informed by the singer turning 50 and his recent divorce. Throughout he has remained the consummate live performer, setting a benchmark for at least one generation of rock musicians.
Mathew Jones
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This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com
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The Stooges
The Doors
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Booming Berlin
BLONDIE
Blondie was formed in 1974 by Debbie Harry and Chris Stein. The pair had met and struck up a relationship while with New York-based band The Stilettos a year earlier. After a few personnel changes and the renaming of the band from Angel and the Snake to Blondie in 1975, Blondie consisted of Harry, Stein, keyboardist Jimmy Destri, bassist Gary Valentine and drummer Clem Burke.
Blondie first real success came in 1977, mainly due to a mistake. The Australian music show Countdown was meant to show the video for Blondie’s first single from their self-titled debut album, “X-Offender”, but instead showed the B-side, “In The Flesh”. The song was received well by the Australian audience, and a positive article in Rolling Stone’s August issue helped Blondie gain some recognition. Their next album, Plastic Letters, reached #10 in the UK music charts.
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Blondie third album was their most successful. Parallel Lines reached #1 in the UK and #6 in the US, mostly due to the popularity of the singles, “Picture This”, “Hanging On The Telephone” and the disco-infused “Heart Of Glass”. Heart Of Glass, in particular, propelled the band to commercial success, reaching out from Blondie’s perceived underground status to the heights of pop accessibility. The result was a chart-topping single in eight countries, including the US, with over a million copies sold.
Blondie went on hiatus in 1981. The 1982 comeback album, “The Hunter” was something of a disappointment, reaching only #9 and #33 in the UK and US charts respectively. Following this decline in sales, and in part due to Stein being diagnosed with the potentially life-threatening illness pemphigus, Blondie disbanded. The band reformed between 1997 and 2004, releasing another two studio albums and again reaching top spot in the UK charts in 1999 with the single “Maria”.
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For The Record:
Members included Clem Burke (born November 24, 1955, in New York; joined group c. 1975), drums ; Jimmy Destri (born Aprill 3, 1954), keyboards ; Nigel Harrison (joined group 1978), bass; Deborah Harry (born July 1, c. 1945, in Miami, FL), vocals; Frank Infante (joined group 1977), guitar, bass; Billy O'Connor (left group 1975), drums; Fred Smith (left group 1975), bass;Chris Stein (born January 5, 1950, in Brooklyn, NY), guitar, vocals; Gary Valentine (band-member 1975-77), bass.
This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com
