Shake Appeal

Raw Power.

Iggy and The Stooges!

Yeah Rock! Rock! Rock !

So this was 1973. There was no punk rock yet. There were no Sex Pistols, or Clash, or X-Ray Specs or any of that stuff. There was no Malcolm McLaren, no 'god, save the queen,' no bloody Sid ("I wouldn't piss on Keith Richards if he was on fire...." said Sidney).

But there was Iggy. There was The Stooges. There was 'Raw Power.'

This album has become my new favorite (Pitchfork Media review here). It seems the older I get, the more I flashback musically... deep crate digging that has surfaced some of my old favorites. I have back tracked to the beginnings: old school hip-hop circa late seventies/ eighties and lots and lots of punk rock! While cleaning the office in anticipation of a remodeling/major shifting of stuff- I found the first Stooges LP. Yes, a vinyl record kids. And this let me to rediscover the gem that is Raw Power, the second Stooges LP, credited to 'Iggy and The Stooges.'

The Raw Power CD was remastered by Iggy in 1997 and I can't believe I missed this event. The original LP was mixed by David Bowie and he polished the raw Stooges by ruining the 'raw'. Oh yeah, he ruined the 'power' too. The usual 'sonic cleaning' and 'delicate touch' has not been performed to this remastering project. This CD was remastered to make it louder, more distorted, heavier, violent, bolder, brasher, tougher, and oh man, is this a good one!

And the cover- says it all. Classic Iggy in eyeliner and dark lipstick, shirtless in tight rock pants, clutching the mike stand and staring into space. A classic images to a classic LP.

The back of the CD has this statement from Iggy:

People kept asking me-- musicians, kids I would see, 'Have you ever thought about remixing Raw Power?' Everything's still in the red, it's a very violent mix. The proof is in the pudding."