As I was listening to Robert Earl Keen…CB sent me a link to the Stooges. A change of pace to put it lightly. I went on a binge of Stooges songs. You know what’s great about this song? Hard-driving music that doesn’t let up. This was punk before there was punk. For an added bonus I’m posting Iggy’s friend right after this post.
In 1969 this was about as hard and loud as you could get on a record. And yes…when you listen to this song… you will hear Christmas sleigh bells in the background. So, it’s a holly jolly tune about sexual submission. Now that is punk!
The song would not have worked with the masses because of the sexually explicit lyrics. Guitarist Ron Ashton came up with the driving riff. They were all sitting around and just throwing out words. They came up with the word God but didn’t want to include that in this song so they turned the letters around backward.
This song is on their self-titled album was released in 1969. This was released as a single the same year. John Cale of The Velvet Underground produced the album. The song was written by The Stooges… Dave Alexander, Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton, and Iggy Pop.
Iggy Pop: “I was in a band called The Stooges in a little town in Michigan called Ann Arbor, we weren’t a very empowered group of people. We were basically a kind of far-fetched group of dreamers, and our dream was to have a little rock band. A lot of people used to laugh at us.”
“We used to get pretty stoked on hash and grass, and one thing that we’d do on this hash and grass, we’d sit around and we’d imagine these kind of savage tribes, like ‘How are the Mongols when they just came in and killed everybody?’ Think of how it must have been when these little guys with these fierce faces on their little ponies going ‘Wooooo!’ Just killing and riding over all opposition in their path, and that was the kind of thing we were talking about.”
Iggy Pop: “I used to do ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog,’ and people just stared in horror,” he recalled. “And then I would do ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog,’ and people would just drink their beer and watch, kind of musing. And it got to the point where I did it and people were grooving. When I go out and do it now go out, they know all the words in the verses. So, that’s a beautiful thing.”
I Wanna Be Your Dog
So messed up, I want you hereIn my room, I want you hereNow we’re gonna be face-to-faceAnd I’ll lay right down in my favorite place
And now I wanna be your dogAnd now I wanna be your dogAnd now I wanna be your dog
Well, come on
And now I’m ready to close my eyesAnd now I’m ready to close my mindAnd now I’m ready to feel your handAnd lose my heart on the burning sands
And now I wanna be your dogAnd now I wanna be your dogAnd now I wanna be your dog
Well, come on
WooUhUh
…
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For the amount of talk that bands get a times you would think they would have sold millions of records and maybe they did but with Iggy and the Stooges its all word of mouth for sure but here we are in 2024 talking about em…. ah, what do I know …haha
Yes we are…that is why I still talk about Big Star and The Replacements…bands that timing was all wrong.
It’s all about timing man… great point
Still on the end of my leash since I first heard it.
LOL…best comment of the day.
Like Deke said, from how often you hear of them, you’d think they sold a dozen times more than they did and like you said, they were punk before punk was a thing!
And…guess what? They are in the Hall of Fame…that is why I think Big Star and The Replacements should be in. It’s reputation and influence alone…they didn’t have mass record sales…and they deserve to be in.
Certainly a perfect tie in with Jean Genie and the reference to Iggy’s on stage antics as you pointed out. This song certainly gave new life to those very things from Iggy. I do like the tune but I guess I appreciate it more for what it represents and the influence of Iggy and Cale et al. I also always go right to “Baby Please Don’t Go “ the Big Joe Williams song covered by Them. I haven’t read of a connection and while the songs are different the “I wanna be you dog” is shared and some of the connotation as well.
Wowl…I never caught that fact and I sang Baby Please Don’t Go probably more than Van did lol. It was one we did every night.
The influence that the Stooges had was the important thing. Dave and I were talking about the Hall of Fame the other day. The Stooges are in which is completely right…but I wave the flag for Big Star and The Replacements….they influenced the next generations as well.
For sure, Chilton on his own is likely more worthy.
Most of the eighties bands including REM site them as a huge influence not to mention the Replacments. Bands like Nirvana and grunge admitted The Replacements influenced them…wait…I’m going to make a post out of this! lol… but yes I agree on Chilton.
Yes I think you must!
Wednesday it will be!
That’s really cool, I know you’re a big Van man! Not sure if there’s a legit connection between the songs but there is one in my wee brain!
Oh it was perfect and it fits perfectly. I never thought of that. You are right…I remember almost screaming at 2am every weekend night “I wanna be your dog” etc…
Speaking of animals that will give you a horse throat! Sorry maybe should have kept that to myself!
LOL…I needed that today!
After a killing spree, the Mongols said, “Sometimes you have to kill a few people in order to make an omelet.”
LOL
One of the greatest rock and roll bands if not THE greatest!
I agree…no parlor tricks or effects…just rock and roll.
Cale? There’s some gold in those hills. Michigan pumped out so much cool music. Talk about influencing the music scene. Lets do it our style and see if anyone’s listening.
You know…Michigan really did. The MC5, Seger, Grand Funk, Rare Earth, Jack White, and even Jackie Wilson to name a few.
I didn’t know Cale produced them.
Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. I betcha Iggy and the boys caught him a couple time back when. Cale produced a lot but it’s his own music I was referring to.
He is the one that introduced the sleigh bells…personally…I think that is genius in this song.
As much as I’ve listened to Big Star and The Replacements…I need to go over the Velvet Underground more…plus Cale’s own music. I dont’ know much of it at all.
I think the Velvets blew minds back then . Especially some of the West Coast stuff that was getting the press. Then stuff like this started to leak out. I ate up everything Cale and Reed for years.
Yea I have to go through their entire catalog CB and not just hit here and there like I have been. I really like what I’ve heard from the VU. Reed I know much better than Cale.
This is a raw as it gets and was certainly remarkable for the time it came out. As you said, it sounds like punk before punk!
I primarily know about the Stooges because of the Iggy Pop connection. I’ve only listened to little of their music. Based on your recent Stooges binge, is there a particular album you’d recommend? 🙂
It’s a good album…you will get much of the same. I think my favorite albums by them though is Fun House and Raw Power
There’s crazy and wild and then there’s rabid.😬
Like Rudolph…see your writing sticks with me.
This little freaky dude was born right here in my home town. Ann Arbor is where U of MI is located and I say what better place to test out the avant garde. Here’s another one I love by him in that vein:
https://youtu.be/dNZmHBW8gtc?si=HO1zVLRQMycsJOuJ
I love the intro to that!
Michigan has produced a lot of rock stars! Today it was pure coincidence that I had Bowie ready to go right after this one…fit perfectly. I can only imagine what times those two had.
Two peas in a same very strange and brilliant pod.
It was a cool double bill by accident. You know I knew Florida has produced a lot of rock stars…Michigan produced just as much…that would be a cool post.
Max I would love to see a post like that 🙂
I might to do that…it would be fun to compare states.