Tag: Stooges

Stooges – Fun House

I like the Stooges because I like raw and uncooked…and that is them. This song was the title track of their second studio album. This one is not just loud guitar and vocals. If you are a saxophone fan, you will like this. Steve Mackay plays the tenor saxophone in this and tears it up. 

When they entered the recording studio in 1970, the band wanted to capture what their shows sounded like. Producer Don Gallucci helped them set up the room so the group could play together, loud and loose as normal for them. Out of those sessions came this song, a track that shows how far the band had moved from the more structured songs on their first album.

The lineup at the time was Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexander. The song runs on a repeating riff from Ron Asheton while the rhythm section locks into a groove that sticks. Instead of building toward a traditional chorus, the song stretches out. When saxophonist Steve Mackay joins in, adding a free-form part that pushes the music further into chaos.

I love Iggy’s voice in this one. His vocals often move between spoken lines and shouted phrases. The recording keeps the rough edges…which was the goal of the sessions. The band wanted something closer to the stage than to a polished studio track. I tend to write that a lot in my reviews… because well…raw and uncooked remember? That’s what I like. 

When the saxophone really kicks in, and the rhythm keeps rolling, it feels like the walls of the room are closing in…and I like that. 

Fun House

Blow right on it, now!
Blow, Steve!
I feel alright
Yeah, I feel alright
Let me in
Hey, let me in
‘Ey, bring it down

Callin’ from the fun house with my song
We been separated, baby, far too long
A-callin’ all you whoop-dee pretty things
Shinin’ in your freedom, come and be my rings

Hold me tight, callin’ from the fun house
Hold me tight, callin’ from the fun house

Yeah, I came to play and I mean to play around
Yeah, I came to play and I mean to play real good
Yeah, I came to play

Alright
Hey, let me in
Take it down
I feel alright
A-take it down

Little baby girlie, little baby boy
Cover me with lovin’ in a bundle o’ joy
Do I care to show you what I’m dreamin’ of
Do I dare to whoop y’all with my love

Every little baby knows just what I mean
Livin’ in division in a shiftin’ scene

Hold me tight, callin’ from the fun house
Hold me tight, callin’ from the fun house

Blow
Yeah, I came to play
I came to play
Blow, Steve!

Hey
Hey now
Let me in
One more time
Take it down
Take it down
A-take it down

We been separated
We been separated
A little too long

Blow
Yeah, I came to play
Yeah, fun house, boy, will steal your heart away
Yeah, fun house, boy, will steal your heart away
Steal
Yeah
I came to play
I came to play
I came to play
This is it
Baby
Yeah, I came to play
I came to play

Stooges – I Wanna Be Your Dog

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

…